I have been riding my dirtbike quite often lately, and my second time out I headed for a place in Urbenville called Tooloom Falls. This picture shows my ute perched atop said falls. I showed up on a Saturday and rode in the rain by myself enjoying some of the most beautiful single track I've ever seen. The soil was a thick and slippery clay, which made for a very eventful day. I reckon I spent just as much time flying off of the bike as I did riding it. I camped at the Falls that night, and woke up to a gorgeous sunny morning and a nice cup of tea.Shortly after my tea, a truck with a couple of dirtbikes cruised in and they were curious what I was doing there all by myself.... after all riding a dirtbike isn't exactly the safest hobby. I quickly replied, "Trying to make friends who ride dirtbikes!". They jumped out of their truck and helped me load up so we could drive 20 minutes up the road to Woodenbong to meet the rest of their crew. Little did I know this mix of about 8 guys were practically professionals. I was in for one of the most physically challenging days of my life, as we rode about 100K through the damp, thick rainforests where giant trees regularly fall and make serious obstacles for a dirtbiker.
Moving onto the good news... One of the nice guys I'd been riding with, Ben, is an avid videographer and has pieced together a couple of short videos on YouTube for your enjoyment. Though I don't appear in any of them, I have been to (and conquered) all of the places you see in this video. I am lucky to have ran into such an excellent group of guys, and maybe before long I will be able to keep up with them! Click here to check out the video!
Now it's time for those pictures I promised!
Climbing Kangaroo Point
This time at night, with the cliffs all lit up and the view of the city even better. There are actually a couple of seperate albums as we have been going every Tuesday and Thursday night, so be sure to visit http://picasaweb.google.com/bkozan to see all of our albums.
4 Wheel Driving at North Stradbroke Island
This was my first chance at getting the ute into 4WD. Stradbroke is easily accessible so Summer and I loaded up a picnic lunch and a few beers and headed for the sand. In Queensland (and most of Australia) the beaches are classified motorways with a 60Km/hour speed limit. All you need is a $40 per year permit and a 4WD. We also hunted down the fire trails just to test how good my Hilux can do in the deep sand. We had a great time and painted some new rust into places I'll never find.
Urbenville Dirtbiking
This was the trip when I met the folks who made the videos above. Easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and to experince it at high speeds is even better. The most memorable bit of this trip was around sunset on Saturday, when I was riding a moderate pace back to camp. I looked to my right and saw a pack of about 6-8 wallabies jumping along side me. They were looking at me too, probably wondering why I was making so much noise. Only in Australia!!
Bundaberg Rum Distillery
Bundaberg and their polar bear mascot (Bundy) are a true Australian icon. So much so Bundy is actually recognized as heritage list by the Australian government. We had a tour of the distillery, ate some of the raw molasses used to ferment the run, and then had a couple of cold ones before heading for home. Very informative and I'll never forget the smell of 75,000 litres of 170 proof rum!
Until next time, Cheers!
1 comment:
That's awesome Brian! But if that's the kinda stuff you are doing..by yourself maybe you should get one of those necklaces that you press the button and someone will know something is wrong. Remember that "I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial from when we were little... that's what I picture but yours would say "A tree has fallen on me and I can't get up!" ;-) J/K It looks like fun! I can't wait to go off roading in the ute!!
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