Great day today. Did the whole Great Ocean Road from Warnambool right through to Geelong, then a nice quiet trip across from Queenscliffe to Sorrento on the ferry. Not long now till we get home. Kind of sad in one way but looking forward to seeing everyone and sleeping in our own bed

Great ride today from Kingston (home of the Big Lobster) to Warnambool. Great roads through beautiful coastal scenery and forests. Lunch at Mt Gambier followed by a quick trip to have a look at Blue Lake, which was actually looking quite blue. Tomorrow the Great Ocean road. Just hope the weather warms up a little - maximum today was only 17 degrees and with the wind it felt much colder. I had the heated grips on all day and even Kerry was feeling cold

Things didn't quite go as planned yesterday. We had hoped to go from Woomera to Semaphore a beach side area near Adelaide, however we ended up staying to the north at Elizabeth. No real problems, we made Port Augusta before lunch time, which completed the loop. When we got to the intersection of the Stuart and Eyre Highways again I suggested going round again, but Kerry didn't think it was a good idea. Guess we will have to go back home and go to work to pay for the next trip.

We lefty Port Augusta and travelled via Horrocks pass through the edge of te Flinder's Rangers and into the Clare Valley area. A beautiful part of the world and very different to what we had got used to through the centre. Lots of twisty roads and mountains and lots of big trees. I became aware that things were not right with my front tyre. At first I thought it was just the rough road but when we pulled into a motel in Elizabeth to escape the peak hour traffic I discovered that the tyre was seriously work down one side. Just as well we had decided to stop rather than press on to Semaphore.

A couple of calls this morning and I was able to find a bike shop not too far away that had a front tyre and they were able to fit it this morning. I eventually decided that a new rear tyre was also called for and this was also replace. Not very impressed with Perelli tyres. The original Bridgestones travelled 17000km. The Perellis that I replaced today had barely done 10000km. Needless to say I got Bridgestones again.

New tyres fitted we headed off to Murray Bridge for lunch. This also gave me a chance to scrubb off the new tyres a bit on the freeway. After lunch we headed down the Currong to Kingston SE. Nice twisty road with some beautiful scenery. Tomorrow we head to Mt Gambier and then hopefully Warnambool for the night before the Great Ocean road. The original plan was to then come over the Great Alpine way. I am however having second thoughts as it is getting cold and we only have summer jackets and limited winter clothes. Its a bit of a shock to the system riding in temperatures of 18 degrees after the heat of the north.

A couple of fairly quiet days with nothing much to report. Spent last night at Coober Pedey in an underground motel which was something very different. Really quiet and very dark. So dark infact that we left a light on. The landscapt around Coober Pedy is like a moonscape piles of rock and lots of holes. Spent way too much money on opals but hey its made round to go round and the opals are just so beautiful.

Travelled to Woomera today through probably the most boring yet at the same time the most interesting landscape I have ridden through. I thought the Hay Plains were flat but they have nothing on the roads around Woomera. The interesting thing was to suddenly see huge lakes in the middle of the desert. Definitely a must do ride.

I was disappointed to get to Woomera too late to visit the museum. The main reason for stopping here was to have a look at the place where my father worked on and off during the time we lived in South Australia in the early 1960s. I can now understand why he didn't like coming here, particularly as he was newly arrived from England when he came here. It is certainly a very different place.

Off to Adelaide tomorrow. Not sure how we will deal with a city after so much time in the bush.

Friday morning we were up early to see the sun rise over Ularu, but unfortunately the weather was not in our favour and the cloud rolled in restricing the colour chnages. We then paced up and travelled to King's CanyonSince once again the temperature was well over 35 degrees we decided to take the easy walk which was well worth the effort. We had been told that the rim walk is a must,but once we saw the steps up the rock, we decided not to bother. For those who have been to the Blue Mountains and done the walk down the three sisters, the start of the rim walk is similar but up instead of down. During the walk we saw some wild budgies amoung the trees.

We stayed at the King's Canyon resort camp ground and were surprised to find that we had a large number of dingos for neighbours. It is quite earie to waken in the middle of the night to the sound of dingos howling.

Today the weather was very overcast and rain seemed to be in the air. After we had packed up we set off back towards the Stuart highway to continue our trip south. The weather deteriorated and as it was quite cool, we stopped to put on the wet weather gear. We were luck however that we didn't actually see muchg rain. We did however have a little excitement when we came round a corner and found a large number of cars stopped in thye road. My first reaction was an accident. However they had all stopped because the road was flooded. Despite most of the vehicals actually being 4 wheel drives no one was game to go through the water. We waited for a while and weighed up the situation. We then decided that it wasn't really that deep and decided to risk riding through. I went first and depite having water up to my foot boards had no real problem. Kery followed with the trailer again with no problems. The last we saw oth the others they were still waiting for the water to go down. Really have to wonder why people bother with 4 wheel drives if they are not game to go through a little water. I now have a new sloggan - there is nothing you can't do on a Burgman.

Spent most of Thursday playing tourist around the National park at Ularu/ The Olgas. First stop was the Ularu visitors centre where we were fortunate enough to arrive in time to listen to a dream time story told by an elder of the traditioanl owners. Very interesting as this man was of an age that he had lived the traditioanl lifestyle prior to the arrival of white man.

We then took a walk which ended up being considerably longer than we had intended. We saw quite a lot of the base of the rock which is absolutely enormous. Didn't even consider taking the wealk up the rock as it is frowened upon by the traditioanl owners, for very good reason particularly in the heat.

After lunch we rode the 100km round trip to the Olgas. Again very spectacular. This time we looked from the look out and avoided any walking as by mid afternoon the temperature had rissen even further and was well over 40 degrees.

The trip to Ularu was fairly uneventful although we had a little bit of rain. It was so warm however that we didn't bother to put wet weather gear on. Within 10 minutes of the rain stopping we were dry. It is amazing how the water stand around out here. Not sure if the ground is water logged or just resistant to the water but it just sits around in great big puddles.

Set up camp at Ularu camping area and then travelled the few km to see the big rock at sunset. A little disappointing actually as it was quite cloudy. By the time we got back to the camp site and cooked dinner the weather had cleared and the stars came out.

We have been out of contact for a few days. We left Darwin and travelled south to Katherine Gorge also known as Nitmiluk Gorge a very spectacular National Park where we camped for two nights. This was the first time in a tent since we left Albany. The camp ground is absolutely beautiful and one of those places not to be missed. There is a very nice swimming pool with a poolside bar and bistro. Really not the sort of place you normally find in a national park. The only downside is that the place is crawling with cane toads which come out at night. Amazing that we travelled all the way to Cairns and this is the first time I have ever come across these nasty little creatures.

The gorge is also well worth a visit. We took a four hour boat trip through the gorge which gave us a great view of the major part of the gorge.

Yesterday we travelled from Katherine to Renner Springs which is little more than a road house in the middle of know where. It did have a pub with great meals. Today we had our biggest riding day yet travelling over 570km to Alice Springs.South of Tennant Creek we passed the Devil's Marbles. Just before Alice Springs we crossed the tropic of Capricorn so we are officially out of the tropics, though the weather isn't much cooler. We haven't really seen much of Alice Springs yet as we took the oppertunity to do some shopping and stock up on food etc before we travel to Ularu tomorrow. The plan is to camp again as accommodation there is very expensive.

We had a great ride out to Lichfield National park today. One of the best roads we have ridden since we left home. It had pretty well everything - twisties, speed and great scenery. A total of around 350km and well worth the effort. I can understand why the local Ulyssians said it wass so good. Only down was that is was quite hot and being Good Friday all the locals were there going to their favourite swimming holes.

Tomorrow the trip home really starts. Even though we are well over half way, the trip south towards Alice Springs and Port Agusta really brings home the fact that we are on our way home. I will be a little sad to leave Darwin, as I have found it to be a nice city. The weather is pretty good, a little on the warm side but much better than some places we have been to. It is also a very friendly place and very easy to get around. We plan to stop off in Katerine again and this time we will visit the Gorge. Its then a long way to Alice Springs with not a great deal along the way.

Another quiet day today, catching up on things that need to be done. Did a bit of tourist stuff this morning as we went for a cruise on the Alligatoir river to see the jumping crocodiles. This was really cool. The tour guide likened the boat to a Mr Whippy van for crocodiles. Unlike the cruise in Kakadu where the crocs hide and are quite difficult to see, on this trip they know that the sound of the boat means an easy feed. As soon as the boat goes into their territory, out the come to see what is on offer.

The boat crew have large rods with lumps of meat attached and when the crocs come out the meat is dmagled into the water and then lifted up out of reach. Their natural instinct is to jump for the food which is very spectacular.

The rest of the day was spent getting the bikes serviced (we have done over 5000km since the last one 2 weeks ago) and catching up on washing. Wer also had to stock up a little on food as tomorrow being Good Friday may make it a little hard to get anything to eat.

Tomorrow we plan to take a trip out to Litchfield Natioanl Park which is an easy day trip from Darwin and according to the local Ulysses members is well worth a visit.