After the Putty Road we continued “northish” through the mountains. The Oxley Highway, Thunderbolts Way. We seem to be in Australia during a cold snap - - and at elevations reaching 1,300 meters, things got a bit chilly. Temperatures were below freezing in the evening, so we got a late start in the morning, after things had warmed up a bit. The problem with that approach is that we need to ride purposefully (few stops) so that we can reach our next overnight destination before winter’s short daylight hours come to a close.

Victoria truckin’ through the hills. . .


The 1200 looking out over the hills. . .


And although we’ve not seen any yet, apparently kangaroos come out at night, primarily to feed – and secondarily to scare and/or hurt motorists. (NOTE: while I say that we haven’t seen a kangaroo yet, in truth we have. But in more truth, we haven’t seen a live one – just a bunch of gross bloody ones at the side of the road).

Signs warn of spooky chair-stealing, car-jacking, pouch-nursing critters. . .


These are not words of complaints, they are just observations. The upshot of the cold temperatures is that in order for it so be so cold, the skies are likely clear (and they are). And if the skies are clear (as they are (like I said in the last sentence (don’t make me tell you this again))), then there is no precipitation. Victoria and I agreed that a chill is better than a soaking.

Also, I’ve been making progress on settling in on the “new” GS. The GPS is coming in VERY handy (although it occasionally sends us down unpredictable “shortcuts”). The radio feeds into a helmet intercom – Victoria has the same set-up. She TOTALLY loves it when I sing to her. Oh, and the little tube up front displays the bike registration as required in these parts. . .


For now I’ll end with a nice sunset shot. Here we’re staying at a winery (good call). It all looks peaceful, but remember – there’s a roo behind every tree, just waiting to do something unspeakable. . .