Australia - Philip Island - MotoGP

As fortune would have it, the Australian MotoGP took place the same weekend I happened to be in Melbourne.  Although I do occasionally watch MotoGP on TV, I have never been to a race before, so I decided to inquire about tickets.  It turns out that for just $20 USD a night, motorcycle riders (only) can camp track side at the facility, where they have full access to the circuit, and are allowed to stay over the night of race day so as not to have to deal with post race traffic, which I understand can be a nightmare.  To put these costs in perspective, most campgrounds in Australia cost about $20 a night, a dorm bed in a hostel costs a bit more, and two mixed drinks in a bar will run about $24 USD, so the ticket price for the MotoGP is incredibly inexpensive, which is a statement that I honestly thought I would never say about anything in Australia.  Even better, you can pack in your own food, and set up camp fires to cook and keep warm.  So off I went to the races.  

I arrived early Saturday morning to check out the qualifying sessions.  Due to very windy and rainy weather, the ride over was a bit challenging.  The wind was so bad, that in open areas I had to employ a hefty lean angle (with occasional massive corrections) on the bike just to maintain my lane. Upon arrival, I rolled into the rather crowded campground, took upon the not so envious task of setting up my tent during a windstorm and subsequent rain showers, and set over to the circuit to watch qualifying.  Apparently, I was not the only one having trouble with the wind, some of the MotoGP riders had it worse, with one rider being blown off the track in excess of 200 mph.  Needless to say, the qualification runs were then cancelled as not to hurt anymore riders. 

Post Squall

Fans Using Remnants of Their Tents to Stay Warm and Dry

My tent, the riders, and the fans all bounced back later that day, and qualifications were held Sunday morning, with the race that afternoon.   The race was under threat of rain the entire time, which did hold off until the victory lap.  Marc Marquez won ... of course.  I must say, even with the challenging weather conditions, I had a good time and would do it all over again.  The track side camping was great as it was just motorcycle riders, about half of them were there as solos, so we all just banded together and had a great time. 

Marquez on a Qualifying Run

I learned a few things that day, first that MotoGP fans are obsessive; second, the riders look so much faster in person than on TV; and, lastly, and most importantly, my tent is unable to withstand squalls, as the next squall flattened my tent and deposited a small swimming pool inside. Next stop....Sydney. 

Australia, Albany to Melbourne

Well this one was a long run, and I can confirm now, without hesitation, that southern Western Australia is similar to western Western Australia which is similar to northern Western Australia, as there is not allot going on. In summary, Western Australia is more or less empty, the remnant of Australia that nobody really wanted (except for the farms and mines). The roads are long and straight, the lands are barren, and the gasoline is insanely expensive $6+ USD, the only noticeable difference between the north and south are the dramatic temperature differences  and the kangaroos down south are much larger.  The actual ride across the State was long, cold, wet at times, and littered with dead kangaroos.  Why so many dead kangaroos?  Well the trucks hit them at night.  Most trucks are equipped with a metal plate on front to project the cab from sustaining damage.  N\To e honest, I am not sure what the name of the plate is, but I refer to it as the Kangaroo Exploder, as the name seems somewhat appropriate  A few stretches of the roads are so littered with dead kangaroos that I would pass time on the bike by using them as a slalom course, seems gross, but better than running over them again...and again...and again.    





There are some interesting sites along the route, the coolest being the playground for humpback whales.  There is a location, near Albany, where whales comes to just play, hangout, socialize, sunbath, and birth and raise calves. They have been coning there since recorded time, The playground is visible from the local cliffs and some people just spend hours there watching them.  The pod will number over 60 individuals in the height of the season, but was just down to just four at the end of the season when I was there.  They were active playing and blowing water 20 feet into the air until I decided to take my camera out, at which point they played dead until I put it back away.  This cycle repeated itself a number of times until I gave up and took the less than inspiring picture below (this playing dead act was reserved for just myself and my camera, this became a apparent when I was leaving and I heard a woman yell in amazement, "did you catch that shot?,", and he responded, "you bet I did honey."). 



The other somewhat cool thing about southern WA is that it's the location of the Skylab crash back in the 1980s.  There is a museum of the crash that I was first impressed by until I realized many of the pieces were complete fakes and bad ones at that.  I am not sure what I expected from a museum that was co-located with a gas station, but live and learn.  



The run run accross the southern part of the country did include two decent sized cities, Adelaide and Melbourne, the later of which is a real city with trains, trams, and numerous high rise buildings  Melbourne is the first large city I have come across since Kuala Lumpur, and a nice break from the outback.  The City is known for festivals, nightlife and street art.  Melbourne is also the home of the Australian MotoGP. which by coincidence will be held this upcoming weekend.  I secured track side camping and tickets, so it should be good fun.  




Leg Distance: 2,070 mi (3,338 km)

Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 47,561 mi (76,713 km)

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China (for 20 seconds), India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Timor-Leste. Australia

Australia: Margaret River

If I were to describe an area as, adjacent to the ocean, tall treed, the smell of pine permeating through the air, cool temperatures, twisty roads, quaint little towns, national parks, cold water diving, spritzing rain, and expensive real estate, you might think that I was describing Northern California in the United States, but I am describing Southwest Australia.  All this, with the exception of the high prices, makes for nice riding, nice beaches, a relaxed population, the areas is beautiful.  The cool thing about the area is the wildlife.  There are allot of kangaroos (including in the meat section of the grocery), snakes, and people friendly stingrays in the ocean to name just a few.  

One of the unusual things about Australia is that foreign tourists are allowed to work here while on holiday.  Apparently the country is hurting for entry level labor, and European kids (most notably Germans) come here to work, so many of them are taking the Australian Government up on their offers of worl.  The kids are making about $25AUS ($16.75USD) an hour, not bad since they can live in hostels relatively cheaply. When I first started across the outback it seemed every roadhouse was staffed by a German backpacker.   The rule is that they must do 88 days in a remote location if they wish to stay a year of more.  Apparently this area qualifies, and there are backpackers everywhere, picking strawberries, making sandwiches at Subway, etc.  I have run into a couple of people that started as strawberry pickers from a down-and-out county, and after six years and a sponsorship are full-fledged Australian citizens, so it is a pretty cool program.  

Leg Distance: 680 mi (1,096 km)

Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 45,49 mi (73,375 km)

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China (for 20 seconds), India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Timor-Leste. Australia