Day One -Sunday 18 April -Melbourne to Balranald

It was rather cloudy, fresh (16C) -but dry - when the four of us gathered at the petrol station just beyond the Calder Dome. At the agreed time of 08h30, all having filled our tanks, we set off on our journey. Yesterday, Greg had commented that the BMW Motorcycle Club of Victoria, of which we are all members, was holding a rally in Maldon to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the founding of the club. He suggested that, as it was only a minor detour from our route, we pop in and say hello. This we did; and it was very pleasant seeing a few of our fellow members and a wonderful array of bikes!

The most remarkable to us was a World War II German Army bike with side car - in original condition! I also took a photo of an ancient, but beautifully restored, R26, parked next to a new R18. What a contrast! I hope you can see that in the photo.

After a chat and a slice of birthday cake, we rode the short distance into Maldon, a quaint and historic town, and had coffee. The place had motorcycles and their riders everywhere!

We soon set off with Kerang as our destination for lunch. It is a neat and tidy town which seems to be prospering. We all enjoyed our meals.

After Kerang, we stopped briefly in Swan Hill for petrol and then rode over the Murray River, into New South Wales.That called for a photo stop, of course.

The ride to Balranald was uneventful, with very little traffic in either direction to bother us. It was quite remarkable how different the landscape was, compared to across the river in Victoria. There were very few trees and those in evidence had the appearance of living a hard-scrabble existence in a flat, dry landscape. There were some very large farms where the fields had been plotted, but to the passing eye the land looked very marginal. The surrounds started looking better as we closed on Balaranald, with the tress lusher and less stunted. There was also a remarkably large or hard of young apple trees. I can only assume they benefited from irrigation.

We were pleased to book into our motel. Which has a swimming pool 😊. The showers were hot and rejuvenating.

At 18h00 we gathered for dinner which was at the RSL, where we enjoyed tasty Chinese meals. Of course the maps came out and we discussed the route for the next two days and speculated about road conditions. We agreed we will not take undue risks if things get difficult. We took a verbal trip to Tasmania and discussed unions, CEO’s that lose squillions yet survive, and aged care. We agreed we will ride as much as we can, while we can!

After breakfast tomorrow we will inspect a replica of the Southern Cross aircraft and then head for the hills. I mean Hilton, of course! Dirt roads, here we come!!