Month: September 2017

Thanks to the pub having a live band (being a Friday night), a lot of “locals” came out to play. Not being really aware of my surrounds, it seemed I’d pitched the tent over the fence of what seemed to the main walking thoroughfare from the pub to wherever they lived. The shouting is one thing, language another, but ghetto-blasters at 2am is hard to take… throw in country music, a hot night with no wind and you have a recipe for a poor night’s sleep.
After spending some of it outside in the chair again, I did finally get some Zs – waking at 5:30am. Knowing the next evening would be in Lake Argyle I couldn’t wait, so coffee, breaky, pack, and gone by 7… via the local IGA to stock up on water… then north I went.

Well – I didn’t expect that! As I started out of Newman a few days ago I kinda new what to expect, but this bit I’d never heard anything of before.

The road itself was kinda normal it seems for this neck of the woods – but the scenery – wow! For pretty much the whole trip I found myself winding my way through various mountain ranges, with almost non-stop sweeping bends. As a motorcyclist, it was almost perfect – again, why hadn’t I heard of this before? You’ll see photos here with lots of straights – on the curvy bits … again – not wanting to become a hood ornament for a road train. So – watch for the videos later.

I stopped at Warmun for another break and thought of taking the helicopter flight to the Bungle Bungles. Then, I realised I’d be skinned alive if Ellie found out, so didn’t. I mentioned before that this part of the trip through WA was really just to get to QLD. However, it’s also turning out to be a reconnaissance mission for our anniversary holiday next year. The list of things to do keeps growing.

Kunanurra was also a surprise. I’d never really had any idea as to what it would be like – but pretty, clean, and quite the holiday destination if the 4 or 5 caravan parks is anything to go by. Certainly some of the houses would not be out of place on the riverfront in Perth.

Off to Lake Argyle… only 80-ish kms to go. Again, the ride through the ranges to the lake was spectacular:

On arrival, I thought I’d treat myself to an air-conditioned cabin if available – the only one being the “deluxe” at $359/night. I thought I’d save that until Ellie was with me. So, a tent site it was. First – a swim in the “Infinity Pool”. A bit cloudy with the chlorine – but given the heat I wasn’t complaining. Actually – my complaint was that it was too friggin’ warm! Well, not cold – which is what I was after.

I set up the tent:

…then took Jesse’s Trail (about 10mins down a rough track) to the lake for dip. Absolutely glorious! The hike back up the hill ended with another dip in the pool before an early dinner.

I’ve just had a meal at the pub, sipping a few Great Northern Brewing Co. stubbies, sweating my proverbials off again as I type. I suspect I’ll be outside again, but I do fear the mozzies this time – being so close to water. As I type my tent is surround by frogs (12+), but no mozzies yet – fingers crossed.

My original plan was to stop at Mary Pool, but I quickly realised I’d be arriving just after midday – way too early to spend the rest of a sweltering day at a dried-up river road stop with no services other than a drop-dunny. So, I decided to make Halls Creek my destination and leave Derby ASAP.

The trip was hell – so hot – staying on 39 for most of it. I was stopping regularly to drink hot water (tea-bag hot) and dousing my shirt again… but not at the expense of drinking water.

My earlier comments about the scenery changing constantly were still relevant.

About 50km east of Derby is another boab – HUGE!

I thought I’d stop for lunch at Fitzroy Crossing, but soon changed my mind. I filled up at the skid-mark and kept going – stopping some 50km down the track on the side of the road for some fruit, muesli bars, water, etc. It was too hot to each much else.

The Fitzy river actually had water in it… I’d passed lots of dry river beds.

Re: the scenery – not that I was paying attention – I was more worried about my physical wellbeing. It was a struggle. I would have liked to stop mid-trip, but that would leave me stranded in worse conditions. I really had no option but to persevere.

I called into Mary Pool to see what it would be like… I imagine quite nice with a bit of water running. I think I made the right decision not to stay – very dry, but lots of shade though. Maybe some other time. The cows livestock seemed to like it:

When I was a kid in primary school (at Kalgoorlie) I went on a goldfields tour. It was a LONG time ago, but Cue left itself an impression on my mind that it was the arsehole of the earth. That perception changed when I stayed overnight in Cue on the first night of my holiday… leaving a new place yet to be named that title.

It’s Halls Creek, with its skid-mark back up the road at Fitzy. I wonder why these places actually exist – I’m not sure of their purpose. I guess at the very least it’s to keep a population to allow cars to be refueled so they can leave.

The local caravan park had a pool:

… but I decided not to use it cos, well, I had another 66 days of riding ahead of me and a bout of gastro, parasitic infections, and pink-eye would not go well. So, it was a cold shower instead. I’m not sure what the temp was, but it hadn’t dropped much – there was a breeze, but kinda like the one you get with the door open on a fan-forced oven.

Let’s just say – today would the one to beat for the “worst day of the trip” award.

With only a short distance to travel today, it was a lazy start. I woke at around 3am, still hoping for my body-clock to adjust to going to bed so early… I can’t remember the last time I had >8 hrs sleep. So, I sat in my chair outside in a nice 24c breeze listening to the waves break below and snoozed.

A gentle tour around Broome, visiting the famous Cable Beach (with a very low tide):

Then back to Roebuck Bay for a final treat (with Mr. OzFox):

The scenery was kinda similar to the PH-Broome ride – flat, but changing vegetation, and lots of flood plains:

They also had these mounts – termites I assume, but not the normal tall/thin kind – dinosaur droppings I was telling myself:

… and the regular kind:

Another pitstop – this time to douse my shirt with water to help cool down. The temp departing Broome at midday was around 32c, it rose to around 37 within an hour and stayed there, with the odd nudge of 38/39.

It was so hot/humid that I think it got purple, with the taste of prime numbers, and the feeling of lemons… but I may have been a hallucinating.

The water did the trick – for about 20 minutes when it dried up. As usual though, approaching the Derby and the ocean it dropped a little down to 36.

On the entry to the town you pass (or not as was the case for me) the famous Boab tree – used as a gaol for aborigines in the late 1800s. It’s famous – but for all the wrong reasons…

I fueled up, grabbed some food/water, and then rode around a bit (wanting to leave for Halls Creek at sparrow’s fart):

My twin Jenni and I were born in Derby (a long, long time ago) at the local hospital. It’s been expanded/upgraded since then of course. The maternity ward is now a mental health and drug rehab facility – I’m not sure what to make of that!?!?!? It probably speaks volumes.

Checked into the Kimberly Entrance Caravan Park for the night – still hot as I type (28c @ 7:30pm) – I could be in the chair again tonight as long as there are no bugs around.

Ciao.

Ps. There’s a male peacock here that might be my dinner tomorrow night – if the f***er doesn’t shut the f**k up!

Ellie, just for you …

The noise of the iron-ore trains, rednecks in their utes, and dirt-bikes (ffs!), along with the convenient night-light in the caravan right above my tent resulted in an early rise. I knew I had a long trip to Broome with rising temperatures so wanted to make an early start, but under better conditions. Breakfast was a fistful of ibuprofen, and fruit.

The rides so far had me doing only around 95 km/h – strong gusty headwinds made it difficult to keep the speed up with any confidence. So, I was hoping I’d get some tailwinds for the ride to Broome. That didn’t happen, but at least they weren’t headwinds. I managed the legal 100 for most of the trip.

It was quite mild when I left PH – only around 19. It quickly rose to around 25 where it sat for a few hours under clouds. After a few hours the clouds started to thin and the temp gradually peaked at 32 – this was how I rode for the 2^nd half of the leg, where it dipped back down to about 28 in Broome itself when I arrive.

The roads were good, the scenery was fairly plain – no mountains or anything like that. Like the trip across the bottom of Australia, many would think it’s boring. However, the vegetation changed frequently, including vast areas of dry flood plain, empty river beds, etc. I kinda like it. I do think you have to travel the area with a particular frame of mind… it’s all different.

My original plans were to have me stopping overnight at a 24hr reststop. I called in for a break, not to stay. It was hot! – no wind here, but would have been OK for an overnighter. Plenty of room, although no tent pegs would have penetrated the concrete-like gravel.

I’m typing this on the morning after, having stolen some electricity from a campsite neighbor at 4am 😉 to charge the lappy. This is where I discover I’d left the unique charge/USB cable for Theo’s camera, and that it takes the large format memory cards that won’t fit my laptop. So – those few photos I took yesterday will stay there until I get back home. Needless to say, I’ll use the phone’s camera from now on. As usual, I captured some video that I’ll assemble later.

Camp was at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park – I’d rung the day before and sweet-talked my way into a bay-side tent area – they’d kept 3 tent-sides aside for me – it pays to be nice and polite!

Having packed up in PH in the dustbowl, once I’d erect the tent in Broome I headed to the beach for a swim to wash the dust and the sweat off. A few folk were exiting the water complaining how cold it was so I entered fearing the worst. Clearly, they were Broome residents and were expecting something bath-like. It was fantastic – cool, but not cold – just the thing after my ride.

Back at the tent, I ended up chatting to a neighbour who was from Sydney – he’d been here for a month (what a life!), spoke at length about cricket and footy, and just relaxed in the shade overlooking the bay.

As dusk hit, so did the midges, so I left the park and headed for dinner to treat myself to a good pub meal (squid rings) – I suspected it might be the last decent meal for a while.

I’d heard quite a few people say that the roads around Newman were quite good. Heading north, it wasn’t the road so much (it’s not a “twisty”) but rather the scenery – quite spectacular.

The landscape soon become quite hilly (Juna and Mulga Downs – to the east of Karijini), showing all of the colours as to why the mining companies love it up here.

As for photos – it’s not really the place to stop on the side of the road. If you do, you’re likely to piss off the road-trains big time. So, only a handful. However, lots of video… I’m gonna try to load a few up to YouTube this evening if I can.

For the first half of the trip the scenery seemed to change every few miles: rocky, then rolling hills, then wooded areas, then flat plains, then rinse repeat. This is a road you should try if you have the chance.

The second half was flat, flat, flat… which meant wind, wind, wind – again – at 10-11 o’clock for the rest of the way. This part of the trip was made more difficult due to the road-trains. With a trailer, I’m only allowed speeds of 100kph. These 4x bogie 60+m long bad boys do a little less than that – annoyingly only a little less. Yes, I know my ST can go much faster, but it’s a confidence thing: hitting 120 to pass, in strong headwinds, in the wake of a truck, towing a trailer… a little unnerving, but I’m getting used to it.

While I’d filled up on premium in Newman, I reached the Aski roadhouse with only half a tank. Again – only 91 – but in she went. There is a part of me that feels the bike is getting better fuel consumption on a blend of 91 and 95 – maybe some research is needed.

Arriving at Port Hedland at 2:30pm – I headed to a supermarket, stocked up on some necessities, and rang around for a campsite. I ended up at a place that’s functionally fine, a little noisy (could be trouble tonight) with passing trucks and iron-ore trains, but a plain dust-bowl – not a blade of grass anyway. It’s not even gravel – just red dirt.

A quick check of the map and I’m a little ahead of my original plans (was to be in Karratha tonight). So, I’m thinking of make the longer run to Broome tomorrow, then a short drive to Derby for the following day – leaving me with some extra time in each to look around.

It drizzled most of the night, so everything was wet. I wasn’t in a rush, so took my time so the tent would dry a little. That didn’t work – more rain coming so I shook off what I could, stuffed in the trailer and off I went. I assumed I’d be able to dry it in Newman.

This leg of the trip was horrible! Dry – but bloody windy. I had a 30-40km headwind from about 11 o’clock for the whole trip. It was agonizing… the muscles in the left side of the neck are rooted. Pills for sleep tonight methinks.

The temp was quite chilly again leaving Cue – around 15 at departure, but rose to 18/19 quickly and sat there for some time.

Needing fuel, I stopped in at Meekathara. Why on earth would they only sell 91 unleaded?!?! I still had half a tank, so I filled up from the 10 lit jerry can – gave me 7/8 tank – should be find to the next stop of Kumarina. This turned out to be just a roadhouse that also only had 91. I may have made it to Newman, but I wasn’t going to chance it – filled up with 91 hoping for the best…. No change in fuel consumption or performance. All good – I hope.

Winding was still beating me in the face, but had rising to 25-ish so was quite warm. I’m sitting here in the caravan park at Newman at dusk in t-shirt and shorts – a nice 20 I think.

Now that I’m out of the bad weather I should be able to stop & smell the roses a bit. It’s been a bit of a slug to get into fine weather but it’s been worth it I reckon.

So, 675km from home to Cue – my first stop. A little rain (only light), strong winds, but the bike and trailer handled it well. Very few photos due to the weather, but quite a few videos – they’ll take a while to put up… possibly only after my return.

It’s just a shame the moron who parked in on the grass wasn’t paying attention and left it a little too vertical for the wind…

First tip-over in 96,000 km. I said a few choice words to myself.

ps. just as well I put that swivel on the trailer.

… and they’re off. I can’t believe it’s finally come. It seemed to take forever.

I had originally planned on heading up through Geraldton and staying at Galena Bridge about 100km further north. With the crap weather leading up to departure I was watching carefully. When I woke I decided that inland would be better. It would still be raining to start with, but would clear up earlier.

There was really on a 30 minute section where it bucketed down – other than that it was pretty good, just the odd shower.

Quick brekky stop at Bindoon Bakehaus…

It was cold though. I had my wet weather gear on for most of the trip just to keep the wind out.

My initial plan was to stop at Mount Magnet, but since I made it in plenty of time I decided to keep going on to Cue.

As I arrived I could see a spot of rain coming in the distance, so I rushed to get the tent up. Foolishly I wasn’t paying attention when I parked the bike on the grass – the footpeg was on a little mound keeping the bike almost vertical. One gust of wind and over she went…. My poor baby!

Right-hand side mirror was smashed, and the plastic cover had 1 or 2 bits broken off. So, the only thing I could do was to discard the mirror (it would have been too distracting otherwise), and use 100mph tape to hold the cover in place. It will do for now, but will need replacing when I get home.

Not many photos due to the weather, but quite a few videos on the ride. It might be a while before they appear on YouTube.

Well, 11 days to go – gulp! I hope I’m ready.

The trailer is built and tested. I do need to make sure I pack it properly to make sure there’s not too much weight on the tow bar, but handling is a breeze… a little heavy at take off, braking seemed OK (although I haven’t tried an emergency stop), and at crusing I barely know it’s there. Fuel consumption is impacted by about 3km/litre – not bad methinks.

I went for an over-nighter down to Nanga Brook Campsite (located here) to test everything out. A lovely facility run by DPAW nestled in the Dwellingup State Forest.

I took a wrong turn and found myself heading down a gravel road. Not the best choice on my part… it had a very loose surface of ball-bearings on top. My bike has barely seen a gravel road in its 96,000 km life, and to take that towing a trailer was, let’s say, “exciting”. The front end was all over the place… it scared the crap out of me. I did need a new front tyre – so maybe that was the problem (although I doubt it). I eventually found a place I could turn around and headed back to the sealed black stuff.

While I probably should have chosen to go north, it was a good test for the cooler climate of Tasmania – it was fricken freezeing! Well, not quite – but it did get down to about 4C overnight.

I went to bed with the brook bubbling in the background (only 30m away), and woken up at dawn (my time anyway) by the local kookaburras – ah the serenity.

Key learnings:

• Keeping canned food in the trailer as an emergency is a good idea (having left the night’s dinner in the fridge)
• Keep away from gravel if I can – I have a GPS – use the damn thing properly!
• Take a beanie – the follicly-challenged noggin needs some protection in the cooler climes.
• Take a tarp to put under the tent – I can’t believe I left it at home!
• Take the bike cover – the battery struggled in the morning

In the end, all good…. can’t wait!