Kurrajong Againagong

Yesterday we did as we have done many Saturdays over the past year, and took a list of the properties we're interested in buying, prepared a schedule, and headed out to inspect them. I was going to do this solo last week, but losing my keys scuttled the plan. This week was even better, as San was able to come along too. The weather was perfect. It was 12 degrees Celsius, but it felt 25 in the sun, it was glorious.

The schedule called for inspecting 8 properties, the first at 10:30 and the last at 13:30, spread over several suburbs and each with only a 30 minute window for inspection... there wasn't much leeway in the schedule. I'd used Google Maps to get the approximate travel times to each location, and with the bike I didn't have any problem finding parking where I would have, with the car. We even managed to squeeze another property in though, so we inspected 9 properties in 3 hours. We'd scheduled 10 minutes to walk in and check out each property, and were right on schedule. We're getting pro at this... sadly, we just want to buy one place!

The bike made the experience much more fun. All up we did about 4 hours of riding yesterday, so we were pretty tired and sore by the end of it and ready to rest.

Today (Sunday) I did almost exactly the same ride as I did last weekend, but this time my companion was riding with me instead of on another bike. We're still getting used to pillion riding, and this was a perfect chance for it. The sky was clear, the traffic was light, our schedules permitted it, all lights were green. So off we went.

Here is yours truly, on the Berowra Waters ferry yet again. I've crossed this on a bike three times so far.

With a pillion, especially on a sports bike, there seems to be quite a bit more pressure and strain, naturally enough. The passenger seat slopes forward, offering better support during fast acceleration (reducing the risk of sliding off the back if caught by surprise) but during cruising and deceleration, the pillion can't help but slide forward, pressing the rider against the fuel tank. This is fine for short times but can be uncomfortable for both after a time. So it needs to be managed.

More frequent breaks than I'd take solo, even just a couple of minutes to get off and stretch, like you see San doing here as we wait for the ferry to traverse the river. That's probably the best thing I can do to make the ride more comfortable for both.

The bike handles differently with a passenger, though the 600 isn't affected anywhere near as much as the 125 is, understandably. I don't really notice a difference in acceleration on the 600 (it still goes wheeeeeeeeeeeee!), but the cornering is a bit heavier... possibly increasing the pre-load on the rear suspension would accomodate this, but honestly, I'm not doing any high speed cornering, so I'm just allowing for it in the corners, for now.

San is great as a pillion, she reads the road conditions and traffic and me, and always adjusts appropriately. She's very conscientious, making sure to lean with me in each corner, just by the amount I do, and to keep her sight on the inside of the curve. She was saying to some friends we met for lunch, she could tell when I was getting set for some heavy acceleration, and would lean forward and hold tighter. "His body would go still, and he'd crouch forward, that'd be my signal to hold on." She is really relaxed at speed and is more comfortable with it than I am, I believe. The cornering gets her a bit nervous. Me too! I take them pretty slow as a result, which I think is perfectly sensible.

It was cold, it is the middle of winter after all, but as long as we were in the sun and moving we were fine. We stopped for breakfast at around 10am at Galston, and San was quite cold until we got moving again. She experimented with turning her scarf into a headdress to keep warm, until she remembered she was wearing a hoodie under the leather jacket, which proved more effective.

Thinking a bit more about the trip, I'm wondering if I can squeeze an overnight (or weekend) trip into next weekend. I've cast about for places to travel to... I'd like to stay inland, so I've considered southwest (past Wagga Wagga) or northwest as options. Checking Google maps, I just read out names of towns in my head as potential destinations. I want to stay somewhere small, not a major town... somewhere I can get petrol, food, and a bed, electricity and not much else. Wyangala looked interesting, and so did Come By Chance (I thought it suitably ironic if I planned a trip there). Going to Come By Chance would take me straight through Coonabarabran, where relatives have a farm... we stayed there for a few days at New Years this year, the first time I'd stayed with them since about '94. There's a couple of things I want to achieve with the trip:

1. Decent distance travelled. Come By Chance is 641km from Sydney, about 10 hours travel.
2. I want to make my way back a different way to how I come in. I dislike doubling back when I can double my experience instead.
3. I'd like to try camping out if I can... I have zero camping gear, so I'll have to do some late night shopping on Thursday to prepare if I want to do this. No cooking, just a place to sleep, for when I get caught out without a place to stay on the trip. I just find somewhere a bit away from the road, and set up camp. I don't know if this will go like I imagine yet.
   

I'm wondering whether to see if I can head out to Coonabarabran and camp out on their farm somewhere. However the forecast is for drizzling on both Saturday and Sunday, and if I can avoid rain I'd like to... I'm planning to sleep in a home-made hammock you see, and that plan just goes to hell if it is raining, unless I bring a tarp along as well to rig up overhead, which doubles the size required.

By staying on my relatives' farm, if it all goes pear-shaped, I can knock on their door, admit defeat and beg a bed for the night, instead of going through whatever self-inflicted hell I manage to conjure, when the guy rope snaps or I'm attacked by carnivorous wallabies.

Alternatively I proceed on to Come By Chance after stopping in to say hi. With only 10 hours of daylight currently, I might run out of sunlight. I don't want to be travelling by night much if I can help it. I do want to stop and smell the roses along the way, grab some photos, record some impressions. So stopping at Coonabarabran or somewhere else 8 hours from Sydney is likely a better idea for what is effectively an overnight trip. If I can't do two days of 8 hour journeys, I don't think I'll be able to hack 3 weeks of 6 hour journeys.

Other preparations for the trip involve modifications to the bike. I'm going for something very basic: I'm installing a 12V cigarette lighter. I've got a unit that goes from cigarette lighter to female USB socket, allowing me to charge devices via USB. Phone, GPS, not sure what else I'll need. I want to be able to type my thoughts up each night when I set up camp... I might end up resurrecting my old Zaurus for this, if I can find the charger for it.