Because we had no more success with fishing in the evening I went collecting mussels off the jetty poles the next morning. With Matty's help I nearly got two 10-litre buckets of mussels.



When Matty finished his appointments we loosened ropes and took of to sail through the Bosten Bay.
With Ani on dolphin watch it was really hard to miss a dolphin because she start barking as soon as they came near the boat.







When we arrived at our anchor point for the night we started fishing again but only Matty was lucky and caught a squid.



So it was pasta with mussels and squid for dinner – yummy!
Because I said the evening before I wanted to climb the mast I had to do it.







The next morning we set sail again and casted the anchor around lunch time in a nice small bay. Matty was lucky again and caught another squid within a minute. Because we had squid left from the day before we had a big feed of squid for lunch.







Naz Blogpost about our trip Another Sail in the Bay | Sailing Adventures on Circe

I had planed to leave Port Lincoln the next day but the weather forecast was bad and so I decided to stay a day longer. Matty took my for another bike ride to Lincoln National Park and showed me some spots I hadn't been to before.



For dinner we had a really great paella, I would call it the best I had have for a long time.
Matty got bag of mixed seafood and we had a lot of mussels leaved so we had perfect ingredients.









And it got even better Matty lit fire so we could eat the paella outside but at some stage it started raining and we had to get inside.





Because the weather was still bad the next morning I stayed until lunch, was feed with pizza and then actually left Port Lincoln.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

As I got two presents from Naz when I left Port Lincoln I had to test them both.
Present number 1 was a fishing rode that Naz used previously on her motorcycle travels ( Adventure Riding | Naz.. crazy chick with a motorbike called Charlie ) and that was given to her as a present as well.



That is why my campsite for the next to days on my way north at the Eyre Peninsular needed to fulfil two criteria: being free and next to the ocean.
So I stayed at the free campground in Port Gibbon, an advice from Matty.
Unfortunately I had no success with fishing, maybe because I had no clue how to do it of the beach
But it went better with present number 2, a small set of herbs and spices.



When I leaved Naz and Matty we still hadn't eaten all the mussels so I took some with me as they where still fresh. So I had a nice feed for dinner.
The next day I had no luck with fish, again. But the grey nomads fed me with
After two nights I leaved Port Gibbons and rode to Whyalla. Corinna a second cousin of my mother invited me to visit them.
When I arrived and rang the doorbell nothing happed so I walked around the house.
I found Corinna and Wayne building a new shed.



So I got out off my motorcycle gear and started helping them.



Corinna told me if I am operating a forklift in Australia it has to be Aussie style: drunken and with a in the hand







The next day we went out for a little tourist and fishing trip around the area.







The goal was to catch blue swimmer crabs and I have been successful.









After the catch I went for hike at this nice and natural but fenced meadows. There where this strange signs everywhere but I still have no clue what they mean, because of my bad English skills







Although Matty had warned me not to eat anything out of the ocean near Whyalla the crabs were a nice meal. But I think it can't be that bad because there was even aqua farming in the area.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Hi Dominik,

Enjoyed reading of your adventures here in Oz. Looks like your having an amazing time. If you need somewhere to stay for a few days in Brisbane let me know. Happy to show you around some of the great riding roads we have here in south east Queensland.

Barry
0438 641 543

Hi Barry I will contact you when I closer to going to Brisbane

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

On Monday morning I went on a 350 km ride in pissing down rain to get to Gawler near Adelaide.



Trev (Aussie Trev) invited me to visit Gawler and his mate Bernie had a room in his house for me to stay in. As soon as I arrived Trevor noticed the big dent in my front rim.



I got it while crossing the Nullarbor when I hit a stone in one of the gravel roads with lowered tire pressure and a 100 km/h. He told me I couldn't go on like that and started talking to people on the phone. We removed the front wheel from the bike to care about it the next day.



In the evening Trev and Bernie invited me to a local pub and I had my first Barramundi (fish) ever.







The next Trevor drove me to Adelaide. First we went to the best tyre store in Adelaide to hear what the experts think about my front wheel. Their opinion: not to bad I could go on. So they did nothing with the wheel but I bought a oil filter for my bike and a new rain pants for me



Next we tried to get a new RokStrap because one of mien got damaged crossing the Nullarbor as well. But we had no success.
But I have been successful buying a new Dromedary water bag and collecting a parcel from Germany.





From Adelaide we went to Trevs mate Pete (PBee). He and his big nylon coated hammer wanted to try a special treatment on my front rim. Not only was Pete able to get a perfect job done with the dent he also did an absolutely precise balancing job. It took in fact long to balance the wheel than removing the dent

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Of course I had to leave one of my stickers in Petes shed.



After Pete had finished the wheel we had a around the "barrel of knowledge“.







On Wednesday morning Trev came to Bernies place with his Tiger so we could have a test ride for my front wheel. Trev took me into the near by Barossa Valley one of the finest wine-growing regions of South Australia.





Because the Barossa has been a settlement area of German immigrants I could read German names everywhere



I couldn't feel any negative disturbance caused by the front wheel.
But my bike had its first fail on this tour – a light bulb.



Because I needed a photo for my Christmas card I went to Middleton with Trev on Thursday.
In a small town on our way Trev asked me if I might need something from one of the best 12-volt stores, located in this small town. In deed I wonted to buy a special cable and they had it in stock





The photos at the beach in Middleton came out just perfect. And yes I only carried the surf board to the beach to take a photo









For lunch we were invited by Mr & Mrs "Steelpony" ( Steel Pony Luggage Home ).
After a lovely lunch Mrs Steelpony fixed the broken buckle on my RokStrap.







Perfect work and a lot better than buying a new one! I was amazed one more time about a the helpful people Trev knows.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Great pics Dom. Yep give me a call mate when your getting closer to Brisbane.

For Friday evening I had an appointment with Rod, whom I meet in Perth at the HU Meeting, at the York Peninsula. So I leaved Gawler in the morning and spend most of the day exploring the peninsula.





Our meeting point was the Jetty in Moonta Bay close to Rods beach house.





We spend most of the evening with a big BBQ.





The next morning we went on a fishing trip and we have been successful.





We caught around 20 Garfish, 6 Tommys and a Squid.





Been so successful at fishing means there will be a lot of work cleaning as well.



But I had to learn it first so it took even longer





With so much fish we had a massive Fish & Chips feed in the evening.













The next day Rod and I fed the fish guts to the birds at the beach.







Then we had to say goodbye to Moonta Bay because Rod had to go back home and I wanted to go to Adelaide. Because there was still a lot of fish filets leaved over I took a big load of them with me to Adelaide.



In Adelaide I stayed at Giselas 5 star house. Gisela is a cousin of my grandfather who has retired in Adelaide.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

On Monday morning I first went on a little ride to the beach in Glenelg to see if it look different since I have been there in 2010. It did not



From there I went in to the Adelaide Hills to get a little bit more winding roads than in the city.



In the afternoon I started with the 40.000 km service on my bike. First task change the spark plugs. You have to disassemble nearly the half bike to reach the spark plugs so it took me only 3 hours to get it done.









Because I had it all disassembled I although installed spare clutch and throttle cables.





I had to do an oil change as well but I did not want to spill oil all over Giselas driveway so Paul (Inmate Dirt_Boy) let me use his shed the next day.





After I finished the oil change Paul showed me around in the hinterlands.





Because Paul only had time until midday the passed me on to his mate Brian. He took me to some roads in the Hills that could easily be located in the Alps as well.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Wednesday it got really hot in Adelaide. So I went to the beach in Glenelg for a swim in the ocean.



After the refreshment I drove into the city central to buy some things. Because the bikes thermometer went up to 42°C my first stop was at the museum of Adelaide – they have air-condition and besides you get to know some stuff about the history.
I then spent most of the afternoon in Giselas pool.



On Thursday it got even hotter, more the 43°C. At mid-morning I met Paul and his riding mates for a coffee but it was so hot I had to spend the rest of the day near the pool.



Friday I went on a ride along the coast from Adelaide and the farthest point I ended up was Victor Harbor. When I started it was around 40°C in Adelaide so I did what I do most of the time when it's that hot I wetted my shirt (with tab water) to get some cooling. Unfortunately the temperatures dropped down on my trip to only 18°C when I got south.
On the way back to Adelaide though winding roads in the hills it luckily got warmer again.





Because I spend Saturday lazing around I had a drive on Sunday to do something. So I went hiking from the Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty – returning 8 km with a lot steeply parts.
While hiking I expected to have sore muscles the next day and I have not been wrong.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Christmas

On the 23th Gisela and me went to Whyalla to spend Christmas there. On the drive I saw my fist Pink Lake that was actually pink.



Sadly I forgot to charge my camera so there are not that many pictures in this post
On Christmas Eve we went on a fishing trip but we didn't catch a single fish.











However we caught 33 Blue Swimmer Crabs and saw a lot wild dolphins.






Christmas Day we had a massive BBQ for 18 people. But obviously we had a lot of leftovers for the next days.















We all spend the 26th hang around, among others we had cocktails, and wine in the pool



On the 27th Gisela and me drove the 400km back to Adelaide. I said goodbye to Gis because my plan was to go on to Mount Barker to visit Rod and his wife Jenny.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

At Mount Barker I helped Jenny with some of her German exercises in the morning.
In the afternoon Rod and I went on a small ride (over 200km) with our two F800GS.
On mainly minor roads we went from Mount Baker all the way down to Cape Jarvis.

















From there we used some nice winding roads to get to Goolwa via Victor Harbor.



In Goolwa we decided to get on to the beach and ride all the way to the Murray Mouth.
Ron had never been on this beach with his motorbike before and I had not found the beach access the last time I have been there
So now was the perfect moment to do it. And it was quite helpful to be not to alone because we had to free both bikes from the sand, of course mine was the worst.

















And here an invitation from Jenny: All friendly German travellers are warmly welcome to stay at their place for some German lessons in exchange.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

On the 29th I rode to Mount Gam. I started the 400kms from Mount Barker and crossed the Murray with a Ferry in Wellington. I followed the coastline most of the way down to Mount Gam.







Somewhere on this road I saw a guy walking next to the street in a Stormtropper costume. I had to turn around and stop to ask the guy: why???



He is walking around Australia to fundraise money for a children's hospital. The Stormtrooper costume wouldn't make it any easier but the kids would love it
So I gave him some dollars and took another picture.





Tony (a mate of Trev) had invited me to stay overnight at his place in Mt Gam and when I arrived Tony welcomed me with a campfire in the garden.





Perfect chance to warm up a little bit from the outside, because it was a quite cold that day and to cool down from the inside with a cold . In the evening when Tony's wife Virginia came back from work we had a lovely BBQ with really good wines out of the region.



The next day my destination was Portland in Victoria only a 100 km away. So I had to take some detours. First I visited the Blue Lake an old volcanic crater in Mount Gam,









then to Mount Schank another volcano



and from there to Port MacDonnell the most southern point in South Australia.







From Port MacDonnell I first followed the coastline but then went inland into a national park and used some forestay roads to Portland.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Kym had invited me to Portland, but he had no more space left in his house because all his daughters with their families were visiting so he asked his mate David if he had a spare bad – he had.



















In the evening he had a big BBQ with everybody – like every time – yummy! Have I mentioned I love Australian BBQs
Late over at David's place I got some route suggestions for the next days and for Tasmania.
On New Years Eve my destination wasn't far away again. I booked a bed in a hostel in Port Ferry. So I had to find some detours, but Australia is big country so it was no problem
Because Mount Eccles National Park was close there were some rough tracks available.





I didn't use an official exit to get out off the park so I ended up in a forestay area. On one of the tracks it was really muddy and my bike slipped. I landed in the mud with my complete right side

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Port Ferry was an absolutely different New Years Eve for me.
First thing it was warm.







Second there was a big parade in the town.













But drinking in the evening with all kinds of guests from the hostel was the same as everywhere else. AND I managed to miss the fireworks.
The New Year started with really bad weather and that's why the first half of the Great Ocean Road was really miserable. I only stop at some of the sights and decided quickly not to camp as planed.





So I stayed in a hostel for the second time on this journey. But shortly after I arrived at the backpacker hostel in Apollo Bay it stoped raining. But anyway I had an entertaining evening with the other guests.





The next morning the weather had bettered so I could go on riding the Great Oceans Road. First I went a little bit back to where a came from the day before to do some of the forest roads David had recommended.





















Unfortunately the GOR was packed with other tourists because of the holiday high season.
But I still made it to Geelong in time where I stayed with Pete and Helen, friends of Rod and Jenny. Guess what we had dinner - lamb chops BBQ – lovely!
Later Pete and Helen showed me around Geelong on a walk with the dog.

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Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012