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Upcoming bucket-list trip in Australia


wordsmith

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With my 80th birthday looming, my two children put their heads together and have offered to fund my last remaining bucket-list adventure, a return motorbike trip to Cooktown in Tropical Far North Queensland, eastern Australia, and back again, later this autumn.   What great kids!    My destination is the tiny, ancient Coral Sea coastal township of Cooktown, which is where the tarmac runs out on this eastern side of Australia, so that will be it for me too.

This trip will cover about 4500 or so kilometres of widely-varying terrain, and I’m thrilled to bits!   Let the planning commence, and read all about it here in due course. 

I'll try to persuade my wife to fly up to Cairns for few days (my last stop before Cooktown, which is about 330km further north) and join me there, thus making it a shared experience.

Map below shows the intended track north, along an inland route for the most part, while the return leg south will, for a change of scenery, be chiefly along the main coastal highway here in sunny Queensland.

P1050155.JPG

Edited by wordsmith
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Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia.   

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you, brindeld - also micah!    Not usually unable to make a decision, I have been 'shall-I, shan't-I' on this for too long now.   The stumbling block has been my ability - or otherwise - to handle a long ride like this without becoming too fatigued by day's end, which would destroy the enjoyment and ultimately any sense of achievement.   Only a few years ago I'd have set off to ride right round Australia (which I once did, but not on a Tracer!) without a second thought, but time moves on.

As a final 'test' I will be undertaking a two-day ~1100km ride south in two weeks time, May 4th and 5th, with an overnight stay along the coast at the end of day one.   The first day will be of 610km, which is about 66km more than the longest day's ride on this mooted trip north, so it will be a good test to see how I pull up, and how I feel on the bike on day two.  The terrain will be very similar to the planned ride north, a mix of decent roads and some not-so-good country minor roads.   The bike is ready to go, not sure about myself though!

In any event, I'll post some words and pix here about the May 4th and 5th circuit.   And if all goes well, the May 30th date to head north will soon arrive.    

Edited by wordsmith
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Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia.   

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We sail at dawn on Thursday May 30th!   Stay tuned...

Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia.   

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