It's late winter.  There's been lots of rain.  

But not today.  

Today the sun shone, skies were blue and with the temperature nudging mid-twenties Celsius spring was in the air.

A good day to saddle up the DR650 and go around the neighbourhood back roads.

So much rain makes the hills as green as can be...


The rivers and creeks are in swollen full flow..






Sun thru the canopy and the tree ferns below...


Creek crossing... the approach (from the far side) was pretty muddy...


Winter brings the Wattle trees out in fabulous yellow bloom...






Roadside tree ferns and the tall Eucalyptus timber beyond....


These are working forests... meeting a speeding log truck is a lesson in 'get the make the beast with two backs out of the way'  


A logged out coop...


Looking south... the peninsula in the background to the right of the windmills is Wilsons Promontory.  The most southerly point on the Australian mainland...


A closer look towards Wilsons Prom..

above pic taken from this location...


DR650 lurking in the shrubs...


Foster Dam...

...the surveying engineer on this Dam project is a friend of mine...


Heading back up into the hills once again took me past Turtons Falls...

In summer there will be barely a trickle.  But plenty water right now...


Turtons Creek..


Selfie..


Spring is definitely in the air...


Where the tracks have been muddy the Shire throws down stone big enough to make railway ballast blush.. makes for interesting riding..


Back amongst the green hills...


Almost home now.



Wildlife encountered on this ride:
Three death wish Wallabies
One Kangaroo
Countless Wombats (all of 'em road traffic fatalities - not of my doing I hasten to add)
Zero Koalas

Pretty nice neighborhood   

Quote from: Ddan on August 31, 2013, 05:37:03 AM
Pretty nice neighborhood   

I'll say

OK Steve so where's my airplane ticket...

Thanks for the really nice pics..

Geoff...

beautiful!  thanks for sharing

Thanks for the kind comments guys and TiNis  

Quote from: geoffduc on August 31, 2013, 06:11:29 AM
OK Steve so where's my airplane ticket...

One of these years maybe I can get you ALL down here for a dimbyDU  

That would be awesome!

Wonder what it costs to ship a bike there and back...

Too much... ~ $1500 each way?

We'll just have to take turns 

Damn it sure looks nice there. I sell tattoo supplies for a living, my high time of year is spring/summer, low time is winter. I've always wanted to go to Oz to work when it got slow here...live an endless summer kind of thing.

Thanks for the ride, Mate. Now I believe I'll head out. 

Quote from: El-Twin on August 31, 2013, 08:09:51 AM
Thanks for the ride, Mate. Now I believe I'll head out. 

Too bad everything crawling down there is poisonous. 

Nice snaps however!

Very nice Ung!

Some of the pics remind me a lot of my home "town" or lack thereof

Nice work Unge.

Thanks for the mini trip.  I love visiting OZ! 

It's refreshing to be in a place that's completely backwards from where I live.  A country founded by criminals and governed by noblemen.  What a concept!

Quote from: ungeheuer on August 31, 2013, 05:27:32 AM
Zero Koalas

The koalas only attack foreigners.

Quote from: Curmudgeon on August 31, 2013, 08:38:09 AM
Too bad everything crawling down there is poisonous. 

On the bike the crawlers are the least of your problems ... until you stop and put your gear down.

Off the bike you should be more mindful of those that slither ... and stay outta the water - the swimmers can be bad but the floaters hold the real poison.