Throughout the night, my tent felt like it was going to be blown away. There was obviously a change coming through, so I couldn't expect the nice weather of yesterday to be repeated. Sure enough, it was grey and overcast in the morning. I packed up pretty early and hit the road by 7 am.
I just wanted to get back to Perth to get a new tyre - although I don't really need it. This tyre just won't die. It's done over 8500 kms, the last 800 or more on tar and it's still got some life in it. I will change it just so that I have one less thing to worry about. I'll be putting the same on again.
About half an hour after having an early (9 am) smoko at Mingenew, it started to look rain. Sure enough, it started to belt down. Well, I'm wet now, so might as well keep going. I would've been a lot drier if I had've zipped a zip instead of being a lasy bastard. Result - one very, very wet arse. Oh well. Have you any idea how much water a 3 trailer road train throws up from a wet road? I reckon it's enough to fill the Charlton swimming pool. It's like hitting a wall of water. Not much fun.
I'd decided to find a motel as soon as I could so that I could get me and my gear dry. That took longer than I thought. Somehow I ended up near the Perth airport, so gave those hotels a miss as they were either going to be too pricey, or too noisy (being on a main road). I saw a sign for Freo and thought, well, I like the place, and I know a pub to stay at. Sounds like a plan. In fact, I'm going to stay 2 nights as I can't be bothered rushing around to get everything dry. Well, that and I really like the pubs around here :)
No pics - I may be dumb enough to ride in the rain for 3 hours, but I'm not dumb enough to stop and take a picture of it :)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
27th June - more dirt
Took it wasy on the way from Nanga to Overlander roadhouse as I had only 20 lbs in the rear tyre and couldn't be bothered pumping it up. Waited until I got to the roadhouse for that. I met another rider on a KLR650 and had a bit of a chat. He suggested I do the Holland Track if I get near Hyden (close to where the Wave Rock is located). He'd had is bike stuck up to the axles due to the rain and mud from the weekend - I was pretty happy I'd missed that.
Instead of taking the bitumen back to Geraldton, I'd checked out some alternatives on the map. I decided to take the Butcher Track to Murchison, then the Birrangarra-Pindar Road. All dirt, all good. The roads were similar to some of the ones we'd done on the tour - wide, gravel, dirt, sand and everything in between - all in very good shape. I came across a wedge tail eagle standing very proudly next to a dead roo. Later I would come across a Red 'roo (much bigger than a grey, and the first live one I'd seen all trip), sheep and then followed by a bush chook (Emu). Plenty of life out here. the Birrangarra-Pindar road is a part of the Wool Wagon Pathway and had some interesting historical stop to break up the trip. At one stage I was hoping that I wasn't going to pass another vehicle whilst on the dirt roads. That got shot when I passed about 3 cars in 20 minutes right at the end of the day.
I hit Geralton right on 5pm, so it was time to make a home somewhere - had all sorts of strife finding a campground. The visitor centre was closed and nothing was jumping out at me. Finally found something on the way out of town. Made camp for the 3rd day in a row! woohoo!
Just before looking for somewhere to stay, I called in to see the HMAS Sydney II memorial. 645 sailors perished when it was involved in a battle with a German ship. It's quite a place.
The dome is made of 645 stainless steel seagulls - each one representing a sailor from the HMAS Sydney II. I want to say it's a 'nice' place, but that's not the right word. It's well worth visiting.
Instead of taking the bitumen back to Geraldton, I'd checked out some alternatives on the map. I decided to take the Butcher Track to Murchison, then the Birrangarra-Pindar Road. All dirt, all good. The roads were similar to some of the ones we'd done on the tour - wide, gravel, dirt, sand and everything in between - all in very good shape. I came across a wedge tail eagle standing very proudly next to a dead roo. Later I would come across a Red 'roo (much bigger than a grey, and the first live one I'd seen all trip), sheep and then followed by a bush chook (Emu). Plenty of life out here. the Birrangarra-Pindar road is a part of the Wool Wagon Pathway and had some interesting historical stop to break up the trip. At one stage I was hoping that I wasn't going to pass another vehicle whilst on the dirt roads. That got shot when I passed about 3 cars in 20 minutes right at the end of the day.
I hit Geralton right on 5pm, so it was time to make a home somewhere - had all sorts of strife finding a campground. The visitor centre was closed and nothing was jumping out at me. Finally found something on the way out of town. Made camp for the 3rd day in a row! woohoo!
Just before looking for somewhere to stay, I called in to see the HMAS Sydney II memorial. 645 sailors perished when it was involved in a battle with a German ship. It's quite a place.
The dome is made of 645 stainless steel seagulls - each one representing a sailor from the HMAS Sydney II. I want to say it's a 'nice' place, but that's not the right word. It's well worth visiting.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
26th June - Steep Point
I decided to spend another night at Nanga - as rough as it was. It meant that I'd be able to go to Steep Point without having to carry my gear. That morning, one of the blokes that I'd bumped into the previous days that didn't think much of the 'resort' mentioned that a better shower block was near the shop, his comment "that other one is 3rd world". I've not been to the 3rd world, but I think he might have been doing the 3rd world a disservice - they were pretty rank.
Anyway, I took off for my first mini-adventure. The maps had "4WD tracks for experienced drivers only" so I didn't know what to expect. I hoped one wheel drive would be able to manage :) The road was pretty sandy and I'd come across about a dozen roos so I was taking it fairly easy. I'd only noticed one set of tyre tracks and I'd already passed the 4WD going in the other direction - I was beginning to think the area was deserted. Sand dunes everywhere. I bumped into one of the Rangers who was fishing on the rocks. She said to call into the house but to be wary of the dogs - I said I won't run over them. She said they were 'big' - motioning about waist height. I'm not the best around dogs - so I wasn't looking forward to meeting hers.
Around the corner I saw about 6 camp sites, then another lot of 4 and so on. This place was busier than Bourke St! Everyone seemed to be out on their boats fishing. I called into the Ranger house to say G'day and what do you know - a dirty great Rottweiler was barking. Great - what do I do now? Then I hared a whistle and the dog ran around the back. The ranger said "Sorry, she doesn't like motorbikes". I said "No worries - I don't like dogs!". We had a quick chat - there's no charge for motorbikes, so I headed off.
I found the sign for Steep Point after taking a wrong turn - took the obligatory pic. Sorry if you've just eaten and have to look at this. I'm not sure what that growth is, but it won't wash off.
This rock was left near the sign. I think this was the same mob of Kiwi's that we (the tour group I was with) bumped into at Carnegie Station as they were on their way to Steep Point after heading off from Byron. Looks like they beat me - I shouldn't have dawdled in Freo for so long :)
I had a tonne more fun heading back to Nanga - well, at least through the sandy tracks anyway as I knew what to expect as far as road conditions and distance. The Usuless Loop road that leads into Steep Point is another matter though - very boring, straight graded road - it seemed to go on forever. I then headed up to Denham which is the westernmost town on the Australian mainland. Not much to see, so refuelled and headed back to Nanga.
Anyway, I took off for my first mini-adventure. The maps had "4WD tracks for experienced drivers only" so I didn't know what to expect. I hoped one wheel drive would be able to manage :) The road was pretty sandy and I'd come across about a dozen roos so I was taking it fairly easy. I'd only noticed one set of tyre tracks and I'd already passed the 4WD going in the other direction - I was beginning to think the area was deserted. Sand dunes everywhere. I bumped into one of the Rangers who was fishing on the rocks. She said to call into the house but to be wary of the dogs - I said I won't run over them. She said they were 'big' - motioning about waist height. I'm not the best around dogs - so I wasn't looking forward to meeting hers.
Around the corner I saw about 6 camp sites, then another lot of 4 and so on. This place was busier than Bourke St! Everyone seemed to be out on their boats fishing. I called into the Ranger house to say G'day and what do you know - a dirty great Rottweiler was barking. Great - what do I do now? Then I hared a whistle and the dog ran around the back. The ranger said "Sorry, she doesn't like motorbikes". I said "No worries - I don't like dogs!". We had a quick chat - there's no charge for motorbikes, so I headed off.
I found the sign for Steep Point after taking a wrong turn - took the obligatory pic. Sorry if you've just eaten and have to look at this. I'm not sure what that growth is, but it won't wash off.
This rock was left near the sign. I think this was the same mob of Kiwi's that we (the tour group I was with) bumped into at Carnegie Station as they were on their way to Steep Point after heading off from Byron. Looks like they beat me - I shouldn't have dawdled in Freo for so long :)
I had a tonne more fun heading back to Nanga - well, at least through the sandy tracks anyway as I knew what to expect as far as road conditions and distance. The Usuless Loop road that leads into Steep Point is another matter though - very boring, straight graded road - it seemed to go on forever. I then headed up to Denham which is the westernmost town on the Australian mainland. Not much to see, so refuelled and headed back to Nanga.
25th June
Throughout the night the rain came bucketing down, so I was pretty hbappy with my decision to rough it in a 3.5 star motel. The morning was pretty nice though, so continued up to Geraldton. On the way up, I was wondering if the windy I encountered was a one off or not. I started coming across these trees that were 'leaning'. Check this one..
Guess they get a bit of wind up this way afterall.
Cruised into Geraldton - not much to see really. Had a snooze on the foreshore in the sun. When I was at the visitor centre, I noticed that Steep Point is less than 400 kms from Geraldton. Steep Point is the westernmost point of the Australian mainland on the Shark Bay World Heritage park. I thought seeing as I was in the neighbourhood that I'd better check it out. It started to rain and get a bit cooler - thought I was going to have to motel it again, but it started to clear. I pulled over to the Overlander roadhouse to get kitted up and to get something warm. $4 for an instant coffee and I had to make it myself! The humanity!.. Mind you, I would've paid $10 but that stage.
By the time I got to Nanga I'd had enough so turned into the "Resort". Woah, do they throw that word around with a bucket load of abandon. The place is about an inch away from being declared decrepit. Given I wasn't going any further, I paid the $25 for the camp site. It was a gravelly patch, but had a pretty nice view.
Guess they get a bit of wind up this way afterall.
Cruised into Geraldton - not much to see really. Had a snooze on the foreshore in the sun. When I was at the visitor centre, I noticed that Steep Point is less than 400 kms from Geraldton. Steep Point is the westernmost point of the Australian mainland on the Shark Bay World Heritage park. I thought seeing as I was in the neighbourhood that I'd better check it out. It started to rain and get a bit cooler - thought I was going to have to motel it again, but it started to clear. I pulled over to the Overlander roadhouse to get kitted up and to get something warm. $4 for an instant coffee and I had to make it myself! The humanity!.. Mind you, I would've paid $10 but that stage.
By the time I got to Nanga I'd had enough so turned into the "Resort". Woah, do they throw that word around with a bucket load of abandon. The place is about an inch away from being declared decrepit. Given I wasn't going any further, I paid the $25 for the camp site. It was a gravelly patch, but had a pretty nice view.
It was about time I used the tent - I'd only carried it half way around the country and it hadn't seen daylight yet. The ride up here was pretty nice - boring, but peaceful, especially compared to yesterday.
24th June - On my own...
For the few free days in Freo I've just been bumming around. First day was to get all my gear washed. Had to wash my jacket and pants twice and they're still not really clean - maybe they won't be ever again. After that I went for a ride in to town - determined to have a feed and a beer at the Little Creature Brewery. The beer went down a treat and so did the food - highly recommended. After that, I reckon I deserved a cleansing ale at The Sail and Anchor - a craft beer pub. They do some ripper dark beers - their bock and stout are awesome. Whilst looking for a park, I had a bit of a fright as someone had run up behind me at the traffic lights and grabbed me - it was one of the blokes from the tour. It was good to catch up with the Nowra boys for one last chin wag.
The next day I rode in to Perth to get the bike serviced. After dropping off the bike I jumped on a bus for the CBD, but got off about 10 stops too early. It wasn't a bad day, so Id didn't mind the walk - I hadn't done of anything but ride for the past 3 weeks. Did some window shopping and found a good coffee (at last!) so I was happy.
After riding back in to Freo I caught up with Gav and Fiona for a few beers and later, some salt and pepper squid. Life's pretty hard here in Freo. Again, finished off with a cleansing stout at the Sail and Anchor - I could make a habit of this - does two times make a habit?
OK, so it's the 24th. Up at 6am trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle - how did I bring all this stuff here - but it won't fit now? Caught up with Gav and Fiona at Gino's for a later brekky. Ripper feed - high;y recommended.
I decide to just hit the bitumen for the trip up to Geraldton for no other reason than to wear out my rear tyre before heading back to Perth for a new one. I headed up the coast and came across Lancelin back beach. I rode up to it and took a few pics.
Taking off fron Lancelin, the wind started to pick up. It actually turned into one of the worst days of riding I've ever had. In one instant the bike was being ripped to the left, and at the same time my head was being ripped to the right. I'm sure the only reason I didn't lose my helmet altogether is because of the chinstrap. Riding into Dongara (about 80 kms from Geraldton) I pulled the pin and called it a day. Decided on a motel due to the thunderstorm I could see ahead - I don't care if that makes me a wuss or not - at least I'll be a dry wuss!
The next day I rode in to Perth to get the bike serviced. After dropping off the bike I jumped on a bus for the CBD, but got off about 10 stops too early. It wasn't a bad day, so Id didn't mind the walk - I hadn't done of anything but ride for the past 3 weeks. Did some window shopping and found a good coffee (at last!) so I was happy.
After riding back in to Freo I caught up with Gav and Fiona for a few beers and later, some salt and pepper squid. Life's pretty hard here in Freo. Again, finished off with a cleansing stout at the Sail and Anchor - I could make a habit of this - does two times make a habit?
OK, so it's the 24th. Up at 6am trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle - how did I bring all this stuff here - but it won't fit now? Caught up with Gav and Fiona at Gino's for a later brekky. Ripper feed - high;y recommended.
I decide to just hit the bitumen for the trip up to Geraldton for no other reason than to wear out my rear tyre before heading back to Perth for a new one. I headed up the coast and came across Lancelin back beach. I rode up to it and took a few pics.
Taking off fron Lancelin, the wind started to pick up. It actually turned into one of the worst days of riding I've ever had. In one instant the bike was being ripped to the left, and at the same time my head was being ripped to the right. I'm sure the only reason I didn't lose my helmet altogether is because of the chinstrap. Riding into Dongara (about 80 kms from Geraldton) I pulled the pin and called it a day. Decided on a motel due to the thunderstorm I could see ahead - I don't care if that makes me a wuss or not - at least I'll be a dry wuss!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
I'll get there...
Day 11 - Lamberts Centre to Yulara (Ayres Rock)
Had to contend with some corrugated roads - well, we thought they were corrugate, but Magnus said that they'll seem like paved road compared to the Gunbarrell - yeehah.
Pub of the day was Curtain Springs - quick drink before the run into Yulara. The DR was called on for some courier work. Adrian had picked up a block of XXXX Gold, but Magnus had already headed off in the truck. Add some duct tape and voila!
20 kms later we caught up to Magnus and offloaded it in to the truck.
Before getting into Curtain Springs, we saw Mt. Conner which is somtimes called the fake Ayres Rock as that's what it can look like from a distance. Later that day, we got to see the actual rock - geez it's a big bastard - even from the distance we saw it from.
That night we stayed at Yulara which is the small tourist/resort village for Ayres Rock that has a campground, and several different levels of hotels with a small shopping centre. We had a meal at the Outback Pioneer Club thingo - got to cook my own steak - just as well I like medium rare :)
Early night as the pub is an 'outdoor' pub and the night was absolutely freezing - worst of all, we didn't have a campfire to sit around, so it was an early night. No real photo's from today.
Day 12 - Yulara (free day)
Well, given that we were only 20 kms from Ayres Rock, you'd think I would've gone to have a look, but I couldn't be bothered - dumb, probably, but I was happy to bum around the campground and the little village, change the oil in my DR, and generally take it easy.
So, again, no pics.
Instead, here's a brief run down on a typical tour day.
Day 12 - Yulara to somewhere on the Gunbarrell highway
Morning was another bloody cold start - what is it with this place? It was so cold, that the boys from Nowra had bought some oven mitts the previous day to wear. Check 'em out
About 40 kms later, we came across The Olgas - they looked pretty cool.
We called in to Docker River which is an Aboriginal community which was a bit of a shock. On one side of the road was a house with several cars out the front in various states of disrepair, but on the other side of the road were quite tidy houses with chain link fences and barbed wire on them. Later in town, there were dozens of dogs just wondering around, as were the people. Just bumming around. Then there was the kindergarden which had 8 foot bars surrounding it. It's hard to describe, but it's not a good feeling, and I was pretty happy to get out. That's all I'll say about it.
Shortly after we crossed into WA where, according to Mangus, the sun shines warmer, the air is fresher and life, in general, is just better. Guess where he was brought up? :) The scenery along the Peterson Range was fantastic - rolling hills and pale ghost gums (I think they were ghost gums anyway).
We filled up in Warakurna which is a small community. The roadhouse has cages that surround the fuel pumps, but they only sell OPAL fuel which doesn't contain the odours for petrol sniffers to get high on - we had seen this previously at other places as well - the OPAL that is, not the cages. Not far from there is Giles meteorological station, which, even though it's located in WA, is actually a very small piece of SA and even runs on SA time! Bizarre. Here is where the grader that carved out the Gunbarrell Hwy, amongst many more, back in the fifties. It's called Len's Cat as Len Beadell was the bloke who was the surveyor for the Gunbarrell Road Construction Party. It had graded approx 6,000 kms through some of the roughest country around and had to do 5 passes for each km = 30,000 kms. Oh yeah, Warakurna and Gunbarrell Hwy are both songs on Midnight Oil's Diesel and Dust album - guess what I played on my PC that night :)
After that, we hit the unmaintained portion of the Gunbarrell - geez, was this a wake up. I had 34 litres of fuel on board and the road was basically a twin track of sand, rock and hardpack - constantly changing. The track is very tight in parts, and flowing in others. There's plenty of sticks, trees, and bushes that line the track - right next to the track. The barkbusters certainly copped a hiding - as did my jacket and, at times, my face! I was constantly over running corners (a common occurance for the whole trip now that I think about it - might be the reason I was called 'straightline' for a while around the campfire).
Just as I was completing a section that was a tonne of fun, I got pretty close to a camel - in fact, way too close. I saw that Adrian had stopped ahead, so had started to slow down, but was still doing 60 or so I guess, when out of nowhere, I see a camel start to run in front of me - he was all hooves and legs as he sprinted straight in front of me - at about arse height - I started to think "great, I'm going to not just hit a camel, I'm going to go straight up his bum!". Luckily I manged to hit the brakes in time for him to join his mates on the other side of the road without claiming a camel scalp. Time for a bit of a breather.
One of these bludgers caused me a bit of grief
Day 13 - Gunbarrell to Len Beadell's tree (on Gunbarrell)
More of the same today - great variety on the Gunbarrell - rock ledges that hide in the sand, ant hills that hide in the shadows, trees that jump out to knock your hand from the handlebars, sand and gravel and rock and.. I think you get the picture. As tough as it is, it's an absolute blast and was fast becoming the highlight of the trip for me.
The colours in the area are startling - especially given that the area has had such a lot of rain recently. The roads are a combination of red dust, purple gravel, white sand, mustard yellow gravel, quartz-like rock. On the edge of the road are small plants and scrub that is as green as anything that I've ever seen. Then, the vast majority of the landscape is made up of pale yellow/straw spinifex that is 4-5 feet high. The sky is picture perfect blue, and there's a few clouds about. It was stunning. I tried to take a picture of it, but it pretty much sucked, so didn't keep it.
One thing about the Gunbarrell - if you don't like the standard, or type, of road - just wait anywhere from 500m to 2 kms as it will change. Parts of the road have washed out completely, so there diversions. Also, the corrugations can be horrendous - they were shaking my head so badly that my specs would bounce which resulted in the whole world moving. I've not ridden or driven over corrugations like them before.
We came across a dingo that was sitting in the middle of the road - stopped not 20 m in front of us. Not until we were very close did he run off - pretty cool to see them so close.
The anthills are made out of concrete-hard dirt. I managed to hit a couple that were hidden behind a small plant, or in the shadows on the side of the road. I'll tell you one thing - the anthills don't move - you do, usually straight up with arms and legs all over the place. It was sometime during this day, or the next, that I managed to dent both front and rear rims. Oh well, I was pretty keen on getting some new flash looking rims anyway - now I have an excuse.
Anyone who likes trailriding, just about has to love this stuff - well, that's my opinion anyway. On this day, we didn't see another vehicle. Gotta love that!
One of the markers Len Beadell used to mark the Gunbarrell
More Gunbarrell - yeah...
Day 14 - Len Beadell's tree to just outside Carnegie Station Homestead
More Gunbarrell makes Marty happy. Still hard work, but it's such a great challenge - it's what made the trip for me. Due to the Gunbarrell being such a handful for some of the guys, we hadn't made great time, so we had to do a few more kms today, but still didn't get to Carnegie where we could have had some showers - but we wouldn't have been able to have a campfire. Fires before showers in my books, so I wasn't all that disappointed.
Yep Gav, that's where we've got to go...
Day 15 - Outside Carnegie Station to Lake Mason
Big day today - and extra 76 kms on what was going to be a big day anyway so we started 30 mins earlier - brekky at 5:30. We re-fueled at Carnegie - well, most of us did. We only had 350 kms to Wiluna, so I didn't fill up as fuel is pretty pricey here. It would come back to haunt me. Carnegie marks the end of the old Gunbarrell Hwy, but it continues on in a very different form to Wiluna. Once we entered the Wiluna Shire, the road really did become a highway - well, a very wide, well formed dirt road - not the track that we were used to. Actually, that might have happened the previous day - I can't remember anymore. It was sad to see the old track go, but we made way better time on this new road.
When we arrived at Wiluna - wow, what a shock. All of the shops have floor to ceiling roller shutter doors. The place was like a ghost town as well - no one in the streets at all - maybe the footy was at another town? Anyway, it was kind of spooky. I'd heard stories from my mates who used to work in two of the mines up here about this town - none of them good. Segregated bars, etc etc. When we arrived at the Wiluna Pub, there's a big sign that says "Welcome to Paradise" - well, in the words of one of the visiting chippies, "I don't want to see hell". When those guys arrived at the pub via the GPS, they thought they must have the wrong place - nope - that was it. None of them had a good word to say about it, and are flat out turning a 3 week job into a 2 week job so they can get out. We wanted to get a drink at the pub, but they can only sell Mid strength on Sundays - that's OK, we're riding anyway. Then we wanted to buy some more beer - again, they can only sell Mid strength, but they didn't have any left. Magnus had to go to the local cop shop to get a form signed so that we could buy full strength takeaway beer on a Sunday! It's a different world.
Anyway, the servo was closed - all of them! So, we took off for Lake Mason (our destination) with the fuel we had and we dropped off like flies along the way - getting a top off from the 5 jerries that were on the truck. I think everyone ran out of fuel, I ran out twice as I didn't put enough in the first time. It was an interesting trip anyway.
Lake Mason is an old homestead with some shearer's quarters, showers, and flushing toilets. Luxury, sheer luxury! We met a couple of old blokes who were detecting for gold in the area. We had a good chinwag around the fire. Andrew (the guy who cleaned up the roo on day 2) cooked up his first damper and it was a ripper. It certainly hit the spot.
Sick of bikes in my pics yet? Note the Gunbarrell-proof number plate modification.
Day 16 - Lake Mason to Lake Moore
Another early start so that Magnus could drive into Sandstone to fill up the jerries so that we could get into Sandstone to refuel. While waiting for him to come back, I noticed Adrian checking out my front tyre - it looked flat - it was flat. Luckily, Magnus had left our bags behind, so I set to work getting the tyre fixed. I found a thorn in the tyre that had been continually working it's way into my tube. I didn't have a spare tube on me, so patched it and prayed for the best - it's sill ok now several days later. I was pretty happy to have it all fixed by the time the truck got back.
We arrived at Sandstone (about 60 kms from our camp) in the morning and what a contrast to Wiluna. It is one of the prettiest towns I've seen. The roads from now on started to become very straight, wide and, well to be honest, boring. But that's going to happen when you compare it to the Gunbarrell.
By the time we reached Payne's Find we were ready for more fuel (and a beer). But once again, no cigar. The servo and pub had closed down for renovations. A couple of the guys bargained with the 'caretakers' and we filled up the jerry cans as much as we could - there wasn't much fuel left in the tanks - supposedly.
Lake Mason was to be our last campfire for the trip - so the guys were pretty psyched to make the biggest fire of the trip. Throughout the journey, the firest had been getting bigger and bigger. When we arrived, we discovered a tonne of firewood surrounded by sand - perfect for a big fire. At one stage we were sitting about 7-10 metres from the fire - it was a ripper. The night was topped off with an apple and sultana damper - wish we had've started making them earlier :)
Day 17 - Lake Moore to Fremantle
Well, a slightly depressing start to what was a depressing day. Fog and mist everywhere. The perfect setting for how I was feeling. We rolled the swags up for the last time. We rode some more straight roads and then hit the bitumen. Not a whole lot to report really. When we started to get to the freeways it was a bit of a shock.to be surrounded by so many cars. The next thing I know is we've rolled into Freemantle harbour and are having a cup of bubbles - toasting our crossing from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. Job done. Later that evening we had all met up again at Clancy's Fish Pub for our final meal together. A few awards were presented, and then home to bed for an early night.
A few pics of the pig in Freo - not very clean, but very well traveled. Number plate in tact as well.
There's no doubt that I've forgotten a lot of stuff, but it's how I've remembered it for now.
A few final thoughts.
Report done for now - we'll see what happens on my solo travels next.
Had to contend with some corrugated roads - well, we thought they were corrugate, but Magnus said that they'll seem like paved road compared to the Gunbarrell - yeehah.
Pub of the day was Curtain Springs - quick drink before the run into Yulara. The DR was called on for some courier work. Adrian had picked up a block of XXXX Gold, but Magnus had already headed off in the truck. Add some duct tape and voila!
Before getting into Curtain Springs, we saw Mt. Conner which is somtimes called the fake Ayres Rock as that's what it can look like from a distance. Later that day, we got to see the actual rock - geez it's a big bastard - even from the distance we saw it from.
That night we stayed at Yulara which is the small tourist/resort village for Ayres Rock that has a campground, and several different levels of hotels with a small shopping centre. We had a meal at the Outback Pioneer Club thingo - got to cook my own steak - just as well I like medium rare :)
Early night as the pub is an 'outdoor' pub and the night was absolutely freezing - worst of all, we didn't have a campfire to sit around, so it was an early night. No real photo's from today.
Day 12 - Yulara (free day)
Well, given that we were only 20 kms from Ayres Rock, you'd think I would've gone to have a look, but I couldn't be bothered - dumb, probably, but I was happy to bum around the campground and the little village, change the oil in my DR, and generally take it easy.
So, again, no pics.
Instead, here's a brief run down on a typical tour day.
- Roll out of the swag at 5:45 and climb into my riding gear.
- The 'kitchen' was open at 6am for OJ and cereal, with the cooked brekky and the kettle ready in about 10 mins. During this time, there's a fair chance you get to shake hands with Doug. Who's Doug? Well, he becomes your best friend during the tour - especially those days were there are no 'facilities'. Doug is the shovel :) I bet he'd have some stories to tell.
- Generally brekky is done by 6:45ish.
- Then I start packing up my swag and tarp.
- The bikes get warmed up and we are rolling by 7:30 or so - just after Skippy hour (or so we hope). 10:30-11:00 is then smoko - it'll either be a bikky day, or a cake day (although once, we had a bikky AND cake - woohoo) with coffee, tea, or billy tea.
- Lunch is around 1:00-1:30 and is a wrap of salad and meat - and a beer if you feel the need.
- We stop riding, usually, by 3:30-4:00 - all things going to plan, so as to allow some time to get the fire started, the swag set up, and for Magnus to start preparing dinner. Dinner ranged from camp-oven roasts, tandoori chicken, several chicken curries, pasta, goulash type stew, and a chilli con carne.
- Then, to finish it off, some choccy is passed around the campfire. All in all, absolutely awesome food, and no-one went hungry.
- Anywhere from 9:30 to 10:00 was usually bed time.
Day 12 - Yulara to somewhere on the Gunbarrell highway
Morning was another bloody cold start - what is it with this place? It was so cold, that the boys from Nowra had bought some oven mitts the previous day to wear. Check 'em out
About 40 kms later, we came across The Olgas - they looked pretty cool.
We called in to Docker River which is an Aboriginal community which was a bit of a shock. On one side of the road was a house with several cars out the front in various states of disrepair, but on the other side of the road were quite tidy houses with chain link fences and barbed wire on them. Later in town, there were dozens of dogs just wondering around, as were the people. Just bumming around. Then there was the kindergarden which had 8 foot bars surrounding it. It's hard to describe, but it's not a good feeling, and I was pretty happy to get out. That's all I'll say about it.
Shortly after we crossed into WA where, according to Mangus, the sun shines warmer, the air is fresher and life, in general, is just better. Guess where he was brought up? :) The scenery along the Peterson Range was fantastic - rolling hills and pale ghost gums (I think they were ghost gums anyway).
We filled up in Warakurna which is a small community. The roadhouse has cages that surround the fuel pumps, but they only sell OPAL fuel which doesn't contain the odours for petrol sniffers to get high on - we had seen this previously at other places as well - the OPAL that is, not the cages. Not far from there is Giles meteorological station, which, even though it's located in WA, is actually a very small piece of SA and even runs on SA time! Bizarre. Here is where the grader that carved out the Gunbarrell Hwy, amongst many more, back in the fifties. It's called Len's Cat as Len Beadell was the bloke who was the surveyor for the Gunbarrell Road Construction Party. It had graded approx 6,000 kms through some of the roughest country around and had to do 5 passes for each km = 30,000 kms. Oh yeah, Warakurna and Gunbarrell Hwy are both songs on Midnight Oil's Diesel and Dust album - guess what I played on my PC that night :)
After that, we hit the unmaintained portion of the Gunbarrell - geez, was this a wake up. I had 34 litres of fuel on board and the road was basically a twin track of sand, rock and hardpack - constantly changing. The track is very tight in parts, and flowing in others. There's plenty of sticks, trees, and bushes that line the track - right next to the track. The barkbusters certainly copped a hiding - as did my jacket and, at times, my face! I was constantly over running corners (a common occurance for the whole trip now that I think about it - might be the reason I was called 'straightline' for a while around the campfire).
Just as I was completing a section that was a tonne of fun, I got pretty close to a camel - in fact, way too close. I saw that Adrian had stopped ahead, so had started to slow down, but was still doing 60 or so I guess, when out of nowhere, I see a camel start to run in front of me - he was all hooves and legs as he sprinted straight in front of me - at about arse height - I started to think "great, I'm going to not just hit a camel, I'm going to go straight up his bum!". Luckily I manged to hit the brakes in time for him to join his mates on the other side of the road without claiming a camel scalp. Time for a bit of a breather.
One of these bludgers caused me a bit of grief
Day 13 - Gunbarrell to Len Beadell's tree (on Gunbarrell)
More of the same today - great variety on the Gunbarrell - rock ledges that hide in the sand, ant hills that hide in the shadows, trees that jump out to knock your hand from the handlebars, sand and gravel and rock and.. I think you get the picture. As tough as it is, it's an absolute blast and was fast becoming the highlight of the trip for me.
The colours in the area are startling - especially given that the area has had such a lot of rain recently. The roads are a combination of red dust, purple gravel, white sand, mustard yellow gravel, quartz-like rock. On the edge of the road are small plants and scrub that is as green as anything that I've ever seen. Then, the vast majority of the landscape is made up of pale yellow/straw spinifex that is 4-5 feet high. The sky is picture perfect blue, and there's a few clouds about. It was stunning. I tried to take a picture of it, but it pretty much sucked, so didn't keep it.
One thing about the Gunbarrell - if you don't like the standard, or type, of road - just wait anywhere from 500m to 2 kms as it will change. Parts of the road have washed out completely, so there diversions. Also, the corrugations can be horrendous - they were shaking my head so badly that my specs would bounce which resulted in the whole world moving. I've not ridden or driven over corrugations like them before.
We came across a dingo that was sitting in the middle of the road - stopped not 20 m in front of us. Not until we were very close did he run off - pretty cool to see them so close.
The anthills are made out of concrete-hard dirt. I managed to hit a couple that were hidden behind a small plant, or in the shadows on the side of the road. I'll tell you one thing - the anthills don't move - you do, usually straight up with arms and legs all over the place. It was sometime during this day, or the next, that I managed to dent both front and rear rims. Oh well, I was pretty keen on getting some new flash looking rims anyway - now I have an excuse.
Anyone who likes trailriding, just about has to love this stuff - well, that's my opinion anyway. On this day, we didn't see another vehicle. Gotta love that!
One of the markers Len Beadell used to mark the Gunbarrell
More Gunbarrell - yeah...
Day 14 - Len Beadell's tree to just outside Carnegie Station Homestead
More Gunbarrell makes Marty happy. Still hard work, but it's such a great challenge - it's what made the trip for me. Due to the Gunbarrell being such a handful for some of the guys, we hadn't made great time, so we had to do a few more kms today, but still didn't get to Carnegie where we could have had some showers - but we wouldn't have been able to have a campfire. Fires before showers in my books, so I wasn't all that disappointed.
Yep Gav, that's where we've got to go...
Day 15 - Outside Carnegie Station to Lake Mason
Big day today - and extra 76 kms on what was going to be a big day anyway so we started 30 mins earlier - brekky at 5:30. We re-fueled at Carnegie - well, most of us did. We only had 350 kms to Wiluna, so I didn't fill up as fuel is pretty pricey here. It would come back to haunt me. Carnegie marks the end of the old Gunbarrell Hwy, but it continues on in a very different form to Wiluna. Once we entered the Wiluna Shire, the road really did become a highway - well, a very wide, well formed dirt road - not the track that we were used to. Actually, that might have happened the previous day - I can't remember anymore. It was sad to see the old track go, but we made way better time on this new road.
When we arrived at Wiluna - wow, what a shock. All of the shops have floor to ceiling roller shutter doors. The place was like a ghost town as well - no one in the streets at all - maybe the footy was at another town? Anyway, it was kind of spooky. I'd heard stories from my mates who used to work in two of the mines up here about this town - none of them good. Segregated bars, etc etc. When we arrived at the Wiluna Pub, there's a big sign that says "Welcome to Paradise" - well, in the words of one of the visiting chippies, "I don't want to see hell". When those guys arrived at the pub via the GPS, they thought they must have the wrong place - nope - that was it. None of them had a good word to say about it, and are flat out turning a 3 week job into a 2 week job so they can get out. We wanted to get a drink at the pub, but they can only sell Mid strength on Sundays - that's OK, we're riding anyway. Then we wanted to buy some more beer - again, they can only sell Mid strength, but they didn't have any left. Magnus had to go to the local cop shop to get a form signed so that we could buy full strength takeaway beer on a Sunday! It's a different world.
Anyway, the servo was closed - all of them! So, we took off for Lake Mason (our destination) with the fuel we had and we dropped off like flies along the way - getting a top off from the 5 jerries that were on the truck. I think everyone ran out of fuel, I ran out twice as I didn't put enough in the first time. It was an interesting trip anyway.
Lake Mason is an old homestead with some shearer's quarters, showers, and flushing toilets. Luxury, sheer luxury! We met a couple of old blokes who were detecting for gold in the area. We had a good chinwag around the fire. Andrew (the guy who cleaned up the roo on day 2) cooked up his first damper and it was a ripper. It certainly hit the spot.
Sick of bikes in my pics yet? Note the Gunbarrell-proof number plate modification.
Day 16 - Lake Mason to Lake Moore
Another early start so that Magnus could drive into Sandstone to fill up the jerries so that we could get into Sandstone to refuel. While waiting for him to come back, I noticed Adrian checking out my front tyre - it looked flat - it was flat. Luckily, Magnus had left our bags behind, so I set to work getting the tyre fixed. I found a thorn in the tyre that had been continually working it's way into my tube. I didn't have a spare tube on me, so patched it and prayed for the best - it's sill ok now several days later. I was pretty happy to have it all fixed by the time the truck got back.
We arrived at Sandstone (about 60 kms from our camp) in the morning and what a contrast to Wiluna. It is one of the prettiest towns I've seen. The roads from now on started to become very straight, wide and, well to be honest, boring. But that's going to happen when you compare it to the Gunbarrell.
By the time we reached Payne's Find we were ready for more fuel (and a beer). But once again, no cigar. The servo and pub had closed down for renovations. A couple of the guys bargained with the 'caretakers' and we filled up the jerry cans as much as we could - there wasn't much fuel left in the tanks - supposedly.
Lake Mason was to be our last campfire for the trip - so the guys were pretty psyched to make the biggest fire of the trip. Throughout the journey, the firest had been getting bigger and bigger. When we arrived, we discovered a tonne of firewood surrounded by sand - perfect for a big fire. At one stage we were sitting about 7-10 metres from the fire - it was a ripper. The night was topped off with an apple and sultana damper - wish we had've started making them earlier :)
Day 17 - Lake Moore to Fremantle
Well, a slightly depressing start to what was a depressing day. Fog and mist everywhere. The perfect setting for how I was feeling. We rolled the swags up for the last time. We rode some more straight roads and then hit the bitumen. Not a whole lot to report really. When we started to get to the freeways it was a bit of a shock.to be surrounded by so many cars. The next thing I know is we've rolled into Freemantle harbour and are having a cup of bubbles - toasting our crossing from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. Job done. Later that evening we had all met up again at Clancy's Fish Pub for our final meal together. A few awards were presented, and then home to bed for an early night.
A few pics of the pig in Freo - not very clean, but very well traveled. Number plate in tact as well.
There's no doubt that I've forgotten a lot of stuff, but it's how I've remembered it for now.
A few final thoughts.
- If you're at all remotely interested in dirt bike riding and seeing Australia, give Magnus a call or email. You can't go wrong with Outback Adventure Treks. Magnus is a top bloke who love a yarn, loves Australia and loves motorbikes. I can't fault one aspect of the entire trip. Book a trip now.. do it.
- The Dancing Pig - so far, I've been rapt with the way the pig has performed. It sits on the road, can be punted up a dune, glides over corrugations, and has performed flawlessly for the whole trip - so far!
- Mitas E09 tyre - I reckon it did bloody well in the long run. I'm still running it now, and will get at least 7,000 kms from it - the last 1000 on bitumen. Not bad for a knobby.
- Australia - you've got to see it to believe it - it's is fricken huge. The scenery is absolutely amazing. There are times it is boring, but that would have been less than 5% I reckon. Get out and see it.
- One thing I forgot to mention is the stars. We were lucky enough to see a partial eclipse of the moon. We also saw the moon rise in the most magnificent way. Until that moment, the night sky is amazing. I've never seen so many stars in my life - I got dizzy staring straight up at them all.
Report done for now - we'll see what happens on my solo travels next.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Made it to Freo - time for a catchup
OK, i'm sitting in Freo with a beer in reach, so it's time to wrap up the Across Australia report - might take a day or two though I think. I'm probably going to miss a few things as some of this stuff happened nearly 2 weeks ago and some of my notes are pretty brief - here we go anyway.
Day 7 - William Creek to 26 km outside of Finke
The main memory that comes back about this day was the ride through Hamilton Station. The road got pretty technical (compared to what we'd seen previously anyway) after what started out as a flowing twin track. Soon it got boggier and twistier, and there were a few nasty holes around the place. At this time Herm (Nowra, NSW) started to follow and wouldn't pass me - mainly because he had his helmet cam running. Let's just say that I don't perform well under pressure and the result of his filming is sure to be pretty funny - my riding was definitely second grade at best. The DR soon became known as the Dancing Pig as I pretty much hardly sat on the bike for longer that 20 seconds - my arse was in the air around the same level as where my head should have been - and my legs were often higher. I hit a grid harder than all of the previous grids for the entire trip. After nearly coming off for the 4th or 5th time, I'd had enough - stopped and waved Herm through. I still haven't seen the footage yet, and if I do, I don't reckon I'll be showing it off anytime soon.
We had a refuel at the infamous Oodnadatta Pink Roadhouse (which is for sale if you're looking for an investment). According to several of the guys who bought coffee there - they serve the worst coffee on the planet. So if the colour of the roadhouse isn't enough to bring you to the middle of Australia, perhaps that claim to fame will interest you? It's a pretty big call compared to some of the coffee that I've had on this trip, but given that no-one finished drinking any of it - I guess they might be right. For once, I was happy not to have ordered a cup.
The pub of the day was the Transcontinental Hotel - we didn't stop for a drink, just to restock on cartons of beer for the next few days as Finke is a dry community.
We didn't make it to Finke this day, but it will only be a short ride in the morning
Day 8 - 26kms out of Finke to Finke River bed
Arrived into Finke very early - for those that know of the race, it's a pretty big deal to get here - but what greets you is very underwhelming. It's an Aboriginal community that consists of 20-30 houses, a community centre, a general store and a footy ground (grass? forget about it). We rode past the finish line and waited for the first cars to arrive.
The cars started at 8:30 and were arriving in FInke (220+ kms away over some pretty gnarly terrain) about 2 hours later. We were standing at a corner not far from the finish as the first buggy came through. A low flying chopper was the first sign that something was approaching. It was a twin turbo Nissan V6 that made the most awesome noise as it roosted most of us in sand. Everyone was psyched to be there - very cool. After a bit of a gap came the next truck - it was a thumping huge V8 that made a better noise than the first one! This was going to be a ripper day.
After watching the cars there was going to be a break for a few hours, so we moved down to the dry Finke River bed - the oldest river bed in the world. We made camp in the Finke River bed whilst watching the Finke race - that was a nice touch. We watched the last few cars as they drove through.
After the course had been cleared of cars and buggies, the bikes arrived - man, they haul serious butt. Coming over a rise, there was a corner which was pretty cool to watch the fast guys come over as they pretty much steered around just using the rear wheel as the front was still in the air. Unfortunately I didn't bother to take any pics of the actual race. I doubt I would have got anything decent anyway.
Oh yeah, earlier I said Finke was a dry community. However, for the race, they get a 3 day temporary alcohol permit so that degenerates like us can watch the race with a beer in hand.
Day 9 - Finke Riverbed to Lamber Centre
Another bloody cold night. Wore the beany to bed, with socks, and thermals (both top and bottoms). We had decided to make an early start and to be moving by 6:30 am so that we could ride on the racetrack before they closed it for the day's racing. We didn't quite make it so we rode down the riverbed for a few kms through some pretty deep sand, and then rode down this twin track of sand for a few more kms. Eventually we found the track and watched the first few cars come through. Again, we saw the twin turbo buggy, but the most impressive was the v8 trucks. The sound was awesome and all the weight was on the back so they looked like speedboats - rear squatted down and the front barely touch the ground. We started to move further along the track to find the famous whoops - big corrugations that can be as deep as 4 or 5 feet. Whilst riding along, several buggies and cars would fly past which did two things. One - they scared the bejesus out of me, and two - made me feel like I was racing as well - albeit very slowly.
Eventually we found a place in the whoops - but not the big one we were hoping for. The whoops are different year to year, and also, we might have had to go another 150 kms or so to find them - all the way to Alice. Anyway, we were pretty happy where we were - watching the last cars com through. Again, we had a long wait, so it was time for brekky. Magnus fired up the kitchen and we tucked in.
It was at this time that Gav decided he wanted to get back in to the "Big Kev" challenge. Magnus, and the other competitors decided on his 're-entry' penalty. It ended up being the following - plate of muesli, cup of soup with both chicken noodle and vegetable (2 packs), toast with vegemite (spread as thick as most tourists put on - ie. thicker than peanut butter), 2 sausages with hot english mustard, two eggs, toast and bacon, half a block of chocolate and, finally, a beer that had been warmed up next to the fire! (I think that was all?) Anyway, after all that - he had reentered the race to be a "Big Kev" finisher.
Anyway, it was pretty cool to be eating brekky on the actual Finke racetrack. Later on the bikes came through and they were as impressive as hell. Ben Grabham was the first to come through and was only hitting the tops of the whoops. The next few guys were doing the same. It sure would be nice to be able to do that. We watched the rest of the bike come through (seemed like hundreds) and they were progressively handling the whoops worse) before we moved on to our camp for the night.
We rode the 30 kms or so to Lambert Centre which is the geographical centre of Australia. The road into the centre was pretty interesting - more sandy twin tracks - good fun.
Gav on the Finke Riverbed
Me at the Lambert Centre - take a great picture don't I! :)
That's enough for now...
Day 7 - William Creek to 26 km outside of Finke
The main memory that comes back about this day was the ride through Hamilton Station. The road got pretty technical (compared to what we'd seen previously anyway) after what started out as a flowing twin track. Soon it got boggier and twistier, and there were a few nasty holes around the place. At this time Herm (Nowra, NSW) started to follow and wouldn't pass me - mainly because he had his helmet cam running. Let's just say that I don't perform well under pressure and the result of his filming is sure to be pretty funny - my riding was definitely second grade at best. The DR soon became known as the Dancing Pig as I pretty much hardly sat on the bike for longer that 20 seconds - my arse was in the air around the same level as where my head should have been - and my legs were often higher. I hit a grid harder than all of the previous grids for the entire trip. After nearly coming off for the 4th or 5th time, I'd had enough - stopped and waved Herm through. I still haven't seen the footage yet, and if I do, I don't reckon I'll be showing it off anytime soon.
We had a refuel at the infamous Oodnadatta Pink Roadhouse (which is for sale if you're looking for an investment). According to several of the guys who bought coffee there - they serve the worst coffee on the planet. So if the colour of the roadhouse isn't enough to bring you to the middle of Australia, perhaps that claim to fame will interest you? It's a pretty big call compared to some of the coffee that I've had on this trip, but given that no-one finished drinking any of it - I guess they might be right. For once, I was happy not to have ordered a cup.
The pub of the day was the Transcontinental Hotel - we didn't stop for a drink, just to restock on cartons of beer for the next few days as Finke is a dry community.
We didn't make it to Finke this day, but it will only be a short ride in the morning
Day 8 - 26kms out of Finke to Finke River bed
Arrived into Finke very early - for those that know of the race, it's a pretty big deal to get here - but what greets you is very underwhelming. It's an Aboriginal community that consists of 20-30 houses, a community centre, a general store and a footy ground (grass? forget about it). We rode past the finish line and waited for the first cars to arrive.
The cars started at 8:30 and were arriving in FInke (220+ kms away over some pretty gnarly terrain) about 2 hours later. We were standing at a corner not far from the finish as the first buggy came through. A low flying chopper was the first sign that something was approaching. It was a twin turbo Nissan V6 that made the most awesome noise as it roosted most of us in sand. Everyone was psyched to be there - very cool. After a bit of a gap came the next truck - it was a thumping huge V8 that made a better noise than the first one! This was going to be a ripper day.
After watching the cars there was going to be a break for a few hours, so we moved down to the dry Finke River bed - the oldest river bed in the world. We made camp in the Finke River bed whilst watching the Finke race - that was a nice touch. We watched the last few cars as they drove through.
After the course had been cleared of cars and buggies, the bikes arrived - man, they haul serious butt. Coming over a rise, there was a corner which was pretty cool to watch the fast guys come over as they pretty much steered around just using the rear wheel as the front was still in the air. Unfortunately I didn't bother to take any pics of the actual race. I doubt I would have got anything decent anyway.
Oh yeah, earlier I said Finke was a dry community. However, for the race, they get a 3 day temporary alcohol permit so that degenerates like us can watch the race with a beer in hand.
Day 9 - Finke Riverbed to Lamber Centre
Another bloody cold night. Wore the beany to bed, with socks, and thermals (both top and bottoms). We had decided to make an early start and to be moving by 6:30 am so that we could ride on the racetrack before they closed it for the day's racing. We didn't quite make it so we rode down the riverbed for a few kms through some pretty deep sand, and then rode down this twin track of sand for a few more kms. Eventually we found the track and watched the first few cars come through. Again, we saw the twin turbo buggy, but the most impressive was the v8 trucks. The sound was awesome and all the weight was on the back so they looked like speedboats - rear squatted down and the front barely touch the ground. We started to move further along the track to find the famous whoops - big corrugations that can be as deep as 4 or 5 feet. Whilst riding along, several buggies and cars would fly past which did two things. One - they scared the bejesus out of me, and two - made me feel like I was racing as well - albeit very slowly.
Eventually we found a place in the whoops - but not the big one we were hoping for. The whoops are different year to year, and also, we might have had to go another 150 kms or so to find them - all the way to Alice. Anyway, we were pretty happy where we were - watching the last cars com through. Again, we had a long wait, so it was time for brekky. Magnus fired up the kitchen and we tucked in.
It was at this time that Gav decided he wanted to get back in to the "Big Kev" challenge. Magnus, and the other competitors decided on his 're-entry' penalty. It ended up being the following - plate of muesli, cup of soup with both chicken noodle and vegetable (2 packs), toast with vegemite (spread as thick as most tourists put on - ie. thicker than peanut butter), 2 sausages with hot english mustard, two eggs, toast and bacon, half a block of chocolate and, finally, a beer that had been warmed up next to the fire! (I think that was all?) Anyway, after all that - he had reentered the race to be a "Big Kev" finisher.
Anyway, it was pretty cool to be eating brekky on the actual Finke racetrack. Later on the bikes came through and they were as impressive as hell. Ben Grabham was the first to come through and was only hitting the tops of the whoops. The next few guys were doing the same. It sure would be nice to be able to do that. We watched the rest of the bike come through (seemed like hundreds) and they were progressively handling the whoops worse) before we moved on to our camp for the night.
We rode the 30 kms or so to Lambert Centre which is the geographical centre of Australia. The road into the centre was pretty interesting - more sandy twin tracks - good fun.
Gav on the Finke Riverbed
Me at the Lambert Centre - take a great picture don't I! :)
That's enough for now...
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Bulk update part #2
Ok, time for a new post - other one was getting a bit big
Day 4 - Stonehenge to Birdsville
We fueled up at Jundah after a mud run in the rain - good fun due to the road being very sticky. The local copper breatho'd all of us and suggested we check if the road we wanted to take was still open - unfortunately it had just been closed so we had to do more bitumen than we had intended. My numberplate is starting to look a bit second hand with a couple of cracks starting to move through it from either side - it may or may not be destroyed as quick as my rear tyre.
Had some kms to make up so started to hit some higher speeds - however, it probably wasn't the smartest move in the world when the roads are pretty sketchy at best and the tyre may or may or not make the distance. Oh well, it was a fun trip at least. On the way we found a sand dune and had a bit of a play. I'm happy to report that the big Drug Runner (DR) made it up the first attempt - even if I did drop it just after the top. Gav had a bit more trouble and took 3 go's. Magnus made us all look bad by barely touching the surface on the way up. Good time had by all.
We stopped at Dion's lookout which gave a very impressive view of the country side. At the moment, the view are very green, considering where we are, due to the huge amount of rain the region has had over the past few months.
About half way into Birdsville I was following a road train (3 trailers) of fuel. It was an 'interesting' view from behind whenever it crossed a floodway (of which there are hundreds). The rear trailers seemed to move about 3-4 meters as they moved over the floodway - definitely not a good time to pass one of them! Still haven't seen any on the dirt roads - which I'm pretty happy about.
Once we arrived in Birdsville, the mandatory beer(s) were had at a very obvious pub of the day. The pub is full of character with a tonne of hats of ex-drinkers adoring the walls. There's a few photo's of different vehicles climbing Big Red - including an old 2 wheel drive valiant, a Hilux with an insane amount of air, and also a Porsche 959 (4WD and very rare). Any photo's in the pub, or phone calls made or received in the pub result in a gold coin donation to the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service).
The Simpson is still closed due to the mud that has been left behind after the flooding. Major bummer, but if you can't get through, then you can't get through. A couple of us are going to see about hooking up with Magnus next year to just do the crossing - I'm pretty keen to do that.
More beers and a t-bone were had the pub that night. They really know how to pack 'em in with nearly every table taken.
On top of play dune.
Day 5 - Birdsville to Mungarannie
Played on Big Red today - 160 km round trip. Deep sand tracks and several dunes to cross gave us a taste of what the Simpson would have offered. Bloody hard going and had to learn how to ride in sand again - give it the gas, stand up, let the bike squiggle and squirm as much as it wants, don't use the front brake and have fun! Met 4 blokes coming back the other way - they had tried to cross - even floated their bikes across Eyre Creek on tubes, but the mud on the other side had stopped them. Was impressive to see the way they handled the sand with fully loaded bikes - 3 x DR and 1 x TT - all with big tanks and extra fuel strapped to the rear as well.
Big Red was fun - one big sand dune - the view over the flooding was very impressive - full grown trees half submerged in a giant lake.
Pub of the day, and the place of our campsite, was the Mungarannie Pub - similar in style to the Birdsville with hats and some memorabilia on the walls - this one has a picture of a HQ that cleared big red. There's also a artesian spa with a pool of 40 deg water that Gav reckons is the best thing in the world - I reckon he might also have had a neck rub and a manny-peddie as well - but he denies it.
Day 6 - Mungarannie to creek bed 50 kms past Williams Creek
COLD - bloody hell. Frost on the bike and I reckon any of the guys would gladly knock me off my bike to steal my heated grips. Best $50 I've ever spent and along with the screen, is making these very cold morning so much easier. Some of the guys are doing all sorts of yoga on the bike so as to warm their hands on the muffler as they ride along - I might be laughing in my helmet just a little bit when this happens :)
I'd left my Camelbak on the ground overnight and found that a mouse had nibble the rubber end - luckily I have a stop/start valve on the tube as well. Two other Camelbak's were also lost in the mouse plague as well. Lesson learnt - keep everything off the ground overnight. We're heading down the Birdsville track and then Oodnadatta track to skirt south of Lake Eyre because of the Simpson closure. The trip is not as much 'fun' as what the Simpson would have been, but still worthwhile with different views and countryside around each corner - mind you, there's bugger all corners at times. They definitely know how to make straight roads up this way.
Saw planehenge and various other sculptures in the middle of nowhere which was - erm, unique?. Maree was either before or after this, but they didn't have any fuel - and of course, I didn't fill up in Mungarannie so I was getting pretty close to running out - ok, so I did run out. I copped a bit of flak from the guys for that effort - luckily we have a few jerry cans on the truck.
Called in to the William Creek punb and it was another ripper pub - thousands of business cards, licences, and other photo ID's cover the walls. We only had the one beer, but could easily have stayed here all evening. We still had tracks to make so did another 50 kms in the setting sun until we found a nice camp area near a dried river bed.
Cold start from Mungarannie
Planehenge
Campsite
Day 7 - William Creek to 26 km outside of Finke
Will be updated the next time I have power and internet access - might be a few days.
Day 4 - Stonehenge to Birdsville
We fueled up at Jundah after a mud run in the rain - good fun due to the road being very sticky. The local copper breatho'd all of us and suggested we check if the road we wanted to take was still open - unfortunately it had just been closed so we had to do more bitumen than we had intended. My numberplate is starting to look a bit second hand with a couple of cracks starting to move through it from either side - it may or may not be destroyed as quick as my rear tyre.
Had some kms to make up so started to hit some higher speeds - however, it probably wasn't the smartest move in the world when the roads are pretty sketchy at best and the tyre may or may or not make the distance. Oh well, it was a fun trip at least. On the way we found a sand dune and had a bit of a play. I'm happy to report that the big Drug Runner (DR) made it up the first attempt - even if I did drop it just after the top. Gav had a bit more trouble and took 3 go's. Magnus made us all look bad by barely touching the surface on the way up. Good time had by all.
We stopped at Dion's lookout which gave a very impressive view of the country side. At the moment, the view are very green, considering where we are, due to the huge amount of rain the region has had over the past few months.
About half way into Birdsville I was following a road train (3 trailers) of fuel. It was an 'interesting' view from behind whenever it crossed a floodway (of which there are hundreds). The rear trailers seemed to move about 3-4 meters as they moved over the floodway - definitely not a good time to pass one of them! Still haven't seen any on the dirt roads - which I'm pretty happy about.
Once we arrived in Birdsville, the mandatory beer(s) were had at a very obvious pub of the day. The pub is full of character with a tonne of hats of ex-drinkers adoring the walls. There's a few photo's of different vehicles climbing Big Red - including an old 2 wheel drive valiant, a Hilux with an insane amount of air, and also a Porsche 959 (4WD and very rare). Any photo's in the pub, or phone calls made or received in the pub result in a gold coin donation to the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service).
The Simpson is still closed due to the mud that has been left behind after the flooding. Major bummer, but if you can't get through, then you can't get through. A couple of us are going to see about hooking up with Magnus next year to just do the crossing - I'm pretty keen to do that.
More beers and a t-bone were had the pub that night. They really know how to pack 'em in with nearly every table taken.
On top of play dune.
Day 5 - Birdsville to Mungarannie
Played on Big Red today - 160 km round trip. Deep sand tracks and several dunes to cross gave us a taste of what the Simpson would have offered. Bloody hard going and had to learn how to ride in sand again - give it the gas, stand up, let the bike squiggle and squirm as much as it wants, don't use the front brake and have fun! Met 4 blokes coming back the other way - they had tried to cross - even floated their bikes across Eyre Creek on tubes, but the mud on the other side had stopped them. Was impressive to see the way they handled the sand with fully loaded bikes - 3 x DR and 1 x TT - all with big tanks and extra fuel strapped to the rear as well.
Big Red was fun - one big sand dune - the view over the flooding was very impressive - full grown trees half submerged in a giant lake.
Pub of the day, and the place of our campsite, was the Mungarannie Pub - similar in style to the Birdsville with hats and some memorabilia on the walls - this one has a picture of a HQ that cleared big red. There's also a artesian spa with a pool of 40 deg water that Gav reckons is the best thing in the world - I reckon he might also have had a neck rub and a manny-peddie as well - but he denies it.
A couple of pics from Big Red
Day 6 - Mungarannie to creek bed 50 kms past Williams Creek
COLD - bloody hell. Frost on the bike and I reckon any of the guys would gladly knock me off my bike to steal my heated grips. Best $50 I've ever spent and along with the screen, is making these very cold morning so much easier. Some of the guys are doing all sorts of yoga on the bike so as to warm their hands on the muffler as they ride along - I might be laughing in my helmet just a little bit when this happens :)
I'd left my Camelbak on the ground overnight and found that a mouse had nibble the rubber end - luckily I have a stop/start valve on the tube as well. Two other Camelbak's were also lost in the mouse plague as well. Lesson learnt - keep everything off the ground overnight. We're heading down the Birdsville track and then Oodnadatta track to skirt south of Lake Eyre because of the Simpson closure. The trip is not as much 'fun' as what the Simpson would have been, but still worthwhile with different views and countryside around each corner - mind you, there's bugger all corners at times. They definitely know how to make straight roads up this way.
Saw planehenge and various other sculptures in the middle of nowhere which was - erm, unique?. Maree was either before or after this, but they didn't have any fuel - and of course, I didn't fill up in Mungarannie so I was getting pretty close to running out - ok, so I did run out. I copped a bit of flak from the guys for that effort - luckily we have a few jerry cans on the truck.
Called in to the William Creek punb and it was another ripper pub - thousands of business cards, licences, and other photo ID's cover the walls. We only had the one beer, but could easily have stayed here all evening. We still had tracks to make so did another 50 kms in the setting sun until we found a nice camp area near a dried river bed.
Cold start from Mungarannie
Planehenge
Campsite
Day 7 - William Creek to 26 km outside of Finke
Will be updated the next time I have power and internet access - might be a few days.
60% across Australia!
OK, so it's now Day 11 (I think?) and it's about time I updated this a bit. I'm sure to forget something, as plenty has happened.
Day 1 - Airlie Beach to Mt Wyatt (Sellheim River)
Loaded up the bike at my apartment at 6:30 to meet the tour group at Club Croc at 7:30am. Met Magnus (tour boss) and Andrew (lead rider and assistant) with the tour bikes unloaded. Gav and I must've been the most keen as we were ready 30 mins before everyone else.
Magnus gave us a rundown on some ride protocol, road safety (cattle grids, bulldust holes, roadtrains, suicidal/kamikaze wildlife, etc) and we were on the road about an hour later. We also were told that the average for non-finishing the tour had improved from 1 in 3, to 1 in 5!! The talk worked as I took it pretty easy for the first day.
The adventure began at our first smoko break after about 50 mins of road riding. A copper had pulled over a Britz camper van and was talking to the driver. A few mins later I got to see the biggest bag of weed that I've seen in real life. The guy was locked in the back of the divvy van for a bit, while they searched the rest of the van. It was like watching an episode of "Customs" or something.
Overall we did 150 kms or so on bitumen before we hit station country. Started to hit some of the cattle grids, dirt, dust and also spotted some cattle. We had a break and lunch in front of the Bowen River. hotel. It's a very old pub which is made from slabs of timber - not weatherboards, but thick slabs of gum.
After more dirt and gravel, we made camp on the banks of the Sellheim River in/near Mt. Wyatt. After setting up the swags and having a quick dip in the river, we sat around the campfire waiting for the camp oven to cook the beef and lamb. It was the first of what was to become a regular event - campfire, beers, talking crap and having a fantastic meal. Magnus can certainly cook and there wasn't a shortage of food. The roasted pumpkins were a definite highlight.
Bikes lined up - mine all sparkly clean
Support vehicle - Izuzu 250 Crew 4WD beast support truck
Day 2 - Mt Wyatt to Aracam
Woke at 5:50am in time for the 6am brekky. We were informed about the "Big Kev" challenge - cooked brekky of bacon and eggs for 16 days. I wussed out on day 1 :) There's a few takers, including Gav (more on that later).
We fired up the bike and not long after dropped into a small valley and had great sight of the sun rising over some fantastic scrub country. I hit my first patch of bulldust and a small moment as the front wheel started to plough through the loose dust. I don't reckon I'm a fan of it - it wasn't too bad in that I could see where it was, but it still surprised me at how quick the bike slowed down. Andrew was our lead rider and was keeping a pretty good pace. It turns out he was also the chief roo scarer as well. I think it was just after lunch (?) that he hit and killed the first roo of the trip. He was fine and stayed on the bike, but the country is now less one medium sized grey kangaroo.
Just after luch, Andrew needed a 'comfort break', so we stopped for 10 mins. As Simon (Sydney, via Manchester, UK) pulled up, Gav noticed his rear wheel looked like it was soaked - but we hadn't passed through any water for hours. Somehow, his sump plug had managed to work its way loose and he'd dropped 90% of his oil on the ground and his bike! Lucky we had stopped and that Gav had noticed it, otherwise who knows what would've happened had the engine siezed at 90 km/h! We had lunch while Magnus tried to find a bolt to fit.
We exited the station/cattle country into some huge natural plains - it was as if there was a line that seperated the scrub from grazing/plains country. Approaching the end of the day, and only about 60 kms from our overnight, Andrew managed to score roo #2! This time he wasn't so lucky as it blindsided him and took out his front wheel at speed. Again, the roo was ultimately the worst off as it was dead, but Andrew was pretty knocked up. The bike peg left a scar in the road about 10-15 metres long and the left side of the bike was trashed. His helmet is now only good as a momento as it was cracked and scratched up pretty bad. Turns out he dislocated his shoulder. At one stage he passed out as he tried to stand up. It was all a bit scary for a while there. Rather than trying to get him going, we waited a bit longer while one rider went to the nearest station to call for an ambulance. Instead of everyone waiting around, the rest of the group decided to head to Aracam as we thought that's where Andrew would be taken to hospital. The bike was left at the station and will picked up on a return trip. On the way to Aracam, Roger (from Albuquergue, New Mexico) ran out of fuel so we drained about a litre out of my tank. Coming into Aracam we were treated to a spectacular sunset.
We made camp in the back of the Aracam hotel, with Magnus meeting us later saying that Andrew had been taken to the hospital at Barcaldine instead.
Andrew's bike, post roo #2
Sunset coming into Aracam
Morning out of Mt. Wyatt
Somewhere in Qld :)
Yeah, I don't really know where this is either!
The super tanker pretty much empty - other side of tank had about 1 litre left.
Bikes lined up at some burnt down hotel in the middle of nowhere
Day 1 - Airlie Beach to Mt Wyatt (Sellheim River)
Loaded up the bike at my apartment at 6:30 to meet the tour group at Club Croc at 7:30am. Met Magnus (tour boss) and Andrew (lead rider and assistant) with the tour bikes unloaded. Gav and I must've been the most keen as we were ready 30 mins before everyone else.
Magnus gave us a rundown on some ride protocol, road safety (cattle grids, bulldust holes, roadtrains, suicidal/kamikaze wildlife, etc) and we were on the road about an hour later. We also were told that the average for non-finishing the tour had improved from 1 in 3, to 1 in 5!! The talk worked as I took it pretty easy for the first day.
The adventure began at our first smoko break after about 50 mins of road riding. A copper had pulled over a Britz camper van and was talking to the driver. A few mins later I got to see the biggest bag of weed that I've seen in real life. The guy was locked in the back of the divvy van for a bit, while they searched the rest of the van. It was like watching an episode of "Customs" or something.
Overall we did 150 kms or so on bitumen before we hit station country. Started to hit some of the cattle grids, dirt, dust and also spotted some cattle. We had a break and lunch in front of the Bowen River. hotel. It's a very old pub which is made from slabs of timber - not weatherboards, but thick slabs of gum.
After more dirt and gravel, we made camp on the banks of the Sellheim River in/near Mt. Wyatt. After setting up the swags and having a quick dip in the river, we sat around the campfire waiting for the camp oven to cook the beef and lamb. It was the first of what was to become a regular event - campfire, beers, talking crap and having a fantastic meal. Magnus can certainly cook and there wasn't a shortage of food. The roasted pumpkins were a definite highlight.
Bikes lined up - mine all sparkly clean
Support vehicle - Izuzu 250 Crew 4WD beast support truck
Day 2 - Mt Wyatt to Aracam
Woke at 5:50am in time for the 6am brekky. We were informed about the "Big Kev" challenge - cooked brekky of bacon and eggs for 16 days. I wussed out on day 1 :) There's a few takers, including Gav (more on that later).
We fired up the bike and not long after dropped into a small valley and had great sight of the sun rising over some fantastic scrub country. I hit my first patch of bulldust and a small moment as the front wheel started to plough through the loose dust. I don't reckon I'm a fan of it - it wasn't too bad in that I could see where it was, but it still surprised me at how quick the bike slowed down. Andrew was our lead rider and was keeping a pretty good pace. It turns out he was also the chief roo scarer as well. I think it was just after lunch (?) that he hit and killed the first roo of the trip. He was fine and stayed on the bike, but the country is now less one medium sized grey kangaroo.
Just after luch, Andrew needed a 'comfort break', so we stopped for 10 mins. As Simon (Sydney, via Manchester, UK) pulled up, Gav noticed his rear wheel looked like it was soaked - but we hadn't passed through any water for hours. Somehow, his sump plug had managed to work its way loose and he'd dropped 90% of his oil on the ground and his bike! Lucky we had stopped and that Gav had noticed it, otherwise who knows what would've happened had the engine siezed at 90 km/h! We had lunch while Magnus tried to find a bolt to fit.
We exited the station/cattle country into some huge natural plains - it was as if there was a line that seperated the scrub from grazing/plains country. Approaching the end of the day, and only about 60 kms from our overnight, Andrew managed to score roo #2! This time he wasn't so lucky as it blindsided him and took out his front wheel at speed. Again, the roo was ultimately the worst off as it was dead, but Andrew was pretty knocked up. The bike peg left a scar in the road about 10-15 metres long and the left side of the bike was trashed. His helmet is now only good as a momento as it was cracked and scratched up pretty bad. Turns out he dislocated his shoulder. At one stage he passed out as he tried to stand up. It was all a bit scary for a while there. Rather than trying to get him going, we waited a bit longer while one rider went to the nearest station to call for an ambulance. Instead of everyone waiting around, the rest of the group decided to head to Aracam as we thought that's where Andrew would be taken to hospital. The bike was left at the station and will picked up on a return trip. On the way to Aracam, Roger (from Albuquergue, New Mexico) ran out of fuel so we drained about a litre out of my tank. Coming into Aracam we were treated to a spectacular sunset.
We made camp in the back of the Aracam hotel, with Magnus meeting us later saying that Andrew had been taken to the hospital at Barcaldine instead.
Andrew's bike, post roo #2
Sunset coming into Aracam
Morning out of Mt. Wyatt
Somewhere in Qld :)
Yeah, I don't really know where this is either!
Day 3 - Aracam to lookout 30 kms from Stonhenge
Turned up to the servo, expecting it to be open at 7:30, but had to wait 'til 8:00 am. By this time, the first ever traffic jam at Aracam was recorded with 7 bikes and 2 cars waiting for the pumps to be turned on. Fron here we had a bit of time to make up as we had effectively lost half a day. We hit the dirt road to Longreach to get new tyres fitted to the hire bikes. It started to heat up pretty good by this time as we waited 2.5 hours for the tyres to be fitted - unfortunately the bike shop was too far from the centre of town for us to wander through. Given my tyre is a bit of an unknown, I tried to get a new 17" tyre as a back up, but no cigar at the two local bike shops, so I picked up a well used emergency spare - which happens to be the same as what I'm running right now. At the time of writing, the condition of my current tyre is not looking too flash - only time will tell.
The roads were pretty open and it was the first time that we hit some red roads. The road 60 kms from Stonehenge was an absolute ripper, the dirt was very grippy and I could just nail it through the corners at a very illegal speed - I had visions of Safari or Dakar running through my mind. It probably didn't look that flash, but I was having a blast.
The pub of the day was Stonehenge which had a very relaxed feel - nothing too great to look at, but the people and characters inside really made it. We made camp at a lookout some 30 kms from Stonehenge which overlooked a cattle station which had been sold for $3 million. Very impressive. Rain started to fall and it looked like we were in for a wet night. The chicken curries kept us warm and were fantastic.
Traffic jam at Aracam
The super tanker pretty much empty - other side of tank had about 1 litre left.
Bikes lined up at some burnt down hotel in the middle of nowhere
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