“Where the hell is Binnum…??”

After spending a day in Adelaide, riding around the quiet streets of this town-like city, and doing some work on my website, I was ready to ride again…

I had met up with Dave Young again, while he waited for BMW to fit a new rear tyre to his bike, and as we sat sipping coffee on a sidewalk cafe, we chatted about our plans for the next day… Dave was riding as far as Nelson just over the border into the State of Victoria, while I was heading for a place called Binnum…

“Where the hell is Binnum…??” Dave asked…

“To be honest, I have no bloody idea, but I will figure it out later tonight…!!”

Dave Young prepares the "Great White" for our ride down the coast...

Tracy Boddington, an aunt of Patricia’s good friend Kylie, in Bali, had heard that I was making my way through Australia, and had very kindly invited me to spend some time with them on their farm in a place called Binnum… All I knew that it was somewhere near the route I was taking to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road…

Dave and I agreed to meet up early the next morning, and then ride as far down the coast as we could, before I headed off to Binnum, and he continued on towards Melbourne…

After a cold and windy start, we head for Wellington...

It was cold and overcast as we headed south and rode through a beautiful area known as Cherry Hills… The road wound through lush farmland, down into shallow valleys and up onto a series of ridges, making for a good start to what would be a long day’s riding for both of us…

Waiting for the ferry... We managed to squeeze in behind the caravan...

Crossing the Murray River at Wellington...

We were buffeted by strong winds and a spattering of rain as we tore along the coast and tried to ride out from under the low cloud that hung over us from Wellington down to the town of Kingston…

We stopped for lunch in Kingston, but might have bitten off more then we could chew...!!

After a hearty lunch of Chicken Schnitzel and chips, we parted company, and Dave headed further down the coast, hoping to get as far as Nelson and the start of the Great Ocean Road…

I turned east and rode hard through empty countryside, bound for Lucindale and Naracoorte, which was on my original route anyway… I had not allowed for the fact that I would be approaching this area from the west, when I planned my ride from Adelaide down to Port Fairy on the coast…

In Naracoorte, I stopped to buy a few bottles of wine for my hosts, and then, swept out of town on the road to Frances… “Swept” being the operative word here, as a cold and blustery wind shepherded me out of town…!!

"Aargh...!! It be damn cold here, me hearties...!!"

I was still trying to get used to the dramatic change in temperature from the daytime heat of northern Australia and the Nullarbor, to the windy and cold conditions of the more southern reaches of Australia…

The Boddingtons even have a road named after them...!!

After reaching the spot where Gi-Gi informed Binnum was located, I stopped and looked around me… There was simply nothing to see, apart from a farmhouse off to my left…!! I tried calling Tracy Boddington to let here know I was obviously close to where their farm was located, but had no idea where to ride to from where I was standing… I had expected a small town, but was surrounded by large paddocks and a long line of Gum trees instead…!!

As usual, there was no cellphone reception, and I had to retrace my route for almost 20 kms before I could pull over and call Tracy… Half an hour later, I finally found my way to the entrance of their farm, where Tracy was waiting on the side of the road for me… After introducing ourselves, I followed her SUV down a good gravel road, and turned down the track that led to their house… It wound through an area that Mick later referred to as “The Swamp”, on account that it usually flooded during the rainy season… A large stand of River Gums grew there, and a small herd of mixed breed cattle grazed beneath them…

I was hastily assured that these cattle were merely being looked after for a third party, and the cattle that the Boddington’s worked with were prime Black Angus’es…

The Boddingtons rambling home, set in beautiful gardens, on their farm in Binnum...

The following day, Tracy took me on a tour of the area, showing me the various paddocks that the 800 odd Angus cattle grazed in, and the large pack-house where huge quantities of onions were packed and made ready for distribution… We met Mick who was riding his quad bike around some of the paddocks to check on fences, and stopped to chat about the cattle in his care…

A small herd of heifers came trundling across their paddock to see what we were up to, and stood in a long line in front of us, sniffing and peering inquisitively while others pushed forward from behind to get a closer look… A pair of bulls that had been put with the heifers (mostly for entertainment purposes as far as I could make out…!!) came bustling forward and chased the cows away from the fence, making it quite clear that they did not want their “girls” interfered with…!!

Mick and Tracy Boddington, my gracious hosts...

I had noticed a pair of donkeys in a nearby paddock and had asked about them…

“We use them to keep the bulls from fighting amongst each other… Those donkeys have made a huge difference, and we find our bulls a lot calmer than most…!!” said Mick…

I was surprised by this, as the donkeys seemed a lot smaller than the large Angus bulls I had seen… Apparently, the donkeys do not tolerate any “rough play”, and will not hesitate to stop fights by shaking a hoof at any bulls, regardless of their size, who deem it necessary to throw their weight around…!!

Afternoon ladies....!! Fancy a bit of fodder...??

It is an offence to cut down any dead trees in Australia... Various species of Cockatoo and parrot require them for nest building...!!

These beautiful flowers, or "weeds" if you're a local, line the paddock fences...

I had also noticed a number of Alpacas, smaller than Llamas, but with the same general build, who grazed amongst flocks of sheep…

Mick told me that the Alpacas were brought in to guard the flocks against foxes, who during lambing season, made a “nuisance of themselves”…

The Alpacas were alert to this and would chase any lamb-loving fox out of their territory…

My stay with the Boddington’s reminded me of the many days I had spent on cattle and sheep farms in my youth, herding the animals on horseback each morning, and bringing them back to their overnight paddocks in the late afternoons…

There is much to be said for the peace and quiet of life lived on a farm… I envy the unhurried pace and the closeness to the land that farmers experience… I do not however envy dairy farmers who have to be up at 3.00 am in the morning to squeeze udders… (It’s the time of day I object to, not the udder squeezing…!!)

The short time I was able to spend with Tracy and Mick allowed me to recharge my batteries after my long haul from Perth, and I enjoyed listening to their accounts of the many places they had traveled to in Australia… The large map of the country that hung in the kitchen, detailed the routes they had traveled, and reminded me of my own planning for the days and months ahead… Their desire to take their caravan to all those far flung places in Australia, mirrored my own desire to travel to places I had only heard and read about…

After promising to visit them again at an unspecified date in the future, I took my leave of Tracy and Mick, knowing I would miss both of them and the kindness they had shown me during my stay with them… I would certainly miss the big farm breakfasts that Tracy had cooked up for us each morning…!!

Mick and I enjoy a few final words before I head off to the Great Ocean Road...

With a final wave, I got up on the pegs and guided the Big Fella down their long drive to the gravel road beyond, and then out onto the road that led due east from there, to the state border with Victoria…

©GBWT 2011