Here are some of the non-motorcycle stuff to
do in Australia. The Australian War Memorial is in Canberra (with
an annex, the Treloar Technology Centre, in nearby Mitchell) and has a
pretty good set of displays of the military history of Australia.
The first photo shows a gun taken from one of Australia's World War II
cruisers. Inside the AWM there a number of dioramas like the 2d pic
on row 1 - models of wartime scenes. This one is of the Australian
Light Horse in the Middle East in World War I - the unit that left behind
all its horses when the war ended. At the annex in Mitchell, they've
got one huge building with stuff they don't have room to display - lots
of aircraft and artillery pieces, but some other stuff too.
Up the road in Cowra is a brief memorial
to a prisoner of war (POW) camp from World War II that housed Japanese,
German and Italian prisoners. On 5 Aug 1944, 900 Japanese staged
a breakout, setting fire to their buildings and making suicidal charges
against guards and barb wire. Over half the Japanese died, the few
who escaped were recaptured the next day, at the cost of 3 Aussies killed.
Since the war, Japanese have "repaid" the town by building a number of
tourist sites, like a Japanese garden, for the town.
There is a campground in Warrumbungle National
Park, NE of Gilgandra, where we ran into a troop of kangaroos grazing or
laying about. The beasts are obviously protected in the park and
so used to campers and bloody tourists that you can walk close to them,
feed them, take their pictures, whatever. We stopped
near Jindabyne, gateway to the Snowy Range - Australia's ski country.
What a view in Pic 3!
Row 2 has stuff about
the motorcycle raceway in Bathurst. The Mount Panorama track route
is shown in the first image. It runs through a residential area as
it climbs from the pits at the bottom of the map until it's atop the hill.
The second pic is from the top of the hill at a point called Skyline (A)
on the map. After going under the banner, the road drops about a
100 feet down twisty, tight turns. Hit the wall on the hill and you've
got a LOONNG drop down. The third photo shows the view of the track
from point (B) on the map, near the pits. The Skyline area is under
the word "Bathurst" in pic 3.
In the 3d row, we "found" a guy named Brian
who CARVES motorcycles out of hardwood. Send him 4 or 5 good photos
of your bike and he'll make one for yah, for about A$700 (about US$450).
That's for a small one like the one beside the postcard. He also
makes full-sized ones. The springer shown here even comes with a
small oil leak under the motor (guess Evos leak in Aus). Didn't think
to ask for the cost for a full-sized bike. The detail is amazing!
Springer even has a carved battery under the seat.
I saved the best for
last - Kath Ellis lives near Moruya where the trip started. A few
years back, she captured a string of dromedary (one hump) camels in the
Outback and brought them to Moruya. She and her partner run Oasis
Camels. People can go on day trips through the nearby mountains and
parks or they'll haul their camels and you to the Outback for a trek across
the desert, camping out during the trip. Anyway, I figured, how often
will I get to ride a camel? When not hauling touristas, Oasis
Camels puts on exhibits for ANZAC and Remembrance Days (in honor of veterans)
or for things like the forthcoming Olympics (Sydney, 2000). They
even dress like members of the Australian Camel Corps. (Why camels?
They've used them for decades in the Outback - better than horses)
Thanks for coming - you're visitor 
since 10 Dec 1999.
since 10 Dec 1999.