Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We had a smooth sailing from Tasmania to Melbourne.  We treated ourselves to a cabin each way this holiday and it really was worth it to be able to have a shower in your own bathroom and a real bed, after a week camping.

We disembarked early on Sunday morning, so it didn't take long to leave Melbourne behind us.

We knew it was going to be a hot day, so planned to ride as far as we could before it got too hot and then get a motel with air con and a pool for the rest of the day.  We would then leave in the cool of the morning on Monday and get home before it was too hot.

We were surprised to start out riding in low cloudy fog and be quite cool.

Once the fog burnt off it quickly warmed up, reaching 30 degrees by 9.00am and we set in for the long straight roads.  Quite different from what we had been on for the previous two weeks.

Then it got cloudy and cooled down a bit for most of Victoria.  We even had a couple of spots of rain.

We stopped at Albury for fuel and after that it once again quickly heated up, as we left the cloud behind.

From then on the temperature hovered at 38 - 39 degrees for most of the day.

Our next stop was Junee for lunch and fuel.  We had considered this to be a destination for the day, but Mick still felt fine so we kept going, stopping occasionally for a drink of water and stretch.

After Cowra, at about 4.30pm we reached our highest temperature of 41 degrees.  Not very comfortable in bike gear.

We had some relief at cold old Blayney, when the temperature dipped briefly to 35 degrees.

What we did notice all the way home was how dry it has become in the short time we have been away.  There has been no rain and the temperature has been in the 30s every day, with at least another week of the same ahead of us. At first I thought some poplar trees were starting to turn for autumn, but no, the leaves were just burning off in the heat.

We arrived home just before 6pm.  Not a bad effort for nearly 900kms.  We did a total of 3,220kms on the trip.

So now we are back home.  Yesterday was a day of unpacking and many loads of washing along with all those other bits and bobs that need attending to after a holiday.  I think Joey was glad to be back home again from the kennels.  Today I was back at work.

Our holiday was wonderful.  We visited new places and revisited others.  We are finding we are now taking more guided tours than we used to and think they are worth every cent they cost.  What we saved by camping more than paid for them.  I'm also pleased we camped every night.  We didn't do much cooking, but hey, it's a holiday.

The Ulysses AGM Rally was great.  Yes, most people were disappointed in the way it was organised, but despite the amenities being minimal, we never had a cold shower and they were always clean.  The weather was ideal, which makes the world of difference.  Most of all, we met some wonderful people, who we will continue to catch up with every now and then.  That is what it is all about.