Category Archives: Australia

Longest journey by motorcycle in a single country

28 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, Bike, Guinness World Records

≈ Leave a Comment

So I was on the Guinness World Records website tonight. Loving motocycles I decided to see what has actually been set as a record relating to bikes. I found something very interesting, so back in November 2011 the record was set for longest trip around a single country. It was 18,000 kms around India; what caught my attention was that by my estimates my last big trip around the country was about 17,000 kms. Whats more I was in a hurry, and cut out some of my trip, this has got me seriously thinking…

According to Wikipedia Australian has a land over twice the size of India, 7,692,024 km2 vs. 3,287,263 km2. Had I known about this record I might have gone for a longer trip, but why not do it now. I’m going to start checking this out tomorrow night. There were a lot of places I’d love to go back to from my last trip, and I really I think I could absolutely smash this record.

Sure you’d need to record your fuel dockets, and mark all the GPS locations, which I mostly did last time anyway. But it sounds like a good sort of challenge, to do it right it might take a couple of months to do it safely and to see a couple of things I missed out on last time.

Day 22, Bike Trip

15 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, Bike, BMW, Camping, GS, R1200GS

≈ Leave a Comment

Last night I was very toasty, no problems with freezing toes or being woken up at 4am. I was a little bit wrapped up but didn't mind, I got a solid sleep, no trucks idling there engines or swans. Today I was crossing over a timeline so I'd lose a couple of hours, I figured e sun would get up early and it bit, so I woke up earlier as well. I was up at 6 am, it's was 10 degrees according to the bike. I had to out my jacket to pack up and my hands were a little freezing up removing the tent pegs, but not as much dew this morning too which was nice.

My spot tracker had been going a little bananas on its current set of batteries so I picked up another set and not wanting to dip into my emergency water I also got some more 6 dollar water. A bottle of water and batteries was 21 dollars, I was about to ask for some free water when I was greeted nicely, I'll save my when did you last shave your face comment for another time. I filled the camel back and headed off.

It was overcast today, I was expected lots of sun, but it was still a nice ride. I noticed there were a lot of roos splattered on the side of the road, sometimes three or four all dead within tent meters, it was like a family of them had been wiped out all at once by a truck. I started courting recently hit kangaroos about 20 kms from the next fuel stop, I got up to 51 before I stopped, there were many many more before and after the counting, probably a couple of hundred had died on that section of road last night or the night before. Where I was counting was a national park conservation area with a road through the middle of it, it seemed a little wrong to see so many of them dead right in this spot they're meant to be conserving wildlife. A kangaroos life is extremely cheap in Australia, there are meant to be millions of them about, but if thousands are killed every day surely that must have an impact. It was large and small roos, so it doesn't look like they learn as they get older.

I passed more road based airstrips and the signs said there would be roos, camels, cows and wombats over the next 500 kms, I wanted to see some wombats. Not wanting to replace my light just yet, not at the crazy outback light costs I used my high beam, nobody noticed the difference. I think it's probably run out because of the total hours I've used the bike, large kms equals long hours on the bike and a bulk that might last a year or two lasts a lot less. Still I'll see what the next dealer in adelaide thinks, the light quit at 15 and a half thousand kms.

The shoreline here had several sets of mountains, before Eucla there was a pass down the mountains and another back up closer to town. The country side was mostly small bushes to the horizon, I didn't expect everything to be so green, there must be a lot rain down here. I passed a couple of riders heading the other direction but there was a lot less folks down this way, I figure the cold was keeping most people away, I never got over 22 today, I was still thermalled up most of the day.

I stopped for lunch in a place called Eucla, I was going to call it a day there but it was early and I thought I might get bored. I had some lunch a tried to look about for some things to see, it was one of those places where nothing was well signed, the brochure was equally as helpful. There were a couple of 4wd tracks, but I decided I wasn't in the mood to dick about with sand today. After Eucla I was on whats called the West Nullarbor, I stopped a bunch of times to check out the local lookouts. The cliffs at the shoreline must be a 30-40 meter straight drop, theres no way to get down there or get backup, they were very impassive, I'll almost flatten another camera battery with all the photos I've taken. Tomorrow I'll charge a battery off the bike.

The bike clocked 16 thousand kms today,so that's 12 and a bit thousand kms on this trip I think, I'll have to service the bike when I get home, it's running nicely. I have been giving it extra time to warm up in the morning, you don't want to open it up too much to the valve that circulates the oil to the oil cooler is open, it runs better once it's been on a while, plus it's supper cold down here in the mornings.

Tonight I'm staying at the Nullarbor Roadhouse, well camping at it, beside the airstrip. I found a soft looking patch of gravel to setup my tent on, again the air mattress should help there, I looks like a cold windy night but we'll see. In the morning I'm going to head down the road then down a track, there's a lookout where whales and all sorts of other wet critters hang out, apparently you can get some good pics from the lookout so I'll check it out. After that I'm going to head down to Coffin Bay.

Day 21, Bike Trip

14 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, Bike, BMW, Camping, GS, R1200GS

≈ Leave a Comment

Last night I stayed in a place called Ravensthorpe, I had my beef curry, no lamb unfortunately and got some sleep after some music and planning for the next day. I try and list out the fuel stops I'll pass through during the day and the distances between each, this was becoming more important now without fuel every ten kilometers. I had a nice patch of grass to camp on and thought I had a reasonable distances between other campers, I found later on the swans in the lake beside me would hoot about until about 10 pm or any time they were disturbed.

I'd setup camp in my bike gear, this probably should have been a warning of the night to come, I was asleep not long after 9ish. I woke up frozen at 4am, needing to pee. Not wanting to jump about the paddock in my thermals I wizzed out the tent in the direction of the bloody swans, who had now woken up and decided to have a chat. I crawled back into the wet tent, the tent was soaked outside and some of the dew had got into the tent and made the sides nice and wet. My main concern was my freezing feet and everything else, but mainly my feet where hurting and just not able to warm up. One leg started to cramp, problem solved from the previous night, cold feet meant leg cramps. I put on another set of socks and try to warm up inside the sleeping bag. Trucks had rolled into a truck bay across the road and seemed to be Erving there engines from idle, this started the birds, by now I was having thoughts of getting on the bike and heading off.

I'm not sure how much sleep I got between 4 and 6 am, I ended up covering myself in all my gear to try and get warm, I had no luck, I got a couple of minutes sleep before getting up at seven. The inside and outside of the tent was soaked, the mattress had kept me out of the dew and dry, but my pillow was half wet and the rest of me was cold. I figured after last night I was due a good day and so packed up quickly, hoping I'd soon be in real country and away from swans and somewhere a little warmer, still I'd have to get something to keep me warm, another night like that would not be fun. It would also make the days harder to be half rested.

Down the road was Esperance, there I'd see what I could find to keep warm, other campers were packing up; I decided to best them all and was out of there in a couple of minutes. At Esperance filled the tank, had some food and found a camping store. I picked up a 8 degree rated sleeping bag, I'm thinking the layering of the two bags with thermals will be super toasty, making me the most snuggly man this side of the Nullarbor. I was going to get some extra big socks but found nothing. Next trip I'm gonna find some electric jimjams, perhaps crotchless, no one likes the smell of burning nuts. I might also look for a better all weather tent, this one is good in the hot but shocking in the cold and dewy. So far the additional bag is working I am warm, but 4am will be the real test, it was about 16 degrees at camp at about 6pm, so cold be a cold one.

After sorting out the my snuggliness I head towards Norseman, fields started to fade and look less and less like good farming land. The grass had turned brown and more rocks started showing up, best of all it started to warm up a little, I think it got to a top of 22 degrees. I had a beer and lunch in Norseman, is was a very quiet town, the biggest building in town was the pub, this is sorta normal out here. After lunch I pushed on towards my first Roadhouse in a long while. On the way I passed the town of Mallee, this might be the town John Williamson sung about, I suspect there could be another in SA though. On the way to the roadhouse the gum trees changed to a red colour, it was liked some of them had bleed down the bark, I think These might be called Salmon Gums.

Balladonia Roadhouse did not exist or rather the town did not, the Roadhouse appears where the town is marked on the map, but it's nothing more than a petrol station. The Roadhouse offered a new high of 2.112 dollars per litre for 98 ron, still it was premium, they also had no tap water, this was signed. I got a waive, wink and thumbs up heading out of the station, I think the Nullabor has started, people were being friendly again. Down the road the road widened, it doubled as an airstrip for the flying doctors. I did kinda wish someone would land on the road while I was riding on it.

After the airstrip the longest straight road in Australia started, this is 90 miles long or 145 kilometers, no turns just a single straight road all the way to the horizon. I did get tempted a couple of times and open the bike up a little, it was after all the most straight road in the country, where better to do a bit of speeding. The bike is advised to a max speed of 180 kilometers an hour with the panniers fitted, I fell a little bit short of that, with a head wind and plenty of gear but the bike had more in it I just didn't want to push my luck to far. I did however well exceed 88 miles an hour, so the bike would be capable of time travel should I find a flux capacitor. There was also lots of time for standing of the foot pegs while yehar-ing and other shenanigans used to keep busy and stop you butt falling asleep. I was going to try and ride the entire road without a break to demonstrate my toughness but was busting, I pulled over and took some photos, found some kangaroo bones (so many roos are hit by cars and then picked clean by the birds, there's bones all over the place). The only thing there is sometime more of than roo bones is coke bottles, most places are pretty clean by the side of the road, but out here there were a couple of generations of coke bottles. I did wonder how much waste came from coke, here where people did take away most of their own rubbish there was still bottles and cans, what about places where there's no litter laws or care about litter. There must be a couple billion coke bottles in bushes by the side of the road, none of them breaking down anytime soon.

Tonight I'm staying in a place called Caigan, it's another roadhouse, not a good one, but I'm pretty self contained. I've pre filled the tank with the good stuff. Again no water available, a sign in the store said please don't ask for water as it stresses out our staff. I walked in and smiled at someone being friendly and got told the equivalent of settle the fuck down we only have one till you'll have to wait your turn. I was in a line and had not even opened my mouth, moved or gestured, older ladies should know better than to use that sort of language and treat people like crap. I was tempted to enquire as to when the old crone last shaved her face. There are quiet a few bearded laddies out this way, it seemed fitting, but I held back, don't insult the assholes that can make you drive 200 kms in the dark to the next camp site. The backpacker at the previous truck stop was plenty nice, just the other side of the 90 miles. I do now understand why so many roadhouses get burnt down so frequently, they are probably the ones run my locals; because theres no water you'd only need a small fire to start things off. Tomorrow before I leave I think I'll ask about some water, I might see if I can ask all the staff members, then perhaps request a manager, it's gotta be done right.

The bottle of water I did buy in the shop was 6 dollars 20 for a litre and a half, that's over 4 dollars a litre, twice the price of fuel. The only think more expensive than water was coke, my can cost 3 dollars 50. The couple in the line before me spent 56 dollars on two big bottles of coke, maybe 6 litres and 3 energy drinks; this included a 10% discount.

I was looking forward to my inaugural sponge bath of the trip, until I found the showers, so there is tank at water, but they like you to buy the bottled water, I wonder what price water will get too the middle of the Nullabor. I'd still prefer to drink water from a bottle, for all I know there's a bird marinating in the water tanks that feed from the roof, and we all know where the birds crap when they're sitting on antennas.

Tomorrow I'm heading towards the border of WA and SA, theres a couple nice sand dunes and leftovers of a town to check out near the border and the Nullabor itself. Tomorrow should be a shorter ride, today was about 800 kms, tomorrow's about 500 kms, maybe a bit more if I get bored when I stop.

After taking my money and insulting me I returned to my bike, the front light was blown. The high beam still works, I'll use that till I get somewhere closer to civilization, who knows what they'd want for a light bulb.

Day 20, Bike Trip

13 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, Bike, BMW, Camping, GS, R1200GS

≈ Leave a Comment

Today was one of those days, But tomorrow is another day. I'm getting close to the Nullabour and finally back into Roadhouse country which is kind of comforting. Theres no sushi or latees in roadhouse mans country, decisions are made by the most bearded beardo of the family, communication is limited to grunts and words like hoowsitgonnn. Roadhouses are dodgy as hell, but they also usually exist on roads that come one direct and go to only one other, it's pretty simple to find fuel and somewhere to sleep there's only one place for the next 200 kms.

So I woke up early as I usually do, I'd been drinks less water because it was a lot colder now. I'd not been losing lots of water during the day, so was drinking less, I'm down to maybe 2 litres in the cold. But anyway I got up at 4am and had to pee, I was pretty toasty in my thermals and tent all zipped up now, none of this worrying about stuff being nicked, besides it was too cold to leave anything open. After coming back to bed and stretching my legs, one started cramping up super bad, I was able to release some pressure and the cramp went away. Later I was woken up by the other leg cramping up bad this time. I couldn't get out of the tent in time so just grab and thumped my leg a bit till it was better, that would be fun to walk on in the morning I was thinking. I was wondering what had done it after over 2 weeks on the road, maybe the less water, or what I'd eaten, fish and chippies, tomorrow I'd be back on the oats and packet dinners, they had plenty of goodness inside maybe I was missing out on something.

When I did get up I packed up most of the tent insides before getting out, it was cold, I left on the top of my thermals it would be a cold day. I was tempted to look at the lighthouse that was closed the previous day but that meant waiting till 9:30 and I had places that needed riding too. I unzipped my tent flap, a duck was inspecting my bike, he waddled over and stood at the tent opening looking about. It's a shame I didn't have anything tasty to give him, he was very friendly and interested. The camp site was on the river, I think he'd come up to look for bugs and worms. I've got some duck photos I'll post later.

I had my oats and loaded up the bike and headed for Albany, the bike was already easier to pack, I did not miss loading tires each morning. I got some photos of the river and then headed off. The roads were still bike roads, nice and twisty, but hard to make good time on. I stopped in Wolpole for fuel then onto Denmark. Between Denmark and Albany in the middle of a tight corner I collected a Kookaburra on the light grill, it was a load crack. I was doing about 90 km at the time, with the bike leant over a little. There are things you want to avoid hitting on a bike and things that if you avoid particularly in some circumstances you could do more damage to yourself. I'll brake for anything that's about the size of a small dog, but I'd not swerve hard for something unless I'll come off worst for hitting it and I have enough space to move about. In a corner where entry and exit angle to the corner are both important as is braking, you have to have a good reason to change what your doing, it could mean running off into a bush. Birds I don't brake or swerve for, I've had too many of them come close to hitting me particularly when there's traffic about or the road is in no way flat or wide. In his case the bird flew into me coming from the other end of the corner, it looked like it was dropped down from a tree, probably to get to the road or side of the road.

The bird hit the light grill I'd installed, it was to protect the light from rocks, not Kookaburras. A kookaburra is a nice looking native bird, they are fat little things that go after snakes and grubs. After hitting the grill the bird disappeared, I thought I'd run it over. I pulled over and got off, the bird flopped down from between the grill and the front tire, it was pinned to the bike after being hit. He was alive but not moving much, he was sitting on a stick so I picked it up to look at him, he sat on the stick while I lifted it up to eye height, he looked ok, maybe his tail was broken it wasn't straight. He slipped a little so I put him down. I didn't want to leave it there to die, which it would if something where broken, I watched him for about ten minutes and tried to encourage him to hop it, he just looked to get pissed off with me, and started to puff up. I got on the phone to the police and then the shire, as I was about to get hold of the local vet a truck passed and he flew up into a tree. Maybe he was just stunned, I gave the location of where he was for the vet, but I wasn't about to knock him out of the tree with rocks to take him to the vet. The girl on the phone seemed to think birds die from shock aft being hit by a car, even if not hurt. I felt a little bit guilty hitting the bird, I was on holiday, even tho he flew into me, if I wasn't there he'd have been fine. It gave me second thoughts of what I'd do to a kangaroo that I'd hit on the bike and come off because of, although maybe in that case I'd be a lot angrier. Hopefully the birds fine and was tough enough to survive, they are big birds, I got some pics of the him on the ground getting annoyed with me and then later up in tree. Later on I'd dodge my first rabbit for the the trip and see a fox that was not so fortunate.

At Albany I rode about town looking for some lunch it was about 1ish, I was making slow progress today. The twisty roads although fun had slowed me down and couple of hundred kms of twisties is a little more wearing then the straight highways. I was averaging about 90 km per hour. After finding a place to eat at I turned about at the roundabout and headed back down the road. A hatchback pulled out in front of me from a car park, I reefed the bike of into the next lane and excellerated out of trouble. I was lucky there was no car in the other lane, or anything else, otherwise I would have had to brake hard. This is not the first time I've had to pull one of these turns, but thirst time in a while. The car had not indicated or checked his mirrors or blind-spot. I yelled at him through my helmet, I told him you almost cleaned me up, and various other things while beside his window. All I got was a smug smile, he had no idea I was even there and thought he was not in the wrong. I pulled up for lunch.

During lunch I got really angry about this, I would have skidded down the road and he just smiled like nothing was wrong. I think next time I'll either take off a mirror, run my panniers down the side of the car or do some jumping on top of the car once the owner had popped into the shops. I kind of think having someone run a set of panniers down the length of your car might make you think (the panniers would be fine, they are alloy boxes, not so good for car paint tho) , maybe I shouldn't do stuff like this, I've not yet, but a few times have almost lost it at bad drivers. Anyway, If he doesn't change next time he pulls out it could be front of truck, which wouldn't quickly get out of the way. My lunch came fast, I was over Albany and put the town nearest to the Stirling Range into the GPS. On the way to the ranges the roads opened back up to 110 km per hour, things became a little straighter and there were no hatchback drivers in sight. On the way out of town I thought of getting some cards printed that identified recipient as an asshole for xyz, maybe something with checkboxes, great for putting under windscreen wipers shod you feel you need to leave those on the car. You know the sort of thing to use when a guy in a pickup parks in the handicap space.

The day was not all bad, the Stirling Range was pretty nice, especially after all that had happened earlier. The fields on the sides of the roads were filled with green and gold, fields either had sheep or canola, you can smell the canola from the road. The sheep were making me hungry, I wondered if I had any freeze dried lamb curry left, I took some photos of some tasty future curries. Racing along the road sheep would bolt from the fences as I past, the good grass was there or shade from the trees, sheep scaring proved very satisfying. It's slowly getting warmer and the trees and soil are changing again, the big karri trees and gone but there a still hundreds of kilometers of farms. Anything you put in the ground down here will grow. My last fuel stop of today had a nudist crossing, no boobs. Tomorrow I had towards the Nullabour, the last couple of days have been good but I'm looking forward to and miss some of the more bleak looking country I had for most of the NT and WA.

Day 19, Bike Trip

12 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, Bike, BMW, GS, R1200GS

≈ Leave a Comment

I have fallen slightly behind in my updates so will try and get on top of a couple of them tonight. Today I rode from Rockingham, outside of Perth down the coast. I was looking forward to getting out of town, Perth and the surrounding areas are nice but I was really over all the traffic lights. It seemed like a set of lights every km on some roads.

After packing up the bike and saying goodbye to my aunt and cousin I headed into Fremantle for some breakfast with chums. The breakfast place was a little jazzy, the band stopped playing when I walked in, I looked at them and they started playing. Maybe it, was the end of the song, but it seemed like I startled them, maybe all the bike gear, no beard to scare them now. I did,thnk it could be their gimmick for tips.

After breakfast I headed towards Bunburry, I was going to pull into Mandurah but it looked a little bit like another suburb, plus it as still plenty busy, I wanted to get out of town. I kinda missed the roads without lights and roundabouts, I didn't mind other cars, they could be overtaken, but the cars in town just seemed to be constantly getting in my way. I did think maybe it was he local driving styles sending me nuts. Maybe all the drivers out west were just more curtious or I'd just been able to pass them easily because they'd all be going under the speed limit. Most of the caravanners are gone now, I think they all migrant north for the winter.

The bike was really sounding and feeling nice today, the service had done its job. The bike was being nice and responsive and making all the right noises too. It sounded just like when I got it, I think it was also a lot happier now it was only getting 98 ron. 98 ron just gives it a bit more power, it's excessive power but it sounds and feels nice, it seems to make more happy gurgling exhaust noises on 98. It's nice to pull up beside and car or Harley and drown out the sound of the engine with the big thumper. I say thumper because the GS sounds a little like two dirt bikes.

I wanted to ride down as much of the coast as possible, my map looked a larger scale to the previous ones, everything was a lot more closer, and fuel was now all over the place. After Bunbury and Busselton I headed towards Eagle Bay, it's a nice little spot, there's also some nice roads out there with some twisties. I'm not sure where the shore line road started but I rode it about until it started heading inland, I then turned about and headed towards Cape Naturaliste. I had been slack on photos the last two days, well the bike was getting serviced, so I broke out the camera a took some nice shots of the shore and a couple of the bike as well. People that ride bikes, end up with a lot of photos of there bike in exotic places, you just become obsessed and take lots of nice shots of your bike.

The scenery had started to look like hobbiton (or hobbit town from lord of the rings); lots of techni-colour grass (it really is freakishly green), big trees and lots of flowers growing out of the grass. The trees kept changing but always hugged the road so you were almost riding in a tree tunnel most of the time.

After the Cape I headed down towards Augusta, the ride to Augusta was really good. The roads are nice and curly, it was a good chance brake in the new tires easily. The trees started to get bigger and a meter from each side of the road was a wall of trees, they would be annoying if they'd not looked so pretty. Also there were fences now, so no crazy cows to worry about, I'd also not seen a roo alive or dead since before Perth, even then they were starting to become rare before Carnarvon. Half way to Augusta I had to pull over, I had ridden into a grove of Karrie trees, these things are massive gum trees. They are huge both in height and width, around Australia it's rare to find trees this big, I got some nice pics of the trees. I was riding downs Caves Road, it really is a good bike road, even with all my gear it was lots of fun. I was however glad to be carry less load now, the bike is much easier to pack and unpack.

I got into Augusta at about 4:30, I was going to push on but decided by the time I'd looked about town it would already be getting dark. Plus it was nice to have some time to setup in the daylight, it's always a touch faster. Augusta is the bottom tip of WA, it's where two oceans and ocean currents meet, your meant to be able to see the currents meet from Cape Leeuwin on a good day. I rode up to the lookout at Augusta and got some nice snaps, there was a dirt track in that I didn't pay any attention to, I'd seen far worst tracks than this. I then headed back into town to the Cape.

Cape Leeuwin has the biggest lighthouse in Australia, well the tallest I think it is, it's a nice ride to the lighthouse. It was a shame about the 4wd up my arse all the way there, I later discovered it was a lighthouse worker, I think they wanted to talk to me as well. I got some photos of the lighthouse then went looked for a camp. Tonight I've got another beach/riverside campsite, I'll go for a walk in the morning to suss it out. It campsite was 25 dollars after 10% off, even so one of the mor expensive sits I've had. Tomorrow I think I'll head over the Pemberton, then up through the Stirling Ranges before heading back towards the coast, I'll see where I'll end up at the end of the day.

I might have to invest in a jumper, and start wearing my thermals during the day, it was a nippy 14-18 degrees today down here. It's strange going from heat to cold in a couple of days, mor so because I've ridden it all the way down.

Day 16, Bike Trip

09 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, Bike, BMW, GS, R1200GS

≈ Leave a Comment

Today I rode from Carnarvon to Monkey Mia, relatively short ride. It took longer than expected because I had a couple of chats with people along the way and took a side track or two. Today was shocking for dew, I woke up early, I think I'm still on Queensland time, that and I've been getting early nights, I got up and everything was wet, I hung the bike cover on the clothes line to dry, the bike was also soaked underneath. While up in the middle of the night, it was pretty much raining, well there was that much water in the air. Still I think it makes for colder days which would be nicer, I haven't been sweeting my guts out since Port Hedland, a nice change, it only got up to 31 today, compared to 37-39 and extra humidity thats very easy to take.

31 actually feels cold, maybe my brain got find up north. At some parts of the day it got down to the mid twenties, I guess I can start to expect more rain and bad weather now, still maybe it'll give the bike a thorough wash and get rid of all the red sand. All my gear is waterproof, so ran should be fun, I'm kinda looking forward to testing it out, so far even in the hot my gear has still be a lot cooler than the gar I've had in the past. My pants really need a good wash, there's not enough vents, they have disgusting funky smell, maybe even a double wash, still they are most excellent and comfy, plus they probably have stopped me getting a graze or two.

After not having enough beans to get the rear and front tire off yesterday I decided to look for a torc wrench before heading out today, I went to two tools shops after waiting around for them to open, no wrenches, and a lot less gear than you can get at home too; I'd struck this before, it's just hard to get parts, tools and even oil in a lot of places. You kinda have to make do with what you can find. I didn't want to round off the bolts for the tires as they are kinda important, I should have loosened them at home, it would be a bugger to try fix a tyre in the middle of nowhere with factory tight bolts, or s long wrench. I wanted to put the new tires on both because I'm sick of carrying them and the tires are almost illegal now, only maybe 2-3 mm left in places. They had last a lot longer than I'd thought tho, around mountains and less flat terrain I recon you'd get a lot more kms out of them, thousands probably. I'll have about 13,000 km on the tires when they're changed, that's extremely good. My last set of tires I had put on a bike lasted until 10,000. I'm getting the bike serviced in Perth so will get the tires swapped out then, I'm looking forward to a nicely tuned bike to ride around some of the mountains down south. Plus it will be nice to not have to check tires and the like as closely on the way home.

On the way out of Carnarvon the scenery continues to change, slowly the red sand is disappearing, being replaced with white sands and salt flats. The rock mountains as now all but gone, just a couple of sandy hills. It was very green around Carnarvon, the trees have disappeared again replaced with knee high bushes that go all the way to the horizon. I crossed the 26th parallel twice today, and jthe he tropic of Capricorn yesterday. I'm think I'm about half way around Australia now, with the toughest terrain behind me, I'm almost tempted to send some more things home, but there's always the Nullabour where there's lots of room for punctures and other problems.

I met some Harley riders at the Overlanders Roadhouse, they were running the same tires and were pretty happy already with the lack of wear since Darwin. The guys were also towing little trailers, well you could fit what I was carrying 3-4 times over in the trailers so not so small; someone's doing a good job flogging trailers in the west. My gear keeps getting smaller, I keep throwing away stuff, and once the tires are on almost everything could fit into the panniers. Still lessons learnt for next time.

I also met some CanAm Spider riders, they were from Perth and had gone around the country as well as down the center. The guy had leukemia, his ride around the country had been for the leukemia foundation. He didn't ride yesterday because he had a cold and kemo, I thought it was pretty good to be getting on a bike the day after something like that, most people would be in bed.

After filling up at the Overlanders Roadhouse I headed towards Denham. Denham is the biggest town next to Shark Bay, there's a lot of fishing to be had around here, and apparently sharks. I dodged a lizard near Shell Beach, I thought it was a snake till I got close, previous experience had shown it was a good idea to give makes space. I'd had one rear up when I've ridden past, not fun. Down a short track was Shell Beach, it started to get corrugated then I was at the beach. Shell Beach is a couple of kms long and maybe a couple of hundred meters wide in places. The entire beach is all small shell fragments, some very fine but all shells, no sand at all; I kinda wanted to ride the bike on the beach, it would have made cool crunchy noises.

There are lots of tracks on they way to Denham, some marked some unmarked; I saw a track that looked like it might head up a hill so I headed down the track. Eventually I got to the soar and a little hill, it was a nice little unmarked lookout; from there you could see the cliffs below as well as the tracks and beaches. It was a pretty cool spot, no one else was about, and you could camp there with permits, basically camp whenever you like. From the hill I saw a 4wd roaring down the track quickly, I walked back to the bike and put my helmet on with the visor down incase things got dodgy, the car almost stopped on the track. I tend to be suspicious of people when I'm on my own, plus speeding down a track doesn't really look good, it also rips up the tracks and causes more corrugations. I started the bike up and the car passed me slowly, no problems. I think they slowed down because they were embarrassed about thrashing the tracks. After riding the corrugations out and having memories of the Bungle Bungles, rocks and deep sand I decided to head for Denham.

I got to Denham at 2pm, like I said too much talking and side tracks. I tried the pub for lunch, I was too late, every male in town was hiding in the pub, probably from the women in town. I procured a non-premium meat pie from the service station. I was tempted to ask exactly how premium the premium pies were and if so how non-premium the other pies were, were the other pies in fact sub standard. I decided the service station being the only place with food this time of day and the large gentlemen behind the counter in blue singlet might be good reasons not to question the qualities or his pies. They had 98 ron, I will go there on the way back, but not for pies.

I wonder what the BMW guys will say when I tell them you can't get 95 ron fuel for thousands of kms up north, the bike wants a minimum of 95, 98 doesn't exist from Cairns to Carnarvon, 95 can be very rare in some parts. I am wondering what others do, what do you do when you pull up to a pump in Africa. Excuse me my good fellow but my two wheeled automobile only runs on 95 octain fuel, which of your pumps is the premium?

The non-premium pie turned out to be rather gastronomic indeed, shortly after getting my tent up I was halfway though a pannier with camera and other goodies spread across the top of the bike, I felt rumblings and bad motions. I shoved everything back in the panniers, the locks were hard to set, I ran for the camp tonight, I only just made it. The pie had been 30 minutes before, next time I'll get the premium pie. It's the first time I'd had trouble the entire trip, so it was defintatly the pie.

After the pie induced shenanigans I completely my camp and headed to the beach. Its a nice beach but with lots of rules, there's no fires, swimming, 4wds or motorcycles, what are you meant to do on the damn beach then. There was however ladies with lost tops, so some compensation. I explored a little and found a massive shell fish minus shell, I was poking it a little with my thong, I then realized these were the poisonous shell fishies with the spiky jabby things, I decided to leave it alone, it was starting to look angry.

I had a couple of beers at the fancy bar, then a couple at the monkey bar, I had too its the name. In the morning I'm gonna head out and see the dolphins get fed, again more rules, no swimming with the dolphins or touching. After the dolphins I'm off down the coast to the Pinnicles. I'm again out of porridge so will find a tasty breakfast kebab on the road. They sell road kill jerky here in he roadhouses, its advertised as the finest road kill meat in the market, I wonder if it's premium.

There are no land monkeys here, only sea monkeys. There's a place down the road from here called whale bone, might pop in on the way out, would be cool to see some whale chompers.

Day 14, Bike Trip

07 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, Bike, BMW, GS, R1200GS

≈ Leave a Comment

I spoke some more to Maree this morning, it turns out Australia is just the first part of her trip, she's spending the next 3 years riding about the world. She's doing 14500 km around the country, pretty good for push biking it, she was riding from roadhouse to roadhouse, about 100 km today. Maree is an ex copper from Brisbane, I asked her what she thought of Katherine and Elliot two of the rougher looking towns. She said she'd seen a bit of violence between the aboriginals in Katherine, something I'd not seen. Elliot, which another biker was told not to stay the night at wasn't all that bad, people were apparently happy, this is dispute Elliot being a bit of a massive hole.

This morning was super windy, I was awake before 6 am, so was the sun, I got up at 6 and started packing the bike. After chatting for a while I as off, I filled both my tank and a spare, just incase. I wanted to try and make up some lost time today, and if possible get a little bit back on schedule. There were some smaller riding days coming so a big day wouldn't hurt, also I could tell it was going to be petty flat. Unless the scenery is super awesome flat and straight to the horizontal can get a touch boring.

The first two hours on the bike I had a nasty cross wind from the southeast, this was bashing my helmet and head around a bit, I rode into Port Hedland and again could only get 91 ron, sorry bike. Port Hedland seemed like one big factory, people either worked for the roads, the mines, or drove something about; I filled up there but was glad to get out of town, it was a dust bowl. I did notice on the way in there were several gated communities, with high fences, these were called things like Mia Mia Village, I wondered what people were so afraid of they needed high fences with barbed wire, it seemed very over the top.

I decided to get some lunch in Roeboure, it had premium, it was excited, fuel had now dropped down to about 160 peer liter, I figured this wouldn't last as I got further down the coast, still once I was near Perth it would be cheap 98 ron country, the. Ike loves that stuff, I get more kms out of it and a touch more power. You have a small tank as it is on a bike to the more kms out can squeeze from it the better, even if you do occasionally overfill the tank. I got a sandwich, a sausage and three liters of water at the shop, it cost 24 dollars. Some aboriginals that looked pretty poor pulled up in a new Holden performance vehicle, it was petty clean, I did wonder if the money for the car came from a land trust or a gift from a mine as a sweetener, I was guessing the car would never get a wash. I'd had this conversation with Maree in the morning and Russell the night before that, out here you see people driving some 100 grand cars that they clearly couldn't afford, or maybe they liked wearing dirty torn clothing but it was strange. Other times you'd see pretty good cars left by the road, the car would run out of fuel so they'd leave it where it ran out. Maybe there's a really good explanation for all of this but I've not found one yet. You'd also see the new cars pretty thrashed, a one year old car all scratched up. There was nothing in town to see so I pushed on.

Tonight I'm staying at a truck stop called Nanuturra, its also super windy up here, I'm told it's always windy up here (well the grey nomad camping next to me says it's always windy in this god forsaken shit hole, it's the first time someone said a place was a shit hole, he's not wrong tho, it will be a short stay). The last hour of my ride I had cross wind from the other direction, I was glad to pull into camp. There's no phone reception here, or anything else for that matter, never mind the next couple of days will be mode interesting. I've pre fueled the bike and will get an early night and early morning escape. Fuel here is 2.05 dollars per liter the most expensive yet.

My tires are getting bald and flat down the center, it's all the highway riding, I've almost got 12,000 kms on them, very good indeed. Tomorrow sold be a short day so I might change the tires tomorrow, I'll be glad to ditch the extra weight as well, hopefully this set should see me out till I get home.

My 10,000 km service is confirmed in Perth for the 11th, it'll be nice to have a tuneup after all the shenanigans, plus it's always nice to ride you bike after a service everything is nice and responsive, it's a combination of new oil, gear box checkup and the like. I think I'll be nudging 14,000 kms on the bike by Perth, so I'm pushing it, but I figure highway work is a lot easier on the bike than traffic, your oil says cleaner longer on the highway.

Today's scenery although flat had some nice plains, and huge rivers. This area is called the South Kimberly, there a some mini mountains but nowhere near as nice as up north. Tomorrow I'm heading to Canarvon.

Day 13, Bike Trip

06 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, BMW, GS, R1200GS, SPOT

≈ Leave a Comment

After sufficient relaxing time yesterday I decided it was time for dinner, by relaxing I do not mean tv, there was no tv, and that had not been while I came all the way out here. I did have Internet so I posted my diary entries and made sure the world was alright without me. I wasn't sure what phone exception would be like over next couple of days, there doesn't really seem to be any mobile coverage out here between towns, some places are just black spots, you see a lot more phone boxes out here.

I rode up to dinner, my tent was about a kilometer from the roadhouse, it was cooler but still against the rules of a day to recover. I turned off the engine and heard my name called, Russell who I'd met 5 or 6 days before on the border of Queensland and the Northern Territory was having a beer and dinner; I ordered a pizza and a VB (Victorian Bitter, a beer feared by many an australian, after riding around in the sun all day they just seemed to do the trick better, and I'd always liked them). I later realized my garlic prawn pizza was a garlic pizza, still it was good. Later I though how would they get prawns in any case, it was a couple hundred kms to the nearest beach.

The last time I saw Russell I was thinking of doing the Gibb, Russell rather than take the Stuart Highway north from the centre took another smaller road and then tried the dirt track to Cape Crawford. He was an experienced off road rider with only road experience in the last few years, his bike a 600cc Yamaha was basically a big dirt bike. Russell rode about 30 minutes into Cape Crawford before turning back, the track was too cut up and corrugated. He'd also tried the Gibb River Road and turned back, this made me feel a lot better about my decision to give it a miss. I had heard it was torn up by all the 4wds and good riders were falling about once an hour over a 2-3 day trip; thats a lot of picking up the bike, once or twice is ok, but after five times your getting tired and can pull things. My bike was super heavy even with all the thinning out of gear, I did not want to destroy the bike or myself. I told Russell about my fun at the Bungle Bungles and he pretty much said that was what he'd have done too; he did say to make sure you hassle some people for help, otherwise it doesn't happen. I had found some people less than forthcoming with some tools, I had tunnel vision and was chasing one thing so that probably helped; plus no one wanted to be pulled out on the back of a tow truck.

Fitzroy Crossing like other places is a petrol station, restaurant, bar, campground and anything else you want. Again you'd think it would be bigger to be on the map, the rest of the town might have had a dozen houses tucked away on farms, there was nothing else visible from the road except the roadhouse. The town or area is a dry town, this means locals cannot buy beer, only guests. Even then I was refused a heavy beer until after 6pm, only mid strength beer till then.

Russell lectured me a bit on keeping clean while on the road, I think he didn't like the fact I hadn't shaved in about two weeks and was starting to beard up. I was even in my cleanest shirt and all, I think I'd only worn it twice before. I though it was handy, people thought twice before giving you shit if you looked a little bit hairy. In Katherine I had managed to scare some locals away from my bike just by showing up. I parked my bike under a no cars on the grass sign at the camp ground, I was passed several times before one of the staff members had the courage to ask me to move my bike, I did point out the sign said no cars. Aside from that, it's magnificent to not shave for so long.

After dinner I gave the bike some more oil, I probably put in too much but figured clean oil would help until I could find somewhere with the right oil to drop the oil. I couldn't tell the oil levels on the uneven ground, plus it was hard in the dark.

In the morning not having to pack away the tent and all the other gear I was ready pretty quickly. On the way out of town I passed and burnt out car that was still smoldering, I couldn't tell what it was, all that was left was a burn chassis. You see a lot of abandoned cars out here, some flipped, others looked like they hit an roo or a cow, others just look left from a joy ride. Everyone once in a while you pass a car with the windows down or the doors open, nobody around. I think aboriginals had used these cars and headed in land to settlements not on any map. Yesterday I saw two aboriginals being drops off hundreds of kms from anything, maybe there was something out there but it looked like rough country to survive in.

Today was filled with flat roads, there were three really nice rivers as well. You'd think it's too hot and dry out here then all of a suggest a 100 meter wide river. It is the end of the dry season and there's still water. Most of the roads I rode on today flood during the wet season, this is October to May. There large signs that indicate if roads a open or closed, most of the towns or roadhouses I'm passing though will get cut off by water come October.

On the way into Broome I saw a dead horse, it wasn't fresh, it had blow up like a cow and was about to pop; it was a little bit sa,d all the horses I'd seen so far seemed to be smart enough to keep off the roads, they also seemed to all be pretty happy and have a better idea of how to look after themselves then humans do, they just looked healthier.

I didn't really like Broome I was going to have lunch there but decided to fill the tank and go. There's an expense side to Broome and a slum side, in the same street you'd find multi million dollar houses and burnt out aboriginal housing, it didn't feel right. The houses were government built with good intentions but looked wreaked. I stopped to take some photos of the beach a overheard and argument. Broome has a China Town and Tokyo fashion shop (I though it was a sushi shop at first look), it felt like the outback was over,I had wanted more of the Kimberley. There shouldn't be sushi shops on any adventure or boutiques, I'm not sure who Broome was aimed at, maybe some of the mining locals ad cashed up and have wives that shop all day,some of Broome seemed a bit like Noosa. Fuel was a 180 for 95 ron, I was happy to dilute the 91 ron I'd used earlier. The bike was not meant to take 91 ron fuel, it had done so on several occasions, there was nothing else for hundreds of kms.

Just past Broome a cow ran across the road in front of me, it was 20-30 meters away when it passed in front, I was doing 120 at the time, I braked and changed down gear very quickly, I was doing about 70 when I got to where the cow was, it had darted into the bushed. I was glad it was fast, it had run from bush cover to bush cover. I'd seen a cow do this to a camper van the previous day, the driver didn't even have time to brake, it looked as though the cow passed through the car it was that close. Later in the day I'd find cows playing silly buggers either side of the road, again I slowed down fast while one cow looked like he had to make it across before me. Cows don't understand when you're gone they can cross safely, and in coming vehicle just makes them thinks they have to cross now or it'll never happen. I'd seen enough cows today, I was starting to wish for fences.

90 kms out from the SandFire Roadhouse I only had enough fuel for another 60 kms, I pulled over and finally broke out the spare fuel, not because was too lazy to go to the fuel station in the morning but because I'd actually used a full tank getting this far. I unloaded the bike and filled up, a ute pulled up behind me, this was strange, I kept an eye on the ute, I finished filling and packing and left. I was getting hungry and didn't want to play wolf creek with any of the locals, it could have just been he wasn't a talker, but you always think the worst of someone in the middle of nowhere.

The girl I'm camped next to tonight is riding her bicycle around australia, she stared in July and has made it this far already from Brisbane, pretty good really. The days must be hard, it looks like she travels super light.

A feed at the roadhouse that consisted of expensive reheated frozen chicken and chips, 25 dollars, ah McCain. After that I finally installed the air intake pre filter, it's an oily sock that keeps grit from the filter making it last longer. I had at the creek the previous day left one screw off the bike, another I had lost. So I needed to take off the right side fairings to put back the screw I'd let out.

 

I discovered some bruises today on my legs, I figure it was from my spin in the sand the other day. Still nothing hurts, I really like the Klim riding gear its got loads of pads or important bits, I think that may have helped.

Day 12, Bike Trip

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, Bike, BMW, GS, R1200GS, SPOT

≈ Leave a Comment

Last night before bed the guy in Land cruiser I was talking bikes to earlier came over and offered me his last beer, I thanked him and ended up having a chat with him and some other campers over at his camp. He was a bike rider so came over earlier to talk bikes, he was traveling around the country with his wife for 6 months. The couple next to me were from Norway, the were over for work and had three months to explore. They were living out of it he back of their car. They had got a flat on the track I took yesterday, only a few kms into the track. They hadn't let there tires down at all, and a rock ripped open one tire, cutting a tire is hard but that's what looked like had happened. They wanted to see the Bungles but didn't want to do another tire or fill the car with water, I told them they would get water in the car. It was a low all-wheel drive, the creeks were up to the knees. I found out today there were six creeks in all.

I felt exhausted this morning when I got up, I packed up slowly and got on my way. The 1 km track to the camp site had a fresh roo on it that wasn't there yesterday, it was already split open with the ribs hanging out, nice smell too. Someone held the gate for me, and I was off. I really wanted to see if the bike would behave, and if there was any water I was keen to blow it out at high speed, I figured the heat of the day would help as well. No problems yet, the bikes running the same as it always has, I think it might be unbreakable.

I filled up at halls creek and got some water, there was only bore water at the camp site and I wasn't going to boil water for my camel back, so after 100 kms I was thirsty. Passing the police station there we a lot of people milling about, it was like they'd taken numbers. I little out of town I passed a sign that said maximum road train length 53 meters, so they were over 50 meters. I'd passed two road trains that were 5 trailers long earlier in the week, most of them were 3 or 4, pretty easy to overtake on the long flat roads, and they don't usually go above 110 km an hour.

Earlier the tent next to me questioned why I was going to Derby, they told me nicely it was a shit hole with nothing there. They suggested a place in Fitzroy Crossing that is nice and has a laundry (I asked about the laundry), nothing was clean, some things had been worn a couple of times and had salt stains from all the sweat. I was getting sleepy on the road, so decided to pull in to the suggested park, it's pretty fancy, but the safari tent was cheap and pretty damn nice, best of all it has a bed and shower. I got some lunch and beer and put the washing on. I had to put my wet boots back on to get into the fancy bar, but I could manage that for a good feed. Most of my meals over the last two days were dehydrated, that and I'd had a hard day I think was adding up. There were plenty of car wreaks by the side of the road, these were also telling me to take a break and recharge.

The scenery today was interesting but I think I was spoilt the last two days, the rocks and trees changed colours, I was leaving the Kimberly. I think it will be pretty hard to top, it's hard to believe all of this stuff exists in Australia. There were many places where the camera just wouldn't capture what you'd see.

I got a text message from the rider I'd meet two days before, he was catching a flight over the Bungles in two days, again I think a suggestive text. Kununurra was far behind me, I'd done the Bungles and would remember them for my own reasons. Sure flooding your vehicle isn't great but I'd learnt from it. I'd not reply, I had my own ride to do.

I'm going to relax for a while, maybe get an early night, and plan the next days ride.

Oh I forgot to mention this is a out the third day in a row I've seen wild horses, they just hang about side sitting under trees near the road. They all look in really good condition and look very happy. I also had another cow crossing yesterday and today, I was not in the mood to play silly buggers with the cows on the track yesterday arvo, I wasn't gonna back down (a couple of the cows look up for a fight, I kept coming, they ran). The cows last night at the Bungles came right into the camp site, eating grass next to tents, from time to time they'd make a horrible swamp beast bellow, they were weird looking African style cows with that looked like humps on there necks.

The bike clocked 10,000 kms today, and a service is now due, sorry bike you can have all the oil you want but no service till Perth. I'll book in my service tonight. Yesterday I started to notice the tires more, the low tire marking is standing out more, this is a hump in the tire grip that is the minimum tread for you tire. This is the mark the fuzz look for. I recon another 2000 kms and it'll be time to change the tires, I'm really impressed with the wear, they are most excellent. Later today I have to readjust the paneling I removed yesterday to get the air filter, it's not sitting right. Still I can find where that missing screw goes and install the pre filter.

Day 11, Bike Trip

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Australia, Australian Bike Trip, Bike, BMW, Camping, GS, R1200GS

≈ Leave a Comment

Tonight I'm tired, well shattered. I needed a beer when I got back to camp, there was no beer, how heart breaking, it was what was keeping me going the last hour on the ride back to camp…

I started the day in at Lake Argyle, the previous day I had crossed the bordered and the sun and time zone where clearly meant for Perth and not out here. It was sunny at 5am. I had passed out at about 8pm the previous night, just from riding in the sun all day I think and walking about in the morning too. Not wanting to waste the cool time of day I packed up quickly while having breakfast, I was back on the porridge so boiled my water and was ready to go before the shop opened. The shop did open at 7:30 so I filled the tank at 2.02 per liter for some type of unleaded. I then headed off to look at the dam and the lookup of the lake, it was pretty impressive. Just the mountains around here are impressive, but to put a lake in the middle of them is pretty cool as well.

I was keen to get out on my own as well, I like riding on my own and well Brownie seemed to want to ride with someone and kept suggesting alternate routes to what I'd planned or other things I wasn't keen on. We got along ok, but he was starting to hint about the way I did things, I didn't like the way he did some things but didn't feel the need to tell him. I wondered if when he'd run out of fuel, I seemed he was cutting it fine a couple of times, I don't think he had spares or anything like spares. I didn't ally want to be giving up my fuel or making runs into town for someone that wasn't prepared.

I'm eating my classic beef Currey tonight, it's pretty tasty, all the back country stuff is pretty good, well apart from spaghetti which really sucks.

After seeing the sights I headed out of the lake area back towards the Victoria Highway, from there on to Kununurra (while stopping to photo some rocks, mountains and creeks on the way). By the time I was in Kununurra it was a nice cool 31 degrees, and yes I do mean cool that it's pretty nice around these parts. The area past the lake is pretty green, it looks like they a going all sorts of things, it reminded me on Galton a little. Past Kununurra the mountains slowly started changing, there was another hour of pretty awesome riding tho. It's very cool to ride in the shadows of some of these mountains that are just so foreign to what we have on the east coast. Lots of roads up here point straight at a mountain then zig zap between the ranges as you get closer.

I filled up regularly today, I wanted to take the track to the bungle bungles but didn't want to arrive without enough fuel. And having missed fuel stops in previous days because they just didn't exist anymore I was cautious. The closer I got the the Bungles, petrol stations had signs saying see attendant before filling. The first station I walked in out my helmet on the counter and said I wanted unleaded they said got ahead. The next one wanted an ID or credit card, I got out my license they filled up. I found a Dagwood dog in Turkey Creek and wolfed it down, I had parked next to a Bungle Bungle flights information centre, I thought if Brownie showed up now I'd hear all about it again, I was hoping he'd go a different way.

I got the the Bungles just before midday, had to ask directions from a truckie who opened a cattle gate so I drove in and shut the gat for him, he looked to be about to tow someone out. I checked in and the tent was up in minutes, I put my heavy stuff inside and headed off to the track to Bungle Bungles. I had left my extra fuel on the bike, the water cells where empty but I got some water at the park shop. I left my toolkit torch and first aid kit on the bike. I had accidentally take my book on how to fix my bike off the bike. I was thinking I should get more water but didn't.

I let the tires down to about 18, they held the track well. I was remembering the stories about the Gibb rocks ripping up high pressure tires. A little down the track the truck I'd talked too was loading up a caravan, later I'd find they had been waiting since early this morning to get a tow. Maybe the axle was busted, it shouldn't have been on the track at all. I thought I'm glad that's not me, I was tempted to take and photo for a second but slowed down and rode by.

The first 7 kms of the track were heavily corrugated, it was 50 kms to the Bungles. The road had some sand, but mostly sharp roads and red earth and gravel. There were some deep sandy dry creeks to cross. I came to a creek crossing at about 25 km in, it didn't look too deep but you can't back out on a bike once you start crossing a creek so I got off and looked about. I was about to walk in then though of snappy things, I looked for another place to cross or a measuring stick. A 4wd came down the track, I said I'd watch him cross, it looked ok so I followed him in, the creek was just up to the top of the wheels, so got through ok, although I wondered about how close it was to the air intake. I stayed close to the car and watched it cross the next smaller creek, again I followed, a little more bumpy but not problems with the depth.

Next up there was a very wide creek, I watch the 4wd struggle and roll over hidden rocks, it looks at the top of the car tire too deep for me. A Frenchman walked the river and said no good for moto, to deep. I'd heard stories of bike loving frenchmen in 4wds helping out bike riders from two different people, I walked into the creek, water filled my boots, it was deep, to deep for the bike. The air intake on the bike shit just above the top of the front wheel, so if the creeks up to my knees it's a no go. The Frenchman filmed his girlfriend storm the river in their rental, I waived goodbye and got back on the bike, I stopped to take a photo of the river that had defeated me and rode off. I crossed the second river all was ok, my feet went in the water a little as I crossed.

When I got to the first crossing I couldn't remember where I'd crossed the first time, I took the left tire track, it was deep, the bike got almost all the way then stalled, I'd flooded the engine, this was not good. This is probably one of he worst things you can do, in the middle of nowhere 32 kms from the Highway also in the middle of nowhere, no phone reception. I started thinking about tow trucks. I got off and heaved the bike up the river bank. I unloaded as much as I could then managed to push it clear of the track, that hurt a lot, 253 kg plus 30 kg of fuel and extra parts. It was not easy but needed to be done. My feet dug into the sand as I pushed the bike up the track, there were one or two comments about various bastards and f-ing creeks, it was steep. I wondered how much had got into the air intake, I put the bike down on its side on the track, not a good idea, no water came out and I then had to pick the bike up again. After pushing it up the hill this was not so easy to again lift up the bike and push it into the bushes.

I tried to stay calm, I undressed (down to my shorts, it was about 36 degrees now). I was wearing my swimmers underneath my bike gear, so pants, jacket, helmet, boots and gloves all off. I then got out the toolkit, I knew what I should do in this situation, but didn't know if I'd work, also there were things I shouldn't do; these were start the bike under water and start the bike with water inside. From memory the first one was the worst, if you kick the bike over in the water the pistols can become water locked. I decided to remove the plugs to the spark plugs then remove the spark plugs themselves then kick over the engine, the start motor would move the pistons and clear out the water I hoped.

It was after getting out my toolkit I realized I'd left my bike repair manual in the tent, so no looking up or confirming things. I built the toolkit myself, so I should have everything I need, I started with the valve guards, I had installed them myself so they were easy to get off. Probably still 20 minutes tho, still no cars, I thought about using my Spot to call for help but someone would be down the track soon surely. I got the guards off and then pulled it the plugs to the spark plugs; I got a special plug remover on the Internet just for this bike, it was hard to use but worked. I could see the spark plug, then I realized I'd not packed a spark plug socket for me bike, I was a little bit annoyed with myself, more comments about the river were made. I decided that it's possible only a small amount of water got to the pistons, perhaps even the engine stalled because the cardboard air filter had become wet and useless for passing air, starving engine in the process, I hoed it was that easy.

To check the air filter I had to remove the side panel, then remove the air intake hose, then the cardboard filter. The panel was off in another 20 minutes still no cars passing, next I had to remove the seat to get off one last panel. I tried my zip tie trick, no luck, I tried the key no luck. I gave the seat several had punches still nothing, I tried to get the panel off another way no luck there. Finally I jumped up and down on the seat while on the bike, it came loose. I removed the air filter, it was wet, the air intake was also a little wet, just a couple of sprinkles tho, my theory may have been correct. I car arrived, the bike was in pieces by now, I said I've flooded the engine, can I borrow a spark plug socket? The man and his wife were very helpful, although he didn't have tools that worked he did talk to other drivers and gave a lot of his time considering I was a stranger; he left after his tools we no use and I was saucing sockets from another driver, I never got to thank the first car properly, it was a shame. After asking several cars and trying two toolkits plus mineI decided the only option was to flush the water out if that failed I'd get a driver heading back to the camp ground to ask for a tow ruck to be called, it was a horrible idea but it might have to be done, plus I didn't want to keep lots of people waiting while I tried to fix the bike. Another car saw the creek and turned around, people were saying it was the deepest, maybe.

With the spark plugs disconnected I used the starter motor to try move some of the water. I then replaced the plugs and frayed the ignition, it almost fired, again the same thing. I checked the plugs one was out slightly, I popped it in tried again, it was better but not there yet. On some hard to start bikes you need to give it more fuel to get it going, I pumped the throttle four times, then hit the ignition, it fired then stalled, water came out the exhaust. I tried again and used plenty of throttle, the bike started thumping away more water out the exhaust not much at all tho. I thanked the last car and said I'd be alright now, once running the BMW keeps running.

Over the next 45 minutes I put the bike back together, I had ran out of the 500 ml of water I had by now long ago. The bike still running in the bushes a car pulled up, I'm ok, I flooded the engine but it's all good now. I think they saw I was thirsty, they gave me a liter of water and continued down the road, I drank half water then put my bike gear back on. I'd switched the bike off just to make sure it restarted ok, it seemed to putter a little then be back to normal. I sat on the bike and it stalled, I was not happy. I restarted and revved it hard, it was slow to respond but climbed out of the creek hill.

I had about 30 kms to get back to camp, I was happy to be on move and probably riding fast because of it. The bike settled into its normal noises a couple of kms into the track, I overtook a massive ford pickup, this made me pretty happy. And the fact I'd got it going as well after a major problem was sinking in too. I was so happy to get back to camp, I also went straight inside to get a beer, I turned back to my campsite and drank what was now warm water in the shade of the tent. I went for a walk up to the camp ground office and asked them to warn bikers in the future about the creek depths. All up I had spent 4 and a bit hours in the bush, I had traveled 62.7 kms in about an hour, the rest was looking at the bike. After some cold drinks I replaced the valve covers and ran the bike a little, starts up just like before. I filled the tires and it's ready for road. I like roads that are flat and not at all moist. I hope my boots dry out quickly. I've hung my pans out on my camera tripod, hey smell like the undead. Sometime during the day I lost the top of my tripod that attaches to my camera, I think it just rattled off on the trip to the Bungles, I'll bin it tomorrow.