8. Back Home!

Unfortunately, after 2 weeks in Cairns the bike is still out of action. It's running, but not 100% so will need more work.

After this hanging around and my lack of enthusiasm to carry on with another bike (from the small choice of secondhand bikes available) I've decided to return home after only 3,000 out of the 16,000 kms.

A very dissapointing end to the trip,and I'm pretty fed up at the moment.

Probably the best way to cheer myself up is to start planning the next one :)

7. Back in Cairns!

A dry Motorbike visiting another Mos(s)man

For those of you who don't ride enduro/dirt motorbikes you probably don't think of motorbikes crossing rivers. But, with a bit of skill, and if the water is shallow enough you can just ride your bike through like a 4WD. Anyway, despite having successfully crossed a handful of rivers in the past, I made a right hash of it yesterday.

After a few 4WD vehicles had crossed the creek north of Mossman Qld, I went for it. I managed to cross about 80% of the river and then went down a 4WD wheel rut, possibly took in some water, the engine stalled and the bike and I took an early bath. After pushing the bike out of the water we tried to get it to start, but no luck. And as I only had a standard spark plug socket it didn't fit the Beemer!

Tropical Nth Queensland

Back tracking, two up on Duncan's V-Strom to a campsite I called BMW roadside assist (they sent a flat back ute) and after first pushing the bike back over the creek (why didn't I do that in the first place!), to cut a long story short  I was back in Cairns 6 hours later with the bike. 

Ready for the trip back to Cairns!

First stop on Monday morning will be the Cairns BMW dealer for the verdict. Will it be a quick draining of the water, in which case I will be back on the road with little time lost, or will it be a case of "ordering parts from Germany"! In which case I will have to think of another way to continue the trip around Australia.


Today, a little delayed, Duncan and Christoph continue upwards to Bamaga, it would be nice to be riding with them! I was enjoying the beginning of the dirt roads yesterday. Oh well, I hope it's good news from the workshop tomorrow.

6. Cairns

A short ride to Cairns today, we rode through banana and sugar cane plantations. It threatened to rain, but never did. In Cairns spent three and a half hours wait at the BMW dealer for new tyres. Here is a pic of the new and very cool looking Continental TKC80 rear tyre.

5. Making good progress

Following Coffs Harbour we rode to Noosa where we camped just a few hundred metres from the beach.

Marmot tent and the R1200GS

Sunrise near the Noosa campsite.

Next stop Rockhampton, we didn't stop, just something to eat and a sleep for the night. We left early to make our way to Townsville. Before getting out of Townsville I dropped the bike at a busy junction after an unexpected u-turn by Christoph - no damage. Later that day I got pulled by some nice Queensland cops and given a speeding ticket for 1 point. So an eventful day.

Here's a picture of sunny Townsville where after the long 720 km ride from Rockhampton I had the day off, it's getting warm again. Duncan and Christoph stayed in Ayr for a dive and then joined me in Townsville.

Along The Strand around 08:30.

Next we ride to Cairns, a reasonable 350 kms, where we will change our tyres to 'knobbies' (I'm going with Continental TKC80s) in preparation for the dirt roads/tracks to come.

4. Breakfast in Coffs Harbour

We had a great send off yesterday from our fellow NorthShore Motorcycle Group. Not much to report on the ride up except for a brief blast along Wottin Way.


Here's a picture of the beach in Coffs Harbour where we had breakfast and Duncan's apple crumble pancakes!


Our second day of riding will take us to Noosa for our first night of camping.