Tour Of Duty: A Victorian three-day

Adventure Rider Issue #18

• It’s What We Do
• Riding the Cordillera Blanca – South America at its best
• BMW F800GS – Off to the Safari Enduro
• Industry Player – Geeze Goldhawk
• White sand to red dust – A PLB story
• Crazy Kunzum La – A tough run in the Himalayas
• Ladies only – BMW Off Road Training
• Off-road Test – Husqvarna 701 Enduro
• Across Australia – From the Indian to the Pacific
• Tour Of Duty: A Victorian three-day
• KTM Rallye 2016 – KTMs all over the place
• Domestic bliss – At home with the Ducati Multistrada Enduro
• Reader’s Ride – The Flinders
• Trials and tribulations with Karen Ramsay
• Dunns swamp – Another great secret location
• How To Ride with Miles Davis
• Checkout
• Fit Out

In issue #16 Darin Rowley had set a glorious four-day course for a NSW Tour Of Duty download. This issue he sets out to peel off a lap of premium sightseeing in Victoria – the Education State.

Kurt Quambusch (publisher of Adventure Rider Magazine, aka ‘The Boss’) was on the phone with his orange-tainted KTM exploration sunglasses on. He was looking at maps spouting a plethora of geographic names and licking his lips at the thought of a cold Coopers green beer to wash the dust out of the throat at the end of a day’s ride. I (Darin Rowley – owner of Adventure Motorcycle Equipment) was looking at my WR250R parked in front of my store under a blue sky ready to go by simply throwing a set of clean clothes into the saddlebags and could feel the tug of an adventure ride! I verbalised what we both needed to hear.

“Kurt, why don’t we head to Melbourne and prepare another beginners-level Tour Of Duty ride?” I blurted.

Kurt must’ve been in his riding gear. He grunted a “yes” then the line disconnected and we were underway the next day.

Pre-dawn start

I woke up before the birds and I was grinning. All I had to do was make myself a coffee, have a little breakfast,pour myself into my riding gear, kill the mobile phone and board my loaded and prepped bike.

The birds were starting to stir, but all I could hear was the dependable burble of the little Yammy as I unhinged from my domestic life and headed out from Canberra. My path southward was illuminated by a couple of bright-white spotties and the adventure-rider smile was plastered on my face as horizons came into view with the rising sun. I was meeting Kurt and Melbourne-based Keith Jobson at Warburton in Victoria, and from there Keith was happy to help Kurt and I map some quality riding in his backyard.

Range finder

At this stage of a ride I always reflect on past rides.

The one that came into mind was during a time where I spent a couple of years in Borneo. My favoured mode of transport was a Suzuki TS125 and I rode with a machete, nails, hammer and hand saw on my back to repair bridges along the route. The bridges were burnt out due to an El Niño-induced drought causing big bushfires. It was a desperate-feeling landscape instead of lush jungles. I laughed and thought, “Adventure riding should be called mis-adventure riding.”

Real adventure starts when the plan does not go according to plan.

The ride to Warburton was about chewing up miles and everything went smoothly. Keith, Kurt and I met bright and early the next morning at the Shell service station and, fuelled with bacon-and- egg rolls washed down with strong coffee, we were decidedly spritely for middle-aged gentlemen. Caffeine-induced excited chatter about each of our motorcycles ensued. Kurt was glowing orange with his thumping V-twin KTM 1190R, Keith loved the feel and growl of his Triumph Tiger XC triple, and I appreciated the light weight and dependability of the little WR250R single. We laughed as we put our helmets on and agreed it doesn’t matter what motorcycle you’re on. Just get out there, ride and enjoy the adventure unfolding.

We fired our distinctly different mounts into life and Keith took the lead for a spirited and flowing southerly run through the Yarra ranges.

Rooster tales

The Yarras were a mixture of rolling green hills and towering mountain ash forest.

The bikes hummed in different tunes along well-formed dirt roads having us feeling completely at one with our surrounds.

We turned east and followed the power-line trail through Bunyip State Forest. I always like power-line trails as there are open views and you go across a variety of topography. I wasn’t disappointed.

Ear-to-ear grins were plastered under our helmets and we twisted the throttles into the unknown, leaving rooster tails of dust in our wake under a clear blue sky.

Road island

After a spirited run along the flowing power-line trail we followed the Tarago River to the Tarago Reservoir – part of Melbourne’s water supply – before winding south towards the reputable, motorcycle-friendly Inline 4 Café in Mirboo North.

The Tarago River run had us working the controls through tighter trails in a shady forest. Those trails opened up to the picturesque, patchworked agricultural country of the Latrobe Valley, before climbing into Mount Worth State Park for a refreshing run with some choice photo spots overlooking the Latrobe Valley. At one of these photo stops it became evident the three distinctly different motorcycles were being ridden by three distinctly different characters. Kurt, ‘the ideas man’, was trying to convince us he looked like George Clooney. Keith, stoic, calm and focused, looked at me with a slightly raised eyebrow and said, “He’s dreaming.” I cracked up laughing, barely being able to walk to my bike and get going again. This only cemented Kurt’s steely resolve to prove to us he actually did look like George Clooney.

We remounted and connected with the Grand Ridge Road, meandered into Mirboo North and parked our dirty adventure motorcycle mounts next to some shiny, really red road bikes in front of the café.

Goes both ways

While eating my Hole Shot dog at the Inline 4 café, Kurt stubbornly continued trying to convince us he really did look like George Clooney. I thought, “If you look like George Clooney, I may bear a resemblance to Vin Diesel.” Keith looked on in slight dismay as our antics ratcheted up. Thankfully a congenial waitress came along and explained we were man-children, that Kurt looked nothing like George Clooney and I would have been better off being a Mini Me stunt double. All we could do was nod and finish our meals.

Our resemblances to famous people were forgotten as Keith gave a slight shake of his head. We quickly focussed on the next leg of our journey along the iconic Grand Ridge Road that dissects the Strzelecki Ranges.

We cruised through rolling green hills to the forests of the Strzelecki. Lush ferns and tall hardwood trees lined a pleasant dirt road that had us snaking through clean air and encompassing scenery in a relaxed fashion. We happened upon some like-minded adventure riders going the opposite way, and they were as excited as us to be out on their bikes.

Seeya!

From the Strzelecki ranges we headed north through Traralgon and the Latrobe Valley to the foothills of the high country.

Latrobe Valley is situated on the edge of the Gippsland basin, one of Australia’s prolific hydrocarbon provinces. Power stations situated near brown-coal deposits allow Melbourne and surrounds to brown their bread and keep their beer cold among other things.

The power-line trails we’d followed the previous day were the extension cords for these big generators. Logging and timber-processing plants are also major industries in this part of the world.

We rode north through some fun trails to the Erica Hotel where we rehydrated with golden beverages and talked a lot faster than we rode.

A nice meal and a good night’s sleep were had. Keith headed home to Melbourne via the main roads. Kurt and I motored on.

Swap meet

Kurt and I departed Erica bright-eyed and bushy tailed, keen to see what the countryside had to offer.

We started with a beautiful, winding bitumen run into Walhalla with our knees a long way from touching the bitumen through apexes of the smooth corners.

Walhalla is a tourist town that retains the look and feel of the 1860s gold rush that the town was built upon. It’s quaint, with historic buildings and an interesting cemetery on a steep hill. The style of gold-rich veins which underpinned Walhalla can be found in a number of locations through the high country.

The quaint little mining towns built near these resources are testament to gold fever and the excitement of the find.

We fired up and headed east along the Old Coach Road.

It was a beautiful run with fog in the valleys and sweet motorcycles to spirit us through the scenery. Before we knew it, we’d been through a couple of nice river crossings and were having a tasty coffee at a bakery in Heyfield. We plotted an ongoing route through a network of backroads, back lanes and pine forests before we started to head north into the mountains. Kurt and I swapped bikes for a section of riding, and Kurt couldn’t help but giggle at my little WR250R which felt like a child’s toy. I started to get the ‘orange crush’ associated with the mad rush of the ‘ready-to-race’ KTM 1190.

Both of us were giggling at the totally different-feeling bikes which cover certain sections of the adventure-riding spectrum, but most importantly get us out here for a laugh.

Cold comfort

Our route turned north and we started to get into the high country. Forestry trail runs provided the blue skies, enticing horizons and the great feeling of freedom that adventure riders crave. We pulled up for a staple meal of pies at the Dargo general store and summed up this section of the ride as ‘invigorating’. We geared up, looking forward to a run across the spine of the high country and a cold beer at Myrtleford.

Bright outlook

We left Dargo and headed north to Bright.

The road took us across the Dargo High Plains and then we followed the Alpine Way for an iconic road ride into Bright.

We stopped and had a look at the museum in Harrietville, and it was interesting to note the majority of the Ovens River Valley had been turned over by massive dredges in the great hunt for gold and wealth over a millennia ago.

Bright is a chic little town with plenty of restaurants and, notably, a brewery on the river.

Well fed

We headed back into the beautiful Victorian mountains for a run up to Mt Porepunkah.

The cheesy one-liners were flowing thick and fast at the lookout of Mt Porepunkah and we relished that we were out exploring this great country.

From Mt Porepunkah we headed into Myrtleford, the venue for the Adventure Rider Magazine Congregation in November.

Kurt and I rehydrated with Coopers Green beer and found nourishment in large, rare-cooked steaks.

Kurt showed the contentedness of a man who has had his appetite satisfied.

The ride had helped him relax from his hectic Sydney life.

Home and ready to go

Kurt had to head home and couldn’t complete the return leg to Warburton.

However, John Taekema (another Melbourne-based rider) came along for the run from Myrtleford to Warburton on his KTM 1190. The weather had changed from blue skies to pouring rain and I just chuckled. There’s nothing like a bit of slippery weather to bring some mis-adventure into the ride.

John could definitely handle the KTM1190 but the tubeless tyres could not handle John. Two flat tyres in the pouring rain had us in true adventure-riding spirit – solidly dealing with the problem at hand to get to the destination.

Once the tyres were inflated, John was getting them up to a metre off the ground. Watching him launch with gay abandon had me in stitches.

The run to Warburton was fine. The Goulbourn River and towns along the way – such as Kevington and Woods Point – are hidden gems with a bit of history and character that warrant further investigation.

John and I parted ways near Warburton and I began the ride home to Canberra. I camped on the side of the Kiewa River at dusk.

The next morning, I ate up the kilometres to Canberra and arrived home to slam straight back into work and domestic life with the next ride already planned.

Download and go

If you like the sound of this ride and would like to cover the same ground, log on to www.advridermag.com/rides and you can download the entire trip as a GPX file with extra track notes – like section distances, accom and where to get fuel. Just load the GPX file into your GPS and lose yourself following the Adventure Rider Magazine team’s route from start to finish. Navigational stress and route-planning drama not included.