Day one was just the warmup and the 1200 settled into “touring mode” selected from the many electronic options on the big screen. I had avoided cruise control and found that I could rest the heel of of my palm on the throttle while we purred along at 110 km per hour. This left me fingers dangling on the front brake lever ready to pull up fast should I need the coordination of the ABS anchors. The Richmond caravan park on the bank of Lake Fred Tritton had big patches of green grass and in 45 minutes my tent was up, the bike sat up on the oversized centre stand like a contented puppy and I spun the back wheel to give it a daily dose of lube. Steak and chips from the Mud Hut Hotel ended a great day and I tried to retire for a quiet evening. This is hard to do on the road. EVERYONE wants to talk, from the two Telstra guys working 3 weeks straight to the Canadian fossil hunter who spends 6 months a year in Australia …they all chatted away and opened up a view of Australia that I had not glimpsed.
I am glad they sealed the road way back when
