29.5.10 Coral Bay to Billabong Roadhouse 561km, total 10525km

Packed up our gear after the three nights in the one spot, our longest stop yet. We had breakfast in the bakery waiting for the reception to open so we could get the key deposit back then were off. Rode out of Coral bay into the sand dune landscape and turned south. It feels like we had turned the corner and are now heading for home. We stopped at the sign for the Tropic of Capricorn for a photo crossing the line out of the tropics. It already feels cooler.

The terrain was a bit boring really, nothing but low grass on sand dunes. We rode down and joined the North west Coastal highway and shortly after this pulled into the Minilya roadhouse to fuel up. Meet another RT rider from Adelaide who has been on the road for 5 weeks going in the same direction as we are. He spent some time admiring our bikes, which are a newer model than his. He seemed impressed that we came from NZ to do this ride. Back into a steady ride along an unremarkable road through a desiccated landscape to Carnarvon. Carnarvon is like an oasis of vegetation in the dessert, where a lot of fruit is grown, presumably due to irrigation. We looked at stopping at Carnarvon for a coffee but the machine was broken so we just kept on riding to the next roadhouse at Wooramel. We pulled in here for a Coffee and short break. The family from the boat yesterday came in and we said a brief G’Day to them before saddling up again and heading on. Saw an Emu along the way, and then we stopped at a look out, which looked out to the sea at Shark Bay, but mostly looked at the scorched landscape. Turned right at the Overlander Road house and went to Hamelin Pond.

The purpose of stopping at Hamelin Pond was to see the oldest life form on Earth, the Stromatolites. Yesterday we failed to hunt down the biggest fish but today those Stromatolites were not getting away. We hunted them down on the foreshore at Hamlin pond. Stromatolites are made of single cell organisms Cyanobacterium that form rock like structures on the tidal line at Hamlin Pond. They were thought to be extinct until discovered here some time ago. They survive here as the water in Hamlin Pond has a high salinity due to the low flows of sea water in and out of this part of the bay and the high heat and evaporation. They are not that exciting to look at but they have been very important in the Earths ability to sustain life. They have been around for 3.5 billion years, and for 2.9 billion years they were the only life on Earth and spent their time making Oxygen which was scarce in the beginning, and eventually the bought the Oxygen levels up to 20% which allowed other life to get going, so while the Stromatolites look pretty dull they were so important to us that I felt we had to have a look. They are very fragile and slow growing that a walkway has been built over them to prevent people from walking on them. There are cart tracks through the Stromatolytes that were put there over 60 years ago, as this was a point that supplies were bought back and forward from boats. The Stromatolytes grow at about 1 cm per year and they have not recovered from the cart tracks yet. The tide was mostly in and so the Stromatolytes were under water, and with the eye of faith you could see bubbles of Oxygen coming off them, still working hard to oxygenate the planet.

This area has no tree or other building materials so the early settlers build the buildings with Sea shell aggregate that was cut from the rock at the beach, and the quarry is still very obvious although no more rock is cut other than for repair work. Interesting in that the small shells are bound together with the Calcium carbonate that leaches from the shells over time. The shell aggregate had been formed over about 6000 years, so this whole area is pretty old.

We had a Devonshire tea (with Coffee) at the shop, which was an old cottage, shop with shiplap construction, and lots of historic photos and nick knacks for sale. It was now after 3 so we headed back to the Overlander roadhouse and fuelled up and headed down the road for the last bit of safe riding. There are a huge number of dead Roos on the road around here so we are not too keen on riding close to dark.

We rolled into Billabong Roadhouse about 4.30 at it seemed like a good time to stop. Got a room at the Hotel/Motel and went for a halfhearted run as the sun went down. Went into the pub for a beer and dinner. The place is run by an elderly man who has written a book called "Cut the Bullshit (for men only)". Which is a book about his opinion on everything. I opened it up to read about the facts about women and menopause, crickey what is this book all about? I flicked through the pages a bit, there is his opinion about Justice, politics, work ethics everything. Might be an interesting read, no doubt a bit tainted by a life outback, and probably a bit red necked, but who knows. I did not by a copy to find out.

Spent the evening watching Toy Story movies on the one TV channel. Should have bought the book.

28.5.10 Whale shark dives in terror

Up and back into a second shot at seeing the Whale Shark. The day was looking good with an easterly breeze blowing and not a cloud in the sky. The prediction from the boat master was that the sea breeze would pick up and we would end up in a situation of no wind at the critical period. We motored out into the reef and slowly steamed for the open sea through a very convoluted cannel through the reef. We did not stop for the test snorkel today as pretty much everyone was returned from yesterday so straight into the whale search. We saw a Dugong on the way out but it was a pretty limited view as they are very shy creatures. At 10am the spotter plane was in the air and we were in open sea enjoying the lazy roll and pitch of a 2 – 3 metre swell and wind driven chop. Putt putt we went as the captain awaited the call from the spotter plane to give it full noise to where the Whale Shark had been spotted. We saw some turtles out at sea. Putt Putt Putt we went, pitch and roll, Putt Putt Putt, Pitch and roll. I have to admit I am a little prone to seasickness. I can visualise myself as an old sea dog loving the motion of the ocean for a while and using self-hypnosis techniques I can convince myself for a bit longer that I am enjoying it,… Putt Putt Putt, Pitch and Roll, Putt Putt putt, pitch and roll. After about two hours I was loosing the battle with my building nausea and lay down with my eyes closed which is the move of a man in desperation trying not to loose his breakfast. It worked, but eyes shut it was for the next 3 hours or so. Dad in the mean time did loose his breakfast and then looked pretty chirpy after this. Putt Putt Putt, Pitch and roll, Putt putt putt, pitch and Roll, Putt putt putt….

Sadly at about 2.30 the search was called off with a disappointed crew and group of passengers. The plane had been doing a grid search of a 10 X 50km area for four and a half hours and no sign of the Whale shark so clearly the sharks had heard of my intentions to get them in a headlock and show them who’s boss, and dived for deep water. This is the impressive thing about Whale Sharks in this area, that they hang around on the surface. Being fish they do not need to which makes them different to whales of course. They usually spend time in the deep and have been recorded going down to 1.5km deep prior to the monitor tag on them imploding due to the extreme pressure at that depth. They come to the surface at Ningaloo because of the upwelling of nutrients and the spawning of the coral, which gives them a really good feed. This is the only place that they can be predictably seen.

Since the whale shark hunt was cancelled we decided to have a snorkel in the reef, and this was great. The visibility was excellent despite the wind, which had now died right down. We jumped in and went for a swim through some excellent coral reef with the usual plethora of colourful fish active doing their thing. The noise of them crunching into the coral was loud and there was a wider variety of fish eating the coral than I have noticed before. We went for a swim out through a maize of coral outcrops and then floated back with the current to the boat. On the way back we connected with a massive shoal of Trevally? That was circling away. I dived down into them a couple of times and they initially scattered but then closed in and circled me. It was a great experience. Some of the others saw a turtle but I missed seeing it. There was a reef shark swimming along with the Trevally, probably 4 – 5 feet, and he went right beneath me. Of course a 4 – 5 foot shark looks like jaws with the magnification of the mask added to the magnification of my perception of sharks following watching Jaws as a child.

We came ashore and the staff were very apologetic about the failed attempt to find the big fish. They gave out vouchers to get a free outing in the future, valid for 3 years, I guess I will have to return. The thing about viewing wildlife is that if you want a guarantee to see it then you need to go to a Zoo and everyone seemed to accept this and I did not witness any bad feeling, just a mutual disappointment about the no show of the Whale Shark. Last time I challenge a Whale shark to an arm wrestle. The poor thing is still probably cowering in the depths wondering what an arm is!

Watched the sun set from a cloudless sky into the pristine ocean with only the burst of waves on the Reef intervening.

Phoned Di, as there was a message on the phone about the Tree Felling team knocking down the power lines at home. I showed the guys the lines and said “are you sure you won’t have a problem with these lines?” They assured me that there was no chance, and confirmed that they carry insurance if they do anyway. Somehow I knew that those big old trees would reach the lines if given the chance, but what do I know about these things. Unfortunately this type of event only builds my righteousness. Thankfully the power line guys had turned up and replaced the broken power pole and restored power to the house. Apparently it is very cold at home with snow all around, the heat pump has stopped working to boot, which does not help. It is hard to believe this really as we are still in very warm conditions. The temperature is no longer the uncomfortable humid type but a very comfortable dry, high twenties I would guess. The water temperature is about 25 degrees.

Had a couple of beers at the Backpackers and a hamburger that they were putting on. Watched a bunch of music videos from the 80’s, 90’s and naughties. A very happy atmosphere in this place with music videos, pool table and table tennis all beside an appealing looking swimming pool. Dad could not contain his Publican nature and had to tell off a couple of the young men sitting on the pool table, then to compensate went up and slapped a stranger on the shoulder saying something jolly to him, then proceeded to tell the barmaid off for pouring a Guinness can incorrectly. The poor old boy must be missing home.

27.5.10 Day off

What a cosy night in the sack. For the first time I slept under a thermal cover (my sleeping bag which was lovely and cosy, instead of a sheet in the unescapable heat. I have to admit that I am more of a cold weather person, which I have discovered in numerous environments now. It is the humidity really more than the heat that messes with my physiology, I sweat profusely at the best of times and add in the inability for that sweat to evaporate and the whole system has a short circuit and I go into meltdown mode. I can handle the dessert but the tropical humid heat and I am like a fish out of water, or a cat in water might be a better image.

Anyway a nice sleep in then up to meet the tour for the day to go out and try to catch a Whale Shark, I mean look at a Whale Shark (apparently they are too big to get your arms around). I got measured up for some flippers and wetsuit and Dad sat in the corner being a good boy. There was a hold up as the Captain of the boat was assessing the weather (now I do not know about you but when a Captain of a ship or the Pilot of a plane is not too sure whether it is safe to go, I get a bit concerned). After an hour or so they gave the thumbs up and we were off in a bus to meet the Boat, just around the corner at the harbour. It was quite windy and the Coral Bay wind turbines that provide between 50 – 90% of Coral bays power needs were happily spinning away. There were a few cloudbursts in the distance. The boat was a nice single hull boat of about 60feet I guess (I am not very good at guessing boat size, but it was a big one). We cruised out into the sheltered waters of the Ningaloo reef with waves crashing into the outer reef and looking a bit menacing in the context of the Captain taking an hour to decide to go. Out of the little harbour it got very windy and the staff put up wind shelter to keep some of the draft out.

The spotter plane went overhead after we had been on the go for half an hour or so. The plan is that we go out and have a practice snorkel in the sheltered water so they can assess if everyone floats or not, then the spotter plane finds a Whale Shark and off we motor flat out to get to where it has been spotted. The Ningaloo reef creates sheltered water for most of the trip and they duck out into open water to get to the big fish when in the rough vicinity, so even if it is rough off shore most of the trip is sheltered. A good plan. The spotter plane is an essential part of the equation as the sharks are under water and you would never see them from the boat.

We stopped and went for a snorkel, I was dead keen to get in and was first onto the platform at the back and as soon as the word was given in I went. As keen as mustard, I have really enjoyed getting back in the water and was keen to have a look at this reef. We swam around fairly fast following the lead swimmer and practicing looking along the first metre or so of water. This is important as the Whale sharks are swimming along fairly shallow around here and will be in the first 1-3 metres of water, but when snorkelling the natural tendency is to look down, which is usually where the action is on a reef etc. If you are not looking up then the Whale Shark could swim straight past you and you would never see it.

We saw lots of coral in good condition on this part of the reef and the usual variety of interesting and colourful tropical fish, clams, and starfish but the highlight for me was seeing a turtle. This turtle was probably about 1 metre long and was swimming along just in front of me. He or She was quite happy until I swam over the top and this lead to a burst of swimming to get away, obviously was a bit nervous that I might be looking for Turtle soup. It was a great to see a turtle in the flesh like that, and as with a lot of marine animals he was a graceful beast to observe in his natural habitat. Penelope would have loved it.

Once the staff were satisfied that we could all float and move forwards we climbed back on the boat and started motoring North where the Whale Shark had been yesterday, but just as we were getting the briefing about Whale Sharks and swimming with them the boat did a 180 degree turn and started heading back. Great I thought the Whale Shark has been spotting South today, but sadly no the Spotter plane had returned home as the weather was too rough for them to fly through to spot. No Spotter Plane no Whale Shark, no point in continuing so the trip was cancelled. Disappointing.

Back on shore we decided to stay another day as the company offered a free second trip or a voucher redeemable in the next three years for a repeat trip. Dear reader, this place is way out of the way and in the middle of nowhere, which I repeat is a big place in Australia. My initial thoughts were this would be a great place to bring the family for a holiday, and I know Nicky and Mac want to do this some time, we could all come together and have a wonderful family holiday, of course I will be back within three years, but then I remembered just how useless I am at playing Lotto, and how expensive it is travelling this far with 5 kids in tow, and the reality of the unlikely return in the near future dawned on me and hence we decided, there is no time like now, so we will stay for another day and go out again tomorrow.

Carpe Diem!

We headed down to the Hotel, had a coffee and Skyped home. Justin saw we were on line and dialled in, so had a catch up with him and heard about the extreme weather at home. Skyped Nelson with some frustrating drop outs with the Internet at home still playing up, gave up on Skyping the tavern so just phoned. Had lunch at the Hotel, a bit of a disappointing Caesar Salad.

I rented a mask and Snorkel and went for a swim off the beach. The coral reef starts within a few metres of the beach and there are large fish swimming right up at the beach edge. So it was very interesting. The coral was a bit beat up I guess from people standing on it, so it is not quite as good as the reef we snorkelled at this morning. I got a bit cold with the wind after getting out, so spent the rest of the day mooching around not doing very much at all. Did some washing, drank more coffee, then beer and ate some food then bed. Dad and I had a game of table tennis, involved a lot of chasing after the ball. A simple life we lead.

26.5.10 Tom Price to Coral Bay 632km, total 9964km

Went for a run this morning, man am I getting fit on this trip! I went for my first run at the start of the trip and it was a 50 metre run, then take a photo, walk for another 50 metres then take another photo, then realise that I have been going for 15 minute so better turn back as don’t want to push it and get an injury. This morning I went hard out and ran for about 7 minutes before noticing that the cattle were looking at me, got nervous turned around and headed back. Total run time 10 – 15 minutes, it’s a long road to fitness, but here I come.

We packed up and hit the road deciding to skip breakfast in Tom Price and just head to the next town of Paraburdoo, just 80km down the road. It was cold, breath test positive cold. You will be thinking will he never be happy about the temperature, days of whinging on about the heat, now it’s too cold. It was a nice change and had the grip heaters on full. Heaps of Mine four wheel drives on the road all with just one person in them. It is a mystery what they are doing. Surly in an open cast mine there is one or two diggers and a whole lot of trucks taking the ore away and that is about it, but clearly no there is an army of other people running around in shiny four-wheel drives doing something else. The four Wheel drives all have a pole with a flag, and a light at the top of the pole. I guess this is so that they do not get squashed by the oversized trucks running around that would drive over the top of a shiny four wheel drive without even noticing. There was a monument at the exit to Tom Price that is a retired Lectra Haul dump truck. It was massive. To give some idea it weighs 98 tonne, and carries 155 tonne, has a 1600HP motor that weighs 5 tonne, carries 2877l of fuel and burns it pretty quickly I guess. I am glade I don’t have to full that one up. It has tyres that are 3 metres diameter. This machine on display worked at Tom Price mine between 1980 and 1992 and moved about 23 million tonnes of Ore in that time, before it blew a fuse and was retired.

Fuelled up in Paraburton and found that there was no roadhouse for breakfast. The Woman said we might be able to get into the mess hall that serves breakfast for single men. Not sure if this was down and out single men or mine workers. We went to the dairy instead but there was a power cut so it was shut. The bakery was open though so we got a coffee milk and a donut and sandwich. It was quite nice. Listened to a lot of twittering from the collection of young mothers who obviously meet for a morning get together after dropping of kids at school, it was like white noise, couldn’t hear a word as there were so many simultaneous words coming from the group.

Went to leave and Dad had lost his key again. Learning from previous experience I went straight to it on the grass where his hanky had been pulled out of his pocket for a blast and hooked the key out. I was getting my helmet on when there was a grunt and an almighty crunching noise. Looked up and Dads bike with him on it had fallen over. Both were on the ground. A man was on the spot immediately to help and we got it back onto two wheels with petrol pouring out of the overflow pipe. The mirror had popped off and the indicator housing was broken, a few scratches to bike and rider, but no major damage otherwise. These bikes fully fuelled and loaded with gear are probably about 350kg and once they start to go in the wrong direction they are very hard to stop, Dad was standing on uneven ground and was trying to get something from his pocket when it got away on him.

Rode off down a very interesting road. Another Terex dump truck monument as he went out of town then we were into a minor road headed for Nanutarra Roadhouse. Sparse bush and red earth with interesting hills and rock outcrops down this road that had hardly any traffic. We came across a lizard sunning himself in the middle of the road, a real beauty, about 1 metre or more, and the same colour as the red earth. He stood out like a sore thumb in the grey road especially as he had his head up high as we approached. His head dropped to the ground as he tried to blend in to his surrounding as we passed, this didn’t work as red on grey, that stands out. I turned around to get a photo, but he was gone and was invisible, red on red, now that’s hard to see.

Two Emu were roadside further on, but they took off as we pulled up. So I was right this is Road Runner territory and there he goes with his girlfriend, I started scanning the horizon for Coyote. Saw a couple of Roos and another Lizard roadside.

A Robinson Helicopter was doing some work, then further on a Cessna was doing low level circling, so lots of activity.

After about 270km we arrived at Nanutarra Roadhouse, about midday so fuelled up on 91 unleaded, not ideal for these bikes but they were out of super. Ongoing discussion with strangers about the bikes and our trip, and hearing about their previous bikes and wishes to get another one. Had some lunch. This was the most expensive hamburger I have ever had. $14.50 for a hamburger that was only slightly larger than a McDonalds Cheese burger. Some of these roadhouses are brutal with their pricing as they have a captive audience. When it is 2-300km to the next fuel you are foolish to ride past them and they know it.

Rode back on the North West Coastal highway, taking some photos of the Ashburton River, which is dry, surprise surprise. Ongoing interesting rock outcrops every now and then but mostly just flat terrain with light scrub. After about 100km stopped as there was an information booth in the middle of nowhere, and I was fascinated to see what it was information for? It had a lot of info about the North West Cape and things to see and do before you get to Exmouth as the turnoff was just up the road. We decided to make a cuppa and have a little break.

A couple of road trains pulled in for a break. I was fascinated to discover that Humans got out of the cabs and were talking to each other. I have been waving out to these road trains but I have not seen the driver’s wave back, there is just an ominous darkness about the cab that is way up in the heavens. I had wondered if these trucks were in fact driven by unwaving robots or something. I now realised that I had probably been too focused on the final trailers wobbles to be looking at whether the drivers were waving or not. I thought I had better go and meet these drivers, and taking the approach that others have taken successfully with me walked up and said “ I see you have got a truck there?” “What?” comes the reply. I thought - poor thing he is deaf, so raised my voice and repeated “ I SEE YOU HAVE GOT A TRUCK THERE, I USED TO DRIVE A TRUCK?” ‘P--- off” he replies. A bit cold I thought but persistence usually pays off in this situation, so “Yes I used to drive an International, with a 40 foot hay rake, man did it cut the corners, I bet you know about trailers cutting the corners with one of these Road trains?” “Are you deaf you Tosser, I said P--- off!” “Yes that truck was a really tricky thing to drive, not like these modern machines that must be easy. I used to have to hold the old truck in gear and if travelling for a long time we used to jam a tool box between the dash and the gear stick to hold her in gear”, “Do you know how hard it is to eat steak without any F%@king teeth? You two wheeled tosser, because you are about to find out”. He’s not that friendly I thought. “Yes of course I stopped driving the truck and went onto driving tractors, but I guess you have a tractor unit on your road train then don’t you”. “Hold still you little b%#$&rd, so I can give you what you deserve”. Now running at a steady jog, in a zig zagging course I was wondering if he would actually warm up at all.” I stopped driving tractors and went onto Combined harvesters, now there is a tricky machine to operate, have you ever driven a Combine?” “ Stop running you piece of road kill?” he is not catching me, perhaps he is warming up after all, “I then drove a silage stack tractor, now that was exciting, especially as it was on a night shift and the tractors lights were pretty much nonexistent, so the edge of the stack was hard to see and a five metre drop is enough to get anyone worried?” “If I hadn’t Puff, just had a, Puff, puff, truckies breakfast, Puff, you would be, Puff, dead meat by now, puff puff” then he collapsed. So I went and had a look in the cab to see what it looked like, just like a big car really.

Actually that last paragraph might not have been entirely true. The truckies were actually very friendly and we had a good chat. They were on a compulsory break that they have to take every 5 hours. They can drive for 17 hours per day but the breaks are rigidly adhered to as a GPS tracking device tells head office if they have taken the legal breaks or not. They had delivered cars to Port Hedland and were returning to Perth for another load. It takes 600l less fuel on the return trip due to the lesser load. A good couple of guys to talk to.

We headed into the final phase of our ride out onto the road across the scrubby range. This was progressively more sandy ground as we approached the sea. Hanging a left at the final T intersection on our westward journey we rode along to Coral bay. This was very sandy looking ground with only low grass on the vegetation front, but interestingly the termite mounts were all standing out giving a stone henge type appearance to the landscape. It was quite windy and gusty.

We arrived into Coral bay and found the Backpackers that we were booked into. We organised a tour tomorrow to look at and swim with the Whale Sharks, these man-eaters are up to 18metres long and hang around off the coast here so I said I would be keen to see them and even give them an arm wrestle to show them who’s boss. Should be interesting.

I went for a run. Yes that’s right the second one for the day, whoa am I turning into some sort of elite athlete or what. We headed down to the local hotel to get onto the Internet and ended up having a beer and dinner here as the first State of Origin Game was on and there was a great atmosphere. Seemed to be an even split between Queensland and NSW supporters. Our ears were ringing at the end of the night.

Tom Price to Coral Bay 632km

Hello readers. We have been in the wilderness, the internet wilderness that is and we are now partially in the civilisation. Partial as I have updated the blog with 6 days but no photos, as it wonn't let me put them on, shame as they are real beuties, you'll have to use your imaginations until I can update it. so grab a coffee or a cool drink sit back and read on, it been an interesting few days. More on today later, but we are on the west coast, woah had to turn left and head south, just about hit the ocean.

Sandfire Roadhouse to Tom Price 737km, total 9332km

Up at 5.30 and went for a jog/walk with the camera to photograph the sun rising over the vast flatness around Sandfire. A few kangaroos jumping around and one that a road train hit right outside the roadhouse, so reconfirms the idea of not trying to start riding too soon. It was lovely and cool with a breeze blowing and we showered and packed up, coffee and biscuits in the motel room then we were off for the first few kms before breakfast proper. About 140km down the road we stopped at Pardoo roadhouse for a breafast. The water was a bit off as the Coffee there tasted very odd, I had some thoughts of the Wolfe Creek movie which made me a little light headed at the thought of poisoned water in the outback. Somehow maintained my consciousness though and we mounted the steeds again and headed into Port Headland. Big areas of not very much around here, although it was quite pretty in the early morning sun which was behind us and making the red earth really bright and the deep blue sky and the yellows of the bush and grass, really made it look like a picture so we stopped a couple of times to take photos. Heaps of Road trains as we came closer to Port Headland as there is obviously a big mine here.

Got into Port Headland mid morning and that was 290km for the morning so we stopped for a look and a brew. Port headland is a pretty little town (Not). There is no prize for guessing why Port Headland is here as you come into the town. There is a real industrial feel to the place with heaps of mining cars and four wheel drives around, a huge salt pile by the salt flats and row of Ore trucks on the railway line making an extremely long train. Further into the port there is a large and dirty port and heaps of ships mored of the coast. I guess this is a mining service town and salt is a sideline, but I could be wrong as I did not do any reading about this. We stopped in the town center which was nice and clean.

Dad is in full tourist mode. As we were riding down the main street, which had a bit of activity going on, Dad rolled to a stop in the middle of the road and got his camera out and took a photo, in no rush at all. The guy in a four wheel drive behind him said something with real passion about tourists, that began with the letter F, but I am no good at lip reading so not sure what he said. The jesture was an internationally recognisable sign though. Dad didn’t seem to notice and in his own time after taking his photo continued on his way allowing the town to return to its usual activity.

The Café could not serve the food on plates the woman told me. Because they can not find anyone to clean the plates, hence it is all disposable around here. I felt like giving her a slap and telling her to snap out of it, but being a sensitive new age guy I just said “Oh, that’s a shame”. She did tell me how great it was through the Karajini National park and the drive to Tom Price, which is the second local who had recommended this route so we decided to veer inland and take this route.

We fuelled up as the distance between fuel is getting further and further, then took a left and headed south for a bit. Within a few kms (well 100 or so) the scenery changed significantly. We started into a fairly vegetation free red earth area then this evolved into red boulders and rock outcrops. Coming into the first set of hills the scrub was very sparse and the rocky red earth lifted to escarpments. I t really was very striking and the type of terrain we have not seen yet. This really felt like the outback dessert that you expect Road runner to come screaming around the corner “Beep, Beep” then “clunk” Coyote drops a boulder on the road, which misses the Runner but makes the road crack like ice. I am living a childhood cartoon in this environment. We took lots of photos.

We pulled into Munjini Roadhouse about 3 and fuelled up. I was a bit distracted and ended up spilling petrol all over my tank. There was a group of 52 people in Mitsubishi Pajiros travelling as a variety club, with a fire truck full of beer, two of the women asked me if I had a sore Bum riding the bike. Interesting question that everyone asks me. Does my bum look sore? I don’t think so. The reality is that no, in fact non of my body is sore other than my knees which have been a bit gammy since I was in my early twenties anyway from cycling too hard on too little training, and I need to stretch them periodically but otherwise no the bum is good, as is the rest of the body, I reassured the ladies and thanked them for there interest.

Had a couple of pies and a coffee, then decided to carry on to Tom Price. Rode passed the Karijini National park and this had lots of cracked rock escarpments and gorges, very picturesque. I saw some small mouse like creature that was hoping across the road like a kangaroo. It is hard to look at this country as a Kiwi and think of it as a National park because it is so different to what we accotiate with a National park, that is Mountains and lush bush, however without a doubt it is an unspoiled natural area (apart from the roadside burning that adds a chared look to the scene every now and again). We seemed to be climbing and climbing and it was cooling down, which was great. Could see the mining operations in the distance which seems to be an integral part of a national park in this part of the country.

The light became difficult as we rode west into the setting sun. Eventually rode into Tom Price another mining town, and tried to find accommodation, but the hotel and Motel was booked up so rode around to the camping ground to take the last beds they had which was a back packers bunk. Pizza in town then a lie down.

24.5.10 Willare Creek to Sandfire Roadhouse 511km, total 8595km

Up a bit late and had breakfast at the Roadhouse then loaded up and headed down the road to Broom. We swept into Broome at about 10am and the GPS once again got confused and we drove around in circles for a bit. I was running on vapour, with the bike being as empty as I have ever had it. It took 23.5 litres to fill which I guess means there was about 1.5 litres left, good to know for future reference on the Nulabor plain which is the middle of the middle of nowhere. Broome is a nice little tourist town. We tried to find and Internet café and eventually ended up at McDonalds as they were meant to have Internet. We needed to organise servicing for the bikes in Perth hence the need for Internet. Unfortunately the McDonald Internet was not working. I ended up turning on the data on my phone to get the info and phoned ahead to BMW on Perth but unfortunately they are fully booked up for servicing on Friday when we will be there. I got their recommendation for Albany Mechanics and that will have to do.

Broome is famous for its pearls and while looking for and Internet Café I called in to the information centre and noticed they had some nice Pearls for sale at a neighbouring jeweller, and was surprised at how cheap they were. I saw a group of very nice single pearl on a gold rope necklaces displayed on sand in a display cabinet, The price tags said $20 - $25 which I thought was very good as it was a very nice pearl. I thought Di would like those and asked to have a look at it. The shopkeeper opened the cabinet and lifted out the necklaces and up popped the other tags that had been buried in the sand. Very cunning. It was $25 for the Gold rope necklace of the one I liked the look of, but $1250 for the single pearl. “It is a south Australian pearl, and the rest of the Pearls we have are from fresh water farms in China” said the Shop Girl. “Mmmm very nice” I said, “I’ll have a wee think about it”.

I thought about it as I was walking out, and the thought was “No. Nice but not that nice” Maybe I’ll have to go for a swim and crack open a few oysters, Di likes hand made things anyway, not that factory made stuff.

We rode around the corner to the Beach at Cable bay and had a look. A very nice beach and it was pretty busy with people sunbathing, swimming and surfing. Very appealing and the thought of going for a swim crossed my mind but Dad was keen to keep gong so off we went. It took a while to get going as Dad lost his key. We turned the place upside down trying to find the key, eventually I went into the restaurant that we had been in front of and asked if a key had been handed in, and sure enough there it was. Must have fallen out of his pocket while we were looking at the beach.

Headed west and it was another 3 hours in the furnace. Beautiful clear skies with a hot sun. High humidity making it feel very hot. The tube of water coming from my camelback was turning to hot water in the time between drinks despite the fact that we were riding at about 120km/hr with a significant wind. Stopped after about 2 hours for a cuppa at a Rest area, in the middle of nowhere. Once again there were a couple of caravans there set up for an overnight stay. These places really are in the middle of nowhere, and it works out that the middle of nowhere is a really big place in Australia. There is plenty of life in this savannah land just not human life.

The GPS lady is having a really easy time, as driving out of Broome she said “Continue for five hundred, ninety, six kilo metres, Continue for five hundred, Ninety, six kilo metres” (I had Port Headland programmed in for the destination). I have the American lady telling me where to go as I got bored the other day and thought I would give Australian Karen a break as her voice must be sore, so I changed to a different voice. The GPS has several options for the accent and language that you have announcing instructions. I am always keen on variety so I went with the Cheeky option, she was great, very mysterious and sophisticated as she described in Chesky where I needed to go. I was enjoying her accent but as I do not speak Chesky, there was a problem, I did not understand a word she was saying other than “kilometres”. I changed to Australian Lisa, but she did not want to talk at all, “very moody!” I thought so changed to British and got a very severe woman who kept telling me that she was “recalculating”. After a while I felt like I was sitting in a British bank with a stern woman looking over her glasses at me telling me that of course you can not open a bank account with cash, or in a railway station getting a recorded message about departing trains, so I switched to the American accent. She has a very saucy accent that made me feel like she was undressing me with her eyes, made me a bit uncomfortable to be honest. She also talked very slowly and says everything twice. That’s enough I thought I want good old Australian Karen back for some Fare Dickum instructions on where to go, her voice should have recovered by now. But there was a problem; American woman wouldn’t let me change without restarting the GPS. Cripes once they get their hooks in they just won’t let go without some sort of remuneration, a tip or something, so I am stuck with American woman mispronouncing all of the Aussie names. I will restart the GPS to get Karen back soon, although I am concerned I will get a letter from a lawyer about it for not holding up my end of the bargain with the American woman. I hope Karen forgives me for trying out the others. She is definitely the best.

The roads were long, straight, flat and very dull. The land was pancake flat and featureless. It wouldn’t matter which side of the map you were looking at, the printed side or the plain back, as they would both be completely empty of any features, “a baron desolate wasteland Blackadder!” was all I could think.

The traffic is pretty thin now, maybe a vehicle every 15 – 30 minutes. Seems to be about one third caravans (Grey nomads), one third Road Trains (many carrying fuel (probably for the Grey Nomads), one third dusty four wheel drive utes with about 100l of spare fuel tied on the deck, and one third us.

Stopped at Sandfire roadhouse (ominous name) as it was getting dark and the Roos and Cattle were looking at the road longingly. I have noticed when we stop and I add up the mileage for the day that my ability to do simple sums is a bit slow. Perhaps my brain has boiled? 511km despite a late start and about three hours poking around in Broome. Not too bad.

23.5.10 Turkey Creek to Willare bridge roadhouse 703km, total 8084km

Went for a walk/run this morning at about 5.30 as the sun was coming up. A bit misty and very atmospheric, lots of mosquitoes. Came back, Showered and went for some breakfast at the roadhouse.

“G’day Boys, what do you want?” said the roadhouse man. “Good morning we are keen on some breakfast?” I reply. Dad says, “I just want a small breakfast”. Man looks blank, “Yup”. I am looking around for a menu, no can’t see one, “what do you do for Breakfast?”, uncomfortable pause, “Well we have the Small Breakfast, … Then there’s the Big Breakfast” another uncomfortable pause, “then of course there’s the Truckers breakfast”. “OK,… The Small breakfast sounds good, I’ll have one of those thanks”. “Do you want Baked beans or Spaghetti?” Ahh there’s a hint, “I’ll have baked beans please”, Dad pitches in, “ make it two of those, I’ll have beans as well, if I need to Fart I can always Stand up out of the saddle!” Roadhouse man chuckles. Rrriight, It’s going to be one of those days. The Roadhouse man started to move slowly and look around his counter, and was clearly looking for a piece of paper to write the order down. He got his paper then spent some more time organising a pencil, then looked at us Quizzically for a moment, then remembering what we had ordered from the menu he slowly wrote down the order. Even more slowly he delivered the chit to the Cook who was in the kitchen not doing anything. We were the only people in the place or even near to thinking about entering the place. He forgot to ask us where we would be sitting.

The small breakfast came after a significant wait. It was huge, four pieces of toast, two rashers of bacon, fried tomatoes, hash brown, large sausage and about a half can of baked beans. I am glade we did not order the Big Breakfast, we would have had to sit at separate tables for the plates to fit. I can not even imagine the dimensions of the Truckers breakfast, maybe it is delivered with a forklift to the truck waiting outside the kitchen?

Half way through my ascent of the small breakfast a couple of rashers of bacon descended from the heavens and splatted in the middle of my carefully dissected meal. Dad was clearly not able to eat this amount of food and was missing his dog, so was throwing the food at me instead. I guess I learned my table manners from mum. Eventually conquered the meal and staggered out into the car park holding my abdomen and groaning.

Loaded up the bikes then kicked the big twins into action and roared of into the distance like departing thunder, the man on the veranda stopped playing his banjo momentarily as the dust cloud from our spinning wheels drifted over him. Or was that pushed the start buttons and wized of into the distance smoothly, sounding like two sewing machines in the distance as no one noticed us leaving, you choose, this is your adventure as well. (The second one is closer to the truth).

The riding was interesting with the ongoing ancient feeling landscape and gently sweeping corners taking us the distance pretty quickly. Required some concentration, as there was the threat of livestock still. Pulled into Hall’s creek about 9am after a 160km start to the days riding. There was lots of Aborigine people of all ages lingering around the streets and sitting under the trees surrounded by rubbish, such as empty coke bottles, beer cans, chip wrappers etc. We pulled into the shell station to get some fuel, noticed groups of young people leaving the station including one young pregnant woman, all with soft drinks in hand, and chips.

I took my helmet off and started to get organised for fuelling up. An Aboriginal man who looked a bit unkempt, and was striking with his darkly stained teeth and blood shot eyes, came over and said “Nice big bike, very shinny”, “Yes. Thanks she’s a real beauty” I replied. “My name is John” He said, Nice friendly fellow I thought, “ Hi I am Garth” shaking his hand. Smiles both ways as two people from different walks of life connected. “You got a little two dollar coin?” he asked.

OK, here we go, a beggar, “one moment sir” I said as I reached into my bag and pulled out a little book. It is time to refer to the International edition of “How to deal with Beggars, and Down and Out Folks” I have the 4^th edition in my bag just for moments like this. I open up to the contents page, now lets see, yada yada yada, ah yes, chapter 23 - Outback Australia, lets see, section 5, subsection f, Petrol stations. That sounds like us, flick flick flick, I turn the pages to the correct section. Yes here we go, flick, this is it, paragraph 3, ‘When a down and out alcoholic, smoking Aborigine beggar says “nice shinny bike, you got a little two dollar coin” This book has everything, yes here it is: “Nah Mate”

“What about a smoke then? You got a smoke?” now this one I can deal with “Mate, if you are out of money and have no smokes maybe it is a good time for you to quit? Do you realise that smoking is a very expensive habit, and it takes 15 years off of the average smokers life? About 25% of smokers who die of Smoking related disease die in their middle age. It is bad not only for your wallet, cardiovascular and respiratory system but is bad for all of those around you also. It is also very hard to quit and in fact when going cold turkey the chance of quitting I very low. Smokers take an average of 14 attempts to finally be successful when going cold turkey? If you do want to quit the chance of success is increased 3 fold if you use nicotine replacement therapy and a quit coach”, Blank Stare ,“OK mate” and he walks off to ask another Aborigine family in a very shinny Holden V8 the same questions.

That’s what I should have said but instead I just said “No, I don’t Smoke”, he stared blankly at me then said “OK Mate” and walks off to ask another aborigine family in a shinny Holden V8 the same questions.

Halls Creek did not seem that appealing so after fuelling up we got out of there. After another 120km or so we came across a rest area by river with the expected Crocodile warning signs. We got the camp chairs and table out and I cranked up the cooker again for a coffee. I was a bit distressed when I saw a pool of petrol around the cooker again once it was up and running, I tightened up the cooker on the base and it seemed to subside. Had a nice break and as usual had several people come up and chat about the bikes and previous bikes that they have owned. It certainly is an Ice Breaker to travel on Motorbikes. Lots of Grey Nomads in this rest area, camping in the middle of nowhere. They seem to just sit around looking at each other and comparing caravans and probably telling stories of electrical faults that they have had to fix on their machines and stories of woo about breakdowns I guess, interspersed with reading books and old newspapers. I can’t imagine there is anything else to do out in these areas, if you go for a swim a Croc eats you, if you go for a walk nothing changes for hundreds of kms, and a snake bites you or more likely you die of dehydration. So what do these people do with their time? Probably plan which stop they will make next? Who knows?

Headed on for another couple of hundred kms to the next settlement at Fitzroy Crossing. Interesting Boab trees every now and again. Fuelled up again, had a coffee and Pie for lunch, a chat with a couple of people about the bikes and our trip, then on again. Long straight road, after long straight road, after long straight road. Hot, very hot.

The light was fading and the cattle were on the road, so we stopped at Willare Bridge Roadhouse, a character some old building with very nice wooden floors and simple rooms with shared bathrooms, plus a camp ground out the back. Showered, me in the Gents shower, Dad in the Ladies. He did not see the sign on the door and was a bit mortified when he emerged from the shower with Ladies present, he seemed a bit put out when I loudly accused him of being “a dirty old man” as we were standing outside the Ladies bathroom. Laundered and then had a beer and meal downstairs. Dad shouted the woman that he met in the Ladies shower to buy her silence, but this only ignited suspicion in those at the table and a barrage of guess work about what the silence was for, Dad shouted the whole table, as he felt compelled to pay some sort of penalty I guess even although no one other than him, me and the silenced woman knew what it was about.

Met and interesting couple Ray and Val, who own and operate graders on the back roads. They live in a caravan out where they are working which can be very remote hence they have about 3 weeks supplies with them. Learned a lot about grading and the outback. Unfortunately they tell me that the Aboriginal communities are all the same including those in the rural areas, with then tending to be filthy and surrounded with rubbish and broken down housing and cars. Sounds like the Aboriginal communities are really lacking any sort of self - regulation. Val told me all about an Aboriginal remedy that she uses for anti itch and an insect repelant, she even drinks the stuff and claims it helps keep the bugs at bay and helps with the itch and burn of some of the more noxious bitey beasts.

700km day, with lots of it on straight and boring roads, I think we could be in for lots of this in the next couple of thousand kms.

22.5.10 Victoria River to Turkey Creek 534km total 7381km

This is the first Saturday night I have ever spent in a Dry community, probably good considering yesterday I was concerned about the consistency of my beer intake in recent days.

Got up and went for a walk about 6am to try to get some photos of the sun rising on the surrounding red rock escarpments. It was a bit of a fizzer, and did not light up the surrounding hills like I had hoped. Good to be up and seeing a bit of early morning activity all the same, with a few Kangaroos hoping away through the scrub, bird active, and bubbles ominously coming up through the water in the river. The Victoria River is the longest river in the Northern Territory and interestingly drops only 500 feet in the last 300 miles, with the last one hundred miles being tidal (that is if the information in the road house bar is correct). Of course as with all bodies of water around here it is full of Crocs, who will climb over each other to get to you if you go within a stones throw of the water, and if you are in a low bridge then don’t look over the edge because they can jump out of the water getting ¾ of their body out of the water. All good scary stuff when you come from a country that the scariest thing in the waterway is an eel that might bit your toe if you are very lucky. Reasuringly, Crocs get most of their energy through some sort of photosynthesis apparently, and when they eat its just about always fish that they are interested in. Of course the bubbles coming up were probably from frogs or fish, not maneaters. Never the less I tempted fate like a man who knows no fear and leaned over the edge of the bridge rail for a few photos. It was about 20-30 metres up. This was a new bridge with the other one bellow it being I guess 5-10 metres high and clearly inadequate in the wet season as it looked in pretty good condition. It must really rain here in the Wet Season, there are heaps of floodways that we keep crossing and I get the impression that half of the northern territory is under water in the Wet.

We had some breakfast after another lesson on the virtues of the 1999-2000 Landrover Defender, which apparently is the one to have as the Germans made it, prior to Ford getting control of Landrover and putting electronics into it! Good info if you a re looking for an old Landrover defender. I’m not, I think, but maybe I should be? Anyway we headed off about 8.15 as the Roos had been very active this morning and we did not want one as fork decoration. The first hour or so was very picturesque as the road swept its way down the Victoria river. The Boab Trees started to become more frequent and they add a real character to the bush. They are a tree with a massive trunk with disproportionately small branches coming out the top of the thick trunk, most of them do not have leaves on them at the moment. The hills are all red rock and really stand out against the green and yellow bush vegetation mix. There was the odd area of piled up boulders of red rock. It really does look like an ancient landscape.

We stopped for the odd photo but mostly just rode down to the border of Northern Territory and Western Australia. I got a bit behind Dad at one point due to him passing a caravan just before a series of corners, so opened the taps momentarily to catch up and to make the most of the lawless Northern Territory, got up to a three figure speed that had a seven in it and may have been a tiny little bit over the 130 limit, with the bike just wanting to keep going despite the massive load of luggage on the back. I was concerned that I might get the wobbles so that was fast enough thank you. Apparently the speed limit was introduced recently as with the no speed limit there was a gumball rally race being held but a Ferrari crashed at about 260km/hr and killed 7 people (once again a fact relayed from casual conversation so may be utter BS). I would suspect this event, if true would have been the final straw in a series of crashes, as the roads are not really up to high speed, the 130km/hr is every bit fast enough considering the road quality.

We pulled into the Quarantine station at the Western Australian border. They wanted to look in our Bags so we shut down and unloaded a couple of bags for them. It was pretty hot at this stage and the two quarantine officers were perspiring heavily. We asked them how long it takes to acclimatise and they claimed some people never acclimatise then went on to discuss how they are looking forward to getting down south to Perth where it is less humid. Further confirmation that we are not the only ones finding it hot, the trucks are bursting into flames and the Quarantine officers are covered in sweat. After they were convinced that we were not smuggling fruit into WA we carried on into Kununarra.

Arrived in Kununarra and after fueling up went for a ride around town to find spot for a cuppa and a break. Dad pulled his bike to bits trying to work out what was causing a warning light but I couldn’t take any more and retreated to the air conditioned café for a coffee and carrot cake. Dad came in shortly after having discovered that the park light had a blown bulb. This was not immediately obvious because the bike computer puts a half charge through to the brake light when the park light blows, so it appeared that it was still going. Clever, they think of everything, next they will even put an indicator that this is what has happened rather than just a general warning light and no hint of what the problem is. I headed back to the garage and got a replacement bulb and once all reassembled we headed South aiming for Hall Creak. The heavens opened as we rode out of Kununarra, and we got soaked as we waited at a road works prior to riding over the Dam that has created lake Kununarra. A few minutes later we were in full sunshine again and rapidly drying out. It was quite a refreshing little shower really.

After about 1 hour I was feeling pretty sleepy and pulled into a rest area. There were a lot of people parked up in their Caravans and a few camping there also. We pulled up to one of the shaded concrete tables. There was a friendly couple there in their caravan. I described how I thought this was a good place to make a Coffee and test the burner out since replacing the O-ring, as there were not too many flammable things in the near vicinity. Concrete table, gravel all around and a big puddle next to us if it all went wrong, perfect. I described to the couple the Kakadu uncontrolled burn episode and they started to look quite nervous. He demonstrated all of his gas cookers and talked about how they were very safe and predictable. I said “Don’t worry this will probably be fine”, as I pumped the pressure into the MSR tank. I suggested to Dad that he might want to stand back and then threw a match at the cooker and jumped back, all standard MSR lighting techniques. The naked flame burst into action and burned vigorously. The guy said “Help, is it meant to be doing that!” and stood up from his chair. I said “Ooww yes, it doesn’t seem to have any petrol squirting out the side this time”, “Are your sure that’s alright?”, ”Uhmm, yes this is looking good” as I turn on the valve and the flame jumps higher, “help, are you sure its OK”, “Yes, its looking good” as I give the tank a few extra pumps of pressure to confirm my confidence. I have always found that looking confident, even when the proverbial is hitting the air reticulation device and you are thinking “Rude word! What is going on here?” helps others to relax in the knowledge that someone is in control.. Then ithe flame settled down into the usual MSR flame and I threw the Coffee machine on and had a boil up. Everyone relaxed.

They were an interesting couple to spend some time with and we discussed global warming, planetary cycles in climate, history and then got onto the war. She was originally from Germany and was reassured by Dad not to worry about the war, you are welcome in NZ and Australia. She seemed relieved (or was that irritated) and pointed out that she was nowhere near alive when the war happened, and that she had been living in Australia for 19 years, and had visited NZ many times. Changed my conversation repair gearbox into top gear. This does seem to be happening less frequently the more we are travelling and meeting all sorts on the road.

We talked about our plans to get to Hall Creek and they warned us that Hall Creak is pretty rough and we might want to stop at Turkey creek instead. We said our farewells and headed off fully caffeinated. The country became really interesting as we rode further along the Kimberly Ranges. Lots of red earth and red rock buttresses coming up through the bush. The road snaked its way through the terrain with big sweeping bends but nothing that required slowing down from the 110 limit. Really spectacular and once again looking like an ancient land.

We tested out the ABS a few times as there was a lot of stock on the road including horses. Over the course of the day we have seen kangaroos, dingoes, cattel and horses. We eventually arrived at Turkey Creek and it seemed a good place to stop. They had a motel so we grabbed a room and unloaded. Dad had a shower, I phoned home, and then talked to an elderly couple Bruce and Eileen, travelling from their home in Melbourne having just come around in the opposite direction to us, but on the same path. She gave me some maps and advice about where they have been. Went for a run (walk) as the sun was going down. Interesting that there is a closed community of Aborigines here and the signs make it clear that visitors are not welcome, also a lot of high fences. The signs say Road Closed, only locals past this point. Made me think of “little Britain” but this is real.

Had dinner in the roadhouse, which was very busy with the place full of people from this closed community coming for Pizza as this is a regular Saturday night routine apparently. As I mentioned before this is a dry community so no alcohol for sale. Water and Tea only. Met another NZ couple at dinner who have been meeting up at various spots with Bruce and Eileen.

21.5.10 Darwin to Victoria River 516km, Total 6847km

Dad looking happy after two weeks of waiting for the bank to get its act together and give him the card that he had organised months ago. The bank was a bit useless really and changed their story, ie. lied, about why the card was not available, but for commercial sensitivity I can not say which bank it was.

A near death experience this morning. It has been about 3 days since we last washed anything and it has been hot, …very hot. So there has been a lot of sweating, …a lot of sweating. I am using riding boots that come up to just below my knees, and have some riding socks which come up to my knees, which is safe and comfortable but hot, …very hot. For some reason that I now do not understand, my socks were drying out over my boots and I thought I wonder how they are going? and took a whiff of them. Well…. I tell you that just about induced a general anaesthetic, I coughed and spluttered, my eyes went crossed, and I collapsed in a near black out onto the nearby bed, my mouth was gaping open and I was gasping for air, like a groper on the deck of a fishing boat. Gradually my vision returned, first I could see everything in black and white and then the colours returned. It was a few minutes before I could sit up and wonder what had just happened to me. Talk about touching the void? stoking the lion?, jabbing the roo?, sniffing the bike sock has no comparison. I have been there and done that, I can now move on knowing that I have faced that demon and lived to tell the tale.

The day started a bit before this life threatening experience. I woke about 5.45 and thought, I am not going back to sleep, so got up, donned the running shoes and headed out for a run down the waterfront. It was dark and there were a lot of other people out walking, running and biking. It was a bit cooler than during the day but only marginally, my shirt rapidly became saturated with sweat. Very nice though with the sun slowly coming up over the water. There were a few Aborigines sleeping under the trees around the beach, which must mean that the Crocs stay in the water, so those shadows that I have been jumping over must just be shadows, and not sleeping Salties like I had assumed they were.

We packed up and headed into town to a café recommended in the Lonely Planet as the best breakfast Café and it had Internet so I could update the blog and check emails. It was raining again, this dry season is very wet, and humid. Very nice coffee at Roma, and good breakfast. Had two coffees, they were so good. Dad was elated to actually finally get the bankcard that he thought he had organised to pick up in Sydney. I got some money also from the machine. We cruised around to find a good photo of the town with the bikes in them just in case people think we have just been sitting in Sydney all this time.

Headed out of town stopping at an electrical shop to pick up an adapter then at the NT Motorcycles bike shop for one last dribble on their Ducati’s etc and to get some tyre repair equipment then we were off headed south again.

A steady ride to Katherine, a mere 260km or so. This closed the 800ish km loop of the Kakadu and Darwin excursion and will probably be the only road we backtrack on.

I was cruising along with my visor up, sunglasses on, screen down with the wind whistling through my helmet, (bugs and all) looking very Cliff Richards with a devil may care attitude,… no just a minute not Cliff Richards, Clint Eastwood that’s who I mean. Yeah “Go ahead punk make my day”, king of the road, cruising my territory, that’s me. (forget about the Harley that just passed me a few minutes ago, I let him pass). I came up to a passing lane, and pulled into he left lane to let a car pulling a trailer pass. It had a dirt motorbike on the trailer and as it went by I noticed a 10 – 20l fuel container had fallen off the back of the trailer and was being dragged along the road. As he went passed I was sprayed with petrol, all over my bike and in my face through the open visor,… Cough cough Splutter Splutter splutter,…. I slammed on the brakes fearing an ignition of the petrol as it was hitting the hot exhaust pipes. Thankfully no fire occurred. I tried flashing the car but to no avail, and I certainly was not going to try to catch up as the petrol was still spraying out the back. I put my visor down for a while. Perhaps the Cliff Richards look would be more sensible “We’re all going on a Summer holiday, we’re all….”. No just a minute, Valintino Rossi, visor down and racing through the bends, yes that s me, Valintino Rossi “I lova the corners anda I keepa my throttle open! And I lova my Momma!”

Stopped in Katherine for a fuel up and cuppa. It was pretty hot. Have I mentioned that before? Dad has worked out a technique of riding without his gloves and holding his left hand up in front of him above the fairing with his jacket sleeve loosened off and this allows the air to flow in one sleeve around his body and then out the other sleeve. Excellent cooling mechanism. Even with full airflow like this it is very hot in the riding gear, as the air feels like a fan-forced oven. Even the locals seem a bit hot, as the humidity is a bit unseasonal. Dad seems to like Katherine, as I think he must have meet some good people when having his ears looked at, and the moteliers were very personable when we were last here.

We went into Coffee Club, which was nicely air conditioned, and had a big and attractive menu. We decided to have a Frappe with Ice cream as it was hot, …very hot, and we thought that would be cold. The Frappe was delicious, lime and pineapple and cold, …very cold. I went from brain boil to brain freeze in about four mouthfuls. A nice place to sit and cool down. Had to have a coffee to balance this effect out. We watched a lot of locals wandering around, and once again I was struck by the number of down and out Aborigine people just hanging around and a lot of them apparently drunk at 3pm. Not a pretty sight and giving me a bit of insight as to why alcohol and pornography in public places is banned in this town. Another striking thing about Katherine is the loud music being broadcast onto the street from one of the pubs, which seems to fill the whole main street. A really pleasant little town otherwise though.

After our cool down and rev up, we mounted the iron horse again and rode of into the sunset (west). The terrain was unchanging again until we came to a couple of blips in the road. Quite hilarious really a slight rise in the road and it is marked with a road sign warning of a crest, as if it is not obvious by the fact that you can no longer see the road disappearing off into the horizon. However at the top of one of these crests was good view out over the distant horizon and it was clear that it is very flat for a very long way, with the odd rocky outcrop, and the same sparse bush out to the horizon.

One change is that the termites have become rural life stylers again. What do I mean? Well the termite mounds differ in make up. There are about 3000 types of termite in Australia apparently, although that is a very round number which makes the sceptic in me think that no one has actually counted them. Anyway they clearly have differing styles with their place of residence. Mostly up to the Kakadu area, the termites had mounds that were about the size of a road cone and pretty closely spaced in the open areas. Clearly these termites enjoy a small house and a bit of land around them and spend time outdoors. In the Kakadu area and up to Darwin the termite mounds become more sparsely dispersed but huge in size and reaching for the sky like mini skyscrapers. Skyscrapers, mostly phallic symbols build by type A personalities trying to be the tallest and biggest that there is, and clearly this culture exists in the termite world also. Well some of those termite mounds are clearly the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building, then the odd fine and beautiful Eiffel tower termite mound, but then we saw the Burge Dubai. Anyway clearly this breed of termite prefers to live in a larger high rise and are not so worried about getting into the country because they can see it from the top of their tower. How does this reflect on termite psychology? Do they all have short man big building syndrome? Maybe there’s a PhD in that one too?

We came across a burning truck. It was in flames in the middle of nowhere and had about half burned to bits. The driver and a Police car plus some others were just watching it burn. The cab and tractor unit was completely gone and the exhaust stacks had melted onto the road and the content of the trailer had spilled out onto the road and was burning, essentially it was gone, the road was melted from the heat. I knew it was hot and there you go, the trucks are even bursting into flames it is so hot.

Came into an interesting bit of country as we approached the Victoria river valley. Stopped at the Victoria Roadhouse as about 5.30, and had had enough. Fuelled up, checked into an air-conditioned motel. Had a chat to a Queenslander dessert enthusiast and his wife who are headed into the dessert for a month or two. They have a TD5 Landrover Defender and say for the dessert there is not other vehicle that is its equal as it is so simple and has no electronics to go wrong, which is apparently a problem with the dust. This was a heavily modified machine, with every accessory you could think off on it. A typical Landrover enthusiast who loves his wheels, and is no doubt completely blind to its faults. Nice wagon all the same.

Helicopters coming and going a bit. They run tourist runs from here. The chopper had developed a vibration that the pilot was not happy with and had done an emergency landing, which was preventing the Landrover couple from their flight. Checked the wheels were all still firmly attached while Dad showered, had a shower then went for a feed and refreshments. Crickie I am drinking beer regularly but the heat makes it hard not to. Met a pair of girls who are riding Kawasaki bikes around Oz in 51 days and raising money for rehabilitation of Motorcycle accident victims. Had a chat to the Pilot of the Helicopter, which is not likely to be operational until midmorning. Apparently it is tiger country where they fly so you need the machine to be reliable for tourist trips. I wonder if he really means Croc country. Disappointing as Dad was keen to go for a flight, as he has never been in a helicopter before, and the idea appealed. I am always keen to jump in an R44, and even have a shed at home that would fit one perfectly. Dreams are free.

20.5.10 Jabiru to Darwin

Now that was the worst night I have ever spent in a tent. I have spent a lot of nights tenting in my life in various environments but last night it was so hot and calm that it was like being in a sauna. Maybe an Alpine tent was the wrong choice for the Aussie conditions. I lay in the tent starkers and not moving but was sweating profusely, I was scared I might drown in the pool of sweat that was forming. All of the vents were open but this was not enough. About 2am I got up and took the tent fly off, to try to cool things down. Macpac would have you believe that this is an easy thing to do but in the middle of the night with a torch with failing batteries and a national park full of mosquitoes that have sensed an opportunity, and launched world war 3 on my naked body, I can assure you it is not. Eventually succeeded in getting the fly off and sure enough it was a fraction cooler. I could hear Dad Snoring so at least he was getting some sleep and I could hear one of the other men snoring and another tossing and turning like me, so 50% of the team at least were getting some sleep. The sweat continued to poor off me, but I was less concerned about drowning.

Eventually woke up at about 6 am with activity in the camp underway. Sounds like everyone else was equally uncomfortable so it is not just me. Pretty sleepy so I thought time to crank up the coffee machine. For the first time of the trip I got out my MSR cooker and pressurised it and lit the fire to preheat it, the fire jumped out onto the grass and started burning all around it. Ken who had asked how the cooker was going beat a rapid retreat, while I madly stomped around putting out the fire, saying “Oh no, this is quite routine Ken, yes it’s a great wee cooker, it’s the first time I’ve used it for ages”, got the fire under control and thought that was close, then Pooof another ring of fire, coming back to the bottle and all around the cooker, S%$t! Started madly stomping again and the fire was just getting worse, the valve mechanism was leaking flat out and squirting petrol onto the grass all around the cooker.

This was starting to remind me of Mick, an old cooker that I have not been brave enough to light for about 10 years now (throw it out? Diana! what an inconceivable suggestion, he is like one of the family!) Mick was named Mick after a Rodney Rude song called “Mick the Master Farter”, because he is so loud and offensive when in full flight, and well really sounds like he is farting! Mick once cleared a Chalet in Chamonix Mont Blanc because everyone thought he was going to explode. I laughed although also wondered if he might explode, so stood back a bit. My Grandfather, or was it brother David once threw a cooker similar to Mick into lake Rotoiti because it was out of control and threatening to blow up.

Anyway back to the current cooker induced crisis, I turned the valve off and continued madly stomping, and blowing at the flames to try and put them out It was starting to look like a not so controlled burn was about to happen the Kakadu! Cripes have I got public liability insurance? Stomp ,Stomp, Stomp. I’m really going to be in the Kakadu if I can’t get this under control! Stomp Stomp Stomp, Dad and Dick joined in the Stomping, we must have looked like a bunch of American Indians dancing around the fire, Stomp, stomp, stomp,….Stomp, Stomp, Stomp,….Stomp, stomp, stomp,….eventually to my relief the fire subsided and we all relaxed. Phew that was close. OK the MSR is a bit older than Hattie who was still looking pretty spritely but admittedly was about 150 in hat years, when I callously lost him. (Hopefully Hatty is riding high on someones elated head as I type this). Perhaps MSR needs to retire to the shelf of highly loved but potentially explosive devises in my shed, or maybe he just needs a service. Anyway back to my failed attempt to make coffee, I decided to let it go, Coffee is good, but its not that good, and emptied the coffee machine and despite feeling like I needed a wee lye down, packed up my kit.

Eventually bit fare well to Dick and Ken for the third time, as they headed off and in true Smith tradition we headed off about 10 minutes later. It was a quick fuel up then a run down to Darwin where my bike was booked in for a new set of tyres. Once again this was just down the road in Northern territory terms, about 200km. I think we are now truly desensitised to the distances, as this genuinely felt like a quick trip down to the garage, but back home this would be like going from Nelson to Springs junction, or Ward to visit the mechanic, inconceivable. By the time we got there it was about 11am as once again Karen, the GPS lady let us down and took us to some paddock about 30km away from the actual address. Garmin needs to get their act together with the Australian map that they charged me about $150 for, because this is the precise job that it is meant to do. Anyway I phoned in and got directions and used a bit of the old fashioned navigation technique of sailing along and keeping our eyes open until we found the right spot. The massive Yamaha sign was a bit of a give away.

I was very relieved to get into the air conditioned environment as the humidity was about 250% and the temperature was just tipping 78 Degrees Celcius, (I haven’t seen the news yet to confirm these figures, but I’m usually pretty good at guessing these things, so there it is). I was set up for about a two hour wait while the tyres were changed, so Dad took off into town to try and get his Bank Card sorted. This was a pretty good place to spend a couple of hours waiting as it was a big dealership for Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati, Triumph and Harley Davidson, with heaps of accessories, paraphernalia and parts, so lots of eye candy for a young biker like me. It was air-conditioned which was good as conditions outside were starting to rival those on Mars. I wandered to the servo next door for a late breakfast and being a bit distressed that my Cholesterol might have dipped into single figures I ordered a cooked breakfast (have I gone mad? (“Self realisation is coming slowly to this one Obe”,” Oh? Master you say “Try? Do or Do not there is no Try” he is clearing intending to put his cholesterol into orbit”)). Headed back for more dribbling on shiny bikes, and waiting at spaceship NT Motorcycles. Dad turned up looking pretty parched and frustrated as his card had not arrived, so we need to stay in Darwin tonight to pick this up in the morning.

My tyres were eventually done, paid the bill and headed down to the BMW dealership to see what parts they have as we have gotten a bit nervous about heading into the next stage without more tyre self rescue equipment. Who should we meet at the BMW shop but Dick and Ken. Are these guys following us? We all headed of after more of me dribbling on Shiney bikes in the showroom, to find a place to stay. Rode around town for a bit looking at the CBD and Esplanade. Called into numerous hotels to check availability, but the place is booked out. Dick and Ken decided to take a room at the Casino, and Dad and I decided to head back out of town. We said our fourth final farewell and headed off.

Cut in at Fannies Beach, looking for a place to stay and found a very cheap motel with a vacancy. The only condition I stated to the owners was it needs to have air conditioning, they said it even has running water and beds, Ahh heaven.

Called Di, as it is our anniversary, had a good catch up. I can’t believe how long ago we got married, but maybe the fact that I avoid mirrors helps with this.

Dad was a bit spent with all of the heat, and enjoying the air-conditioning so was not keen to come out, but I wandered down to the local Darwin Yacht club for a feed and a beer. Amazing location right on the beach with the sun setting. A couple of hundred people enjoying the now pleasant evening. An absolute paradox, the water looks so refreshing and inviting but the sign says do not go near the waters edge or into the water as there are Crocodiles. This must be a very frustrating aspect of living here. I had a salad with olive oil dressing, which probably saved my life given the cholesterol diet in recent times.

Good night.

Day Off? Katherine to Jabiru 452km Total 6017km

Planned day off today. Just got up and rode around the corner to Kakadu, about 300km then rode around a bit doing day off stuff. 452km. Australia.

Kakadu.

Strange name, sounds like something that happens after you go around a corner too fast on your motorbike. “Mate, I went into the corner at 110 and she just tightened up and tightened up, I leaned her over no worries mate, but then I hit some gravel and all hell broke loose, did I Kakadu, even kakadued twice which is a Kakadu Two! Fare Dickum Mate! …. Mate?”

But we are actually staying in Jabiru in the Kakadu.

Jabiru in the Kakadu.

Now that sounds a bit offensive. Who would dream of jabbing a roo in the Kakadu? Come on Australia. This morning we drove out of a town that a had a sign saying no alcohol or pornography allowed in a big sign in the approach road and then tonight I am staying in Jabiru in the Kakadu. Seriously?

But perhaps I am being ignorant, Jabiru in the Kakadu may be an anchient hunting technique? All young Aborigine men on turning 12 years old learn that the best way to catch a Roo is by going for the Kakadu using a sharp stick, hence Jabiru in the Kakadu?

No?

Perhaps it is when you make a mistake as a young Aboriginal hunter and go for a hunt but find that the Roo you have stalked has outsmarted you and lead you to the waters edge where the Crocs live and instead of the roo you have a Croc on the end of your stick at which point you Kakadu! So instead of practicing Jabiru you end up in the Kakadu.

Who knows, there could be a PhD in this., studiing the liguistics of Ed and Garths trip around Oz. If there is any budding young linguistics master out there wanting to do their PhD let me know, I could supervise. As you can see I have a natural talent, and insight.

Anyway, we did have a good day today. Up and away by about 7.15 and rode down to Pine Creek, to fill up and have some breakfast. Dick and Ken had headed off about 10 -15 minutes earlier and this gave us the advantage of seeing their bikes outside a café, which means they have done the research into the best spot for breakie and we can lazily go straight to it without too much thought at all. Great.

After breakfast we went into the Kakadu national park. A nice roller coaster ride of a road through the bush. The bush was dry scrub and as Dick says “Lots of not very much”. We got to the Jabiru Visitor centre and it was now very hot and bit uncomfortable at about 11.00. Had a bit of a look around and asked about tours, as I thought it might be nice to hear about some natural history or Aborigine Culture. We were told that this is all back at Cooinda. So we phoned ahead to book a boat trip, and headed back the mere 50 km to Cooinda to join in on a Boat trip in Yellow Water.

Yellow Water! After Jabiru in the Kakadu! What next?

We saw a few Crocs. One dominant male who rules the roost as Yellow Water, who is about 4 mitres, and quiet magnificent, provided you are in a boat. The boat had heaps of life jackets, but the guide pointed out that if we start to take on water we are in Croc infested waters, so help yourself to the life jackets, and exit anywhere that you see water, but good luck with that.

Lots of bird life: various stalks, Kites, and of course the Cockatoo, as the water is up in the billabong and it is mating season. Heaps of frogs, and insects; all very interesting. The Lilies were flowering and it was very picturesque, which took your mind off the fact that there were heaps of Crocs all around.

Came back to Nourlangie Rock to look at some Rock paintings. These paintings in the Kakadu have been dated at 20 000 years or more. The ones we looked at were repainted in the 1960s but apparently that has been tradition that they are repainted, so the original is thought to be very old indeed. Walked up to a look out, and got a good view of the Kakadu and neighbouring Arnhem land. There were several fires visible one right next to where we were which was a bit unnerving. Photographed two Skinks fighting each other, one skint had the others midriff in his mouth and there was fair bit of squealling going on. A territorial dispute no doubt or maybe a fight over a girl? Even when your whole world is a small rock the issues are the same.

It was sweltering hot and we headed into Jabiru to look for accommodation and more importantly a shower. Eventually settled on a tent site as the whole town is booked out other than a $300 dollar room at the Crocodile Hotel, No way am I paying $300 to sleep inside a Croc. Interesting building though, shaped as a croc, anthough you need to be in the air to fully appreciate this. Saw a NZ flag flying from a BMW GS and sure enough it was Dick and Kens Camp so we joined the little piece of NZ in the Northern Territory. Showered but might as well have not bothered because the sweat was pooring out of us immediately. Apparently it was 40 degrees in Darwin today, so who knows what it was here, I suspect more like 48, honest.

Beer, Dinner, Beer. First night under canvas, or at least Nylon.

Works out that Jabiru is a bird, and Kakadu, well I think it is just a place name. Perhaps its not worth a PhD.

18.5.10 Daly Waters to Katherine 302km, total 5565km

We are getting so arrogant about the distance. Decided that we only had about 500km to go to Jabiru hence there was no rush. Took our time after a sleep in and a leasurely breakfast at Daly Waters pub, eventually got under way about 9am, and roared into another stretch of fairly dull road. Rapidly covered the 180km to Mataranka where there is a hot spring thermal resort. Bizarre but I can not think of anything less appealing than a hot spring soak in this heat and humidity, I think it would push me over the edge, I would probably melt, perhaps have a seizure or more likely instantaneously self combust. No thanks, I am not prepaired ot take the risk, I will however continue to fuel my coffee addiction and so we stoped at a café for a Coffee and Scone. There were a group of Nomads that stopped at the café as well and there were a couple of Kiwis taking stick about their pronounciation of “Scone”. The kiwis were correctly pronouncing and enjoying their Scones, the Aussies were preferring their “Scowns”, a real you say Tomato I say Tomato, situation. We joined in and the Aussies were outnumbered, but bless them, they couldn’t see the error of there ways and continued eating their Scowns . A lot of banter was had over the morning Coffee and all in good humour. This was another group that clearly were headed in the same direction and having a lot of fun together.

We headed into Katherine, just down the road another 100km or so, and went to find a Doctor to have alook in Dads ear which was giving him some pain. He wasn’t making a fuss but was clearly bothered by his ear. I can not recall Dad ever complaining of pain or discomfort even when he has been in significant bother, with Hip operations, Injuries and Heart operations etc so he must have been in significant pain to be complaining. The local GP was not able to see him so we went to the Hospital and joined in the queue at the A&E. I stayed out and guarded the bikes and ended up stripping down to shorts and T Shirt, getting out the sun umbrella and deck chair and opening up the pannier to act as a desk surface to do some computer stuff. I felt very comfortable with my mobile office set up in the local hospital. I had no illusion that the Katherine A&E would be any different to any other A&E, and that I would be in for a wait. Had a few conversations with a few staff as they passed by. I tried unsuccessfully to book a tour in the Kakadu tomorrow, and found out that all of the accommodation was booked, there were camp sites available. Three hours later Dad emerged with a script in hand looking a fair bit relieved to have a diagnosis, He’s not just getting soft.

Packed up my camp and we rode into town to find a Pharmacy and to get to the bank. Dad took off and I was behind a couple of cars, then up ahead ws this mad man standing in the middle of the road doing star jumps, no wait a minute he’s waving, “am I being arrested for something? Maybe it is illegal to camp in the A&E carpark?” I started to pull over and then recognised Ken, who had seen Dad go through. Ken and Dick had arrived and booked into a motel in Katherine for email access for business. Had a brief chat then tried to catch up with Dad who had disappeared. Took a while to find Dad again, who eventually emerged from the Westpac bank. There are a lot of Aborigine people sitting around in various parts of the town, which is quiet conspicuios, very relaxed looking people. We decided that it was now after 3.30 and that we would be better to stop in Katherine and have an early start into the Kakadu in the morning.

Caught up with Dick and Ken at the Motel. It sounds like they have had a great time on the dirt roads and had a real feeling of elation at getting through a road that was closed. They have a similar perspective about her last couple of days of riding. Did some computer work then had dinner. Wore my jeans and jersey as all of my other clothes were in the wash. Took a slow moving approach to the evening to avoid over heating.