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.
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