Around Australia on a GSA. Three months, Two People, 26,000 Kilometers.

[obsidian]

Hi all,

Earlier this year my wife and I did an around Australia loop, with a jaunt into the middle. We filmed the entire journey and will be launching a 6 part series, just thought I'd share the trailer.





The series is due to be released late February.

I'll keep this thread going as the official ride report as well.

[JReazor]

Very cool. I'll be looking for it.

[UHOH]

nice, terrific photography compared to everyone else's video.


imagine ... a 90 mile stretch w/ not a bend.    glad you only showed  a frame shot of that

[Blunder]

Y'all speak with 'murican accents.  

[obsidian]

Y'all speak with 'murican accents.  

Canadians living in New Zealand, and traveling Australia.  

[obsidian]

nice, terrific photography compared to everyone else's video.


imagine ... a 90 mile stretch w/ not a bend.    glad you only showed  a frame shot of that

The worst part was, it was a very tiny bend and then another 60 or 70 miles of straight.  Every once in awhile you'd see tire marks on a perfectly straight road.  The spot where someone had fallen asleep, then woke up to "WTF!?!?!?"

[Blunder]

Canadians living in New Zealand, and traveling Australia.  

You hide it not so well.  

[Yakiman]

Hi-Q vid; Oz...  I'm in!  

[ride200mi]

This sounds so cool... I will be looking for the vids.... And I'm sorry I have no clue as to imbedding a video....
Oh and thanks for sharing this with us all....
I have a very good friend that lives in Australia and would love to be able to do this.

[obsidian]

This ride report will be excerpts from our travel notes... Hope y'all like it.

Sydney:Prologue

After about a year of talking, shuffling schedules and planning, we finally are at the day: our 3 month adventure in Australia.  Our route takes us around the outside of the Australian continent, with a excursion into the center, of course, to see Ayers rock.  



This trip is going to be hard, our KTM’s look so sad as we drop them off for babysitting.  Poor things, I feel bad knowing they will sit unused while we are gone.  



We get to Sydney, and our first order of business is to head to BMW to organize our New R1200GS-Adventure.  We want the first service done before we leave, so we run in 1000 kms around Sydney to get use to the bike.  We only have a few days to get everything done, our departure date is 6 days away so we have to get a move on.









We run around town picking up a few remaining items, it seems like we have a lot of luggage, here is our break down of gear:

Joe Gear
1 x Shoei Helmet
1 x earplugs
1 x Scala Rider Q2 with charger
1 x Revit Cayenne Pro Jacket & Pants
1 x Pair BMW Santiago Boots
1 x Set thermal underwear
1 x BMW airflow gloves
1 x BMW socks
1 x Musto rain jacket
1 x Arc’teryx Fleece
2 x shorts
3 x t-shirts
1 x jeans
4 x underwear
3 x socks
1 x flip-flops
1 x walking shoes
1 x toiletries
1 x prescription glasses
1 x prescription sunglasses
1 x wallet
1 x passport

Flora Gear
1x Shoei Helmet
1 x earplugs
1 x Scala Rider Q2 with charger
1 xBMW Comfort Shell Jacket & Pants
1 xPair Diadorra Ladies boots
1 xPair BMW allround gloves
1 x Glove liners
1 x Northface fleece
1 x Northface summer rain jacket
1 x jeans
1 x shorts
2 x long sleeve tops
2 x t-shirt
1 x yoga pants
1 x yoga top
1 x sports bra
4 x underwear
4 x socks
1 x flip-flops
1 x walking shoes
1 x toiletries
1 x prescription glasses
1 x prescription sunglasses
1 x wallet
1 x passport

Camping Gear
1x NorthFace large bag
Misc Summit Stuff sacks
MSR Mutha Hubba Tent
2x Mountain Design sleeping bags
2x Exped mattress
1x  MSR reactor stove
2 x sporks & bowls
1 x coffee cup
1 x utility knife
1 x headlamp
1 x cooler
1 x thermos
1 x laundry soap
1 x laundry bag
1 x Kriega R20 Backpack
1 x first aid kit
1 x Ortlieb waterproof bag with straps
1 x 5 meter 15 amp power cable
1 x power outlet spliter

Motorcycle gear
1 x BMW tank bag with maps
2 x BMW panniers
1 x Garmin GPS with Australia maps
1 x tyre repair kit
1x Tool kit
1 x portable inverter
3 x straps
2 x bungie cords
1 x plastic cleaner

Production Gear:
2 x Canon 5D MK 2
2 x 24-105mm L lens
1 x 16-35mm L Lens
1 x 70-300mm Zoom lens
2 x cleaning cloths
4 x batteries
4 x 16 gig CF cards
2 x power cables
1 x 13” MacBook Pro with cables
1 x i-phone
1 x Zoom H4N
2 x Lapel mics
6 x 320 Lace HD with USB cables
1 x Tripod with head and quick release plate
1 x notepad & pen

[obsidian]

Here's an animation showing a very generalised version of our route. Enjoy!  

[Blunder]

3 months to explore? Oh man, I'm so jealous. I'd better start on my fiendish plans to set myself up for a road trip like that.

Looking forward to your reports.  

[R Doug]

 

I look forward to seeing the installments!  I've never read or seen any video of a road trip Down Under.  This looks like it was very well done.  

[MK96xj]

Looking forward to the next installment.

I viewed your other videos and was impressed.

[obsidian]

Packing up first thing, our bags dangling from the Hotel cart as we gingerly rolled it into the hotel lobby. Joe went to get the bike from the parking garage, and we spend about a half hour loading it for the first time. It all fit, whew



I was happy to see Sydney go, staying in the middle of the city had its plus and minuses, and those being the honking and sirens in the middle of the night left something to be desired. However the location was good and convenient to everything.



Passing over the harbor bridge was like our starting line... ready, set, go.....

We found a little town to stop for lunch, Gloucester. We didn't seem to be the only ones with this town in mind for lunch; the main road was lined with cruisers and tourers out for their Sunday ride.



After lunch we headed back towards the coast, the road improving, then degrading into a mess of potholes and ruts until we reached the main highway. The sky displayed an amazing bunch of clouds that looked like a quilt.

[obsidian]

We had a nice early departure, on our way out of town we couldn't suppress the inner tourist in us, and next thing we were snapping photos of us and the giant banana at the entrance to Coffs Harbour.



We headed north, to get fuel at Grafton. We also ended up finding some breakfast there. Leaving Grafton, we took Coaldale road which was an amazing scenic backroad, offering up country pastures, bulls, cows, horses, and one kangaroo which passed in front of us in the distance.





Over an hour and a half of backroads, gravel, and no traffic and we finally spy a rest stop to pull over. It was almost 1PM by then and time for a bite to eat.





We shared an apple, and a piece of banana bread we had picked up from the cafe earlier. It was a nice spot to stop and listen to the cries of the raven in the trees above us.





The serenity of the previous road was soon lost on the new “backroad” we had selected. While it was winding its way through scenic areas, the sealed road surface was so poor that we both had wished that we were back on the gravel sections. This leg took over two hours, and really slowed us down on our overall time. There was not much chance of making the Cobb & Co. museum in Toowoomba before it closed. We ended up getting in the campground at dark.

[obsidian]

The air was still and cool as we woke up to birds creating havoc in the trees around us.  Their calls echoed around the campground each with their on unique chant, timing and tone.  
Breakfast consisted of cereal I pinched from our hotel in Sydney, and orange juice I picked up when I got the pizza last night.  



It was then off to the Cobb & Co Museum to check out the stagecoach history.  
We had a wander around checking out all the stagecoaches; large and small which transported goods and people across Australia.  







Departing our route took us down a steep 10% grade to the valley below, we passed by tens of trucks grinding their engines down the hill, struggling to maintain a suitable speed for their loads.  
Our nimble bike zooms pass them and to the gas station at the bottom of the hill.  We had no idea that Toowoomba sat so high on a plateau above the coast, it would explain the cool morning we experienced.



Off the main road, we turned left and headed towards the Esk valley.  Joe's stomach starts to rumble and we find a Mobil restaurant just off the main road to pull in and have a feed.  
He breaks down and has a burger and fries, bad, bad boy.  I know he's probably burning a few calories from riding :lol3 :lol3 , and we really don't have a choice in where to eat, so he downs the burger in no time and we head on the road.  Feeling revived, Joe feels he can make it up to Hervey bay, so we go for it.  



Up the main highway is a piece of cake.  We now see the scenery starting to change; from white fields of grasses dotted with trees to rows of sugar cane and avocados.  
The temperature drops a few degrees as we dip behind hills obscuring the sun, then returns up back in the light.  But as we approached Gympie the light starts to fade, and we ride in darkness towards our destination.  



Things seem a little strange, somehow the address for the caravan park was wrong, and we ended up 30 km in the opposite direction near river Heads.  Frustrated after a long day, we turn back towards town and find the correct address turn in and unload our gear at the campground.



.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Aaand the most horrifying thing you'll ever see in this thread....

[Tyrroneous]

Excellent stuff (minus the last picture of course).  Keep it coming!!

[MK96xj]

Here is my question as I read along:

Why did you not ferry your KTM's over? Did you buy the GSA or rent it? I see you ran it in for the first service so I am a bit puzzled

[obsidian]

Here is my question as I read along:

Why did you not ferry your KTM's over? Did you buy the GSA or rent it? I see you ran it in for the first service so I am a bit puzzled

Purchased with a buy back.  Ended up being cheaper in the long run than rentals or shipping.  Well shipping the KTM with extra insurances, fuel consumption, carnet, fees, and shipping back would have been about even.  Yet I figured the BMW would serve the purpose better.  In hindsight, I missed the KTM on around Australia.

[obsidian]

Harvey Bay to Rockhampton


It was early when the birds began to chime in at the rising of the sun.  The trees were filled with a squawks and song as a simple tune would fill your ear an energetic “caw” from a raven would pierce the air as they muddled in the background.



A morning stroll was in session as we took to the main drag to push our tired bones up towards the beach.  We wondered along the paths and checked out the ingenious workout equipment sent out by the city for the public:  using your own body weight, you can push, pull and drag yourself into better health.  Feeling a bit more alive and awake, we returned to have a quick breakfast, a shower and pack up the remaining items to load on the bike.  We were then off through town and following the main road into a construction zone.



Once we reached the Bruce Hwy, it was straight here on end.  About 150 kms in, we were ready for a rest already in Gin Gin.  It seemed like it was going to be a long day, as we couldn't seem to get into the groove.  Joe indulged in a meat pie, and I had some kind of pear tart with walnuts atop it.  It is just the beginning of the straight and narrow for across country, and we are already squirming for some twisties, not sure how we'll fair with thousands of kms of straight roads.  



The road dried up straight and we passed through small blips on the map until we couldn't take it any more and resorted to a few stops along the way.  Finally, at around 3:30 we pulled into the town of Rockhampton, better known as “Rocky” which would explain the references we saw along the highway on the way up, (about Rocky 4)  Anyways, without much pain we were able to find our campground and hunker down for the night.  Joe was pretty buggered and I had had enough thundering in my ear from the windshield to last me a lifetime.  Onwards, to another day!

[obsidian]

After filling up the bike it was into early morning traffic through Rocky pacing the traffic lights so we didn't have to stop.  It was then on to the Bruce Hwy, a single lane road where delivery trucks and stock trucks roared up and down making their rounds.  



Joe:  This is a leg I just wasn't looking forward to.  Its a nice road, well paved and a good speed limit for most of it, yet with no turns or very few and also very few scenery changes.  The kilometer count down to Mackay slowly crept down at what felt to be half the pace of previous days.

We did start to see or feel the lack of a human presence.  Wildlife giving way to mini malls and outlet stores.  Flora saw a Kangaroo en route, while I still haven't to date.  Although when you get into the “roo” area I could smell dead roo.  

Pulling into McKay, it seemed awfully quite for a work day, and as we rounded the corner on the hwy a fun fair came into whole view, families and truckies alike were out enjoying the rides and carnival fair.  Making our way to the BMW dealer to find out it was closed which we couldn't get our tires sorted so we headed to the port for lunch.  

The seaside was a complete contrast to this industrial town; high-rise buildings painted in Miami color schemes towered over a refinery, views outstretched towards the marina and further out beyond the breakwater, the open ocean.  Tiny container ships were dotted on the horizon in amongst the great barrier reef and the islands that littered the shores.  Sitting down for a nice lunch, we were pleasantly surprised with a modern menu that offered fresh seafood and salads.  Perfect, it was a chance to eat a healthy lunch which we enjoyed under rustling trees with a strong afternoon ocean breeze.


Reluctant to return to the bike, we road down the breakwater to energize our spirits and watch the locals cast their rods off the rocky end.  It was then a quick backtrack though North McKay to make our way to Airlie Beach, our final resting place for the evening.  This road seemed well worn with more international travelers, a reminder of how lucky we have been with slow traffic so far.  



Cars doddled below the speed limits dangerously decelerating up hills causing truckies to negotiate around them.  Joe and I were fidgety in our respective seats, eager to pull up to accommodation for the night.  Finally, after a few attempts at passing the slow traffic, we broke through and made our way into town, this time it wasn't dark for a change, a much needed change from our previous days.  We will stay here for a few nights, to recoup before we head inland.

[Troppo King]

Excellent.

The photos, video and commentary are professional standard.

Are you using the Canon for video as well?

If so, wow!

 

[obsidian]

Excellent.

The photos, video and commentary are professional standard.

Are you using the Canon for video as well?

If so, wow!

 

Thanks!  Yep, the Canon 5Dmk2 did all the video and photography work.  Takes some great images if you understand and can overcome its weak points.

[Troppo King]

I'm impressed with that Camera!

I have a Nikon D90, and the Cannon is much better for video...

 

[obsidian]

I'm impressed with that Camera!

I have a Nikon D90, and the Cannon is much better for video...

 

The 5dmk2 is a real gem.  In fact its sensor is monstrous which can make some pretty nice imagery.

[obsidian]

Ok so this is the one touristy thing we did in the Whitsunday's a “Ocean Rafting” which involves being on a big rubber dingy that blows 240 horses out the backside.  






It was about an hour to Whitehaven beach which boasts white silica sand that looks like a giant ashtray.  



After lunch we ventured up to the lookout, catching a glimpse of the silica sand as it flanked the inlet and the river winding inland of the island.  








After we found our way back to the beach, the boat met us to visit the favorite snorkel spot.





Back on the boat we headed back to Airlie beach, while the boats played in the wakes of the other two boats, everyone were unwilling participants in a wet and wild ride.  Though some enjoyed it more than others, there was plenty of laughter and gripping on for dear life as the boat finally made it back to the dock.

[obsidian]

Ok so we left Airlie beach as early as we could, as everyone well knows that Sunday can be a very slow and tedious travel day; and this would be no exception.  A little overcast weather led to flittering showers as we packed up the bike.

The air is still and the clouds dipped low over the hills brushing its wispy tails onto the tops of the trees.  Birds are quiet as the gentle drip of rain dominates the morning hours.  Already traffic has begun its migration to the next tourist town and we opt to follow the GPS as it directs us down an alternate route.  

We take a right off the main hwy and turn onto a single lane road paralleling sugarcane fields.  The road soon turns to dirt, and as we round a corner, it changes to no more than a dirt trail behind the farmer's field.  



The bike tipped over,  it was dug in, mud was packed tightly around the tires, creating a slick surface to ride on.  The rain was not letting up, and the mud was getting thicker.  Our first order of business was to get the bike up, this proved difficult, as there was no way to get a footing in the slippery mud, it was also doubly hard as we were situated on a hill sloping towards a creek with slick grass either side.



After about 10 minutes of trying to get up the bike, Joe decided to get the panniers off and start again.  We managed to get some leverage and hoist the bike up.  It took all our strength as we felt like cartoon characters running in place, mud slipping everywhere.  We stood gasping and in some disbelief that we actually got it upright.  

Joe wheeled it to a harder surface and we began removing the mud from the tires, and reloading the panniers.  As I worked a little more on the tires, Joe walked down to the bridge to visualize how he was going to tackle the bridge.  He thought the best corse of action was to go over the bridge as the road was pretty much on the other side.  As he took time to get his position right, I began to hoof it with the tank bag and my helmet and the camera too get some footage of our whole debacle.  He made it to the bridge and lined up and gunned it to the other side, the bike wobbling around as it searched to find traction under the layer of mud.  He made it around the last rows of sugarcane and up to the top of the road.  I finally walked up and crossed the road, just as a group of Harley riders came by.  I'm sure it was going through their minds what a couple of morons were doing riding around in behind sugar fields on a wet morning.  Believe me, I was asking myself the same question.  



We reached Ayr and find a car wash station to remove most of the mud from the bottom of the bike, tires and from the pannier corners and the seat.  Our boots were still caked with mud which we forgot to clean when we were done the bike.

The motor way was straight and long, luckily there was a shortcut around the hills which saved us a heap of time taking us direct to the tiny settlement of Woodstock.  This was the first time the roadkill was in abundance.  A stark reminder we are not on the heavily traveled roads anymore.



The highway to Charter Towers had a nice surface and started to give us the “Outback feel”.  While we were running westward, every other motorcycle we passed headed east back to the coast.  



I get the feeling that Charter Towers is a popular Sunday ride for the Townsville bikers.  Arriving in town, we rely on our trusty Garmin Zumo to take us to the “Aussie Outback Oasis” the local Big4 campground.  It failed us twice, and this time I can 100% say it wasn't user error.  Flora did get us there though, and went in to book a campsite, while I sat there cursing the evil Garmin unit.



Once we got the camp set up, we took off on the bike to grab some microwave meals from the Foodworks down the road.  Came back, nuked it in the camp kitchen and headed off to bed.

[obsidian]

The second trailer has been released and is now in the initial post. Enjoy.

[vwkaferman]

Man I'm late to the game here but in for greatness. Very well done you two, main reason I'm posting? In for release of vid! Count me in on the list for the DVD, you guys "get" motorcycling. Awesome!

James

[GoGreen]

Wow, I can't wait to see the whole film, what an incredible journey.

[obsidian]

Thanks guys.  On a day where i feel like banging my head against the wall editing this footage, comments like these really do help.  Thanks again!

[obsidian]

The slamming of the toilet block was a strong reminder that we had picked a spot too close.  The fruit pickers awoke at 5:30 to get their day started picking what we think could be mangos out in the Charter Towers areas.  I wasn't too impressed with their lack of friendliness at the camp kitchen the night before, they seemed to hog all the facilities and didn't move out of the way to let anyone else use anything.  The women, who mostly consisted of a very strong Irish accent also used the toilets and didn't use the sink afterwards, dirty dirty dirty.  



Ok so we finally got ourselves out of bed around 6:00 and headed for the showers on the other end of the campground, it seemed a better choice or we would be battling with the pickers for hotwater and toilets. Joe went first, while I started packing up.  It didn't take me long to dismantle our camp, and when I went for my shower, Joe took down the tent and organized things for packing.  I was getting pretty use to getting everything on the bike at this point, so each day got quicker.




Once we had everything on board we headed into town to the Stock Exchange Cafe at old Stock exchange building in the middle of town.  







As we sat there eating, A old fella came by who wore a “visually impaired” label on the front of his jacket.  He had a good old chant with us while Joe ate some bacon and eggs and a coffee.  He talked about how you have to travel when you are young as when you try to when you retire, you have too many aches and pains or you start to loose your sight, hearing or you just arn't able to enjoy it.  He told us he had seem most of Australia, and only regretted not going to see The Kimberly; it was too late for that as he could barley see a hand in front of his face.  As he rambled on, another oldy came by, as he explained “she's a hard bitch”.  She made her way over to our table located outside the cafe.

“They say you need to be on assisted living to get your lawn mowed in this town,” she hissed through her three front teeth.  
“I'll tell you, if you go on assisted living, they will do that all for you, even come into your home and help you,” the old guy responded.
“I don't want none of that, I just want my bloody lawns mowed,” she exclaimed.

The banter went on for about ten minutes, she was from the Never Never Land and was born in Camoweal and he was a drover for a long time up in the north.  The range of topics including her sewing shut her nether region to not being able to call people “love” anymore without being politically correct.  The old gal finally left and he explained that she was as hard as they could come by, tried to save her husband from a bull but it was all over.  Joe polished off his breakfast and VI oldy said goodbye and was off to find someone else to talk to.

By far this was the most impressive ride to date.  The range of scenery that we saw today was incredible, from thick treed fields to bushy scrub, to planes of grass to the horizon.  



The roads though straight, were far more appealing than that of the east coast, at least you could see off into the horizon; beyond the immediate surrounds of where you were riding.  This was also our first encounter with road trains, which we passed quite a few of.  

They are much longer than you would think, most around 50 meters in length, and with more than 2 trailers the third usually bounces around on the road wagging like the tail of a dog.  However, the surface of the road left much to be desired, and we encountered quite a few roadworks along the way.



Our first stop of the day was the Hughenden dinosaur display.  We took a quick walk around looking at the amazing fossil display and their recreation of the “somethingsaurus” found in the area.  



Making our way around, a waft of food made its way into the building and we followed the smell a street away to the PJ Holdens Cafe where the  locals road workers, police and the coffee club all were around having their lunch.  


We guzzled down a few cold drinks and ate a cheese sammich and joe had burger.



Joe:  As part of my “circumnavigate Australia by eating the most unhealthy food” tour I ordered the hamburger.  Although there was a few more healthier choices, I'm glad I did.  This burger was a meal, and a deal!  Superb.

It was then back on the road, and about 100 kms to Richmond.  The heat was scorching today, even though there were clouds overhead.  At 32 degrees, in the middle of winter, it was enough to melt anyone!  We are still adjusting to the heat, and it was a lot to manage for the day, so another scheduled stop in Richmond at the Cronosaurous display to have more

Joe:  Normally I could fill a page complaining about my Revit gear, but not today.  The multitude of vents were welcome as we finally encountered the first day of serious heat.  I'm not a “heat” person, and this is going to be tough.  Just have to remember to keep drinking water!

Last 150 kms were hot, tiring and the road surface deteriorated rapidly.  The road started undulating under us like a wave, and some bumps

Joe:  This stretch was pretty uneventful, yet there were a few decent bumps on the road where I could sense Flora was almost getting airborne.  

Julia Creek, got to the “maintained” caravan park, there were loads of bugs, and as we started unpacking, the what seemed like thousands of frogs began to sing from everywhere.  Two minutes of having the tent open and it was choca full of bugs. After our setup, we wondered down to the pub for a hearty meal, long day, hot, it called for a cold beer and a chance for all the locals to stare at us in the restaurant.

[GoGreen]

Really enjoying your journey, keep sharing and thank you!

[Yakiman]

Enjoying your trip, on the virtual from the snowbound Norte.  

Following along on the G-maps...    

Curious, is it allowed to ride on the beaches (e.g. those beautiful white sandy expanses?)

[obsidian]

Thanks all,

No you can't ride on Whitehaven, but there is an island not too too far "Fraser Island" that is similar and allows you to ride on them.

[obsidian]

It was some time in the middle of the night that I realized that my mattress was slowly leaking.  By 6:00 am, the most comfortable position I could sleep in was by getting out of bed, it was inevitable, I wasn't meant to sleep in.  The campground was alive with insects, and as the sunrise inched on to the ground they attempted to scurry and find cover in any orifice they could find:  this included all of our gear, under the tent in boots and helmets.  

A couple of dogs came over to play, and offered up their stick to just run away before we could throw it.  We packed up the gear, though everything didn't seem to fit as well into the bags as when they came off, so we struggled to get everything to fit.  It all seemed lumpy and out of place, but we were aiming to leave as soon as possible and just through it all together and hauled it onto the bike.  The dogs came over to offer up their stick again, but again the same game ensued and we gave up chase.  Once we were loaded up, one began to bark at our muffled engine, and escorted us out of the park.  



Joe:  Unlike Flora, I had excellent sleep.  My air mattress was filled to the brim, and probably the most comfortable sleep I've had in ages.  I did wake up at about 5:30-6 and started wiggling around like mad, which seemed to annoy a sleepless Flora to no end.  Well rested I get up to wander around and pretend to be busy while Flora does almost all of the packing work.  Once I've avoided my share of packing and folding, it's time to leave Julia Creek behind in search of the next town.

The morning air was chilly, it was 8:15 by the time we made it out of Julia Creek.  About 300 meters from town we encountered a flock of hawks, scouring the roadside for roadkill.  A few landed right in front of the bike, and we had to slow down to allow them to take flight.  They would weave wildly as we passed by, the sound of our engine must confuse them, as the waggle their talons not knowing weather to attack us, or flee.  It would always be the latter, however, they did come rather close to the bike a few times in attack position.

Joe:  I had images of a hawk beak impaling my arms when we rode through that flock.  I was pretty sure my cheap shitty Re’vit gear wouldn't stop them either.  



Out of Julia Creek the scenery was much like the other day, including numerous roadworks and more single lane road bypasses, until the Lansborough Highway met up 14 kms from Cloncurry.  The road surface improved, and the “Kangaroo next 120km” sign reappeared, even though we had never sited any, only the carnage on the side of the road from the road-trains thundering through, tossing them well into the ditches at the side of the road where the birds would dissect the remains.  We saw the fresh, the smelly and the decidedly deceased skeletons who had occupied that same spot for some time.  




In Cloncurry we stopped for fuel, and a quick drink.  An old cowboy decided to strike up a conversation with me, though I really had no idea what he was saying.  A fair number of Aussie's have a tendency to mumble, and being hard of hearing to begin with, it was a struggle to understand what he was saying.  I think he was going on about a rodeo going on somewhere north of Julia Creek, it sounded like fun, if we had the time to seek these things out, but of course we have to push on and get to the center.  Hopefully we do run into a rodeo in one of these towns, it would be fun to see while we are here.  



The day was still ahead of us, we pushed on and were pleasantly surprised with the change of scenery and the road.  We were now among hills of rock, little outcrops with bush dominated the landscape.  The road wound through, giving us a front row seat to some of the best roads so far.  Of course, all good things have to come to an end as we were forced to stop for some roadworks 20 kms from Mount Isa, and sit in the scorching heat for 15 minutes while traffic went by single file on a stretch of road they were re-taring.  





32 degrees, with hot gear on, not my idea of fun.  Finally, they let us loose and we cruised the last 20 kms into town, eagerly counting down the kms with the help of many signs to tell us how far we were from the campground. We pulled in just after noon, dropped our stuff and headed into town to have a look around and pick up something for dinner.

Mount Isa is defiantly a mining town.  The skyline dominated by a huge zinc and silver mine as the stacks rise far above the rocky hills that surround the city.  The dry air reminds me of the interior of British Columbia, growing up in a desert climate with only a few months of green before the sun dries everything out.  The only difference here was the fact that the temperature was only that of the winter, and no snow would be seen on these hills.  Taking the bike up to the lookout, we marveled at the stacks as the locals used the ramps located at the top for their workout regime.  It was a reminder that we could use a little more in the exercise department.  


The city, big mine, lookout, sunset, After our visit up the hill, we thought it best we get back to the camp to get our chores done before our next day of riding.  Anyway we bite it off, its a big leg to chew.



Joe:  Mount Isa was very cool.  I had heard that it was “nothing much” or “just a mining town”  but it was great.  I think the mine gives the place a lot of character and its just a very peaceful and quite stunning place really.  I'm very glad we stopped at The Isa, and also glad we decided to form an opinion for ourselves.  

[obsidian]

6:00 am rolled around and we were flopping around, eager to get up and get the day started.  It was bitterly cold, the desert had cooled to a brisk 7 degrees as we tried eagerly to keep the warmth in.  Finally I broke down having to go to the toilet and sprung up to get our daily chores done.  With quite a few things packed the night before, we were able to have breakfast, pack the remainder and get out of the park by 7:15.  

We put an extra layer of clothing on under our riding gear, which was needed in the cool morning air and headed west towards the massive mine located adjacent of the town of Mount Isa.  As we drove by it, its stacks dwarfed us, it was so odd to see something like that right in the middle of town.  It was still sunrise, and I was a bit nervous about setting out while we were vulnerable to having a kangaroo or anything else run in front of us.  



As we followed the local traffic along the road, we soon found ourselves alone darting in and out of the morning sunrise.  A gentle fog began to recede when the sun reached it.  With the sun illuminating our way, we finally see our first site of a wild “alive” animal.  A huge wild pig waddles over the road and disappears into the bushes, his fat black body easily noticeable from a far distance.  I keep my eyes pealed on the road, promising myself not to look away, it could mean the difference between life and death when on a motorcycle.  Not soon after the pig, I spot a Kangaroo on the left and relay the sighting to Joe so he can take evasive action.  Not a second too soon, he squeezes the breaks, the BMW easily coming to a stop before the dude lumbers across the road, like a senior citizen at a crosswalk, of course, I didn't have the time to pull out the camera as it all happened in seconds.  I'm happy with my diligent kangaroo spotting, and as the day heats up, it seems he would be the last and only sighting of the day.

Joe:  It's no wonder that you see kangaroo carcasses all over the highways here.  When something larger than you is coming at your at 100km/h + you get the fuck outta there.  Nope, not Mr. Kangaroo, he just lumbers over in an almost stoned state.  Who says only the koalas are doped up here.

We pass one lone biker, loaded up on a metric cruiser, he seemed happy to be at 100 km/h however that did not match our speed or schedule, he moved to the left to let us pass.  He also seemed to be enjoying the less traffic in the morning as we were.



Not before long we find ourselves in Camooweal fueling up again.  Joe gets another bad cup of coffee and we enjoy some time off the saddle.  The day is looking good, and we are making good time so far.  9:00 am and 18 degrees, still a bit too cool to remove our under layer.  We  keep it on until the next stop.  



We cross over into the Northern Territory, a small sign on the roadside is our only clue, that and the fact that we can now travel at 130km/h which seems like a damn good plan to help eat up these kms.  

Joe:  The crossover to NT, was good for mind and “speed”  the extra 30km/h and a bit beyond for good measure allowed us to start really covering some ground.  Admittedly we may have gone over a smidgen here and there.  At one point I recall that we were on par with the speed of a small Cessna.



I have my third animal encounter as we see a few Emus in the field just beyond the fence line.

Joe:  Time for a quick rest stop, drink, pee, etc.  These hotter days are making me crave a drink quicker.  Our plan of not using a Camelbak is a way of forcing us off the bike to get shots, and to just get off the thing to stretch.  It seems to work pretty well overall.

Joe:  Barkley Homestead, its a modern day oasis situated in the right spot.  Attracting motorists like a venus fly trap to its prey.  We pull in, spotting three cruisers and quickly top up the GSA.



Filling up with the most expensive “outback” fuel to date, Flora goes on in ahead of me to pay.  I park the bike and walk by the three guys getting ready for their next leg.  They were heading from Barkley to Mount Isa.  One questioned about the headwinds, “This thirsty girl hardly does 300km if I baby it” he tells me.  Then they asked about the GSA's range and my cruising speed on the previous leg.  When I informed them I could get 600km by running at a legal speed, they looked at me to see if I was spinning a tale.  It got even harder for them to believe when I said I was doing 135-150 km/h on the Camooweal to Barkley leg and would still get 530-550 out of the tank.





I think the respect for the BMW rose greatly, or they just didn't believe me and didn't want to be rude to that idiot tourist on his big BMW.  70 km before Three Way talked about stopping in Wycliffe Well instead of Tenant Creek

Joe:  It was only a 30km run from three ways to Tenant creek and we stopped at the local BP roadhouse to top up the tank yet again.  To be fair, it doesn't need topping up this much.  I'm being cheap topping it up in places I know to be cheaper than where I'm going.  Plus its a good habit to get into keeping the bike topped up in Australia.

Joe:  Right at the turn off to the Devil's Marbles, I pulled the clutch in to shift down and noticed it just wasn’t there.  I had to pull the lever completely in just to get the thing to engage.  Not normal at all.  Once we turned off I pumped the clutch a few times and was able to shift down, yet it still wasn't at 100%.



Even with bike worries on my mind, I got a small chance to wander the marbles and marvel at them.  





Admittedly I am a KTM rider, and don't know much about the BMW, only the very general lack of knowledge the owner's manual gives you.  A quick glance over the bike, checking the clutch, and the reservoir I came to the conclusion it was the heat and lack of use of the clutch over the entire days travel.  Pumping the clutch seemed to get the mineral oil flowing through the system and it worked a bit better.  



Leaving the Devil's marbles it seemed all fixed until about 30 km's later it did the same thing again.  



I've pumped the clutch with the bike on the center stand and let it sit.  The clutch now has resistance in its usual place, so I will monitor it a bit tomorrow and see if it is just the heat making the mineral oil a bit too viscous or something.  Also with internet I can get a bit more information about the bike.

[obsidian]

Finally made it to Wycliffe Well.



This strange little fuel stop off the main road is a site of the “alien invasion” as strange paintings and creatures dominate the park.



We checked into the reception, an overstocked store/restaurant/reception area that had a friendly atmosphere but they were far too laid back to get anything done at a reasonable rate.  


We finally got checked in, unloaded, and took a walk around the "lake".



After a quick walk around the Wycliffe Lake where there were heaps of strange looking birds, geese and Joe saw a snake. The geese were strange, honking at the cockatoos in the trees, then distributing themselves single file across the lake. We wondered around and found the Emu cage, and the birds where I stuck my finger in and almost got it taken off at the knuckle when the little fucker bit me. My fault, I thought it would be a friendly bird, but it was just plan nasty. Next time we won't slow down when we see them cross in front of us on the road.

[obsidian]

Joe:  I just didn't want to get up, I was awake, and wanted to get on the road but the action of getting up and getting bike gear on was just too much.  Flora relatively bounded up compared to me, and provided me the right positive influence I needed to get into gear.



Checking out most of the abos were gone from the night before, the morning was dead calm as the sun began to rise over the stunted hills in the distance.  We turned out onto the Stuart Hwy, and headed south, to Alice springs.  With minimal traffic on the road, we made good time pulling into Barrow Creek to fill up with gas.  



While I waited by the bike, Joe went inside to pay and use the toilet, He was soon accosted by the local trying to give his useful information about The Alice, and did we know it was only 300 kms away.  Humm, really, I was pretty clueless that it existed down that way!  We thanked him for his suggestions, and he waved good by between his bouts of coughing, smoking and eating his bacon and eggs for breakfast



Joe:  Pulling into the Barrow Creek roadhouse I spied the premium pump announcing its 1.80 / litre fuel price.  Highway robbery on the Stuart Highway.  We were there, so we topped up and I went into pay.  In what could only be described as the oddest roadhouse I've been into to date.  Things adorned the walls everywhere with no rhyme or reason.  Might be a few different bank notes here, a doll, a tricycle on the ceiling.  Whatever was available was stuck on those walls.  

I paid and asked to use the toilets, the surly attendant grudgingly gave me the key as she realized I was a paying customer.  Indeed, I had to sell my right kidney on the black market to pay for their extortionately priced fuel.

Joe:  Clutch going again.  It has to be air in the line.  There's fluid, there's no leaks.  It has to be air somewhere, but how did it get in?  I decide to just b-line to Alice.  I'm sure the motorcycle mechanics will have an answer.  There wasn't a BMW dealer there, but two bike shops.  I'm sure its pretty easy for someone else to look at it.



The last 60 kms were a bit harry with the clutch really acting up and Joe couldn't shift down and get it into a lower gear, with a few downhill sections, this was not boding well with our situation.  He finally managed to get it into gear.  



Rolling into Alice well before lunchtime and had time to stop at the two bike shops in town to inquire about local riding, tires and to shed any light on the clutch problem.  A local ran out of the second shop as we were pulling up.
“Hope you're not looking for a tire change” he said “They're booked up like mad in there.”
“No, not yet” Joe answered, “We just heard the news from the Honda shop over there”
“They're all bastards, they'll change you 40 dollars just to put the tire on the rim!”  He exclaimed, “I'll do it myself with some tire leavers if I have to!”  He was getting ready to drag his Duacti over the weekend on the track and needed new tires.  Joe asked him about clutches and he had a quick look but no further wisdom to add to what we already knew.  It proved to be a headscratcher, and neither of the outfits wanted to touch a BMW with a 10 foot poll.  To top it off, it didn't look like they had tires either, which may or may not be an issue when the tread starts to wear thin at the end of this leg.  We passed 5000 kms on this leg and it will be a few thousand more by the time we get to Darwin.  We'll play it by ear, and if we require tires before Darwin we'll have to sort something out.



Joe:  It's a shame really, the BMW is an awesome bike and this is just a stupid issue.  What makes it worse it the hesitancy for anyone to look at it.  It's a hydraulic dry clutch, not the flux capacitor from Doc Brown's Delorean or something.  Oh well, I can live with it until Darwin, where a proper and well equipped dealer can work on it.  (foreshadowing):evil



We milled around the campground for a while before dinner, climbing up some near by hills to catch the sunset.  Its a shame that two cultures have to live in disharmony like this.  Coming from a town myself which I was witness to the Natives abusing the liquor, their inability to live with it or with out it, their drug, their curse.  It was the same in this area, with liquor bans in affect and the travel guide speaking of Abos hanging outside taverns looking for people to buy them beer, though their elders frown upon it.  Its a shame.  It's not a difference between a first and a third world colliding its like a natural way of life being influenced by commercialism.  These people have been swayed by the devil, they have given into the easy way us fat white folk have lived like we're the only thing on this planet that matter.  We've removed the multidimensional aspect of life, and made it about money and comfort; comfort in food, living and lifestyle.  There is more to life than that, there is more than having a nice house, a good job, and nice car.  We've lost our souls, traded it away and now the same is happening to these people who stood on land for 30,000 years that was teaming with all the riches in the world.  And it was worth nothing to them.  It was only part of the landscape, Their joy was in life, in living, not consuming.  That is gone, we've ruined it all.  (come on Flora, tell us what you're really thinking!)
 


And as we were walking back from up the hill, we spied two BMWs pulling up to a campsite.  We stalked them down to their site and found them getting their gear off.  They had come all the way around from Perth via Darwin, and were looking to head down to Ayres Rock in the next few days to take the Old Desert road back to Perth.  



We wished Rob and Russell luck on their trip ( http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=530757) and checked out the wear on their tires.  They rocked off to the showers and we headed off to dinner across the road.  We didn't want to wander too far from the campground tonight, we were both pretty bagged from the last few days of riding back to back so it was a quick dinner and then back to the campground to plan for a few day trips over the next few days around the local area, get ourselves acquainted with “dirt” and hopefully some hiking.


Saturday we will make our way to the rock.

[obsidian]

It was still dark when we awoke this morning, it seemed pretty fruitless to sleep in.  By 7:00 am we did manage to wrangle ourselves up and into the shower, eating and out by 7:45.  Our off day would see us riding down Larapinta Drive to Namatjira Drive and finally to the Glen Helen Gorge for lunch.  Before we pulled out of the campsite, we saw the busload of kids go by and I commented to Joe that I was sure because I picked today's route, that they would be going our way.  Sure enough, when we turned on to Larapinta Drive, we passed by two of the buses as we headed to tour our first stop:  Simpson's Gap.  





The Gap was more amazing than I could describe.  Something about the McDonnell ranges gives you a feeling of calm.  



The morning light hitting the red rocks towering above a pool of still black water while the wind blasts out from between the range, a venturi effect, causing confusion for the birds flying around the ridges finding their breakfast.  





Budgies drink from shallow ponds and move in almost in uniform as they flutter from tree to ground and back to tree, like a trailing streamer in the wind.  



We have earned our five minutes of silence between bus loads of kids.  We cherish this time and stare up at the ridge towering above us.  Though not a large rock in it's own right, it is really the tallest thing around the area, and because the rest of the land is relatively flat, it accentuates the hills.  We sit and take in the silence before the second wave of school kids descend down the river.  



Back on the bike, we try to make up some time between us and the buses.  It is on to Ellery Ck Big Hole, though we manage to come across another tour of retirees. Another pleasant site.  



We skipped the next few stops to save for the way back and headed towards Glen Helen Gorge.  Between the ranges was an amazing site, when you could get to a vantage point.  Mount Zeil at 1500 meters towered above the rest, looking naked with its bare slopes.  

We finally pulled into lunch at Glen Helen Lodge, took a quick nosy along the gorge to see another breathtaking view.  







I could only imagine what this area looks like in the wet season, it would be an amazing site.  



We went inside and ordered off their menu, pretty typical stuff so we settled on a burger.  The burgers were good here, and a meal unto themselves.  





Wolfing down our food, we headed back to the bike, now baking hot in the sun and headed back, 135 kms to the Alice.  While on the way we stopped into the Ormiston Gorge where a few walks were possible, but by this time it was pretty sticky in our bike gear and just wanted to sit in the shade.  However, we did make the short walk then headed back into Alice to get some laundry done.



Back at camp we caught up with Rob and Russell before they departed to watch some footy.  We bull-shitted about biking, traveling and talked about our route and what to savor and what to drive by.  It seemed like we had the right ideas about where to go so that was a good start.  They gave us their numbers to call up when we got to Perth.  It would be nice to have someone show us around in the WA.  They seemed like a bunch of friendly blokes.  We said our goodbyes and wished them luck on their great central road run, and they gave us a few tips for the North and north west.  Then it was off to dinner and another night bites the dust.

[obsidian]

Got up early and got our shit together.  Manged to get out of the campground at 7:20.  The day was cold and still as we headed south.  



With a range of 250 km still left on the tank, we chose to  to wait and fill up at Stuarts Well, home of “Dinky” the singing dingo.  We filled up the tank and went inside to catch the tail end of the story of Dinky the singing dingo, but missed the singing, maybe that was a good thing.





The road was long, straight, lots more traffic than what we encountered previously.  The scenery began to change slowly, to more flat and less treed.



Turn off to Uluru, stopped by Mount Ebenezer rest-stop, trying to enjoy a coffee and fruit salad outside but busloads of fat people offloaded.  Dude pulled his bus forward and cut us off so we had to ride over the curb and across the lawn to get out.  Dick

Went by Mount Conner, Joe thought it was Ayers Rock but were still 150 km away.  Finally made it to Yulara, checked in and headed straight out to the Olgas (Kata Tjuta)

Filled up at Yulara before we headed out, saw some fellow ADVrs... yell out if this is you.















to take some shots and to see for ourselves, on the way back went down Tjukarur Road for a bit, towards WA but then turned back to see Uluru at sunset.  Saw Russell and Rob as they were almost at Great Central road, gave them a big wave.  



Headed towards Uluru.  Aw-inspiring.  



Did the loop road and then camped at the “sunset viewing area” to get some nice shots where we wouldn't be interrupted.  Sun went down and we watched the giant rock change from a dusty red to a brilliant ocher purple as the shadows crawled up the sides.















After waiting for the train of cars, campers and 4x4 we finally could make our way back to the Hotel for the night.  We ended up getting lost in the complex, very confusing, but managed to find some fruit and a burger for dinner.  I didn't have the burger.

It was then off to the room for a night of slumming with our Aussie TV channels that consisted of a black and white flicker of the complex, CNN and some movie starring Ice Cube as a family guy.  What a rip.

[Yakiman]

Still following along with you on my own Google-Maps ride, on my virtual bike  

Simpson's Gap, Glen Helen Lodge, etc. - Great stuff!  There is some very nice info/pics to augment your excelent report, along with some interesting 360s for enhanced perspectives of the area.

The Sat of the Alice Springs area shows the wild, almost bizarre, geology of the "center" (centre?? ) of OZ.

Looking forward to your next installment!

[obsidian]

Guess I should add maps to these posts...... Ok next time after this one.

[obsidian]

I would have posted this last night, but our power went off at 3pm, and at 2:30 am, it came back on, and all the lights in the house woke us up.....

Ok to the post:
Not much to say about today, we spent the morning walking the base of the rock, spending most of that time starring up.  







The sun had been up about 3 hours but the rock was still cool to the touch;  it would take a lot to heat this hunk up.  



After spending much time in the sun, finally we made it to the shade side.  



It was defiantly interesting to see up close, but more spectacular at a vantage point at sunset.  



We made the decision not to climb it, not cause we didn't want to, but we think of it the same as a mosque, sacred site or such.  



We watched the herds of people truck up and down, with complete disregard for the Aboriginals warnings, the fact that 35 people have died over the years seemed no good reason for people to stop climbing.  Well, to each their own, we enjoyed the walk around regardless.  



It was then back for lunch, and then the afternoon was spent relaxing in the courtyard, some drink and then readying the bike for the big journey tomorrow.  I know, a hard life, but really, lounging by the pool is not really our idea of a day off.:evil

[Yakiman]

Guess I should add maps to these posts...... Ok next time after this one.

Don't trouble yourself the least bit on my part. As long as there are a few references to route and locations, as you've been so far, I'll be doing fine here.

No stress, enjoy the tour!  

[obsidian]

I am going to have to start posting more of these per week or I'll never get it done before we're off on our next adventure!  So, here is more!

Ahh where do I begin, the feeling in my face is slowly returning as the air begins to cool from its scorching 34 degrees.  To start, we got out of bed around 6:15 am and while Joe went and found the rolley cart to transport our panniers back to the bike, about half a km away, I packed everything up.  On his return, a ute pulled up to the back of the building and while the attendant was loading other luggage he offered to take ours as well to the front of the building, we were happy not have to maneuver the cart back to the entry.  Joe pulled the bike to the front and checked out and loaded everything on.  



The temperature was a chilly 6 degrees and we huddled with our thermals and jackets on.  The sun began to slowly creep over the dunes to the east as we pulled away from Yulara.



Traffic was pretty clear heading away from the rock,  our first stop was the Roadhouse at the intersection of Lassater and Stuart Hwy where we got gas, toilet break and saw another red 1200 GS, its owners somewhere inside the diner for some breakfast undoubtedly.  





There was no time to sit around and wait for them to emerge, we were less than 10 minutes and we were off, passing the last tour bus on its way back to Alice Springs.  



The ride was going smoothly though the clutch was in a continual state of cluster-fuck, Joe was pumping it when it got really stuck.



Once we were in Alice, another fuel stop and a few phone calls to tire shops in Darwin to see who would have the tires we require.  



Checking the tire pressure we see a few v-rods pull up at the station, and wondered if they are headed in the same direction as us.  About 50km out of Alice we pass them at a rest stop.  Our next fuel stop is Ti Tree, and as we are suiting up to leave, they are pulling up.  By this time the clutch was pretty much a bleeding nuisance again.  Joe tried everything to keep the pressure pumped up, which meant fiddling around with the clutch while trying to maintain a speed of 130 km/hour.  



Thankfully, the traffic seemed pretty light in our direction, only a few camper vans to pass along the way.  There are also very few road-trains which makes our lives much easier.  

Next we came across a dead cow, turned upside down.  I didn't even want to look, and again we saw another turned over cow, legs up in the air and flung to the side of the road like a bug on a windscreen.  



I can't even imagine what kind of damage one of those things would do to our bike, but to a road-train i'm sure it wouldn't even dent the fender.  The temperature was on the steady rise, and blistering hot by the time we reached Wycliffe Well.  Joe filled up again, and we sat down to have a drink.  Downing some ice chocolate milk, ice coffee and a gatorade and we took turns running to the toilet to strip our thermals off in the sticky heat.  As we went outside, the v-rods pulled up again, baring their “Hell's Angle's” patches.  I can’t imagine they were much cooler than us.. The temperature was really heating up.

With the stop nearing on 15 min, we were off again our plan was to go as far as we could with daylight or until our butts and or minds couldn't take it anymore.

Passing army trucks near three way roadhouse, and more army trucks and army engineer trucks, giving them all a wave.



I really hoped there was room at the roadhouse we were stopping at, with all the army trucks it was possible that they were spreading themselves around a few roadhouses.

Last 200 kms was in silence as our headsets finally ran out of batteries, 8 hours and they were done.  Our ass cheeks were numb,   That’s pretty good, and I hope not to do that kind of run again.  We checked in at the roadhouse and was served by a scottish bloke who was running from two counters one in the bar and the other the store/checkin.  






I got the room sorted and we unloaded our gear, stripped down, our gear sticking to us in a pool of sweat and jumped in the shower.

We pretty much inhale our dinner, fish and salad for me, the only non four legged choice on the menu and Joe a steak and chips.  We check out the paraphernalia around the bar, hats, stickers, patches, maps etc.  we notice a few air-force stickers from Netherlands and Germany similar to ones we’d seen up in Narsarsuaq.



We spend the evening trying to reshape our asses.  Joe pretty much was comatose on the bed watching “Flight of the Concords”, man those crazy kiwis and their hiphopapotamus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liV_BBdq96s We try to visualize our ride tomorrow.  Darwin here we come!

[obsidian]

The alarm whistled its shrill voice at 6 am, Joe got up to turn it off, and crawled back into bed.  I begged him not to get up again, and he succumbed for another 20 minutes while I insisted that we didn't need to be anywhere today.  Was I wrong or what.  Finally, I got out of bed and prepared some coffee, breakfast bars and started packing.  Everything seemed to be relatively easy to pack today, after shedding a few non-essentials at our last stop, all a bit more roomy.  Joe loaded up the bike and I did the final check over of the room before returning the key to the front desk.  I met him at the pumps, got our fuel and headed off.

This was another early morning start, and we had a few kangaroo sightings along the road, one doing a mad dash pretty close in front of us, as we head north, the temperature is really heating up:  15 degrees at 7:30.


why would I take a picture of this?

Our first stop was at the Hi-way Inn near Daly Waters for brekky.





I think this placemat sums it up:  Roadtrains, kangaroos, lizards and birds!

 
why would i take a picture of this to?





Stopped in Katherine to get fuel, then missed the rest stop and ended up stopping outside of town, on the side of the road under the shade



It seems we had to have more stops today, to rehydrate:  had another quick break at Emerald Springs and saw a GSA go by as we were pulling out.



Further on down the road, we caught up with another couple from Auckland going around Australia on a GSA they started in Queensland.  We chatted while we waited for the road work delays, looked down saw 37 degrees on the bikes computer.



Note the temp on the display.... 36.5 c

After the roadworks, we gunned it to the BMW dealership to have them check on the clutch.  



Then, we went all through town, out of town, everything was completely booked up.  It was crazy busy, our last hope was a hotel downtown, Tried the Big 4, totally booked, went down the strip and no luck on 3 hotels, finally found one that had room, and a price-tag to match.  What’da’ya do?

Unloaded the bike, made use of the room, and found some awesome Thai food downtown for dinner.  After our "burger and roadhouse" meals.. everything tasted incredible.

July 1st, 2009 -Clutch, head explosions and fireworks

Wanted to get up early, but my head was pounding.  Seems like I didn't have enough drinking water yesterday after all.  Joe rustled out of bed, and into the shower, and I tried to shut my eyes and make the pain go away, but alas, it seemed to linger even in a semi conscious state.  It seemed to go through my mind whether I should come with Joe to the BMW dealership or not, and finally, after telling myself not to be a lazy ass, I got out of bed to find something for my headache.  The morning seemed to have a slow start, my motor skills still waking slowly as I gathered my stuff together to get going.

Down to the parking garage, we mounted the bike and headed out of the city center to Willienee where the shop was located.  They had time to get the service done as well, so we left the bike and headed down the road to see a shop around the corner would carry the tires we wanted.  It was early in the morning still and the heat was already bearing down on us with a mad intensity.  With the combination of a slight humidity, it left you in a sticky sweat within moments.  On our way there, we witnessed a car go down the wrong way of the road and almost hit two cars.  Welcome to Darwin!

Got to tire shop and they had the tires, It was a little shop, with old bikes parked out front for bargain deals, including a little 50CC postie bike, the same kind we had seen earlier in the week traveling from Ayers Rock.

Back to the dealership and asked for a loner bike to head out to another shop so I could buy a tinted visor, and joe look at some vented gloves and possibly some new boots.  We looked at the bottom of his boots, they were almost completely worn smooth.  No tread on them at all.

Joe tried on boots for a while but couldn't seem to put the right foot forward on a decision, same with the gloves, he tried on a few but couldn't make a decision.  I got the visor and we took the loner bike back, stopping by another store we spotted down the road, but they had absolutely nothing.  We arrived back at the dealership but still were waiting around.  I spied some chocolate cake and thieved a slice or two as I was still hungry after breakfast, and Joe made himself a coffee or two.  

 Do I look like I scarfed down some chocolate cake?

After waiting around for a while, the service guy Steve was finally done and brought the bike around.  We went out to have a look and to listen to what the prognosis was.  
“I bled the clutch about four times,” he tells us in a weak south african accent, “but I couldn't see any air in the line”
“Ok,” Joe responds, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “And so did that fix the clutch?”



“I couldn't get it to do what you were saying, and I don't have time to run it for 45 minutes to find out the problem,” Steve stated.
“So what am I suppose to do with it?” Joe
“Well I can't get it to do what you said it was doing” Steve
“Well so it's not fixed” Joe
“I can't find a fault” Steve
“Well I tell you now, its not working, and if you don't have time to run it, then you won't find the fault, you have to run it in 6th gear for a while before it goes.” Joe says bluntly.
“I've followed protocol, I can't change the clutch if there is no fault showing” Steve stated.



“I don't give a shit if you can't find the fault or not, I can't take the bike like this.”  Joe responded furiously.
“If it keeps acting up like this, you can get it fixed in Perth.”  was Steve’s response


WTF


And with that, he pretty much dismissed us.  He called service manager, who called BMW.  Joe in the mean time called Sydney and got ahold of Anthony who we bought the bike off, and tried to pin down someone we could get an answer from.

Joe:  Anthony was aware of the issue as we had already spoken about it earlier in the week.  His take on it, was get it to the BMW dealer in Darwin.  When I explained what had transpired with BMW his response was:  
“Right, here's the number to a guy who can make it happen.  BMW Motorrad do not fuck around Joe, sounds like its coming from the dealer.”  

Anthony gave me the phone number for Scott Norman, Warranty manager for BMW Australia.  Anthony placed a call, apparently reaming him out a bit, and then I did as well.  Meanwhile the service manager for Honeycombes was already on the phone with Scott trying to figure out what to do.

Service manger pulled us into his office
“So what the problem with the bike,” he says in a cheep salesman voice, with air of delusion of what had transpired outside “I've heard the story”
“It's lost the clutch completely” Joe responds.

Joe was calm, we wanted to get this solved, anyway we could, even if it meant we had buy it out of our own pocket.

“We can't fix something that isn't faulting” the manager said.

Like the flick of a switch, Joe looses his cool demeanor.  This isn't what we want to hear.

“The Clutch got stuck on the main highway when we were doing 130 km/h, Joe almost lost control, we could have easily died.  If the clutch didn't get fixed, would you want something like that on your hands as a service department, do you think BMW would want that on their hands?”  I asked.  I was being a bit dramatic, but the clutch sticking had scared the shit out of us.

“This isn't just something that has come about this morning, I explained the problem to Steve yesterday, I said I had no clutch, I said it could be air in the line or it could be the master cylinder or the slave. I also called last week, to see if you had clutch fluid, you said you did, I also emailed, to explain the problem so you were prepared when I came, I also tried to find tires, to which I got a response, we don't do tires”  Joe states

“He only allowed enough time to bleed the clutch, not to fix the problem Joe  ”you have to understand he is only following protocol” said the manager.

“Protocol or not, I have to have this clutch fixed, do you think I should ride to Broom to get this fixed?  I've already ridden 3,000 km on a clutch that isn't working, do you think it is a good idea to keep doing it?” Joe responds.
“No, I don't think you should ride to Broom” said manager.
“Well then we need this fixed, I'll pay for it myself if I have to, seeing as Steve won't take the time to ride the bike to find the fault”  Joe states.
“parts are expensive, might be Friday or Monday before we can get this fixed”  responds the manger.

“Fine then, get the parts in”  Joe says bluntly.

We leave his office and are not happy with this outcome, Joe calls Anthony.

When Joe tells Anthony the out come his response is:  “this is un FUCKING real.  What the fuck, i'll send the fucking part on my dime, I can't believe this!”  
Joe tells him I'll get back whether I will need to take him up on that offer or not.

Joe talks to guy in Melbourne, tells Joe that Anthony ripped him a new one, and that they will get it sorted

Joe:   placed a call to Scott who tells me he is on it, and it will be sorted.  Again the usual banter about how this has never happened on a GS.  He also tries to be as casual as possible asking if we had filmed the whole ordeal.  I reply we did, we had it all.  From the clutch going to the pathetic display at Honeycombes.  There was a brief silence, and then stuttering... “oh, are you using it?”  “That will all be decided when we meet with BMW AU in Sydney when we finish.”  I reply.  Scott was being my pal, but pretty obviously a worried man.  He placed another call to the manager.

The manager then came to talk to me as if he was a completely different person than the previous meeting.  He had ever excuse in the world.  

I explained my case again;  “BMW is a premiere motorcycle brand, yet this wasn't being reflected here, in fact why wasn't he the one dealing with us in the first place?   Instead you have a technician with a chip on his shoulder in a ripped t-shirt talking with the customers, and pissing them off.”

He did manage to coral me as we were talking and next thing you know we are in the corner of the building away from everyone.  He starts to mention there are serious problems at Honeycombes and he is there to fix them etc etc.  He even offers a car to us to get us around, his car in fact.

They come up with the plan to pillage parts of the demo bike, and have some replacement parts flown in.  

Another salesman wheels the demo bike out of the showroom to have the master and slave clutch stripped off.  We get a car off them and head back to the hotel.  Joe is still fuming from the whole ordeal

Got a call at 4:10 that the bike was finished, so somehow the technician could get it done in one day, and finished, seeing as we left at 1:20 pm to go have some lunch.  What started from a “I don't care, you wait until mid next week or ride it away” was timely fixed in one day.  Only because we got on the horn to BMW and Sydney.  Also the fact that, we were filming and accredited motorcycle media changed everything, something we don't normally mention when we enter a dealership.  Honestly it shouldn't be a factor.

I expect when I write this, we will pick up the bike in the morning and be informed there was nothing wrong, or it was “very minor”.  I'm not new here in life, and have dealt with assholes in the past, they always have to save face somehow.

Decided to go out to watch the fireworks and walked down to the park to watch the colourful locals yell at each other while on the piss about not having cigarettes, it was a sad state of affairs.  It started off with some piddly little fireworks, we watched them fizzle out just over the treeline.  All of a sudden, the REAL display lit up the night sky, after the sun had gone down.  Three barges chockerblocked with every type of firework imaginable put on an amazing display that lasted for quite a while, with what seemed finale after finale.  



After it was over, it was back to town to get some food, Thai again, the Thai food here is awesome.  And we enjoyed the warm breeze on the upper patio of “Thailicious” that overlooked the main street and the commotion of the fireworks display.



The fireworks could be heard into the wee hours of the night, popping between the low story building in town, on the beach and in the empty lots around town.  Everyone seemed to be getting their money's worth.  This is Darwin after all!:D

[MK96xj]

 

Can't wait to hear about the dealer outcome

[GoGreen]

Sorry to read about all the hassle with the clutch-what a supreme pain in the *** for you guys! Hope all is well now. Some beautiful photos again since I last checked in, enjoying your journey. As envious of your adventure as I am, I do not know how you can handle all the heat! I think I would rather have to use my heated gear and warm up than be unable to cool down.
Happy trails!

[mustang28027]

 Rear drive and now clutch problems... looks like I wont  be considering a Beemer...ever!

[obsidian]

We awoke early again, showered and took the loaner car back to Honeycombes to pickup the now fixed GSA.  

I went to the parts section to pay, the manager came up, a completely different man than the other day.  He even went as far to ask if I will be writing about the excellent and quick service at Honeycombes, all the while joking away with me.  Sounds like someone had another call after we left....

Wandering back to the showroom, where our freshly washed GSA sat, the manager followed me offering traveling tips and sights not to miss and all sorts of advice.  We took some mental notes, and headed off to get the fresh set of Metzler Tourances installed on the bike at “Alicross” down the street.  Alicross installed the Tourances in a quick time and we set off for a two hour loop to scrub tires and make sure the clutch was indeed working properly.


Joe waiting at Alicross for tyres

Lucky for us we were successful as the tires were excellent, in fact I think I preferred them to the newer Metzler Tourance EXP tires, and the clutch seemed to not loose pressure as before.  The sun was blisteringly hot, and this was the first day Flora started to feel unwell.  We headed back to town, happy with the bike, yet a bit worried about Flora getting sick before we had to leave.


Beach across from the hotel... we just liked the name

Back in town, we wander doing any errand we can think of before we set off on the road.  We had decided upon riding back that we would spend one more day finishing up loose ends so we could stop feeling rushed.  

Heading back towards our room, we spied the Wisdom bar which was still serving lunch at 3.  Joe ordered the Wisdom burger while Flora had the Linguine.  Both were filling and probably not the healthiest of choices.  Flora made a friend when a possum came down from the tree next to us and she fed him some garlic bread.  He really seemed to like it.  


Possum eat the bread

It shows how much he must be fed there for a nocturnal animal to come out in the middle of the day like that, and actually take food from our hands. Then it was over to the mall, picking up more batteries and a pair of cheap flip flops for wandering around campsites.

After our afternoon errands we went back to the room and lounged for awhile before heading out to Thailicious again for dinner.  


I think we could eat their food ever night.


Darwin City at night



Last Day in Darwin

The last day in Darwin, no alarms were set and we slept in.  What a nice feeling.  Once we did get out of bed we wandered over to the post office, and set back almost anything we could “shed” to Procycles in Sydney to hold for us.  This was good, because for all the non essential items we found in our packing, we ended up just replacing with new “essential for the moment” items in our Darwin shopping.  Flora was still feeling a bit under the weather, but was in high spirits.





At noon we had an appointment at the Yindee Thai massage clinic near our hotel.  What a treat, we got all “Thai rubed” up and lay on mats while the Thai ladies manipulated us every which way.  Amazing how many knots they got out from the miles of non stop riding we had done previously.  They had used a tiger balm like substance that the masseuse had called “Thai balm”, we purchased a small container to use when we were feeling a bit achy.

Massage completed, we were feeling very good, we go for the mid time feeding.  And getting into habits in Darwin we head back to Wisdom and have the exact same lunch as the day before.  No possum turned up this time though.  Back to the hotel, by this time Flora really wasn't feeling well.  She laid down and tried to rest while I did some updates for OWD as well as lounged in the internet figuring out the next accommodation and routes, etc.







Dinner was yet again at Thailicious, and again it was excellent.  Three nights in a row, each night consistence.  That is very unusual, and very commendable.

[obsidian]

The alarm chirped at 6 and we got up and did the shower thing.  Flora put on a pretty brave face, but it was obvious she was pretty sick, coughing at regular intervals.  Even still, she wanted to move on instead of lying in a pile of her own sickness in Darwin.

So we load up the bike and roll down the Esplanade just after 7 in the morning and head off back to the Stuart Highway to Katherine.



After riding an hour we stop at the small town of Adelaide River to get a quick drink. There were quite a few people stopped at the local roadhouse doing the same, and a Saturday morning market in the shade across the road.  We had a friendly dog/dingo come up to us offering his belly for rubbing.



It is back on the bike, continuing the relatively easy highway ride, passing road trains and caravans doing 80km/h in a 130 highway until we reach Pine Creek.  Pine Creek was the frontline in WW2 when Darwin was bombed, and also has a rich gold rush history.  All that is gone now, and not much remains, but some relics, a caravan park, pub, BP, and Maysey's Cafe.  We stopped at Maysey’s got some iced coffee while I ordered the pancakes.  We watched two birds duke it out for a piece of bread, which pretty much amused us for a while.


The bread is too tempting


Here is a short video, the battle of the bread!!!

45 minutes and two reminders later I got my pancakes, and they weren't worth the wait, yet filling I guess.  Although sawdust could be filling too.

We speed off, I'm a little bit pissed at the complete waste of time Pine creek was.  



We deviate off the Stuart highway to the Edith falls just 50km south of pine creek.  Now that was worth it, small falls into a very picturesque water hole teeming with wildlife.  



A perfect spot.  Almost wished we camped there.

It wasn’t long before we reached the Shady Lane Caravan park we would be staying at for the night.  We dropped some gear and headed off to the Katherine gorge.  



It was only 29km down a nice lazy windy road to get there.  Once there we hiked in the seriously hot hot hot heat to the top of the lookout and we could see a good bit of the gorge.  





It was a hard and hot walk, but how many times will we be at the Katherine Gorge?  





We head into town, get some really crappy weigh watchers food and cuppa soup, fill the bike for the next days riding and go back to Shady Lane.





At Shady Lane, Flora mends the communicator to my helmet which has pretty much melted off the side of my helmet, then we go down to the river spotting kangaroos, and butterflies.  




Birds at the campsite.. anyone know what they are called?

It was a pretty cool end to the day.  Flora is still coughing, hopefully she feels a bit better tomorrow.

[obsidian]

The alarm sang its cruel song at 6am, we took another 25 minutes after that to even get out of bed.  It was cold this morning, not we are going to die cold, but still cold.  It was the first cold morning in over 6 days so that probably made it feel even worse than it was.  Flora was coughing away, at one point I thought she might lose a lung, but she insisted she felt a little better than the previous day.  We ate some super nummy oatmeal and began the packing procedure.  Well, Flora packed, sick as she was she was still the packmaster.  Bike loaded we left the Shady Lane caravan park and the weird "guiney fowl" in our dust.  



Only 70km from town we made our first stop of the day to have a few sips of water and readjust the load in the panniers, all sorted we speed on towards Victoria River.  The road was lazily winding its way along the river and the signs of wildlife were everywhere.  We saw a dead red kangaroo on the side of the road and were amazed at its size.  Almost human sized.  Now I don't want to see one while we are riding at 130, that's for sure.  We eventually stopped at a dirt road section just past the Victoria River roadhouse, right next to the Crocodile warning sign.



Yikes!    Also saw another kangaroo sitting idly by the road.  Can we say crocodile food?



The road continued its lazy curves all the way to Timber Creek, where we stopped to gas up and have a few more water sips.  



Seems everyone else was doing the same, none staying just passing through and forgetting the town 5 minutes after leaving.





A few km outside of town I spied a side road going to a “special” boab tree so we take it.  It began as any other gravel and dirt road, soon the corrugations became Africa-esque and then the sand began.  Like an idiot I didn't turn around, it was only light sand.  Then it got worse, 10” of soft sand and the GSA's front wheel was shaking more than Andre 3000 with a poloroid.  And... then we were laying in the sand with a toppled bike next to us.

“Are you ok?”  I asked,
“I'm ok, the sand is at least softer than pavement: Flora replied.  Sick and being thrown off the bike by her idiot husband, still calm and collected.  Nicely done Flora.

sorry no photos..... though.. i guess we should have

The problem with slow speed topples on the GSA isn't the falling part, its picking the damn thing back up, fuel fully loaded.  Lucky for us, a motorhome crawled by at about 3 kms an hour, down the road, and the couple helped us get it upright.  Twas nice as it meant not taking off the gear, and as nice as they were they even offered us a cold drink.

We decided, with the bike upright we would just turn around and remain clear of the sandy mess.  I get back on the highway after some more sand and dirt riding, and watch my left mirror and hand-guard flop in the wind.  Something to play with at the next rest stop I guess...

Right after I get back up to 130k/h a kangaroo darts out in front of us, I jam on the brakes pulling the loaded GSA up just in time as it runs in front of the wheel.  Wow, what else is going to be thrown at me this leg?

Our next stop came none too soon, only about 40 minutes after our “off” we stop at a rest stop about 170km east of Kununurra, have some water.  I whinge to the camera like a baby about being beaten by the sand, and fix the hand-guard.  The mirror can wait until we get to our campground for the night.



The last km's showed some great scenery, and we entered the WA border and its fruit and veggie quarantine.  



The lady only looked at one bag, when she realized how long it takes us to organize our luggage.  Don't worry WA we didn't smuggle anything in

The last 40km to Kununurra took a bit longer than expected, speed limit was back to 110 and it seemed to be a snail's pace in comparison with NT's speed limit. Although our fuel economy should be good again, and in all fairness it is a nicer speed to tour at.



We arrive at Kununurra thoroughly parched and ready to get off the bike for the day.  Although not as long as previous legs I know it took its toll on Flora, in her sick state, as well as myself more mentally than anything.



We rid our bike gear at the campground and walk down the road to the Pumphouse restaurant in search of some late lunch.  The pumphouse was the lake's old, you guessed it: Pumphouse converted to a restaurant.  They left three of the pumps and the guages and dials, it was a cool setting.  We sat on the deck feeding the hordes of catfish swimming below us.  Fat and happy from our lunch we head on back to the campsite, for an early night.  We have to get up at 5 tomorrow for our Bungle Bungle scenic flight.



Speaking of fat, we both noticed we have put on some weight over the past few weeks.  Will have to keep on top of that a bit better.  Mental note, less crappy food, less beer.  More lettuce.

[Yakiman]

Great sections... NW Oz!  

If those were the same kind of guinea hen we kept on the farm years ago, would be surprised if you got a full night sleep for all the racket they can make with the irritating bird calls... worse that young roosters.  

FWIW, years ago a mid-winter trip to ride SoCal was almost trashed when the natural change in climate brought on a fierce cold-like sickness. Determined not to let it get the best of things, a local Long's druggist recommended Stress B Complex tabs with C & Zinc. Worked great - while not a total cure, shorted the duration significantly, and much reduced the effects while tailing off.

This was after the onset. Since, this is the only product of this type loaded in my pack. Home or riding, at the first signs I start a double-dose regimen two times a day, and continue accordingly until its either beaten altogether (3 or 4 days usually), or has run its much reduced course. (Very few full-blown in the last six years).

Anyway, good luck and riding. Looking forward to onward from Kununurra, and the west coast/Hwy 1.

Chief Medicine Man  

[obsidian]

Great sections... NW Oz!  

If those were the same kind of guinea hen we kept on the farm years ago, would be surprised if you got a full night sleep for all the racket they can make with the irritating bird calls... worse that young roosters.  

FWIW, years ago a mid-winter trip to ride SoCal was almost trashed when the natural change in climate brought on a fierce cold-like sickness. Determined not to let it get the best of things, a local Long's druggist recommended Stress B Complex tabs with C & Zinc. Worked great - while not a total cure, shorted the duration significantly, and much reduced the effects while tailing off.

This was after the onset. Since, this is the only product of this type loaded in my pack. Home or riding, at the first signs I start a double-dose regimen two times a day, and continue accordingly until its either beaten altogether (3 or 4 days usually), or has run its much reduced course. (Very few full-blown in the last six years).

Anyway, good luck and riding. Looking forward to onward from Kununurra, and the west coast/Hwy 1.

Chief Medicine Man  

Yeah the guinea hen were really annoying!  Thanks for the tips, as we travel and film 6 months of the year this is some good information to have!  Seeing as we film without support, sick days really take their toll quickly.

Thanks again
Joe

[obsidian]

Despite our tainted past of flying the world in a light aircraft, we gave in to our inner urge to see the Bungle Bungle (Purnululu Naitonal Park) from the air.  However this time we were in a slightly more reliable machine, a Cessna Grand Caravan, which was equip with a turbine at the front, the only way to fly in my opinion.  Don't trust anything with a carb engine, unless you have the ability to pull over.  Our alarm rings at 5am which still feels like a sleep in as we are still on Northern Territory time:  90 minutes difference.  For our one “touristy” dash, we jump on board the shuttle bus at 5:30 am and head out to Slingair for our two hour scenic flight.  The weather, as always, is flawless and the sun is just beginning to rise, giving the already red landscape an extra special glow.  


Joe looks wide awake at 6 am

Though not a spacious aircraft inside, it still allowed us a comfortable seat.  Cruising at 2500 feet and a speedy 150 knots we depart over Kunanurra gazing down at the patchwork of sandalwood trees the irrigation has allowed to grow on the now fertile land on the banks of the Ord River.  


Sandalwood and their "hosts" lay like carpets along the river

We head south over Argyle Lake, the second largest man-made lake in Australia and 8th in the world holding more water than Sydney Harbor.  


The still waters of Lake Argyle, probably some freshies down there

The 70 something islands dot the placid waters and we witness the morning light engulf the hills surrounding the Argyle diamond mine producing one fifth of the world's diamonds.


Some of the 70 island of Lake Argyle


Part of the amazing landscape south of the lake

Between the Lake and Purnululu National Park was a million acre Station, “Texas Downs” that was home to thousands of heads of cattle.  


Texas Downs, Million acre Station

Then, we are over the Bungle Bungle, a natural wonder in their own right, the layers of limestone carved over millions of years of erosion with earthy colours and lines denoting their age.  



The park full of lumpy rocks and deep caverns walls were only accessible by air and in the morning light was the perfect synergy.  





A few loops around the gorge, and we headed back, passing beside the diamond mine


Argyle Diamond mine... frickin huge!

and skirt the edge of the lake before landing on the opposite runway due to the incoming wind.


We stop at the large Boab Tree at the entrance to Kununurra for a snapshot

After a quick regroup back at the caravan park, we head out again to the postage stamp sized Mirima National Park located two kms from town.  After fighting with the coin operated machine meant to spit out a ticket, and giving up seeing as it was well and truly jammed, we took off to the parking lot for our walk up the steep rock for a overview of the town.  


Our way up to the ridge, to overlook the area

After hoofing it up, I almost coughed up a lung trying to catch my breath.  I can't believe how out of shape I feel, and how much this virus has diminished me to a sniveling invalid.  


The sniveling invalid


Joe rocks his awesome hat

Finally, we make it to the top, and are able to overlook the town.  The wind begins to pickup, making the thirty something degrees a bit more bearable.


Overlooking Kununurra

[obsidian]

Keeping with our early to rise, early to bed routine we got up at 6 am to do a morning walk, anything to beat the heat, and this was the only way.  We noticed how much the sun was already in the sky, and figured we could probably leave town by 6 am tomorrow to head to Fitzroy Crossing:  another mammoth run.  After our refreshing exercise, without sweating in the sweltering heat, we headed back to the camp for some breakfast, coffee and then headed out to Wyndham:  100 kms north west of Kununurra along the coast.  Crossing over the picturesque damn that kept Lake Kununurra at its blissful state from the sprawling Ord River meters below, we found ourselves on a straight highway that bounced up and down between river beds, some still flowing, and others dried up waiting for the summer rain to return.  

As the North-western hwy turned to the south, we continued north-west along a picturesque landscape of rocky escarpments towering over scraggly boab trees, dry riverbeds and outback scrub.  It was believable that Dinosaurs walked these same areas, but in a slightly different climate.  The speed limit in Western Australia had dropped to 110km hour, which felt like a meager crawl to the speeds we were able to achieve in Northern Territory, however, it did give us more time to keep an eye on the ever-changing scenery.  A few hills and valleys, we finally arrive to sea level, where Wyndham is tucked between the rivers and the sea.  

This is one of Western Australia's oldest towns was not evident as we rolled down the main street.  



A huge cement crocodile at the start of town best expressed its modern purpose, and the reason we trekked out of our way to see it:  croc farming.  



What some guide books would describe this town as “sleepy” we would generally call: miss it, or dumpy.  This rotten nut was nothing more than an old port of years gone by.  We found our way out to the Port, and past the decrepit shipping buildings and tiny rusted out train engines to the signs for the croc farm.  Not far along we found it, and pulled in.  



Though the signs outside said “yes we are open, come on in!” the doors were firmly locked up, and the lights off.  Croc feeding time was at 11, and we figured that they would have to open before then.  With some time to kill we relaxed on the front deck until a dutch woman opened up the door to let the mounting tourists loitering on the front patio in.  

By this time Joe had begun to be the breakfast, lunch and dinner for the resident mosquitoes.  His bite count was mounting up, and at one point, he managed to have about 30 bites alone on his elbow.    We wondered around the croc pens waiting to see any movement, but only found our arms flailing to fight off the mosquitoes advances.  We had seriously underestimated the bug count up here, figuring it was the dry season, how many could there be?  Seeing as I put on a fair amount of sunscreen, they seemed to leave me pretty much along, but poor Joe was scratching like a dog with fleas while we sat on the back deck waiting to witness the feeding time.


Joe is the main meal

The girl came back to give us the tour of the farm.  Her explanation was that she was new, and had only been there for five weeks.  The farm had recently been taken over by new owners last year and were still in the middle of remodeling, refurbishing and growing crocs.  “So we don't have much to show you, just what's in the gift shop.”  Oh yay, so we've just shelled out 18 dollars each to “not see much”.  She carried her bucket of cut up horse meat, and corralled everyone to the large circular pen in the middle of the farm.  Tapping the side of the concrete wall, the first croc slowly came from the depths of the pond to see what was on for tea time.  Once he came close enough, she attempted to fling a piece of meat at him, but missed, and hit him in the head with it instead, then the meat tumbled down and stuck between the mud and his scaly body.  The croc totally missed it, but obviously didn't have the energy to find it again, the temperature apparently too cool for them to involve much action.  



After a few failed attempts, she moved onto the next croc, a baby, maybe 2 or 3 years old resting under a tree.  She chucked a few smaller pieces of meat, but the thing didn't even budge.  Then, on to the third, she tried to rise him out of the water with more tempting meat pieces, but he stayed submerged, nothing was tempting him.  The crowd was keen to get their monies worth, and followed her closely, no one budging for those who couldn't' get close up the first time.  By the time she made it to the smaller enclosures, we had given up.  The whole thing seemed like a giant waste of time, money and film, it was time to cut our losses and head back to Kununurra.    We hauled our bike gear back on, in the midday heat, some 32 degrees, Joe covered in welts from all his bites and got up to speed.


Our return back to Kununarra

Back at the camp, we walked down to one of the docks to watch the sunset, meeting a few people from around the camp.  One guy, had been here for 6 weeks,  a Telstra technician, who said the lines up here were utterly fucked.  He watched closely as a few kids tried to lean over the water.  He quickly informed the parents that the waters were full of freshies whom might mistake their kids for a kangaroo and would come up and scoop them.  The parents were pretty oblivious to this, but did heed his warning.  An bush man himself, he had spent most of his life in the outback, though he couldn’t wait to get back to his wife’s cooking in Darwin.  



We all watched the sun set over the lake, and the moon rise with intense light casting yellow onto the black pool below.  We stood for a while talking photography with them, into their drag racing, of course, and wondering what the best gear to get would be.  Of course I gave them the bad news, that being a sports photographer, at night, was the most expensive hobby you can have.  They laughed, and cringed at the thought of spending more on a camera than the tires for a drag car.  We gave them a few pointers and said good night.


Sunsets really don't get better than this

[obsidian]

Got up at 5 am heard the Telstra guy leave at 5:20 they were finally departing after nearly six months away from Darwin.  We hoped their travels were safe, and turned the opposite direction out the gate when we departed.  The road was empty and we were alone, crossing the Ord River dam once again we saw the moon now at our west fighting the light as it descended into the reddish hills of the Kimberley.  



The sun already up before we rose, triggered the birds for their morning chatter and of course:  food.  As we turned onto the Northern Hwy the roadkill from through the night was keeping the birds of prey busier than ever.  They flooded onto the road for the fresh meat and barley took flight as we came within feet of their feeding zone.  Once, as we were coming out of a dip onto a crest we were sharing the road with a dingo and about a dozen ravens who found a nice roo for breakfast.  The dingo was off in a flash when he heard us, the the ravens stood by ravenously taking their fill before they would leave such a treasure.



Passed the “cycle australia” group from the day before, they looked like they were having fun.  I like a motor on my cycle.

As we needed a top up, we stopped at the Doon Doon roadhouse, and filled up with unleaded fuel.  



While Joe went into pay, I watched the Greyhound bus unload its weary travelers.   They trudged into the toilets and store to buy gallons of Coke and chips, breakfast of champions, who knows how far they had come during the night?  The two drivers stood around smoking, one sporting a massive hickey on his neck, probably administered from one of the many female passengers during the night.

The day was still early and we wanted to cover as much distance as possible while the temperature was decent.  Passed by Turkey Creek, saw a Harley sitting out front all loaded up.  Fleet of sparrows tried to dive-bomb us.  I never seem to have my camera out when this kinda thing happens.




Road was flooded a little bit, and this is the dry season?

Stopped to refuel at Halls Creek, the harley pulled up to us at station.  A fairly tall man, beard and all, emerged from his helmet.  


Ezy was his name, wearing his HA leathers.  He was on his way home from a half loop of the country.  Once we both gassed up, we pulled off to the side had had a bite to eat and a chat before the road began to call again.  Nice fellow, we pushed off.

A few minutes out of town, we heard the mighty roar of the Harley, as he passed us, he had the wind in his hair and the bugs in his teeth, and loving every minute of it.

A Hawk feeding, heeded Joe's early warning system (the horn) and almost careened into the side of the bike, taking our heads with it.  Joe's eyes wide as the talons came within grasping reach of his head.  


We pulled into an overnight rest-stop, apparently it had been filled to the brim.  

Passed by an overturned 4x4, the occupants all sitting at the back looking pretty stunned.  A few camper vans had stopped to help, and we figured there wasn't much we could do being on a bike.  We slowed down just to double check, but they gave us the thumbs up so we continued on, avoiding the debit scattered all over the road.



40 km from town we passed the ambulance coming to their rescue, its lights flashing, even though it was the only thing on the road.  It would be another 100 km until it reached the overturned truck.

Finally made it to Fitzroy Crossing, and blew past our stop and ended up in town.  So it was true what Ezy said, someone had burnt down the main complex.  


It stood smoldering as we passed by, the emergency crews still busy.  We headed back towards the campground on the east end of the bridge, and crashed out for the night.






Another amazing sunset

[obsidian]

Got up at 5:30

filled up the tank and got on the road, before the day heated up, managed to hit quite a bit more roadworks, they cut a temporary one and we managed to pass another group of cyclists on their way somewhere.




Camel cart


Beginning to see a few more bikes

Stopped at giant boab tree at rest station


We called this the "bleeding tree" I'm not sure what it's really called


The Giant Boab... this baby was huge!


The GS at rest

Cows and Horses on road, and glanced to see a red roo on the side of the road, thankfully he didn't feel like moving.

Stopped at Williare Roadhouse to have a quick breakfast, managed to find fruit salad to which we were both very surprised.  



Managed to find the toilet before a horde of tourists from a bus occupied the entire parking lot.  After we finished our food we figured we'd hit the road before the bus, and got out of the crowded lot before it was too late.  The traffic mounted as we slinked closer to Broome.  Even though this wasn't one of our longer legs, it still seemed to drag on, and on until finally we passed the turn off south by Roebuck Plains Roadhouse.  Our mouths were parched, as we didn't want to stop, but we couldn't bring ourselves to rest until we got into town.



It was just after 11 am when we rolled into town, found some lunch, then headed off to where we were suppose to stay the next night.  Because we cut ourselves one day short in Fitzroy Crossing, we tried to find accommodation until our cabin was available.  As we found out there were a few factors in Broome being extremely busy:  one, it was school holidays, perfect.  Two, because of the store at Fitzroy Crossing burning down, most of the caravans moved here, and three, the turf club races were on during the weekend, making this the tripple crown of weekends for us to be here.  As it turned out there was nothing available at the campground, except a dirty plot next to the chain-link fence in a prickly patch with no shade on the busy road.  

We sat on the site for a minute, contemplating what were going to do.  Joe looked mad.  “She told me it was on the road after I paid her the $40.”
“Well what do you want to do?”  
“I want a good night sleep, I don't think I'm going to get it on the side of a highway!”
“fair enough”  I said
“I'm going to get my money back.” he announced.  We returned back to the front desk.  Joe went back inside and came back a few minutes later.
“I think I lost my temper a bit, I canceled tonight, and I canceled our booking for tomorrow as well.”
“Its ok, we'll sort it out”
We decided to head to the info center in town, in hopes of finding something for a few nights.  The parking lot was busy which was a sign of how it was inside.  We found the accommodation line and waited, waited and waited.  Finally, our turn to at the counter and a friendly man from Melbourne tried his best to find us a reasonably priced room but it was not meant to be, and we settled on a resort in Cable Bay and coughed down the nightly rate.

The guy at the info center had told us about the stairway to the moon.  I thought it was a viewing platform, but in fact it is a phenomena that happens a few times a month.  When the tide is low and the moon hits the mudflats, it looks like a staircase!  We decided that we couldn't miss this and went into town for an early dinner, then to the waters edge to wait for our moon.  It seemed like an eternity we waited, in reality it was about 50 minutes, and people were taking photos of the night sky, the bats that flitted around the place and of the planes coming in.  


We wait for the sun to go down, and the moon to well, um present it's self

People stood around with their flashes on on their camera.  I was not sure how they figured they were going to get a picture with the flash on, it would only show up the bushes 10 feet in front of them, and that would be it.  The sun had set about an hour ago and we still were waiting.  Finally, a faint red glow presented itself over the mudflats.  Everyone took their camera in hand, and waited to see the stairs.  
I heard a girl of about 8 or so as her father if you could climb the stairs.  “Of course you can’t" he replied.  It wasn't long until the moon came into complete view, glowing red from the Aussie dust, and round like a harvest moon.  The shaft of light lit up the mudflats and captured the “stairs” to a tee.  The broken up bits of mud and water lit up creating lines to which were a likeness of treads, and we were happy with the result.


The stairway, don't trip on your way up!

[obsidian]

From what I read in the propaganda, there were camels that walked along the beach at sunrise and sunset, so seeing as we'd be getting up early anyway, we got up early to see the camels at sunrise, but there were no camels.



It was about 6 am, and we walked along the beach, peaceful, the pools of light began to change colour from pink to blue as the sun began to rise.  The temperature was already about 18 or 19 degrees.  We thought we'd come back here later, so we headed into town for some breakfast, and a little tour around.

Walked around town and saw the “Sun Cinema”





an amazing outdoor cinema



that has lawn-chairs and an old building with posters and cameras from years ago.  



We passed by all the pearl shops, what Broome is famous for,



and had a looked at the pearl boats, and read a bit about the history of pearl diving.



Joe tries out the croc head



After town, we headed back to the beach for a nice relaxing afternoon.





The evening quickly came, 4x4 and some cars littered the beach, with their lawn chairs and their chilly bins:  "esky" for you Aussies or "coolers" for you in North America.



We watched the camel trains take people up and down the shore.  











After the sun set, we headed back up towards the hotel, and found a fantastic place to eat some dinner.  Yum!

Over all it was a fantastic day off.

[obsidian]

We left Broome at 6:15 am, the land was completely covered in fog, rolled through thick like pea soup.  Of course, we saw lots of wildlife like kangaroos and wallabies, crows and the wedge tail hawk and others feeding on roadkill.  The road trains could be heard, but not seen through the curtain, their rumbling creating tremors in the fog, parting with their bull bars, cutting like a butter knife.  



We traveled in our veil for about an hour before the scorching sun stung the mist, evaporating it into nothingness.  



Our first stop was the Sandfire roadhouse to gas up.  



It was appropriately named, and ironically burned down a few months before.  As Joe paid for gas at the temporary kiosk, I watched the peacocks roaming around.  It felt like a strange place, really on the edge of nothing.  The attendant stated they were going to eventually rebuild it, but really, what would be the point in that?



We continued on, the land was baron and flat, there is really nothing out here, except the road kill and the road trains.  The bustas keep us on our toes as the eat away at the flesh of the dead, and depart when they hear the sound of engine.  The BMW is quite, so they don’t here it quite soon enough, exiting just in time, before our wheel makes it their last supper.  



We watch people camped out on the river

Our next stop the Perdoo roadhouse had a bit more stuff, had some lunch outside and relaxed before final leg.



The last leg to Port Hedland, the wind picked up, crosswind pushing us towards the center of the road, the bike took it pretty well but it was scary a few times when road trains would pass and the wind would suck you into their front grill, or try to anyways, also passed by a heap load of termite mounds wearing hardhats, sorry no photo, but if you are ever that way look out on the south side of the road.



We finally made it into Port Hedland, an industrial town, salt, iron and others, center around the main river mouth, the town is an afterthought, but still a nice sunset to be had and a good dinner of steak and fish at the esplanade restaurant.  



Walked 8 km to town, joe was not happy about it, but we finally made it.  I got mad at him for not taking the cell phone, and he got mad at me saying that it was farther than I said, however, I did say that it was 8 km to town, and 4 to the shops, so it was no big surprise.  I think the stress of dealing with the cross wind put us both on edge, but it was over... for now.



It was then back to the room to finish up for the night and off to sleep, not a big day for us.



Japanese Graveyard at Port Headland



Perl Luggers and Gold Prospectors



We walked around the beach walkway, no turtles this time of year.

 

Still an amazing sunset



More of the sunset.  This is a west coast specialty!

[obsidian]

A not so early start as we decided to sleep in a bit for this “non-consequence” ride of 340 kms to Karijini National park.  We took our time getting ready and packing, making sure not to leave anything behind.  As we bombed down the main road from the caravan park, neither of us took too much notice of the wind cropping up from the harbor.  In fact, it wasn't until the causeway that we stood up or, the bike stood up and took notice as a giant gust tried to slam us into the side of a road train coming in the opposite direction.  As the Garmin took us on a wild goose chase around south headland to find fuel, the wind was blowing steady and strong with no sign of letting up.  We finally gave up following the garmin and found a shell station to take our money as the bike guzzled back 24 liters of fuel.  I went into pay and as always was amused by the stunned attendant.  For there only being a few people filling their tanks they sure couldn’t figure out how to operate, organize or just ring up a fuel bill, probably coming off their p high.  I could have easily gotten away without paying for our tank, but i'm not that sort.

Back on the bike we tried to make some headway to Karijini, battling the wind the entire time.  Each gust stronger than the last, and it seemed that no matter which direction the road was headed, the wind would always be a crosswind, fighting Joe for control.  



We stopped a few times, and once in the middle of a desolate area where the wind howled across empty fields of sun baked grass, it felt like we were in the middle of an unforgiving land, not a few hundred kms from the nearest town.  Finally, after 250kms of tug-o-war with the mother nature, we turned into the Manjini roadhouse for a top-up and to use the toilets.  Again, a stunned attendant and the toilets were out of order, yay.  I guess i'll have to hold it til the camp.  



We see a DR kitted out filling up as well, with and ADV sticker, I envied him a bit, having such a light manageable bike, we had let go of our DRs a few months before, to fund this trip, but our trusty steed would take us farther, faster and with more comfort than he would ever have. So suck on that

The scenery  began to change, the hills swarmed around the road, egging us on to explore the area.  We made our way into the heart of the park.  



At the magnificent Mount Bruce, we turn into the gravel road and find our way to the Eco Retreat.  



Into Karijini



Flora checks out the Spiniflex


Joe does a drive by



We stop to have a look at the map of the area

Even with the trouble with the wind we are making good time.  We check in and get our camp number and find a tent spot a little closer than what we would like, but good non the less, set up camp and scrounge around for some food at the eco center.



Typical termite mound of the area

After locating a bag of chips, ice-cream and a drink, yes, heathy I know, we pick up a few maps and look at booking a guided tour or walks.  Joe doesn't seem to impressed with the park so far and is pretty tired from the battle with the wind.



Joe says we don't need camp chairs, not when you have the GSA

“so why did you have us coming to this Karijini, doesn't look like much”  Joe says in a tired tone.
“I dunno, it looked interesting on the website, and everyone said to come here” I responded.
“well i'm not seeing it, and it doesn't look like anything is here” He states.
“i don't understand these maps, I thought the gorge was right here, but I guess not”  I look at the map perplexed.
We walk back to the tent to relax, but joe gets antsy and walks back to the office to try to get something booked.  I sit in the tent and read the propaganda.  A few minutes later he returns.  I look up and the look on his face I know he gave up on the whole thing.



Joe checks out the propaganda

“didn't book anything at the office?” I ask.
“no, my cheapness overcame me, I didn't think that any of the tours were worth it”
“thats fine, cuz I think we should just do the main gorge area north of here anyways”
“What ever you want, i'm fucked from today”
“just relax, we'll get it sorted, we'll do the walk tomorrow and then maybe the Joffe falls walk the day after, we don't have to do much, we can't see everything in 2 days anyways, so we may as well enjoy ourselves” I said.
“fine, we'll get the driving done tomorrow then I can relax before the big ride the day after”
“sounds like a plan”



The afternoon view

We lounge around the campsite then before dinner we decide to check out the Joffe gorge just to see what all the fuss is about.  A sign directing us to the lookout comes up on the path and we head towards it to see.  
“Now thats worth it” joe exclaimed “this is what I wanted to see”
“i'm sure the area up north will be better too”
“ya, if this is a sign of things to come, then i'm sure it should be amazing”
“for sure”


We make our way to dinner and find a “cook your own adventure” style where you grill your meat at the grilling station and help yourself to a salad bar.  In theory it all sounded good, but the cost was pretty upsetting at 30 for a cook your own.  However we had no alternative, having no room on the bike for food storage, we had to take what we could get, and that would be at 30 a plate.  We headed back to our site with the light now completely faded and marveled at the amazing sky.  The camera and tripod came out to get a few shots of the night sky.  The sky was brighter, clearer and more amazing than we had see since we began this trip, and it was a privilege just to witness it.  As the temperature began to drop, we felt it was a good idea to get into sleep mode so we could start the day fresh.  Into the sacks we go, the cold creeping into the tent, we can't escape it.



Flora can't find the infinity on the camera...

Somewhere in the middle of the night, my mattress deflated, and I found myself awake and not understanding why it was so uncomfortable.  Gurrr, a second time now that the mattress has forsaken me.  I promptly wake joe up to tell him that he is going to share my fate the next night as he was going to swap with me.  The morning is cold, but I bound out of bed to get a glimpse at sunrise.

[obsidian]

The night was freezing again.  At today was a half relax half walk day.  We headed over to the Eco Retreat, to charge the laptop for $5.  Everything runs on solar power.





Joffe gorge, which was accessible from our campsite, was a nice easy walk for the day.  







It was late morning before we got there, and clambered down into the gorge to get some amazing shots of the cascading waterfall and the ice cold water below.





























We ended the night with some amazing stars, howling dingos and the temperature plunging well below zero.  We were told at dinner that quite a few people left early due to the temperature, so we're not a bunch of big babies..... yet.

[obsidian]

We woke up to the freezing cold, you could see your breath in the still air in the tent.  It was hard to negotiate our way around packing and putting on the bike gear, our extremities numb and everything not entirely working properly.  Finally, we had everything loaded, we were dressed, and we did what we could to scrape the frost off the seat and windscreen before our departure.  



It was just after 7 am, the sun finally was up, and we had 30 km of corrugated gravel to negotiate before we reached the main road.  Luckily there was no one stupid enough to be up this early, so we had the road to ourselves to pace it over the corrugations.  



The cold snap seemed to have caused the animals to stay in bed, as we didn't see a single roo while we made our way to the foot of mount Bruce.  Finally, at the main junction, we say goodbye to the beautiful Karijini and we head west towards Tom Price and Paraburdoo which is our first fuel stop of the day.  The road to Paraburdoo was carved between the rocks and winding through this amazing part of the country.  

Joe:  From the turnoff towards Paraburdoo, until the town itself the riding was excellent.  Gentle lazy turns on excellent sealed road.  All the while showing some pretty nice scenery similar to the innards of Karijini park.  We rode a bit quick, just to eat some miles up early and arrived at Paraburdoo a few minutes ahead of the schedule I had memorized.  

Finding fuel was a sinch as the shell station was right there in our path.  We fill up with more “regular” fuel.  The attendant asked “Where ya headed today?”  “Exmouth” I replied. “Stuff that, that's too far for me.” She guffawed a bit.  I went outside while Flora got me a coffee and her a hot chocolate.  Meanwhile some German tourists were quizzing me about the bike.  I find the German questions always the funniest.  Anyone else's first question about a motorcycle is “How fast does it go?” a German will normally ask “How far does it go on a tank?”

With our adoring fans in Paraburdoo appeased for the morning we mount up and head out of town on the B-road that will eventually intersect Hwy 136.  Again the surface was perfect, although the road actually had no lines it didn't matter.  Traffic was scarce.

Forty minutes later we intersected Hwy 136 which came from Tom Price.  We decided to take the longer route via Paraburdoo because it was sealed.  It was just a matter of speed on a 700km leg.  Also, I enjoy gravel roads very much, but do feel I need a point to take one.  Taking a gravel road for the sake of taking one doesn't seem very logical to me.  

The scenery was gradually “falling away” and back into desert scrub bushed and plains.  Cows littered the road every few miles and generally took no notice of us.  They got out of the way, and got fatter and fatter the further we went.  I had planned a rest stop half way, but ended up just heading on to the Nanutarra roadhouse.

Nanutarra:



I don't usually expect much from roadhouses, and especially so when they are the only thing for a couple hundred km's either way.  Even my expectations were shot from Nanutarra.  We pulled in and spied the pumps, chaos consumed the busy roadhouse as caravans, semis, cars, and 4wd's came at it from every which way.  

We got to the premium pump, pulled the nozzle out and waited.  The pump was shut down and there was a sign saying wait for attendant.  Yet, there was no attendant there.  Flora wandered to the “greasy spoon” next door to find out.  Finally a dirty guy looking like he just emerged from the 60's and still hadn't shower wanders right by me and then into the kiosk and stands there staring at me.
I wasn't mad, more just felling a bit like “what the fuck”, so I walk a bit closer and yell through the door in my most manly voice possible “Can I get some gas or what?”  That worked, pump switched on and Flora went into pay.  

Instead of realizing it was a lost cause we decided to grab a bite to eat , I ordered the hamburger, small chips, a powerade, water, and flora had a grilled cheese sandwich.  All takeaway style, the total, a whopping $41.00.  My burger alone was 14!  I decided to chew slower than normal to savor my greasy sub-standard $14 burger.  Yet to be fair it was filling, and that is the point I guess.




We say goodbye to Nanutarra and its crappy little roadhouse and say hello to 275km of absolute boredom.  In fact, I think it was on par with the Stuart Hwy!  We only did one stop along the way, and it was a quick one for water and nothing else.  



Towards the end Flora was singing, parodying songs.  I think more to keep me awake and laughing than any other reason.  


Termite Hershey Kisses

We sped past Learmonth and its RAAF base and some kind of weird satellite dishes and arrived in Exmouth just before 3PM.  





Flora went in the BIG4 and dealt with the staff, and our laundry while I sat around for a good hour helpless and feeling broken on so many levels.  



As I write this now, it's time for my feeding.  So we will grab some grub and get to sleep.  We have a huge day tomorrow with the Whaleshark Dive tours,  hopefully we see one of those bad boys up close!

[obsidian]

We excitedly woke up at 6:30 and ready ourselves for the big day of “whale-shark” tours.  We made our way to the front of the park and waited for a bus to pick us up to take us to the wharf.  Joe couldn't remember who we booked with and after the first bus came and we weren't on the list, we figured it would turn up eventually.  Finally another bus came by and our names were on the list, thankfully as we didn't have the email print out or any recollection of who we did book with.  



We boarded, and the bus took us a half hour away along the narrow coastal road that led to the Exmouth boat launch past the lighthouse along side the ranges that separated the coastal winds from the sheltered town.  The weather was looking a bit dodgy, the clouds overhead threatened to thicken up and the wind was becoming consistent.



A tender came to pick us up from the mainland, and take us to “Magellan” our boat for the day.  As we all waited for the crew to finish their duties, it seemed like the weather was not going to let up, what a disappointment after the weather we road in on the day before.  We sat anchored in the calmer area of the reef, the waves one tenth the power of what we could see breaking on the reef further out, the waves catching the wind and creating a white sheet of water hooking over the yellow coral below.



Captain Bill uplifted the anchor and we were off to a quick snorkel spot while we awaited the spotter planes to find the location of the whale-sharks.  We stopped next to a interesting reef, and we all tested our gear in the water.  I was surprised at the current running through the area, and not being the strongest swimmer, it was defiantly a workout.  Though the coral wasn't as colorful as we had seen on the east coast, there was still hundreds of fish of all kinds.  The waves were kinda freaking me out, and I couldn't seem to remain calm as I could see the waves crashing over me while I stick my head in the water to see below.  Frustrated after a few attempts I decided that my gear fit OK and I headed back to the boat, while Joe seemed to thrive on the adverse weather and he was gallivanting off into the reef to find as many types of fish as he could.



Back on board, the master divers Melanie and Danni served us morning tea and Bill fired up the engines to take us outside the reef.  We went up to the fly-bridge to have a listen to what was going on, and they're spotter plane refused to go up due to the weather.  It was windy, but no where near a huge crosswind by any means, and eventually they struck a deal with three planes and five boats to split the cost of the spotters.  As planes were going up, we came around the opening in the reef to open water, where we could see the spray close up, and 2-3 meter rollers as they battled their way in from the sea.  Oh I really hope I don't get seasick, or can't handle the waves.  As Danni explained what to do when we see the whale-shark and the code of conduct stating that you MUST remain 3 meters from the head or body and 4 meters from the tail.  Everyone listened intently, but for some it when in one ear and out the other.  



And then we waited.  Trolling around until the spotter planes found the whale-shark.  Things began to look pretty grim, the weather was not letting up and it didn't seem like there were going to be any  sightings.  All of a sudden we get a call from the spotter plane, Bill radios back to deckie and its all on like Donkey Kong.  

Melanie yells at group one to get ready and we all don our flipper and masks and get ready on the back deck.  Mel waits for the signal and jumps in, directed by the deckie, she moves towards the whale-shark and we try to follow.  As we jump in there is mass confusion, bubbles everywhere and flippers and flailing hands as everyone scrambles to view the whale-shark.  I see a brief glimpse before I get a flipper in the head and then in a flash the 5.5 meter fish is gone, and Mel along side it as she tries to direct the group to view it.  

With missing the majority of the viewing and struggling to get onto the back deck due to the “whale” in front of me beached up on the swim-grid, I was reluctant to go out again, but the second time was a far better viewing as I stayed hot on Mel's fins to catch a better glimpse at the spotted beast.  This time, I ended up right in the path of the mighty fish, and quickly dashes to the left side before I was left for bate.  

To see such a huge thing head on was pretty spectacular but it wasn't going to move for me, it wasn't going to move for anyone, it was tough and it knew it.  I panicked and moved to the left to see it pass by, and was lucky to have no flippers in my face this time, and a sweet viewing spot to see it go by.  I swam along side it for a while until it was just too quick for me and the rest of the group and it was passed on to the next group.  We waited for the boat to pick us up again.  The “whale” was in the way again and I had to be hauled up on deck so I wouldn't get sucked under the back of the boat.

We get a call that the fish is in a dive, so we'll have to wait until he resurfaces.  Almost on cue, Captain Bill then spotted some manta rays and Dani and Mel went over the procedure of how to react around them.  
“when I put my hand up, float in the water like a jellyfish” Mel states
We all gather on the back deck, both groups, and all plop in the water right next to the rays.  We are right on top of them, and they float around like spaceships with their mouths wide, hollow black and white suction holes as they glide around us with their “wings”flapping.  Joe and I end up alone, and we are amazed at how many are around us they duck and dive in a group, like a dance troop each preforming the same move as it reaches a certain spot.  It felt like we were there for hours, just watching them dance around us.  



I'm thinking the day has been a success, but as a bonus, another whale-shark has turned up, Joe is keen to go in again, but I'm still tired from all the swimming with the rays so I sit this one out.  He tells me it was a slower female, and he was able to swim along side her as she was at a slower pace.  We catch a few more trip with a shark before lunch.

As an added bonus we saw humpback whales on 4 different occasions on the way back in, then they took us for one last snorkel, then back to the bus



On the bus, Dani was driving, and there is a huge screech with the breaks, and we're thinking maybe she lost a tire or something, but no, there was a porcupine on the road (Echinda they call them here).  Mel jumps off the bus and uses a towel to cover the frightened thing and move it off the road away from any danger.  The thing was huge!  (no pictures sorry!)

Next we just miss a kangaroo as it crosses the road, then we see an emu with her chicks as she raced along side the road.



No underwater photos, but the Whaleshark looks like this!

Back at the camp we shower and I go out to feed the birds with neighbors next door.  





Those beaks are sharp!

Joe went to the info center to check his email and to make sure our bills are scheduled online.  We then headed down the street to the IGA for a few groceries to prepare some dinner: pasta, tomato sauce and some Caesar salad.  On our  way back we spotted a few KLRs among the tents.  

“we should go over and say hi” I said.  Joe was reluctant, after a long day I think he just wanted to sit and have a relaxing dinner.

“Come on, we'll just go over and say hi, then we'll go eat” I coaxed.  He finally agreed and we went over to introduce ourselves.
“Hey, are you the guys with the KLR's?” Joe piped up.
One of the fellows looks up from his writing, “ya, thats ours”
“Ya we're here on a BMW, we thought we'd say hi and see where you are headed” Joe said
“We're headed right around”
“We're headed right around!” we exclaimed
“Which way?” joe
“North from here, and you?”
“South, counterclockwise” I said
“where did you start?”
“Sydney”
“and you?” joe asked
“Cannberra”
“Unreal, so we're meeting pretty much half way!” we chimed in
we all took a seat and introduced ourselves.  The boys, Matt and Joe, two high school friends now in their late thirties doing their trip of a lifetime on two KLR 650s.  Though they are BMW riders back home they felt the KLRs where the right choice for the trip.  I ran back and got a notepad and pen so I could make some notes about where they had been, and share the information across the board.  They were happy to chat with us, and we sat for hours pouring over the maps, comparing stories, making suggestions and generally chatting about everything.  Before we knew it it was 10 pm and the lights of the camp kitchen flickered off.  Neither one of us had eaten dinner, so we ventured back to our dinky cabin and they made cheesy rice and we ate our salad.  After dinner we all decided to catch up in the morning.



Joe and Matt looking at the maps

Day two:  Exmouth, a day off

Our day off started slow, we didn't rise out of bed until 7:30, and by then almost half of the caravan park had departed or were on their way out.  With only two days left until school holidays were over, most people had to get back to where ever they were from, which was a few thousand kms away.  We had a quick breakfast and caught up with the boys.  The plan was to do a few things around town and then head out to the lighthouse.



Went to visitor info center, lady tried to push the scenic flights on us and pointed out a few beaches



Getting Gas



We were all pretty hungry and went off for some lunch in town, Matt picked up some sea sickness pills for his day of fishing the next day.

It was some time in the afternoon before we got our shit together and headed out to the lighthouse.  Joe was leading us, and missed the turn off, so we had to turn around, then up the hill where everyone was surprised by a huge left hander at the top of the hill.



The Lighthouse was an amazing lookout, everything in the area was so flat



We pose at the lookout



Lighthouse closeup



Bikes on the lookout



Bikes and the lighthouse



Old Radar Tower



Joe walks along the beach





Probably talking about bikes, or sand or both

We went further along and to the beach where Joe and I almost got stuck in some thick sand on the BMW



The writing is in the sand... for now



OMG it's BIG BIRD



Then, we went south of town to one of the gorges, went and stood on the lookout.  





Posing on the Lava rock



Matt doin the Crane



The rock was lava rock with holes in it, and we were impressed by the gorge, we weren't expecting it.



Overlooking the gorge



Ultra-lite flying around

Road back down the road and stopped at the big prawn



The prawns here are amazing!



We all pose under Prawny the Prawn...

went back to the caravan park, and were going to go for a beer, when Matt discovered he lost a bracket off his bike for the mounting pannier.



Back at camp

Matt was frustrated, the bracket would be somewhere 30 kms either side of the city, so they took off to see if they could find it.  Joe joined to give a hand, but the light was fading quickly and it was unlikely to find a small bit of metal on a huge stretch of highway.

Walked across the street to the Thirsty Camel, Joe and the boys downed a few beers before we decided to order some dinner.
We sat down again at the camp kitchen and talked until 10pm, until the dudes cleaning up kicked us out.
Joe (other Joe) turns his camera around and shows us a shot of him at Monkey Mia:
“everything that is in Monkey Mia is in this photo,” he grins, as he shows us a wharf, a store and a bunch of fat tourists.  Not for us I thought, I'm glad we made the decision to come to Exmouth instead of there.

At 10pm, they kicked us out, and we said we'd catch up in the morning.

[obsidian]

The morning came too soon as we listened to the alarm at 6:30.  Another night till 10pm chatting with Matt and Joe about travelling, riding and relaying info about places we have been and places they have been.  I managed to pack everything relatively quickly and Joe attempted to help strap things to the bike but failed miserably.  His duty of loading the panniers on was done so I took over and finished up the camping gear and food bag and headed to the toilet before we took off.  

On my way back Matt and Joe sauntered over with their coffee mugs in hand to see us off.  Best wishes all around as we were sorry to see them go.  It has been very few and far between meeting travellers like ourselves.  It was a shame that we hadn't known about their route, we could have joined them, or vise versa.  We exchanged numbers and we hope to catch up with them when we come around to Canberra.  Hugs and handshakes were in order and we were off, into the brisk morning air around Exmouth.

Joe:  Saddened to see them go, yet at the same time, knowing they will have a blast.  I'm sure we will see them in Canberra again.  In fact I think we will make a point of it.  I think running into Matt and Joe couldn't have happened at a better part of our trip for us.  Just as we had been getting comfortable with our routine, the couple nights going over routes and ideas were enough to shake up our “comfortable” plans and keep this whole thing as the adventure it really should be.



The road pulled us along its flat and slightly undulating curves.  We pass by sheep, goats and cows and very few cars.  We desperately looked for a change in the landscape, but to no avail.  It was the land of the scrub.  



Perhaps the only redeeming feature were the thousands of termite mounds in the shape of Hershey kisses dotting the barren landscape.  As the clouds overhead began to thicken it created quite a scene of shafts of light highlighting the mounds as they sprawled across the scrub.  It wasn't too far into the ride when Joe decided he was hungry, and we had to top up with gas, so we made the turn into Coral Bay to remedy both.  The 12 km road in was not much different to the main road, except the traffic exiting out.  It seemed today was the last day for people to get back for school holidays and there was a few eager SUVs that couldn't wait to speed past us at 140-150 on some of these roads.



A village with the soul purpose of being occupied by tourists, we were happy that we decided not to stay here.  We road along the main road and found the caravan/restaurant/fuel/ATV rental/Post Office and filled the tank.  At a $1.70 a liter, it made for an expensive fuel stop, however the breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt made up for it at $5.00, and $7.50 with cornflakes for Joe.  



We sat and waited for our meals and a border collie came up to have me throw her ball.  She gently rolled it over with her nose.  I threw it up, and she caught it in her mouth, and then gently rolled it back again.  Again I threw it, and she did the gentle roll.  I was amazed at her skill to roll it back by a flick of her nose, thus minimizing her having to do any movement whatsoever.  Our breakfast quickly came and we devoured it.  



Joe finished his coffee while I played with the dog, then we topped up the tires with some air and left Coral Bay behind.

Joe:  The breakfast, the coffee, and the cafe owners attitude made it a nice stop.  Also the dog with the ball was funny as hell.

We turned back out on the main road, passed the roadhouse and we were glad we didn't' stop there.  Kept riding, kept meaning to pull over to have some water, but we were so close, 60 then 50 km from town, so we decided to keep going.  


Bananas!


Bananas, Bananas!!!

Finally, for what seemed forever, we managed to make it to town.  



Church in town

We passed the caravan park on the way in, but decided to keep going to grab some lunch.  We were both still hungry and found a nice place along the waterfront to devour some fresh catch and a hamburger.  The wind gradually picked up pace, though the sky was now clear blue, and we decided, now over full, to head back towards the caravan park and check in.  



As there were no tent sites, we opted for a chalet, which was heaven with its own en suite.  

We both hogged the shower while we attempted to clean the ride off us.  Now mid afternoon, we spied the giant dish on the hill used in the Apollo and Gemini space missions and went over to have a look.



Pretty red flowers



HUUUUGE dish!

The huge defunct dish towered over us.  Sitting on the only hill around the area, we got a brief overview of the agriculture center for Western Australia.  Canarvon produces about 70% of Western australia's fresh veggies, and its the only place where the inland desert reaches out to the sea.  Though the weather was pleasant, their tourist guide was pretty much grasping at straws, and Joe and I blobbed out for the afternoon, mentally preparing ourselves for the next week of riding.  We've been travelling for 36 days now, since leaving Sydney, it only feels now, that we're getting into a groove.



Cactus by the dish

Joe:  Carnarvon wasn't exactly what I expected, its a cross between a beach town and rural centre.  Cool in it's own right, and had some pretty friendly people.  Going to the dish was great, and really makes the mind wander about what NASA has up their sleeves now when that thing was built in the early 60's.

[obsidian]

The alarm chirped at 6:30 am and I shuttered at the thought of getting out of bed, and took my time, dreaming of another hour of sleep.  With the strength of a thousand men I pulled myself up from the bed, dodging the pillows I tossed across the room in the middle of the night in a fit of rage as they lacerated my neck in the wee hours.  My head had a jarring pain, and left side of my neck felt crooked from the pillow's clasp.  I climbed into the shower to try to soften the muscles in my back, the pain still strong and hopeful.  I popped a few headache pills and hoped that would do the trick.  I ushered Joe to the shower and started organizing things for packing, putting together breakfast and getting dressed.  My focus was totally off, and it seemed to take forever to get myself organized.

Joe:  Sometimes I wish I could help Flora more in the whole packing thing, but it just isn't in me.  I try sometimes but tend to make it worse in the end.  I was the kid that never could figure out Tetris.  Flora did get it all sorted and we mounted up the bike in the first bit of drizzle in a long, long time.

We sat and had our breakfast and I glanced outside.  It had rained last night, and the ground was still damp.  Joe loaded the bike while I washed up the dishes, checked the room, and threw Joe a towel to clean off the seat.  All packed up to go, we headed to the station to fill up, and we were on our way past the giant dish and on towards the flat plains.  The blue skies we had were now a distant memory as we witnessed the front moving in, and fast.  



By the time we reached the Wooramel Roadhouse, Joe was regretting not putting is liners in.  We pulled over, and while he went in to get a coffee I tried to fish the liners out of the top bag, trying to wedge my hand between the mesh of the pack-safe that was over the bag to search for the liners within.  Joe said it looked like I was trying to berth a calf, but hope I never have to know if there is any similarities.

Joe:  The Wooramel roadhouse brought hope back to me.  Gone are the roadhouses praying upon every tourist to spend far more than what is a “fair value” on anything and everything.  Coffee was back to $2.60, fuel was reasonable and the place was clean.  The staff were also friendly!  I'm really starting to like WA the more and more we go south.



We stop for a rest



Road Train crashes the shot
Back on the road again, the wind began to pick up, each passing km, the intensity thickened until our wheels were beginning to be forced off the road.  This was soon followed by the rain, pelting down on our helmets and wicking under our chins.  Our attempt to stop at the Overlander Roadhouse was thwarted when it was chocker blocked with caravans, so we decided to make it on to the next roadhouse 52 km away at Billabong.  A quick refuel and then into the cosy cafe to have some grub and a hot drink while our memories tried to remember the weather from up north.  The diner was inviting, with photos of past patrons littering the walls.  I picked up a 1985 addition of “Gulliver's Travels” and wondered if we would ever be captured by people one sixth our size.  Though our travels would never be exciting has those depicted in those pages, I'm sure we can find some good stories to tell.  Again, back to the cafe, we sipped our hot drinks and listened to the Elvis rendition of “falling in love with you”.  

Back on the main road, we battled against the “Grey Nomads” as they plotted their way across the country.  The only vehicles that seemed to keep up with us were the distinctive “city cars” that were black or red, and very clean, or the rushing courier trucks that had no problem putting their foot through the floor.  



We had our fill of the coastal hwy, and turned off towards Kalbarri.  It was much better now that the wind was almost straight in front of us.  The bike felt more stable on the ground, only buffet came from in front of us.  The wind picked up momentum as we headed towards the coast, and by the time we made it to town, it was at a steady 50-60 km/hour with gusts of far more than that.

Joe:  As much as I complain about riding in the wind and rain, there is simply no better scenery or experience than nature itself.  Furious gusts of wind and rain are awe inspiring, and the spectacle we were witnessing was nothing compared to what was waiting on the coast for us.

We found our accommodation for the night, a lovely plastic laminate cabin, brown head to toe, offloaded our stuff and headed a few blocks into town to find some lunch.  After a few failed attempts at finding a cafe, we stumbled upon Angie’s Cafe on the main road, which had warm meals.  After a filling lunch, I topped it off with a nice scoop of gelato.  We then walked down to the beach, and got a gentle sand blast as we made our way over to the breakwater.  



The waves were crashing over the rocks something fierce.  If this wasn't the stormy season, I would hate to see it when it was, I'm sure it could be twice as nasty.



Kalbari Panorama, the wild west coast



Don't leave sad babies in your car... sad babies can melt!



Crazy windy weather



Wicked Camper... Spinal Tap design.... you see a lot of these here....

We wandered over to the small supermarket and butcher, got some fixings to make chicken, rice, and vegetables for dinner in our diarrhea styled trailer cabin thing.  Perth via the Pinnacles tomorrow.  I expect the weather to suck.

[obsidian]

After Joe talked on the phone with Rob last night, he made the executive decision that we were going to go straight to Perth today.  With a longer run of 700 kms and weather predicted to be a bit of a shocker, we decided that we would go for it.  The rain and wind had kept us awake much of the night in the caravan park in Kalbarri, but that didn't stop us from getting up only 10 minutes after the alarm rang this morning.  I was having some bazaar dreams, probably from the crazy chicken I attempted to eat for dinner.  

Our plastic laminate castle couldn't hold us captive much longer, even after getting up after the alarm, we still managed to get out by 7:15.  I slipped the keys into the front lock box at the office a we were off, down the road watching the waves crash ferociously at the bar.  





A few quick stops along the coast to see the tourist attractions then we tried to bee line it to the next major town to gas up.



The sky threatened us with rain, as we followed the coast with screaming wind, and the odd shower or two.  



We stop by the convict detention center, in ruins and the weather made it more mysterious and foreboding than ever.







The weather starting to turn



Looks like rain... chubby rain!

We finally reached the Pinnacles, paid our 5 bux to drive around them on hard compact sand, it still didn't' stop the front tire from washing out a few times, the tourances don't seem to do well on the sand.  



The Pinnacles were very cool,  shafts of stone, eroded over millions of years littered the landscape.  



It was cool to drive through them and see the size for ourselves.  





A few of them made it feel like Stonehenge.











stopped at wind farm to watch the giant turbines go around, so cool

got rained on, the sky was black

Perth seemed like miles away, but finally we got there, and then the GPS directed us to the wrong address.  We then got the right address and got to Rob's place, no one was home so we went up to the bottle shop and picked up some red wine.  Joe phoned Rob to find out when they would be home, he was just out walking the dog.

Got back to Rob's and met his lovely wife Di, she showed us where to offload our stuff and make ourselves at home.  What generous people to let us into their home after only meeting Rob and his friend Russell in Alice Springs for a few days a month ago.  

Di made some fantastic pumpkin soup, and some sticky-date pudding with caramel sauce and ice cream.  We yacked with Rob, Di and their daughter Kate and friend Suzi all over fantastic food and of course, the red wine.  With weather like this, it is always good to have red.  Once the guests have left, we chatted a bit more about cameras and riding, and about our filming.  We talked about our route, everything regarding our trip and much more, I think we'll be kicking around Perth for a few days while we organize ourselves for the next leg.  It feels like a major marker in our trip, from Darwin until here, and now it is the leg back to Sydney, the return home.  Our halfway point behind us, I hope that we can take our pace down a bit and slow it down, enjoy and savor our trip from here on out, there is so much to see here and we are only scratching the surface.

[UHOH]

wow.   I'll have to do that.   was in perth and adelaide yrs ago

[obsidian]

wow.   I'll have to do that.   was in perth and adelaide yrs ago

Those are easily my two favorite cities in Australia, and if I had to move there tomorrow it would be a tough call which one....

[obsidian]

After a nice restful sleep, we arose to a new day in Perth.  The goal today was to get the bike in for service, and to get some of the errands attended to so our list could get crossed off.  A quick brekky in Rob & Di's kitchen, patted the dogs, and we were off with the trusty navigation skills of the Garmin GPS, and its user error.  



Stick your tongue out


After a few failed attempts, we did find our way to Victoria Park to check the bike in for it's service.  With the bike out of the way, we trotted into town, a bit of a hike from the shop, but we needed our walk.  We found our way to the shopping precinct, and managed to make a fair dent on our credit card to purchase some “essentials” for down south.  



Perth Buildings

We're expecting cold weather, and we're now regretting sending some of our gear back to Sydney.  I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I thought we wouldn't need our thermals anymore.  Oh well, what can you do when you make a mistake, rectify it.  So we picked up some thermals, shampoo, vitamins, hard drives, and a fleece for Joe.  I'm not sure where everything is going to fit, but we'll have to make it work.



Images of Perth

Joe talked to his dad back home, let him know what we were up to and were we were.  He gets worried if he doesn't hear from us for about a week, my parents, on the other hand, probably have no clue where I am half the time as i'm not updating them on a daily basis.  No matter.  So we are barely done our shopping exhibition and we get a call from Rob to meet for lunch.  They swing by and pick us up somewhere downtown, I couldn't' tell you were we were, and we all head up the hill to have a lookout at Kings park.  Beautiful view, and then the clouds descend on the town and our view is shutdown.  So, with that behind us he takes us to the far shore for some lunch along the water.

After lunch, Rob kindly drops us back at the dealership so we can pick up the bike.  I can't believe how quickly the day has gone.  We get the bike loaded up with the backpack full of goodies and we attempt to make our way back to Rob's place.  The garmin foils us again, taking us on a wild goose-chase around town before we figure out the right path and sort ourselves out.  



Beach at Perth





Buddy curiously checks out the camera

 

The walk to the beach is filled with beautiful purple flowers



Perth shows off her stormy side

We sort some laundry out when we get back and I help Di out with some dinner, help walk the dogs (not that these dogs need help) and then sit down to another feast until we are stuffed.  After dinner, Rob showed us his photos from his half trip around oz, it was interesting to see someone elses take on the same things we saw.  Sometimes there were many photos of the same thing as he attempted to capture a moment just right, and then other times where there was no photo for hundreds of Kms or for a few days.

It was then off to bed, I feel pretty tired tonight, and I know if we get the shooting done tomorrow, it will be another long day.  As I type this right now, the rain is thundering down, apparently the weather is NEVER like this.

The next few days are a blur as we went out and got running shots of bike, got more chores done, found a replacement mattress, picked up ram for computer, went out to Freemantle, or Freeo as they call it, had Mexican food.  Went up to Katrine along the Avon river and watched a few of the locals practicing for the “Avon decent” the following weekend.  



Heading up to Katrine



Old farm house in Katrine



Kate takes us to the barn



What better way to decapitate yourself, my dear!  Rex tells us that no-one ever hurt themselves on this equipment....



Portable camp stove!  



Milk shed



Joops, yawing... ok here's a little story about Joops, he had some "stomach issues" and would fart during breakfast, poor boy, he was such a nice boy, but so smelly!



This fella had too much to drink



Ah, don't get wasted on VB, it f*cks you up!

This countryside is beautiful, reminds me of New Zealand.  Met Rob's parents and were met there by Kate who showed us around their 19th century farmhouse and buildings.  

Talked to a family friend of theirs who was staying who had lived in Mongolia for the last 3 years, she talked about how she could really only stand by and watch people live in poverty.



Inmates from Perth

Finally, it was Sunday, we had been here almost a week, ride day was here and we met the BMW club, which included a few characters:  Tony and Ken who had ridden around China were there, eager to find their next trip.  



A German couple who had been in Perth for 2 years had traveled around the World, Africa, Europe, Australia etc, were moving on to NZ end of next year, if you guys are out there, our door is always open.



BMWs everywhere!!



The crowd getting ready to disperse



Trucks were in an organized rally, I can't remember what they were petitioning about, but we had to stop for the police escort.



Rob and Di, and Kate follow us, like we know where we're going!



Kate on her hot yellow bike, go Kate!



Went out for a good ride to the south east of the city, so many bikes out there, Ducks, BMW's, sport bikes, seems like Perth has a plethora of riders.  



At our last fuel stop we see a father and son as the are preparing themselves for a ride across Africa, on their DRZs, what an incredible ride to do, if you’re out there, any update on your trip?

It was then time to get get on our way, or we would never leave, so after another day of relaxing, we said our goodbyes to Rob, Di and Kate, for all their help, support and a place to crash out for the week.  Thank you guys, you really helped out, more than you will ever know.  Can we adopt you as family?  Of course, we don’t want Joops the Dalmatian, he smells bad.

[obsidian]

Ahh our long rest has made us soft and we were borderline on whether we would leave today or not.  After my almost three weeks of the flu, Joe has come down with something.  He woke up at 5:45 to give Rob a ride in is Ute to the airport.  Being that I can't really sleep while he was away, I sort of tossed and turned.  


Joe returned back and said he was still unwell.  My headache from last night was still looming over me, and the day seemed doomed to never get off the ground.  While Di went off to walk her dogs, we made the executive decision that we would go.  Joe said he was well enough to ride, and I had this assumption that I would start feeling better.  


Our time in Perth had been nice, but it was really time to move on and get the second part of our trip going.    It was time, so we gathered up our things, said goodbye and thanks to Di and got out while we still had the motivation to do so.  They had also supplied us a Gnome to place at Gnomesville when we get there in the next few days.  

The air felt nice on my face.  The fog in my brain was still present, but felt like it was slowly fading as we found our way out of Perth.  The city suburbs seemed to go on forever as we merged into sprawling retirement communities around Mandurah.  It wasn't until we reached lake Clifton that the brick and tile homes ceased.  





We went towards the water to check out the Thrombolites, which were submerged this time of day due to the tide.  




None the less, they were interesting.  





By the time we walked back to the bike it was well on noon, and we decided to head to Harvey for some lunch.  After a few false attempts at finding somewhere decent, we came across the only cafe/diner in town to serve up some grub.  It was then up the back roads to check out the Harvey Dam.  By this time my head was pounding, and everything in my body wanted to convulse.  I took it out on poor Joe and we wound up coming down the way we went up back to the main road.  I had really had enough today, I wasn't up for traveling at all.  




It was then on to Bunbury, by the time we pulled up to the big4, it was 3pm and we checked into the camp.



We unloaded the bike and walked into town to scrounge up some dinner.  




The town was actually quite nice, a main street hosted a few antique buildings and it was clean and on the water.  I'm sure its a weekend getaway for may Perth folk.

[obsidian]

The weather was a bit nippy when we woke up this morning, and I tried to steal body heat from Joe and decided it was too early to get up.  After two months of waking up at the break of dawn, it seemed like a good idea to change that.   After packing up and a quick breakfast, we headed out at 9:45, turning inland towards the Ferguson Valley in search of Gnomesville.



At the junction of Ferguson Road and Upper Ferguson, we finally find our Gnomes.  



Our borrowed Gnome from Di finally had a home, and we scoured the area before finding a suitable resting place.  



There where thousands of them, all different shapes, sizes and materials.  Some people made plaques, others a hand written note, or permeant marker on the hats or backs of the Gnomes.  





Hey, what's hap'nun?



Hang on buddy



don't be mad, smile for the photo!



To the moon and beyond!



Kinda like Gulliver's Travels, though they're not carrying me off!

We found a group placed by motorcyclists such as ourselves, and we placed ours there as well.  



The Gnome represented us, and a place to visit knowing that we were there.  I'm sure one day we'll be back to find our Gnome.



GPS point for our return



Joe gets GPS signal

With our task taken care of, we continued on towards Lowden, and then south to Grimwade, narrow pea gravel roads taking us through towering Jarrah and Gum trees.  The scenery here is amazing, it reminds me of a cross between New Zealand and Canada:  wide open, but damp and green.  You could spend days on the backroads here, exploring, camping and getting lost.  

It was now after noon and time for some lunch, and we rocked up to Bridgetown with it's quaint main street.  On our way, we passed by a few motorcyclists, as the roads around here are as windy as they are going to get.  In Bridgetown we both had an amazing sandwich as the Barking Cow cafe along the main road.  

After a good feed, we headed back on the road, this time to tackle something heavier.  



Down by the river...

Our route took us 22 kms along the scenic Brockman Hwy, then we turned towards Donnelly River, an old mill town in the middle of the forrest.  



Awesome ride

Releasing that we had prematurely turned, instead of towards Willow Springs, we made the most of it and kept going to Donnelly River.  Passing by abandoned buildings and then a general store, we come to a row of what appears to be vacation homes.  



We see a car parked at the end of the road and a whole heap of Emu's and Kangaroos!  Two older women were feeding them, and told us they were just tourists like us and they all came out for the feeding.  One of the kangaroo's got frisky and almost bowled over one of the ladies.  As they left to get more kibble, we hung around trying not to get our eyes picked out by the curious Emus.  



My eyes... not the eyes!



They are descending on us!!!



We're surrounded... the zombie kangaroos are here to kill us!



A little fist fight



Take it outside



NO, i'm not made of food...



I get the eye up before the attack



Oh look at that, we have snacks



One of the Kangaroos had a new Joey and it's hairless body hid in her pouch with just a head poking out now and again.  



I catch the afternoon light on this guy... very fuzzy wuzzy

Our dash done with the wildlife, we make our merry way back to the road via the dirt tracks.  Easier said than done.  The roads here are amazing, like the forestry roads back in Canada.  



The area was thick with trees and we were the only ones for miles.  



Must have got something caught in the kickstand, as the bike suddenly stopped while we were on this bridge... but a flip down and up seemed to fix it...



pea gravel... my favorite so far....

After a few false attempts, we finally manage to find our way out of the thicket, and back on the main road, for a gentle sweep into Busselton which we will spend our next few nights at, exploring the coast from cape to cape.

Our highlight of the day was defiantly the Kangaroos.  It was so unexpected, as we haven't encounter any huge amounts of wildlife yet in this trip.  Gnomesville was also pretty cool, it seemed like a sanctuary for people, I was really surprised that someone hadn't gone through and destroyed anything, I know in other places this would be a sad reality, but not here!

[obsidian]

We decide to take all back roads today, to get down to the southwest corner to see the lighthouse at the cape.  Along with back roads came back road problems, like the fact they don't build bridges over rivers...... the little ones didn't stop us!



Somewhere near the end of our back road trek, we decide to have a under water picnic...



The river looks like it's moving at a torrent pace..... and as the sign says, if its flooded... your shit outta luck, go back the way you came.



Ride the pea gravel!



Back to the pavement....



Oh look, there's the coast



The lighthouse



The old lighthouse caretakers homes.. you can now rent them from the parks office



Walking to the lighthouse



Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse



we hike to the rocks



Beautiful scenery



at the beach



Flowers still growing in the middle of winter

After a good day seeing the light house, and of course, the back roads we head back to Busselton for the night.  A quick walk proves the most amazing sunset we have seen to date



Dog walker on the beach



Stormy sunset



The BEST sunset!!

Tomorrow we visit a winery, and do a bit more exploring!

[obsidian]

Took main road down to Margret River to the winery



Thorny Flowers



Met with Kate Morgan from Frasier's Gallop and she showed us her winery and test some wine





Went for lunch in Margret River, at tavern it was ok, cheep burger for Joe and I had chicken tacos which were about as far away from tacos as possible





Went to the coast off cave road watched surfer ripping it at the beach on some huge waves



the coastline was rugged and unforgiving



but the skies seemed to be clear just over the coastline



heating up the temperature a few degrees and allowing us to remove our jackets.











Headed up towards the northern lighthouse



Arrived to a disappointing site of chard trees surrounding a stubby lighthouse in-cased in a chain-link fence.  





We started our walk around the lighthouse that was free before getting off the path and watching a few huge kangaroos bound past us.  They were about as tall as us, they seemed un-phased about the desecrated land around them.

After our disappointing visit, we headed back to Busselton to enjoy a nice relaxing dinner before crashing at around 9pm, it seemed the day had the better of us.

[obsidian]

we both had trouble falling asleep last night, but i'm sure it was the wee hours of the morning I finally drifted off into REM.  It has been both a blessing and a curse with our later wakeup times, no point in rushing out at 7:30 when the sun has barley began to rise and the skippies are out on the road like giant jumping pylons.  Our wakeup time was 8:15, we arise and begin our day, both coughing and wining to each other than our throats are sore, and typical banter of “I'm sicker than you, you swine flu spreading mofo!”



After an hour of showering, packing and breakfast, we depart in the misty morning, dodging fresh puddles of rain that fell durning our slumber.  After a refuel, we headed southeast along the Vasse Hwy towards Nannup, the Sunday morning traffic light and local, meaning we haven't found any grey nomads, yet.  The scenery is now beginning to become interesting:  the trees stretching out to the sky, towering a few hundred feet in the air and thick together, blocking out any sunlight to the ground.  



We pull into Beedelup National Park and check out the raging waterfall as a result of the massive amounts of rain this region has had over the last few months.  Water pours over jagged rocks, slowly, over time carving these out and smoothing the edges.  But for now, they remain rough and unformed.  



After a quick river walk, we return back to the road, to find a few nomads now on the road.  









It isn't long until we reach Pemberton, a lost log cabin town surviving on a timber industry.  Making our way up to the main street we come across signage to the “Gloucester Tree” and make our way 3 kms out of town to check it out.  Ack, another national park and $5 each entry fee to see what is inside.  We reluctantly pay it, it seems every bit of nature costs money, and I understand the need to maintain facilities, but as it turns out, the only point of interest is a tree you can climb.  



Joe was brave enough to do the honers.  Up he went, camera in hand to get a shot from the top lookout, someone had to stay down and watch the bags, so I gladly took the job.  



While he was up in the tree, birds began to flock to be fed.  



Budgies and parrots gathered, and small finches, they all swarmed a couple that was feeding them sunflowers seeds.  They seemed to arrive out of no where and leave just as suddenly.  



I found a few almonds to share with them, and they all came out one by one to gently take a nut, hold it in their claw and devour it.  



A few quick photos of them surrounding the bike



thankfully none of them had to toilet on it, and we were off to our next destination.



Heading southeast to Northfliffe, we released it was 1pm, and Joe was ravenous from his tree climb.  We stopped at the main cafe in town and ordered a burger.  These were some of the best burgers to date, no side dish needed!  Then, our plan was to head south through Boorara Gardner National Park, but the road was marked as “closed” when we got to the entrance.  



Shame, it would have been a nice trip through this area.  We were banished to the main drag, and by now there were a few more tourists on the road, making the driving somewhat difficult at times as they struggled with the narrow winding roads.



We decided to skip the treetop walk and save it for the morning when we were fresh and keen, so we pushed on to Denmark, found a grocery store and checked in for the night just outside of town at Ocean Beach.  I can't wait to see the views in the morning.

At the end of the day we settled ourselves in the campground.  



Sunset was soon upon us, and a duo of kangaroos bounded across a grove of trees.  Down by the pond, banjo frogs twanged their song and it echoed across the tall reeds as each individual answered.  



The birds are quite, and not as many as we have seen previous, but I'm sure they will wake us in the morning.  Tomorrow is the tree top walk, and some backroads I'm sure.

[obsidian]

We awoke to rain, but finally, I could feel my sore throat begin to subside, making it easier to breath without coughing out a lung.  Not much on the agenda today: up to treetops walk and a few backroads to explore the area.  We fumble our way through breakfast, and sit and stare at each other, none of us game to move before the other.  Finally, Joe makes his move and a motion for me to get my act in gear and get going.  We load up the bike and make our way out of the caravan park, rain clouds nipping at our heals.  The first order of business is to fuel up in town, then, turn out of Denmark back the way we had come yesterday.

We turned off to William Bay, a beautiful view of the waves crashing over smooth round rocks among sand dunes.  After a quick jaunt down to the beach, we continue our ride west following the deviation at Bow Bridge towards the park.  The strange feeling of being here before has over come us, an almost exact replica of the Northland of New Zealand.  Farms dot the sides of the road with sheeps and cows, and the occasional winery.  Towards the end of the road, the forest thickens and the giants slowly take shape over us.  Not far to the parking lot, we pull up, pay our fees and head up the plank to the first viewing platform.  



Soon, we are 60 meters in the air, and the tree tops are at eye level, the walkway swinging with each footstep.  Joe comments about his tree climb the previous day, and how he was sure he was higher, and, the lactic acid now building in his thighs left him slow and mindful today of his energy.  I too was feeling quite drained, and it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other to gather distance on the walkway.  



After we finished our treetop walk, we wondered in the other direction to do the “walk through” of the trees, where there were hollowed out trunks to pass through or use as a shelter.





After our walk, it was back out on the road, where we found any deviation that we could, to slow down and enjoy the scenery.  



After an unsuccessful attempt at finding somewhere for lunch, we ended up back in Denmark for a light lunch of salad and falafel, while Joe had, you guessed it, a burger.  More food was purchased from the grocery store, and we headed back to the park to do a quick walk down to the water and to do some route planning.  But first we check out the beach.





The tidal river (i think?) that is running by the campground.... beautiful



The opening to the sea... the waters here are a deep brown from the tannins



The tiny foot bridge brings us to the sandy island



Pelican looks for fish



The trees here look like paintings



Joe looks happy to be walking



Amazing scenery



My attempt at an "Asian pose"  We had seen quite a few tourists over the last few months do these "poses" and a Chinese friend of ours told us there is an actual website dedicated to the art of posing.... I don't think I have the knack...

[obsidian]

As the news predicted, the clouds loomed overhead when we got ready to go this morning.  Our route today though relatively short, involved a lot of stops, photos and walking, perfect for inclement weather.  Our first leg was along the coast, from Denmark to Albany, a simple run, the traffic only that of work trucks and the occasional commuter.  





We then turned off to the Flinders Peninsula:  a spectacular coastline filled with cliffs, dunes and jagged rocks.  We ride to the end of the peninsula first, to check out the view over to Albany, then head back and hit up the Blowholes, which weren't really blowing today as the swell was relatively weak



Not blowing today



View to the rugged coastline



Glad we're not out in a boat!





Back up to the parking lot



Looking south-east

Then it was on to the natural land bridge and the gap.  







Land bridge



I could have stood and watched the gap for hours, the waves crashing up the rocks, slowly eroding the hard granite that stood in it's path.  It is an amazing sculpture, water washed and salt etched.  Every fourth wave seemed to try to out do the previous set, but the winner's mark was apparent on the side of the cliffs.







Upto the wind farm

When we were done, it was a quick visit up to the wind farm just out side Torndirrup National Park.  



On the side of the hills, windmills stood tall and elegant against the green backdrop.  



As we removed our helmets, we could hear the gentle whooshing of the blades as the coastal breeze pushed them around.  It was amazing to stand beneath them and watch them harness nature's energy.  We then went on to Albany, trying to find somewhere decent for a quick lunch.  We parked in the middle of town and walked around to a few before we found a suitable place:  Mean Fiddler offered up some garlic cream prawns for me and a tasty chicken burger for Joe, we finished it off with a scoop of chocolate gelato, neither of us were complaining.  We walked back to the bike and a HD was parked next to it.  



We begin to gear up and a fellow comes by and starts chatting, saying he has just bought an 1150 to do some touring.  Joe and him talk about the BMW for a while, and he departs, leaving us to find fuel.  I am amazed at how many HD riders also are interested in the BMWs, especially for 70/30 riding, which is what most do.

After a fuel up and Joe adding some air into the tires, we head northeast towards the Stirling Ranges.  The landscape is fast changing, from the moderate rain drenched coastline to a more rolling hills to a dead straight until we see the ranges in our sites.  Green pointy tips rise up from burnt brush, from lighting strikes no doubt, and the road winds its way through between the mounds.  Though these are only about 1000 meters in height, at the highest point, they dwarf anything in their path, and boast the tallest peaks in the western state.  We finally find our camp for the night, at the edge of the park, passing by army personnel endurance training in the rugged terrain.  



After we unload, we head up to Bluff Knoll: a knobby knuckle with a fringe of green that offers incredible views of the ranges to the west.  The dramatic sky adds to the ominous ambiance and we gaze off in the distance to the pasture land that will be tomorrow's journey.



On top of the world!!! (or Western Australia......)

[obsidian]

I'll be posting some "out takes" or clips that didn't make the cut.  Some that I still like, but for whatever reason aren't in the episodes.  

This one was cut from episode 4, it's too long, and the audio and picture quality just weren't good enough.  There's a message in there somewhere if you can stand listening to me rant/babble for 5 minutes!

[obsidian]

Here's another small sequence.  This just didn't fit in with the rest of the episode, a little too long, and not quite our style.  

So here's the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village Out Take.  Pour yourself a glass of warm milk and let this put you to sleep!

[obsidian]

Here's Out Take #4, my diet on the road.  Enjoy!  

[obsidian]

I tossed and turned a bit on my tiny mattress, it seems someone put a bit too much air in it, and it didn't have enough rebound to make it comfortable.  I woke up to hear what sounded like one of the metal panniers being dragged down the road,  I unzipped the tent, but saw nothing.  Arrrrggugg.  Back to sleep.  Finally, when I was more alert, I managed to deflate the mattress a bit and had a good 20 minute power nap, ahh thats all I needed to get me going this morning.  

It was just after dawn and it began to rain, steadily, creating streams and rivers throughout the park.  While Joe got up and had his half hour shower as usual, I hung back and tried my best to organize everything as to not get wet.  Lucky for our rear vestibule, we were able to fit our helmets, gear, boots and bags for that very reason, and this morning it worked well, shielding everything from the heavy droplets.  I managed to get the mats and sleeping bags packed, and organized everything to be transported to the panniers.  

By the time I had got ready, with gear on, the rain finally stopped, allowing us to pack without fear of getting anything wet.  The last was the disassemble of the tent, which was a bit of a mission getting the wet sand out from everything, but after we moved it all to the Ablutions block, flicked off as much water as possible, it didn't take long to pack it all down into the bag.

All ready to go and we said goodbye to our card playing friends who kindly invited us to stay at their home in southern Victoria.  We exchanged details, and we were soon on our way, the rain returning for an encore as we sped down the road.  The ride itself was pretty wrist slitting, long straight roads with maybe a bend over 100 kms just to keep you guessing.



We made it to our gas stop to have a coffee, and then,  took our time getting to Merrin to find some lunch at the ONLY cafe in town.  Not much happening in these towns, all slow going.  All we had left was the last 100kms to Southern Cross where we would meet up with Rob and Kate.



Are we in WA or a communist state?

We pull into the hotel that Kate had booked for the night, which left much to be desired, especially for the price of 95 for the room.  Joe and I unloaded before heading into town to have a nosy around, picking up a few essentials and a snack.



One horse town....

Rob and Kate pulled in sometime around 10 pm, and pulled out the box of wine in true bogan fashion.  As they unpacked and transferred what seemed like a month's worth of luggage, food and bedding into the room, we sat around and talked about our travels south, and the Avon Decent.  After a few hours, we finally made it into bed, ready to get started early in the morning.



This photo doesn't do the town justice....it's much more boring than this...

[obsidian]

6:45 and the alarm chirped.  The light still hadn't made its way into room, the dirty vertical blinds blocking any morning light out.  Joe rolled out of bed to have a shower, and I tried to pretend that it was still nap time.  No rest for the wicked, I got up and started to pack our stuff together, and glanced outside.  Fog, and lots of it seemed to fill the parking lot.  Joe opened the door, to hear the rain gently showering outside.  

It looks like our day of filming would take a back seat to the weather, but we went ahead and got ourselves organized.  Rob and Kate were ready to go, and we headed out along the motorway, the rain only a slight shower, which is sometimes worse as it sticks to your visor.  



About 30 minutes into the drive, Rob pulled off the road looking for a good place to have some breakfast.  We fashioned a makeshift fry-pan, as in their haste, they forgot one, and anything to flip it with, so we had an aluminum pan and a spork to make it work.  While I cooked up some eggs, joe tried to cook some toast, failing miserably, and managed to burn the crap out of it.  We cleaned up our fire, and headed back out onto the road, looking for patches of dry road where we could get some shots.



We took our time getting up to Coolgarie and found some great backroads to play around on, getting lots of video of us both on the bike, something we're never able to do on our own.  It was sometime after one, and we decided it was time for lunch, so again, on the roadside, we cooked up some soup, biscuits and afternoon tea.  



After a well deserved break, we finally made our way to Kalgoorlie, passing through the center of this old gold mining town to head north, and find somewhere to camp for the night.  We make our way along Yarri Road just as the first of the desert racers were coming in from the Australian Safari, the race everyone uses to train for the Dakar.  



We found a side road and went in a few hundred meters to get away from the road noise, and as I took some time to set up camp, Joe, Rob and Kate went back to the road to cheer on some of the racers.



It was getting on to dark, and I chopped up some veggies, garlic and prepared for the fire.  A big glob of butter would guarantee that it wouldn't stick in the pan.  I popped the veggies on and cooked up some rice, and managed to bubble it all over our new stove.  The dinner turned out pretty good, except for the fact the onion was a little undercooked and ended up being really bitter.  But, anyways, who cares when you are camping under the moon and the stars and the only noise is the few stragglers of racers trying to make their way back to town.  We sat for hours, watching the moon rise, casting light so bright over the bush, it was almost like daylight.  



Kate was the first to crash out, around 9 pm, she had worked pretty hard all day, and Rob tucked her in to the back of the ute, as she didn't have a tent.  We stayed up for a bit longer until the fire died down.  We went off to bed, without any noises to be heard, just the silence of the night.

[obsidian]

One main reason for us camping on the side of the road in Kalgoorlie, was in the hopes of catching some of the Australian Safari riders making their way into town.  Which we did, we sat on the side of the road drinking red wine waving away.  It was awesome!




Wave!


I think his screen is dangling a bit?



Another wave


Is this you?




Just a peaceful ride across the desert....


Enduro quads are awesome!


Winner of the wave award of course goes to #69!

[obsidian]

Another out take, has a few strong words so if you're offended very very easily maybe don't click play

[obsidian]

The truth was I was sick and tired of being tired, and Joe suggested that we spend a few days for me to try to recover from my flu, and to try to put it behind me.  I was feeling really worn down from it, and being sick for onwards of six weeks was really taking it's toll on me.  We checked into a cabin, and I tried to spend the next day relaxing, doing as little as possible, and Joe found some great new games for his iphone.  

I think the time was well spent, as I do feel a bit better today, and not nearly as worn down.  So, morning came, and we took our time getting ready, no point in rushing out the door, we had plenty of time to get to where we were going.  











No trip to Kaloorlie is complete without a trip to the SUPERPIT



Breakfast at a cafe, one of the tour riders took our photo, thank you!



Salt pans



Strait, wide roads

It was a very short run today, only about a hundred kms past Norseman, the last stop before the Nullarbour.  We take the back way from Kalgoorlie, following the wide roads out of town to the southeast, large enough to turn the camel trains around back in the day when they use to carry water out this way.  

Our first leg was going well until we happened upon the extra wide load just north of Kambalda, only some 50kms outside Kalgoorlie.  This mining truck was being shipped somewhere, not sure, but was taking up almost two lanes on the road, causing traffic in the opposite direction to come skidding to the side of the road to watch the massive wheels roar by.  We toddled along at 80kms/hour behind them, unable to pass for quite sometime, until finally a passing lane opened up, and us and about 30 other vehicles passed it by.  



Back up to speed, we ride just above the level of Lake Lefroy, a large salt lake that had puddles of water remaining in its dusty bottom.  This is our final run south, for now, until we cross the Nullarbour.  It is barley after 11 when we pull into Norseman, what we think might be a possible place for some lunch.  We take a quick drive through town to reveal that there isn't much at all, a few cafes but nothing much.  



We pass by a few corrugated iron camels in the middle of town, and head back towards the roadhouse on the corner of the highway.  

We pull in for gas at the BP at Norseman, and hope to find something decent for lunch.  What looks like a reasonable size on the outside, turns out to be not more than a greasy spoon on the inside.  Joe orders a (guess what!) and I try to find something not covered in hydrogenated oil.  The only thing left is a muffin from inside the glass case, and the gas station attendant makes up a half decent hot chocolate.  

We sit and contemplate how far we are going today, and still can't make up our mind.  We don't want to rush across, and try a few options out on each other.  Still undecided, we head out on the Eyre Highway, only to be stuck behind the same mining truck from earlier!  Luckily, this road is a bit straighter, and we manage to pass without issue.

We start to see the signs for the Fraser Range Station, and almost at the last second, we decide this is where we will stay  for the night.  It is still early afternoon, and we set up camp, collect our thoughts, and organize getting a few supplies for dinner: an onion to go with our “mac'n'cheese” and a few chocolate bars (naughty naughty!).  



But, made up for all the bad food by going for a lovely walk up the ranges to check out the area.  



Now, almost 4pm, we are almost all settled for the night, ready for a nice quite sleep in the outback.



flowers of the ranges





Sun setting over our camp





the Awesome night sky!

As we tried to drift off to sleep, a late arrival picked the spot right next to us to set up.  After locking and unlocking their car about 40 times (I'm not exaggerating) they finally got their shit together and knocked off.  Joe and I however, had another idea, the plan of not trying to fall asleep as we both lay awake in the dark as we threatened the blackness with our wills.  Finally, in the wee hours, sleep took us until Joe was like a badger in a bag, thrashing about trying to get his jacket and jeans off as he was suffocating in his sleeping bag.  

A generator also kicked on at about 3 am, the rattly diesel engine thundering through the silence of the camp.  After that, the wind picked up and rattled the branches above our tent, making it difficult to return to our slumber.  Ah, the thrills of camping!

[obsidian]

The sun crept over the hills and the colour of the tent make an orange glow inside, like waking up inside a pumpkin.  I could hear our noisy neighbors up already, making no attempt to silence their coughing, packing, slamming and car locking excessively.  As they passed by our tent, not even 7:30 they made sure they gave us a nice toot from the car.  Thanks assholes, you had to pick the spot right beside us, when the rest of the park remained empty.  Joe I could see that he was struggling to get up, and I didn't dare wake him, as he had the lesser of the air mattresses now, seeing as it didn't help my back.  He finally woke, and went off to have a shower.  

I began the process of packing, and had most of it finished up inside the tent by the time he returned.  I had a quick shower, popping the coins into the prepay shower stall, and hurried back to finish off the remainder of the packing.  With the bike ready to go, we took a few shots on the way out, and headed due east towards Belladonna.

The morning was much warmer than the previous day, the Nullarbour seemed warmer by about 10 degrees than its west and east ends, making it a pleasant 25 degrees midday.  As we sped down the motorway, it was about 18, and warm enough not to have to wear a fleece under my jacket.  The landscape was playing with us, and still, we saw trees, the “null” was still somewhat of a mystery.  By the time we reached Belladonia, it was time for some breakfast.  Joe filled up while I went inside to pay, and order.  As I was paying for the food, I could see that Joe got bailed up by someone.

“Which way are you headed?” he enquired.
“Across the Nullabour to Ceduna, I'm not looking forward to the longest straight,” Joe replied
A smile came across his face, “Oh, it gets interesting after a while, after you go fucking crazy” he says with a grin.
Joe starts to laugh, and manages to escape before it was too late.  He had come from Melbourne the previous day, and was going to make Perth by nightfall.  

His two monster trucks with their yellow and black checkered paint jobs looked like a taxicab on steroids.  He wondered back to his truck to make his start, and the rig pulled out of the roadhouse.  Joe came in for his breakfast, and then wondered through the “Skylab” museum.  

After a pleasant breakfast, of which the hot chocolate and coffee were exceptional, oh and the fresh muffin I had was so fresh it was still warm!  We settled into the road, making a stop at the “longest straight road” sign of 146.5 kms or 90 miles.  



Soon after we were both overcome with boredom.  Though this leg was only 600 kms or so, it seemed to take forever.  We passed most of the roadhouses, Cockalbiddy, Madura, and Mundabila, with a brief stop at the ridge at Madura to overlook the flat land that fell out to sea.  





It was impressive, but really we wanted to get this leg done so we could move on to the east coast, its not a multi-day extravaganza.  Finally, we counted down the kms on the gps, and Eucula was within site on the ridge.  We could now see the cliffs where we would view the whales tomorrow.  A trickle of excitement entered my mind.  I really want to see the Albino whale that Matt and Joe saw, and a large number swimming together, it would be fascinating.  



I think the weather feels colder than last night, a slight ocean breeze has washed over the camp, and again I can hear a generator, yay, maybe we should have camped on the side of the road, at least we could have some peace and quite.  



It is a shame they have to build these camps so close to the main road, you can hear the traffic like its only 10 feet away, trucks, cars and caravans as they obliviously thunder through the night.  Oh well, enough bitching, where are my earplugs!

[obsidian]

Arrrgg, ear plugs fell out in the middle of the night, and I kept having nightmares that I had lost them even though in the morning I rolled around in my sleeping bag and found them easy as.  Most of the grey nomads were pulling out as we rolled up the tent, so they had a head start on us, but it wouldn't take long for us to do the overtake maneuver and speed past.  






The Head of Bight was still a bit of a hike, and as it turned out the oatmeal we ate for breakfast seemed to go straight through, and our stomachs were empty again.  After a refuel stop at the Nullarbor motel, we could truly appreciate the “null” as the window sill sat higher than most of the shrubs along route.  Joe stuffed himself with a burger, and I tried to find the least fried thing on the menu, a veggie burger, and we filled our tummies before going to check out the whales.  



Feeling a bit like whales ourselves, we only had 25 kms to the kiosk where we coughed up another 12 dollars each to walk down the platform overlooking the cliffs.



We walked down to witness one of the worlds biggest nurseries.  The southern wright whales mothering their young, some we're told are only weeks old.  



Some were learning how to swim, some feeding, others surfacing and diving, and spouting out water from their blowholes.  



In the distance we see a whale breaching, 7 times in a row, like a kid in a playground.  



The albino, makes its entrance, its white features standing out from the deep blue water.  The area is stunning, the limestone cliffs falling off into indigo blue waters with the whales backs exposed, and bodies just below the surface.  We counted 30 or so whales in the bay, each with a baby by its side.  



It was truly an amazing event, we just stood quietly and watched as the wales preformed for us.  



We could have easily spent a day there, but wanted to make Ceduna before nightfall.  We were loosing time, and were now 1-1/2 hours behind from yesterday.  Finally, we dragged ourselves out, and went in search of water.  While we tried to rehydrate, the bus driver from the tourbus in the parking lot offered us tea and lunch, how thoughtful, however we had just eaten our massive lunch and had to decline.  While we suited up, a Ulysses member chatted us up about riding, bikes and travel.  As we left, we had a whole audience of olds checking out the bike.



As we left the Head of Bight, we could have closed our eyes and wished we were in Ceduna.  The landscape began to change, from no trees, to trees, and rolling hills alongside the ocean.



Then, we glimpse at farmhouses, sparely dotting along the road and finally, green fields, power lines and civilization.  We grinned at the attendant at the quarantine booth when he asked if we had any fruit or veggies.  “No” we exclaimed!  
“what have you been eating, won't you have scurvy?” he responded
“roadhouse food” we both reply.
The gate lifted, and we headed into Ceduna for the night, looking for a cabin to rest our weary heads.  At the south end of the main street was a caravan park, we rocked up and managed to get the last room, a sad reality for the two guys behind us in line, who would have to try the next hotel.  We were just happy not to have walk 3 blocks just to use the toilet.  Even though we were ahead in time, we were both starving and not even 6pm we were gorging down on chicken stiry fry and thai beef salad at the bar next door.  Ahh to be in civilization again, we were pleased.

[obsidian]

Our hour and a half time forward was getting the better of us this morning, but Joe had the alarm set for 7:15 and we tried hard to get ourselves out of bed for that time.  Things don't always go as planned, but it was probably 7:30 when we got ourselves out of bed and into the shower.  I hadn't found the time to get the laundry done, so it was recycle time.  Once we were packed and ready to go, it was fill up time just outside of town, where we got a whiff of cattle from one of the stock trucks, along with a reminder of dust.  

We head out of town southeast along the coast, catching glimpses of Streaky Bay occasionally.  A small coastal town with a main street about two blocks long, but I had found a great little restaurant/cafe that opened at 10am.  We pull in, park and make our way there only to find they are closed until september.  Rats!  The bakery across the street looked inviting, but not a selection of healthy foods.  We went with a danish and pizza roll and chased it down with coffee and hot chocolate.  The town seemed pretty busy for a friday, not many people working, but the clientele were either carrying babies or over the age of 85.  

We left the sleepy little town and kept a look out for the famous “Murphy's Haystacks” which were on route.  While Joe was watching out for the signs 38 kms from town, I could see them to the right on top a hill.  A quick drive up 2kms of the main road and we witnessed the world's largest marshmallow rocks!  



They were quite amazing to look at, much like wave rock, granite carved by time, sandblasted to round forms creating overhangs and blobs.  







One blob hill



Getting between the gums



Reach for the sky!



Eagle head?

The top of the hill was also an amazing lookout to the entire area.  We managed to be there between mobs, and were happy to check out the “molar teeth” looking rocks further along.  



Following the coast down until we could cut overland at Elliston on the B91.  This road showcased the unique area, old stone homes, now not much more than rubble, rocky ground: only good for raising sheep, and of course, the lizards.  



Now these tail-less lizards would try to make their way across the road, or were just sunning themselves on the warm surface, regardless of their crossing purpose, some of them would make it, and some unfortunately wouldn't.  There would be dead carcasses littered all over the road, and the live ones would make it difficult to drive around due to the fact you didn't know which way was the head.  They really looked like a giant turd with legs.  We narrowly missed one, and I jumped off the bike to have a closer look.  Joe turned the bike around and the thing got up on its forearms and let out a giant hiss exposing its pink mouth and black tongue.  I tried to get a few photos of it, but didn't want to get too close incase it tried to bite me.  (I have been known to stick my fingers into cages)

After our visit with the lizard, we passed the inland towns of Lock and Cleve where the fields of Canola were in bloom, such a bright yellow it was almost fluorescent.  The smell was something fowl though, it smelled like diarrhea.  After Cleve, it was up a bit of a hill before descending down into Cowell, an unusually flat looking coastline presented its self.  The Yorke Peninsula was just on the horizon as we descended to find the turn off for the ferry.  



I purchased our $95 ticket and we took the first spot in line as we waited for the ferry to arrive at 4pm.  A quick unhealthy snack at the shop followed by a bottle of gatorade, and it was almost time to board the quick cat to the Yorke Peninsula.  



It was a nice change watching the ocean pass us by, the water was calm and the sunset was pretty spectacular.  It was a bit longer than two hours by the time we made it to Wallaroo, but a caravan park of mediocre standards was available on the other side at a cheep rate, and we were all over that.  A quick walk along the water and we managed to find the most mornay covered meals in South Australia.  We will keep this in mind next order, sauce on the side!

[obsidian]

Australia Inside Out is now available for purchase.

Here's the first episode to see if it's something you're interested in.  This is courtesay of Curbsyde, OneWheelDrive.Net, and OpenFilm.com.

The series can be purchased at here at the OWD E-Store.



I'd like to personally thank Neil Johnston at OneWheelDrive.Net, Dmitry Kozko at OpenFilm.com, and everyone that has supported us through this thread.  

Thanks for watching all,

Cheers
Joe

[obsidian]

The morning was cool and windy and we made the small treck to Adelaide.  The charity rally were heading north to race their cars

as we passed over the top of the peninsula we descended into the the flatness north of Adelaide

tried to stop for lunch in the northern suburb and a bogan came screaming around the corner of the parking lot and screamed “whoooha” as he almost careened into the side of the bike.

we passed through Adelaide, a few of the done out rally cars were heading north to do their charity run.

We took a couple days in town, getting the bike serviced, and enjoying the town.



The new and the old



Great old buildings



A number of old churches, well preserved and amazing craftsmanship.



Curious black swans



More city shots



paddle boats

[obsidian]

Packed up, had our free breakfast and headed out into the city

Road south was a highway for a bit, then, turned twisty as it wound around hills and gorges.  We passed over a few bridges where there where windsocks, would hate to be around when that thing was flying straight out.  As it was, we were a little concerned about the weather forecast:  rain, wind and there had been gail force winds only yesterday.  It seemed pretty subdued today, but once we reached the ferry terminal, it was apparent that this was all a false truth.  The wind was blowing whitecaps out in the water as the ferry came in an ported



Through sweeps and turns, we end towering over little towns nestled into the crevices in the windswept landscape.  Tiny smudges of grey dotted the hills, four-legged lawnmowers worked hard to trim the grass. We can really feel the wind now, bursting over the hills as we descended above Jervis.

Kangaroo Island not what I expected, it was quite large, an a couple hours to get across made it a reasonable ride.  We had a quick stopped at the Penneshaw I-site and the woman freaked us out about nothing being open, so weird.



Wanting a bit of lunch, we road into Kingscote, had some delicious pizza, we both feel fat and we contemplated what we were going to do, finally, the decision was made to stay in the southwest corner for two nights, and then to head to American river or Pennshaw for the last night, before returning to the mainland.  



The ride was pretty subdued, the wind was picking up, only catching a gust every so often as we crested a ridge, other than that, a few dead kangaroos were a good indication that we would see wildlife, as long as they still had their heads.  



As the sun crawled across the tips of the trees, we pull into Rocky River at the KI wilderness retreat.  After dumping our stuff in the room, we had a quick wonder around, and found our way back to the courtyard where a few wallabies were waiting for their evening feeding.  The first one seemed to have a deformity, it was missing half it's mouth, exposing its yellow marsupial teeth.  



I felt sorry for it, poor thing.  A few others joined, and I noticed quite a few with some kind of eye disorder, leaving the eye completely white.  Poor things were too blind to see the food in front of them.  A few more came, and one with a joey, who had to growl at the others to get food.

[obsidian]

I would like to think we got up early this morning, but that wasn't the case, after pulling a late night of watching movies on the laptop, we failed to rise when the alarm went off.  Even though we've been in South Australia for 4 days we still hadn't adjusted completely to the time zone.  Our day yesterday wasn't too long, but still we didn't seem to have the steam in us today to make it count.  By the time we were showered, fed and out the door, it was already 9am and we rushed off to the tourist info center to pay our park fees and head out to the Remarkables.  



The day was clear when we  woke up, but by the time we had reached the narrow ribbon of road towards the south west coast of  Kangaroo Island, it had drastically changed.  



15-20 knots of wind gusted through the black twisted scrub that inhabited this part of the island.  

The clouds, quickly building under pressure to release the winter rain.  As the road becomes narrow, it turns towards the rugged cliffs along the coast, igneous jagged rocks falling off into the ocean.  We ungulate over the cliffs and see off in the distance the Remarkables:  like some one had crushed easter eggs atop of a upside down bowl, the yoke spilling out the sides, orange and gooey running down the cracks towards the ocean.  



The orange was in fact a lichen, acting as a soil in the rocky ground, and the rocks, similar to what we had seen at Murphy's Haystacks in size, but more hollowed out, jagged and teetering on top of a rounded dome.  



looks like a dog's head?



eagle beak hook



Inside the remarkables



Happy face pacman



Orange coloured rocks



Showers in the distance



We could catch a gimps of the lighthouse on the other side of the point, and ventured off into that area.  

We pulled into the parking lot, a massive boardwalk meandered down towards the edge of the cliff, we wern't sure what we were in for.  







Assuming the “Admiral's Arch” lay in front of us, we were happy to snap off a few photos.  Seeing a few people emerge from a stairwell to the east, we to decided that we would venture down.  





We were rewarded with brown writhing sausages, NZ fur seals lounging on the rocks below, their stench we could smell from the viewing platform many meters above.  



They lay motionless among the rocks, sunning themselves as the waves crashed along the rocks.  A few restless pups played in shallow pools of water caught between rocks but the bulls and cows saw no need to supervise.  



Joe:  The remarkables were, well remarkable really.  They reminded me of Murphy's haystacks, yet even more stunning due to the coastline lying below them.  We did our usual wander and photo shoot and then started the walk back to the bike.  



Joe squishes the remarkables

By this time, the grey showers started to pull in.  The wind had definitely started to gust by this point, making the very short trip to Admiral's arch and the lighthouse a bit more interesting than it would have been on your typical perfect day.

We followed the boardwalk around, and found the arch.  We had actually walked over it without knowing, and as we descended into its shadow we were overcome with the stench of the seals, hundreds of them lounging in the cavern with tentacles of lava rock, stained black from moisture hung above like a lace umbrella.

Joe:  Wow the seals stunk.  Very cool to see, and I don't think the smell will leave my nostrils anytime soon.  After viewing the brown sausages with flippers we went to check out the lighthouse at Cape Du Coueric.  I read a quick blurb that the lighthouse construction began in 1907 and was first lit in 1909.  So I thought it was pretty cool we came to the lighthouse on its 100 year anniversary.

Joe:  More showers, as we wind our way back to the Visitor centre and its cafe “Chases”.  There was a pretty decent line at Chases, due to being the only thing around.  Flora ordered a chicken salad, while I had the Lamb wrap.  Both were pretty good, although a part of me really wished I had the burger.

After lunch we made our way down the dirt road towards Snake Pool.  Yet some major showers made us realize we really didn't feel like doing a two hour hike in the rain.  We turned around and made our way back on the muddy track.  We spied some Geese and geese babies.



Joe:  We road down the South Coast HWY, spotted a few kangaroos roaming next to the highway, and then turned in to the Hanson Bay koala walk.  After paying our $2.50 each we wander under the trees for a glimpse of the lazy tree bears.  We did eventually see a couple doing nothing, and to be honest they didn't do too much for me.  I like the kangaroos a lot better, more fun to interact with.



After the koala walk we decided to check out Hanson Bay.



A small dirt track of 5km with a few muddy sections to get around and we were there.  



Staring at the sand dunes, and a very spectacular cliff-lined coast.  



Mind the Holes!



KI Beach Panorama

The same couple that had been at all of the same attractions as us were wandering around.  We waited for them to depart, as I figured they would just tail gate us on the muddy road anyways.  

Joe:  Got back to the KI wilderness retreat just in time to spy a loan female kangaroo wandering the parking area.  I went to the reception got a bag of Kangaroo chow and we fed her the entire bag, little oinker.  











Then back to capturing video, and Flora finishing watching “I love you man”  while I laid in bed drinking a beer counting down the minutes to our 6:45 feeding time.

[obsidian]

Another beautiful morning in Kangaroo island that soon clouded over with threatening clouds.  We checked out of our room and departed along the main road before cutting across the island on a dirt track.  Still muddy from yesterday's rain, we took our time getting through before making it to the animal park on the other side by Parndana.  



A small private animal park boasted a huge number of birds, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, eagles,



echidnas and even a small freshie crock.  



We spent hours wondering around, feeding the kangaroos, talking to the parrots and my favorite a black and white bird who rolled over and allowed her handler to pat her belly.  I stuck my finger in the cage, as I do, and she only nibbled lightly at my fingers, no pain!





My what a big beak you have!  all the more to peck you with my dear!

We spent a bit of time in the outside pens watching the large red and grey kangaroos.



When we were done, we then went off to forge for some lunch, it was on to American River, which we found a place to stay and walked down to the local store to find something for lunch.  There wasn't much luck, just some cheese and crackers, but we made do and took a few things back to the room.  With a few ideas of things to do in the afternoon, they were soon thwarted as a heavy fog began to roll in off the coast.

[obsidian]

We were up before the alarm.  I checked outside to see what the weather was doing, as was pleasantly surprised to see some pelicans sitting on the beach in front of the hotel.  I scrambled to find the camera and tiptoed down the gravelly slope to where the pelicans sat among the seaweed.  I got as close as I could before they started edging into the water.  



They were hunkered down with the weather at their backs, a few coming in for their morning preening.  I snapped off a few photos before they decided they had enough.  



We took our time getting to the ferry, and were greeted with hundreds of kids finishing their week stay, their teachers and other adults looking wrecked from the week of their shenanigans.  When it was time to finally board, I had to walk on, while Joe took the bike on by himself.  

I find him up on the top deck once he was loaded.  He looked flustered, and had a hell of a time on the ferry, idiot tried to “push” the back wheel into place on the deck while Joe was still on the bike.  Some ferry crew can be great, while others simply have no clue how a motorcycle works.  



We finally made it back to the main land, and got off ferry and headed towards our lunch spot.  Bridgewater Mill, which I researched and found it would be a good pick.  



It turned out to be the best food we have had all trip.  Absolutely Amazing.



Joe promptly dropped the sound recorder, and this time it was completely shot.  This would mean we would have to stop back in Adelaide, and pick up a new sound recorder, really not an expense we wanted, but our on board sound from the camera really wasn’t up to any kind of standard.



We ended up on Greenhill Road, which is an amazing road winding through the hills above Adelaide.  As we came over the ridge, the city was shimmering just after the rain fell.

We got into town, just in time to pick up the sound recorder, and fluffy.  When that was all done, it was too late to carry on, so we found a decent place in town, and managed to find some of the best sushi either of us had ever had.  It was just a day of good food all around.