The Nobbies.
and the coastline.
Churchill Island.
Bikes in Cowes for the Grand Prix.
The set up in town.
The storm troopers arrive....
Saturday,
October 22nd
Today
I decided to revisit Phillip Island because I was talking to our
caretaker at school, Jim, who is a motorcycle enthusiast and he told
me that the Australian Grand Prix was there this weekend. I had been
to Phillip Island back in April and found it to be a really pretty
place. The weather today was predicted to be terrible, windy, rainy
and very cool, but I decided to go anyway. So I put my bicycle in the
car and set off. Along the highway I saw lots of motorcyclists riding
through the rain showers and battling the wind. I talked to a couple
of them at a gas station and they were pretty cold and miserable.
When
I arrived the weather cleared for a bit and I drove first to Ryll, a
small town on the north east corner of the island. Then I drove
across the top to the Phillip Island Nature Park where the fairy
penguins come out every night and to the Nobies, which are a landform
off the coast. It was really windy here with showers and short sunny
breaks. I hid from the weather inside the park building here, and
discovered that they had completed an exhibit called 'Antarctica'. I
thought about it but since they were asking $20 and I had already
attended the Antarctica exhibit in New Zealand I decided not to go.
Instead I had hot chocolate and waited for better weather. When it
cleared briefly I walked around the boardwalk trying not to be blown
off.
When
I left I took the more scenic dirt road back and passed the concrete
stands where I had sat in April to see the fairy penguins as they
emerged from the sea to spend the night in their burrows.
This
is the weekend of the Australian Grand Prix motorcycle races on
Phillip Island. There were a lot more people here than the last time
I visited and it occurred to me as I drove around and saw a really
nice bed and breakfast with a No Vacancy sign that I was going to
have difficulty finding accommodation. So, when I saw another b&b
without that sign, but a sign that said 'First Class', I drove up the
long dirt driveway to the top of a rise with a great overview of the
island. I was met by Graheme who showed me around. The place was a
long bungalow with a large livingroom with an old pool table, kitchen
and two pianos. It was obvious that the place had seen better days.
The carpet needed cleaning and things looked like that hadn't been
tidied or updated in years. However, I decided to take the room as I
figured I didn't have a lot of options. It was raining outside so I
sat and talked to Graheme for a bit. He is in his late sixties or maybe seventies and his
life is etched in his face and teeth. Turns out, his wife left him ten years
ago (which explains all of the above), he is living here and raising
a herd of beef cattle, and he has a son who is taking care of his
piano business in Melbourne. He is a lonely guy who has been
searching the internet for another woman. I really felt for him. When I asked if taking care of the farm was hard, he said it's much easier to take care of beef cattle now as all they do is spray them with poison every year to kill all the worms and ticks before they go for slaughter.
I
talked to Graheme until the rain let up and then I went for a drive.
He had given me a map of the island with the things he thought were
worth seeing, so first I drove to Churchill Island. This was just a
nice little drive across a bridge to the heritage farm on the island
where they had highland cattle amongst other animals.
Later
I drove to Cowes, the main town on the island. I walked around
looking at the bikes and the bikes related kiosks that had set up. It
reminded me of Port Dover but on a much smaller scale. I found a
little restaurant and had dinner watching the bikers and the large
picture screen that was set up in the street and was showing
highlights of today's races. I walked around town for a bit and saw a
group of bikers all dressed as Storm Troopers from Star Wars.
Then
I phoned Jim, our caretaker, and got the address where he was
staying. I drove there and had a beer with him and four of his
buddies. Jim and one of the guys both ride vintage Honda 750's from
the early 70's. They told me lots about the racing and the ones to
watch. This is an international race and most of the riders are from
Europe or South America.
I
headed back to the B&B for the night. When I got there there were
two guys here to watch the racing. They were friends but one lived in
Auckland and the other in Brisbane. We all sat and talked for a while
before getting to bed.
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