What do you get if you cross a duck and a cat?

A duck filled fattypuss! Ahah ha, I crack myself up. But seriously, Duck Billed Platypus (platypusses, platypi, whatever), they're cool and I've seen one. Add to that the Echidna I saw a few days back and I've chalked up two of the worlds five monotremes (that's egg laying mammals to you normal people), now to find the other three...

Echidna, like a hedgehog on a really bad hair day.

Anyway enough of my prodigious wildlife spotting abilities. Seasons greetings from Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island, or as I have come to know it 'Corrugation Island', due to the state of the unpaved roads. Talk about turn your bones to jelly...

A funny thing happened to me on the way to the island... There I was waiting for the ferry at Cape Jervis when I got talking to a bunch of people that had just arrived on a Cagiva and another Yamaha. Thoroughly bloody nice bunch, and to cut a long story short I ended up spending xmas day at their place on Kangaroo Island. Nice bunch this biking lot eh?

On the ferry across the 'backstairs passage'

Kangaroo Island has just the one paved road, which runs in a continuous loop around the island taking in most of the major attractions. It's somewhat like a kangaroo based Jurassic Park. All the tour buses are practically on rails, dropping off hoards of people at all the notable points, only to swallow them up again an hour or so later. Needless to say I didn't spend a lot of time on said road, choosing the more jarring experience of the extensive network of gravel, rock and sand roads. Much more interesting, and a good old learning experience to boot.

Anyone would think I knew what I was doing...good job you can't see my expression

Ended up in some great secluded locations, mainly on the coast (hence the plethora of beach-based photos). I also spent quite a bit of time in the Flinders Chase National Park, where I went hunting for the elusive Duck Billed Platypus, amongst other wild creatures. From my time in the park and on the island in general, I have been able to learn three valuable things about the wildlife here:

1) The young of the Echidna are called 'Puggles' which, quite frankly is bloody fantastic.

2) Your average Duck Billed Platypus will surface for slightly less time than it takes for a Sony digital camera to switch on, zoom in and focus. Which is rather infuriating, and led to many 'Nessie!' style blurry photos of said beastie.

3) The isolation of living on this island has driven all the Kangaroos to suicide, and they will attempt to end their lives as often as possible in front of a moving vehicle. Usually when you least expect it and conveniently timed to cause maximum swearing.

Look look a platypus! (honest to god, click it for a bigger version)

Best camping spot would have to be West Bay, funnily enough on the far western shores. Marvellously secluded and a fantastic beach to boot, and it takes a lot to impress me when it comes to beaches. Coming a close second is the Cape Gantheaume Wilderness area on the south eastern edge, although the road leading there leaves quite a lot to be desired. I'm sure I have a photo around here somewhere, ah yes...

Good scenery, roads an 'experience'

As for West Bay, check it out:

You can usually count on mother nature for a good show at bedtime

So I'm scheduled to leave tomorrow (30th), and will have to decide where to go from there. After talking it through with a few people and reading up a bit more, I have decided to save the 'Ooodnadatta Track' and the 'Great Central Road' for a bit later on in my trip. Mainly because now (Jan - Mar) is the hottest time of year in the middle, and I mean melt-your-tyres hot, not just "ooh that's a bit warm". That fact combined with Gosling One only being air-cooled (and me too come to think of it), and I have decided to delay that section to the 'shoulder season' when temperatures should be slightly less mechanically destructive.

However, that means I have a bit more time to bimble round the southern regions of Australia before heading west, so I feel a trip to Tasmania coming on. Not only is it VERY south, it'll also mean I'll be biking round every state in Australia. Score!

Now for some pictures (click any of them throughout this post for bigger versions):

Cape Willoughby on Kangaroo Island, windy as a windy thing heralding from a windy land

Another from Cape Willoughby, this time with the interesting view obscured by a helmet

Yours truly, also like a hedgehog on a very bad hair day
(curse this not-cutting-my-hair resolution!)

More updates to come, but for now Happy New Year to all! See you in 2007.

There's a Beyonce in my helmet...

Shame she's not real though. Not much worse than having a tune you don't know the words to stuck in your head while riding a motorbike. Heavens knows why Beyonce was in there... well I'm sure there were a few reasons, but they probably wern't musical.

No pictures this time round as it's just a short one to wish everybody that happens along this blog a very happy festive season. I'm heading down towards 'Kangaroo Island' for xmas and probably new year as well, so it's unlikely I'll be able to do a proper update until after I get back. Will hopefully have some good photos by then though.

Bike is running well, coping with the heat (a mere 38deg yesterday) much better than I. Riding isn't so bad as long as you keep moving, prepare to sweat buckets when it comes to putting up a tent though.

Sand on the tracks, and other such excuses...

My blog updates are a bit like buses, you wait around for ages then a really long wordy one comes along...ok, so they're not like buses at all really.

Finally boarded the 'Indian Pacific' or as I like to refer to it, the 'bottom torture express'. It was functional for the most part but certainly lacking a bit in the comfort and service departments, especially considering that it was mainly aimed at tourists. The food and drink sucked, the toilets broke down on the second morning, but it was definitely an experience! The only saving graces were the people I met aboard and the chance to see the scenery of the Nullarbor Desert from an air-conditioned box.

After two days of awe-inspiringly bad coffee we finally reached Adelaide, where I had to disembark as the 'Overland' service from Adelaide to Melbourne wasn't leaving until the next morning. A day seeing the sites, a night in a backpackers hostel and I was off on another train for twelve hours. Met some more great people aboard the 'Overland' service, which once again relieved the monotony nicely.

Arrived in Melbourne not a moment too soon, as I was about to go stark-raving bonkers and kill everyone aboard in a Nescafe induced frenzy. Melbourne hadn't changed one jot since I last visited, so I won't be writing anything about it. However I cannot stress enough the bizarre atmosphere produced by every store in a high-street of thousands each playing it's own selection of Christmas carols, in temperatures exceeding 36 deg centigrade. My idea of hell.

Jumped on the next train out to Castlemaine (one hour north), where I was finally presented with this:

'Gosling One' (watch Mad Max, you'll understand)

"Fan-bleeding marvellous", I said to myself, as I often do. Time to get on with this adventure malarky. It took about 60 seconds of riding for me to decide I'd packed waaay too much, and would certainly try and get rid of some of it as soon as possible.

Certainly looks the part, but hasn't really got a bloody clue.

So I headed south from Melbourne down towards the 'Great Ocean Road' and the southern coast. A nice ride around the twisty bends of the coastal arteries was a handy introduction back into riding again, however that didn't stop me dropping it once in a car park after misjudging a turn at low speed. (although we'll keep that one to ourselves eh?)

Roads in the Grampians come in 3 flavours: gravel, sand and sand covered gravel

Headed up into the Grampians National Park for my first taste of 'off-road' riding. Certainly an eye opener, but good fun once you get the hang of it. Two more droppages in the sand reinforced my belief that I really REALLY had packed too much. Seriously, this thing weighs a ton. A fact only exacerbated when it is lying on it's side in a pile of gravel and sand. Still, lesson learned!

Plenty of closed roads to choose from in the Grampians, mainly due to fire damage, be nice if they put the closure signs at the start of the road rather than half-way down them though. I also encountered a bunch of Australian bikers out for a tour in the Park, nice fellows, some flashy machines too. I was making a nuisance of myself by parking up in the middle of the track, so they stopped to take the piss out of the England cricket team. Fair enough really I thought.

Spent an interesting couple of nights camping out in the mountains of the Grampians, letting my imagination run-wild about what horrendous beasties could be making all that noise in the middle of the night. I also started one morning (or not started, depending on your point of view) with a flat battery. Could find no reason for it at all, so I just hoped it was a temporary occurrence. I spent the next 45mins puffing and panting my way up and down a couple of hills in an eventually successful attempt to bump-start the bike.

So, not going into too much detail (as this is costing a fortune in internet fees), I now find myself in a town called Mount Gambier. I came here for one reason mainly, which was to look at a long-range fuel tank a fellow had for sale. I had a look, it would do the job, so I bought it. (thanks ma and pa for the early xmas prezzie!) This has upped the fuel range of Gosling 1 quite considerably, and I now have one less thing to worry about when touring in the outback.

I even managed to fit the thing myself, with a few bits of free fuel hose from the local bike shop in Mount Gambier. Honestly, I have evidence:

Step 1: Take standard Yamaha XT600E, and attack with all available tools.

Step 2 : Wonder what the hell you've let yourself in for.

Step 3: Pretend you knew it was all going to turn out fine.

Step 4: Make like a cheesy poser

So that all went well until I discovered that my temporary battery troubles in the Grampians had turned out to be not so temporary after all. After lugging said battery round to the local Yamaha shop it turns out it is indeed at fault, a cracked cell or something similar was the diagnosis. The result is $60 for a new one, and an enforced stop over in Mount Gambier until Tuesday morning, as that is the only time I'll be able to pick up the fully charged new battery.

See that, that's not supposed to be a big hole that isn't.

Wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't exhausted the entertainment capabilities of the town in the first four hours after arrival.