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The Outback Motorbike Trip Journal July 2nd 2001 - First day, first problem. Start off at dawn. Heading West. Pretty cold over the Blue Mountains via Bells Line Of Road. Stopped in Lithgow to thaw out in the sun. Just out of Lithgow Andys bike cut out and refused to run when in gear. Traced it to the side-stand cut-out switch which I'd disconnected before the trip, but it had vibrated into the 'stand-down' position and was cutting the ignition as soon as bike was put in gear. Trusty zipties fixed it. Got as far as Parkes, famous for the radio-telescope, and the film The Dish. July 3rd - The Dish Visited The Dish, has a really good visitor centre. Headed off for Forbes, and on to Hay, the trees now getting sparser. Topping up the tanks at a small town on the way, you had to tell the cashier how much you'd put in the tanks - an honesty system. Stopped at a motel in Hay and the inhouse movie was The Dish... July 4th - Frost, breakdown and rain Minus 2 and frost this morning, but the ever reliable sun is soon up and thawing everything out. Crossed the most barren land we've seen to far south west NSW (Balranald). We've seen huge wedge-tailed eagles and flocks of pink and white corella parrots along the way. And a lot of ex-roos. Turning North now and taking to the dirt at last..... Ten metres onto the dirt we stop for photos and Andy drops his bike ! Long red road, hard dirt with sand and gravel in places, takes a while to get used to the feeling of riding over the loose stuff. In the middle of absolutely nowhere, my bike cuts out. Seems like the spark plug cap had worked loose from the HT lead. Got it going in time to get to Mungo National park campground. In the night, it rained....and rained. July 5th - Racing emus All roads out of the park closed by the rain. We make a move at about 1pm and the track is pretty much dry. We have emus running alonside us at 50 kph. We see wedge talied eagles and corellas and lime green parrots and eastern rozellas. Through Menindee as the sun fell below huge rain clouds. Reach Broken Hill at dusk, very cold, having miraculously dodged most of the rain. July 6th - Flinders Ranges A wet morning meant a replan, avoiding the first bit of dirt road. Turned North and onto the dirt to Carrietown. Headed on to Hawker and then rode a dramatic approach to the Flinders Ranges, looking grey and mysterious in the distance. The area had the feel of Scotland, North of the highlands. Rode in and camped at Wilpena Pound. July 7th - What are you doing here ? Walked up 950 metres to the top of mount Olsen Bagge to peer into the crater-like formation of the pound. Time to use the 'A' word....Awesome. Took lots of photos and had a celebratory nip of bourbon. Bizarrely, at the campsite bump into friends of Bronwyns' from Melbourne. July 8th - Arkaroola Heading for Arkaroola. Arkaroo Rock with it's Dreamtime creation story painted on the walls from nearly 6,000 years ago. Stop to photograph the Cazneaux tree as a flight of hundreds of pink and grey galahs and yellow & white corellas wheel overhead. Ride along ridgetops into Arkaroola village. Monday 9th July - The view from above Ride some of the tracks around Arkaroola to beautiful waterholes in red gorges with silver gum trees. Went up in Doug's Cessna. I had the co-pilots seat and assured the passengers that I'd played flight simulator games and would save them if anything happened to Doug. Tuesday 10th July - A calculated risk I got up at dawn to go to a place where there are the very rare and handsome Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies, my efforts were rewarded by seeing a group of 4 moving easily over the sharply angled red cliff faces. We ride to Maree on the Oodnadatta Track to find that there is no fuel until 5.30 pm. Do the mileage sums and decide to head for William Creek anyway, 200 kms away. Wednesday 11th July - Lake Eyre Bizarre sight of Lake Eyre south full of water (it's a salt lake), looking like an ocean. Lose the light at Curdimurka railway siding, location of the famous Black Tie ball. Camp here under a clear sky, never seen the Milky Way so bright. Thursday 12th July - Going underground Get to William Creek with a top up from our jerrycans, proving about 500 kms range. This track is mostly gravel and we can keep up a good speed. Have a drink the William Creek hotel and meet a guy on another NX650 who had hit an emu, he didn't fall off, which was quite an achievement. Reach the Opal Mining town of Coober Pedy and take up residence in an underground hotel, carved into the solid rock. Many locals live underground here against the summer temperatures claimed to be up to 57 degrees. Thursday 12th July - Uluru Leave Coober Pedy through the strange landscape of conical piles of waste rock from the mines. Make a dash up the tarmac to Uluru just as it gets dark. Seeing the rock finally is a thrill. The Ayers Rock resort though is a disappointment. Jam packed and unpleasantly busy, we camp in the dark and get away before dawn. Friday 13th July - Worth every kilometre travelled Deeply moved by the tangible atmosphere at Uluru. Get to the rock to see dawn and it is a photogenic moment. Went to see Kata Tjuta and stayed at Kings Creek Resort. Saturday 14th July - Red sand white knuckles Walked Kings Canyon, it seems like the recent rain has made every tree and bush bloom, it's quite a sight. We head for the Alice and decide to risk a 100km dirt shortcut despite the warning signs of Sand Drifts & Corrugations. The heavily laden bikes weave easily in the vivid red sand but we survive intact and quite pleased with ourselves. Saw lots of wildlife along here, including rare pink and red Major Mitchells Cockatoos. Sunday 15th July - A town called Alice At Alice, spent the morning hosing the red dust off the bikes and doing maintenance. Wandered around town and really like the place. Monday 16th July - Reptilian delights Rain stops play. Good to have a rest anyway and we got to the reptile centre which was fantastic and very hands-on. I have a great picture of Andy as he loses his cool when 'Olive' the 3m python crawled over his shoulder and got eye-to-eye contact ! Get to hold a blue-tongue lizard, a sleepy lizard, the python, bearded dragon etc, heaps of fun. Thankfully the 'nasties' were behind glass. Tuesday 17th July - Troubled times in the Territory Saw prime minister John Howard arrive on the Ghan train in Alice to start the Alice to Darwin rail link. Met a Swiss couple on two DR350 Suzukis, beautifully prepared, but they said, underpowered. Rode North again through the roadblocks set up after the shooting. Just kept on going and got to Tennant Creek. Next stop, Queensland. Wednesday 18th July - Straight roads for ever Head east over the Barkly Tablelands. Ride along a 51km dead straight road, followed by a slight bend, and then a 110 km dead straight road. Camp at Barkly Roadhouse and hit the bar. Thursday 19th July - Back to twisties Continue East over immense flat landscape with low trees, lots of fire damage. Another police roadblock at Avon Downs. Head for Mount Isa and glad to go into red rocky hills, Arizona-like, and some twisty roads, hooray ! Stay at Mt. Isa, which has the biggest mine in Australia. Friday 20th July - Bundy Rum and camel wrestling Turn off the 'main' road towards Boulia on a 'one-track' bitumen. It's 'fun' turning onto the gravel at 120 kmh when road-trains approach from the other direction. Boulia is a tiny one-street town, but is full as it's the first day of the Camel Racing Festival ! Camp here and spend the evening watching the locals lasso and wrestle feral camels to the ground, there was also a challenge all-comers boxing tent, and a LOT of 10-gallon hats. They had both types of music too, Country AND Western. Despite being the only non-locals, we had a ball and drank a lot of Bundy rum. Saturday 21st July - The hangover from hell Woken at first light regretting the last couple of Bundys, by Country music blaring from Ute-radios. Joy. Pack up quicksmart and head for Winton. Saw 7 Brolgas (grey cranes) take flight from right next to the road, very elegant. Lots of roos and emus to avoid along this remote little road. At Winton I take a welcome swim in the pool while Andy has a nap. Sunday 22nd July - Banjo and Clancy Visit the Quantilda museum in Winton, Waltzing Matilda, Australias unofficial anthem, was written and first performed here by Banjo Patterson. Also Qantas started here. I have some wattle-seed damper and syrup, very nice but I have to say my sightly burnt camp-fire Lemon-Myrtle Damper is far superior. Turn towards Isisford to find more dirt roads. Camp by the creek in Isisford and retire to Clancys Overflow Hotel, stay until it finally emptied out at 8:30 pm... Monday 23rd July - Beyond the black stump Tracks are dusty and grey now for a change. Land is prairie-like, grass reaching beyond the horizon. Stop for lunch at Blackall, home of the Black Stump (Aussies will understand this). Head SE for Tambo under a perfect blue sky with clouds bubbling up on the Eastern horizon. There is such a profusion of wildlife here that this road is like a road-kill slalom, pigs, roos, emus. Stop at Charleville. Tuesday 24th July - The gathering storm Have a look around Charleville, the Vortex rainmaker guns, used at the turn of the century, remind me of the Cloudbusting video by Kate Bush. Head towards Roma right toward a gathering storm, a sign of things to come. Each small town has it's claim to fame and they are just begining to cater for travellers' interest in these things. Roma was the place where, drilling for bore water, what emerged from the ground was gas. Thus began the Australian oil and gas industry. Wednesday 25th July - The tempest It's been raining all night and it's not about to stop. I just put on all the gear I have and head south for St. George. The land really needs this rain - I keep telling myself - but being 80 percent water already, I don't. There's nothing for it but to grit my teeth and keep going. The dust which has accrued in my crash-helmet has now become a slimy mud and left a rather attractive line across my forehead. Despite my sodden appearance I continue to find nothing but welcoming people, even when I dripped water all over the motel reception in Narrabri. I'd done 620 kms in this, and it felt like it. Thursday 26th July - Alone and lost, victory snatched from the jaws of defeat ! Narrabri to Parramatta is less than 600 kms so I'm pretty sure I can make it. Unfortunately, the lack of a visible sun (this is my excuse) sees me head onto the wrong road. The road, in the pouring rain, gets smaller, and narrower, then it becomes gravel, then mud, then a muddy track across a field, then a river crossing, and another... Any attempts to stay dry were abandoned as I concentrated on keeping the bike upright, I was sure that I was about to have a cleansing mud-bath at any moment. The water along the track had brought all the birds and animals in and they seemed somewhat surprised to see me. Ken's GPS (satellite navigation device) was a lifesaver as I was able to navigate several unmarked junctions to get me out of there. It's 11:30am, pouring with rain, my boots are full of liquid mud. I set off for home, only 550 kms to go. I think it must be a 'guy thing'. :-) By 6pm I'm at home in the spa bath, sipping a beer, I've finally stopped shivering and am telling tall travellers tales to Bronwyn. Aint life grand ?

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You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name, it felt good to be out of the rain. In the desert you can't remember your name, 'cos there aint no-one for to give you no pain.

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