Being the first day of the tour with new bikes, a new country and riding on the left side of the road, we took it very easy on our first day.
After a really nice relaxing breakfast at the hotel, we jumped on the bikes and headed out of Melbourne just after 9am this morning. Being a Sunday, we escaped the usual morning traffic and got to our first stop, Geelong, in just over an hour. After a quick coffee stop we were back on the bikes and rode to the start of the famous ‘Great Ocean Road’ – one of the most ionic coastal roads in the world.
During the ride we had a mix of overcast, a slight drizzle of rain and some sunshine. Fortunately, we did not get any ‘real’ rain and were able to continue riding with comfortable temperatures and very little dampness. We got a great group shot at the start of the Great Ocean Road before enjoying the twisty, windy road that is perfect for motorcycling and offers absolutely breathtaking scenery along the way.
Lunch in the small seaside town of Lorne had everyone fuelled up and ready to take on the next section of the Great Ocean Road. During lunch we were able to get some nice pictures of some very friendly Sulphur crested cockatoos.
Before arriving at our final destination for the day, Apollo Bay, we took a quick detour up a hard pack gravel road in search of Koala Bears. We only went about half a mile up the road and saw two of them munching away on the Eucalyptus Tree leaves. Sadly I had left my camera in the support vehicle so I do not have any pictures but it was great to see and watch them relaxing in the trees.
Koolio, our motorcycling Koala Bear spent the day in sheer comfort in the back of a brand new R1200RT!
Tonight we are in the charming little seaside town of Apollo Bay and will head out for a great seafood dinner at a very local and ocean facing restaurant.
A great first riding day of the tour! :)
John
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