Up at 6am to be ready for riding at 7am, but it was still dark and raining at 7 so ended up leaving at just before 8am. Rode off for our last stretch of Queensland riding through the outback savannah in rain, not what I was expecting for this part of the trip. It was not a problem though with it being pretty light and not too cold. Karen the GPS lady is resting her voice, the GPS said turn right at A2 then continue on this road for 623km. then she was quiet, I started to wonder later in the day if she had lost her voice as she usually chirps up every few minutes to tell you where to go.
Pick your speed and that is the distance you will cover on one hour in this part of the country. We were cruising at 110-115 and sure enough we were covering 115km per hour. Steady riding, cruise control would be great. Stoped at Camooweal for some fuel and breakfast. Slow learner, I ordered a bacon and eggs breakfast for both of us, “small or large?” I must have been hungry because I supersized it, and it was very large. Chatted to a couple of bikers coming from the other direction who had done the Ulysses club Long ride which is a fund raiser for Prostate Cancer, that went up to Darwin. They had come from Adelaide.
Noticed a distinct difference as we entered into the Northern Territory, firstly the obvious difference was the big speed signs 130km/hr. This was recently introduced, there used to be no limit. We did as told and increased our cruise speed up to 130 (or so) and the k’s started flying by. The other remarkable difference was that we entered onto a tableland area that was pancake flat and treeless. This was big sky country for sure. I stoped to take a photo and Dad continued. After a quick shot from the bike seat I speed off to catch up and found Dad slithering from the side of the road back onto the tarmac. He had not heard me call out and had gone out of range in a few minutes of speeding along and thought something had gone wrong so pulled over to turn around on what looked like solid ground but it works out that is was slippery mud. Came back onto the road with a very muddy bike. We pulled over on a stopping area a few k’s later to clean of the big lumps of mud. Back into it and this was real straight road country, we maintained a higher speed along here. The fuel gage was plummeting and at about 220km into this stretch I started to get concerned that there was no mention anywhere of a fuel stop prior to Three ways which was still another 250km or so. Thankfully Barkly Homestead came into view and we fuelled up. Not surprisingly this brief 269km stretch used 16.5l equivalent to 45miles per gallon, a bit less than the 55-60 that we have been getting. Perhaps fast cruising is not so clever. I recall seeing Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear race a long distance in a Mercedes McLaren and said that if he put his foot down in Germany that he could do more than 300km/hr but at this speed would run out of fuel in 19 minutes so it was not the fastest way to get there. Speed is not the main issue so much as making it to the next fuel depot. Barkly Homestead was not such a good place to discover the thirsty nature of these bikes at speed, as this was the most expensive fuel so far at $1.89/l. They have everyone over a barrel as you have to stop. Once again this is a real middle of nowhere place.
Meet another couple who had been at the Ulysses long run. These pair were on a purple Trike that was custom build from a VW back end. The wife was sporting a hair do that had purple stripes matching the colour of their trike perfectly. They were full of stories and advice about the road ahead. And other people that have ridden around the country. They were very enthusiastic about Daly Waters Pub, so must make the effort to call in. Also chatted to a Grey Nomad. This man and his wife have been living in their luxury caravan for three years now and cruising around the country. They travel about 3-400km per day and stop every 3-4 days for about 3-4 days. Apparently it is a very social life as lots of others are heading in the same direction and hence they tend to spend a lot of time together. His Ute burns through 23l/100km so it would not necessarily be a cheap lifestyle.
Headed off again at a slightly slower pace of 120-125km/hr and the road just kept going and going. This is massive country and absolutely empty of human activity as far as I can tell. Mostly scrub land, termite mounds and grasses. Other than the fuel stations we saw no evidence of farming or anything for about 600km. Ominously there were a few burned out cars just off the road in these stretches. This would not be a good place to have an accident. Pulled into Three Ways, the intersection of this road and the Stewart Highway. Fuelled up and decided to stop here as it was after 4 and it was a fair haul to the next place. Got a motel unit, pretty basic, and the opposite end of the spectrum to the accommodation last night. Still we are both pretty tired.
Went for very short run down the road, looked at the memorial to John Flynn who was the minister missionary who set up the flying doctor service. Interesting story he was clearly a visionary and highly motivated after noticing no doctor or nurse for the entire outback in 1918, this is over 70% of Australia. Anyway he set to and got the combination of Radio, Flight and Medicine going and the flying doctor service was set up. Couldn’t help but focus on the very large spider using the memorial for a website.
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