On Dry Land

I’ve been holding my breath for months waiting for Effie to reach our shores and finally she has arrived…or so I’m told. After the journey from Europe the ship docked in Perth this month, sailed on to Melbourne and eventually arrived in Sydney. Effie has I suspect, now seen more of the Australian coast than me!

I’m waiting on the news that customs have cleared the bike and I can arrange for her to be transported to Tasmania. It’s been a nervous time for us and it will be with much relief when we have her back in our care.

Meanwhile, Lynne & I have been working on plans for a new home for the three of us – well four actually, as my old 500 Triple Kawasaki is also heading south to Tasmania to join us as we speak. It’s been many years since the Kwaka & I have enjoyed splitting the breeze together. I first owned the bike back in the 70’s, then sold it to a friend and bought it back several years later.

The bike has been stored for a number of years in Qld with my good mate Steve Hall, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. He’s taken care of the machine in my absence and will no doubt be pleased to have more room now for his own beauties. To prevent rust over such a long period, the Kawasaki tank was drained and this and the engine were well oiled. The beast is renowned for speed, poor handling and excessive fuel consumption – not a good combination I know, but I’m still looking forward to throwing a leg over her every now and again while I still can.

Not surprisingly, I’m itching to have a workshop again, my tools all at hand and be able to strip the bikes down and rebuild them both to their former glory. I love tinkering, making parts on the old lathe and hearing a beautiful old engine run smoothly.

Tasmania is a relatively small island,  though there’s still many roads for me to discover and I plan to see them all. For those of you still buried in snow, I can only say, here’s hoping the winter season is a brief one. While waiting for Effie to come home I’ve been working on the book, which has brought memories flooding back…the people, the scenery, the experiences and those hills! I can’t wait to do it all again, this time a little differently, but still with the same passion and love for two wheels. So here’s to dry land and more adventures.