Ulls: After ditching some weight, we were finally ready to hit the road. 12 noon, exactly 24 hours behind schedule, we left home with more tears. First stop was the local servo, where we topped up with fuel and air. Just as we were about to kick off, my mobile rang and was greated by the lovely Amelia from Triple J. We had a little chat about the trip and arranged an interview over the phone for the next day at 3.45pm. So, on the road and a very hard ride out of Brisbane we approached the NSW border. A sign at Tweed then read, “NO FUEL ON PACIFIC HIGHWAY NEXT 105km”. I promptly pulled off at the next exit to ensure the bikes were topped up for the ride to Byron Bay.
View from the road up to the lighthouse After being blown around on the Pacific by trucks, busses and natures own, we bumbled into the servo just off the highway and our first major drama had reared it’s ugly head. Torsten’s bike had an oil leak. From where, we weren’t sure. The substance had managed to hit the rear wheel rim and had, in consequence, sprayed oil everywhere. The tyres, gearbox, hub, brake line, you name it, it was covered. This made it extremely hard to pinpoint the location of the problem. After speaking to Paul from Retroscooters in Brisbane, we were confident we could get to Byron as it was.
Hangliders overhead The ride from Tweed to Byron is quite a beautiful one, with tunnels, open farming land and tight twisty mountains, it gave us an indication of what our bikes would be like all around the country. We putt-putted through Byron Bay’s main drag to all kinds of looks from cafe patrons and other motorists. I guess at first glance, people are unsure as to what exactly these vehicles are. A pair of ducks migrating south for the winter perhaps?
We made it to the lighthouse with little difficulty, except for Torsten’s left mirror, which had decided it had had enough already and promptly snapped off. Lightning reflexes saw Tor catch the wayward part at 50 kph and managed to make the final kilometre with it under one of his legs. We could only laugh, as just two months earlier, the same had happened to me with my right mirror at 80 kph.
The lighthouse at Cape Byron As we needed to be in Ballina by 5.30pm, we made this a short visit. Those of you that know me, are well aware of my lack of enthusiasm when it comes to exercise. Those of you that have been to the lighthouse at Byron will know that it’s about two hundred meters from the carpark and quite a gradient. All of you now know that these two things combined will not impress me one little bit. I’m puffed just writing about it. The 35kmto Ballina was fairly smooth sailing and we arrived at Betta Electical in time to pick up the HD video camera. Warren and his colleagues all came to check out the bikes and there were more than a few shakes of the head … For those of you that know of the Vespa PX’s inaccurate speedo readings.
240km Speedo – 251 GPS
