Welcome to Widenose Adventures

Max at Kokoda 2007

Hi

My name is Max, I'm from Wallerawang NSW and this site is about my Australian adventures.

Around Australia Pg2 has now been added.

The upcoming adventure is about my adult life long dream of riding around australia on motorcycle. The bike in question is a Kawasaki ZZR 600 E13. The ride will be a solo effort and will be my second attempt. The first attempt was ruined by cyclone activity in the northern territory around march / april 2011. The first attempt was recorded on DVD and received favorable comments from those lucky enough to be given a copy. Not bad for one person and a couple of camera's.

This trip will commence on the 25 August 2012. The first leg will be a short trip to Mudgee where I will meet up with my partner Cathy. She is my rock and has given me some blessing to do this trip. You dont get many chances of a second life and Cathy is the most amazing woman I have ever met. "One day we will share cashews".

The plan is to ride from Wallerawang north to Townsville. Then west to the Three Ways, north to Darwin. The bike will be serviced at Darwin then I head south to Katherine and west to Broome. Following a short stay in Broome I then head south to Perth where the bike will be serviced again. Cathy is also intending to meet up with me in Perth. From Perth I will head south to Bunbury then Esperance, Norseman, across the nullabor to Port Augusta, and if time permits maybe MotoGp at Phillip Island victoria to finish. I have to be back at work on 5th November, so my plan is flexible.

I intend to place photos and a commentary of each days events, and upon my return compile this adventure into a DVD.

My reasons for this site and producing a DVD is to allow people who can't travel, don't want to travel, are wanting to travel but are a bit apprehensive, an opportunity to see what Australia is about. I want to show people some aspects of Australia that a lot of people will never see. My DVD isn't professional but I never intended it to be, my amatuerish production seems to work with most.  

My favorite quote comes from a movie "The Shawshank Redemption", "get busy living or get busy dying" and I'm not ready to die, yet.

I am gathering and attending to the final details for this trip and look forward to updating this site.

As I get closer to the depature date I will update this site.

Martin "Max" Williams

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

8th august 2012

As the the depature day gets closer, the excitment is building. I am ticking off more details that need to be done before the trip. The only major job is an oil change for the bike. The power supply for the mp3/gps has been unreliable in the past and I hope the newest power supply lasts the distance, or 15000km is gunna be mighty quiet. Although I should be able to have some interesting conversations with myself, if the supply fails.

Emergencies are planned for with puncture kits, tools, first aid kit, emergency locator beacon, hand held cb radio, mobile ph "ha ha"  etc but a major breakdown will mean transport into the nearest town. Out on the northwest cape of australia, transport maybe scarce. But I will worry about that if it happens.

The pics above are from my 2011 trip, or "Widenose Adventures 1". They give you some idea of what I have seen in my travels and what is on the first DVD.

more updates next week

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

Max

15 August 2012

Less than 2 weeks to go and the bike is nearly prepared, only an oil change to go. I have been trying to keep an eye on the long range weather forecast, but I suppose theres not much I can do if it rains anyway. I have aggravated an old rugby league injury and am having some time off work to ensure that there are no ill effects for the trip. Not much fun on a bike with a knee injury. Sorry, bad english the bike dosn't have a "knee injury". Still as my trek leader from kokoda would say " suck on a can of harden the f#ck up" Thanks Simon. I have looked at my trip plan and am thinking a night or two along the way camping next to the road maybe an option.

21/08/2012

Only 4 more wake ups and the trip commences. The bike is prepared, and there is only the packing of the camping equipment to go. The 7 day weather forecast is for partly cloudy conditions, temperatures will be ok, but maybe some frosty cold mornings. Still the worst days riding is better than the best days work. There are some very special people "the dance/group at Bathurst", "Carol, Lin, Trish, Deb, Heather, Cassie, Aaron, Henry" and last but not least Tony V and the gang, I need to say "see you later" to, so this week will be hecktic. Moto Gp is not going to happen for me this year, the complexities of arranging for my family to meet me at the camp ground on an arranged date puts too much pressure on the timelines. Good luck to "Casey Stoner", and best wishes in your retirement. I guess he felt the time was right to retire and only Casey can make that call. I will catch up to some kokoda friends "Dan and Heather" if time permits on my way back up the Hume highway.

Updates again ASAP.

regards

Max Williams

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

25/08/2012

Well the trip has started. After a small send off from my friends at Bathurst and saying an emotional farewell to my kids Dean and Chloe, I pressed the starter on the bike and headed off down the road. Day one was planed to be a short distance of about 120km to satisfy myself that the packing of equipment and balance of the bike is suitable for a long ride. I stopped near the main entrance to Delta electricties Wallerawang power Station and recorded my first video clip. It took me 6 takes to record something I was satisfied with. The remainder of the days ride to Mudgee was without dramas, although the gusty breeze made for heightened awareness. I will need to review my camera location in my tank bag as attempting to take photos from a moving motoercycle is not without danger. I only have a few pics for today and tomorrows updates. I will spend day two with Cathy, so the only details for day two will be recorded on the "Widenose Adventures 2" dvd. I suppose a mention of practicing of a waltz dance step in "Arbuckles" cafe at dinner time, would have raised some eyebrows, however the only audience we had was the proprietor. "Lucky for Mudgee". A big thanks to Deb and Aaron for showing me the step.

more updates on day 3

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

Max

27/08/2012

Day 3 and what a brilliant start to the trip proper. I was sort of satisfied with the balance of the bike, but I changed it anyway. The balance is near perfect now, the back of the bike is not wallowing about, too much weight behind the rear wheel. A 9 am start, and the weather is perfect, bright blue sky and no wind. Most of my life is about food, and this trip will be no exception. A stop at the "Black Stump Servo" at Coolah for fuel and near perfect hamberger with the works ensured I would not die of hunger. I had planed for tonights stop over to be Uralla, but I went the short extra distance and arrived at Armidale about 3:30 in the afternoon. The camp ground was spacious and quiet at the time of arrival. Later in the early evening some travelers began to arrive and setup for their nights stay. I placed my gopro camera on the back of the bike with the timer set to take pictures every 30 seconds. This worked well until north of tamworth and condensation in the camera case made for blurry pics. I do have a couple of pics to upload, but there is nothing spectacular about them. You really need to do this trip on motorcycle to appreciate what bike riders experience. The smell of fresh milled pine logs, cow manure, dead animals and the RTA watering dirt roads to produce mud roads "wow" or "crap" is all that comes to mind. The view of the environment is special on a bike you get nearly uninterupted views. I nearly had a chicken hawk for a present when the bird swooped across the road and just missed my helmet. This is very similar to "Widenose Adventures 1", when I had a bird fly into me just outside Nevertire. My evening meal will be reheated leftovers from last night, Mmmm "mongolian lamb" geez I'm a good cookerer, or so Cathyand my kids tells me.

Its getting cold here now and my fingers are freezing, time for a shower and hit the bed. Tomorrow is planed to be at Warwick. But after today and the ease of the ride I may go a tad further. I have learnt much on camera placement and setup, so hopefully there will be some special pics for tomorrows update.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

28/08/2012

Day 4. what a cold night at Armidale. Zero degrees on the bike thermometer. At about 7 the day had warmed up to 1.7 degrees. So I had a shower and packed the camp gear on the bike. A start time of 8:45 saw me stopping at Glen Innes for food and fuel about 10am. The food was good, but not anything to rave about. Riding conditions were chilly, but reasonably bright skies. Traffic conditions were light so I decided to try to get to Toowoomba qld. I got there by just after 3pm, with the only drama being the worst cup of tea I think I have ever experienced. Frothed milk and then put 2 tea bags in the cup. A big minus for the United servo at north Warwick. I had another close shave wth a magpie who I think was chasing something accross the road, only just missed him or her. I also saw my first snake for the trip, or at least half a snake. Not much use stopping for a road kill meal if half was already taken by someone else. There are lots of dead roos along the road, shame but it happens, the carcasses are generally completely beaten up to be useful for cooking up, "gotta get em fresh". I suppose thats all for today, I have a few pics, but the real pics of the outback wont start till west of Mt Isa

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

31/08/2012

Day 7

Not really much to talk about. Over the last 2 days I had no internet service so no updates.

I have seen one live snake yesterday on my way to Hervey bay for lunch. We had pizza at "Viva Italia"" and the meal wasa cooked to perfection. Pizza is like a bacon sandwich and will need a special diet. My sister was saying they have already received a snake alert so I hope to see more along my ride. We were on our way back up the bruce highway when while stopped at some roadworks a small truck ran up the back of a caravan. I think the caravan was probably wrecked. Not a good part for the people who owned the caravans holiday. The bruce highway is undergoing extensive roadworks but to be honest its a boring section of road. So why am I doing this trip? I am not sure. I think that to appreciate the good, and love the "specials" you have to experience the bad. I think thats true in most aspects of life. But this trip is my dream and I want to show people some of what I have seen.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 8

1/09/2012

Well here am I safely in Mackay. The ride today was in really excellent conditions about 27 deg behind the fairing windscreen. I am eating lots of bacon and egg breakfasts and havn't come across a badly cooked one yet. The land is flattening out a little although the mountains just seem to leap up out of flat land in places. The country up here has a strange feel to it, almost like you can tell you are in the tropics. Finding suitable places to take pics is still an issue. The other road users get most upset bout stopping in the middle of the road. There are lots of bikes on the road on what they call the "Poker Run". When I find out what the poker run is I will blab. I should have asked Di and Neil. I met Di at the Rockhampton caravan park. I saw them on numerous occasions along the Bruce hwy later this day. They were riding a Triumph "nice bike". I also must give a big cheerio to the Staff of the "Criterion" hotel in Rockhampton. The pints of guiness were a welcome end to a bugger of a day.

thats all for todays update, tomorrow is on to Townsville.

regards to all

Max

Day 9

2/09/2012

Rode from Mackay to Townsville today. Temperature behind the screen was 30 degrees and wind blew all the way, some very strong gusts at times. This can sometimes make for a nervy ride. The country side is very much into the tropics now, reminds me a bit like New Guinea. I met a fellow at Mackay. He was from PNG, works in the mines. He was going to look at a rental property for accomodation. A villa for $525 per week, "supply and demand" but it sounds expensive. There were a lot of cops out on the roads today, the most I have seen in one day. I suppose fathers day brings out the hoons, and the cops book em accordingly. I will adjust the chain loose play tomorrow and go over the bike maintenance. I feel that the way westward from here is into the more remote parts of north queensland and I feel a little more anxious about the bikes reliability. I need to eat better meals, the lack of vegetables in my diet could well lead to "scurvy" wouldn't that be a first, a wombat with mange and scurvy. Saw another huge dead snake and a small dead black pig. Hmmm sounds like a cartoon from many years ago Captain Pugwash's boat was the "Black Pig".

I will stay 2 nights in Townsville, this town has a lot of character.

A big happy fathers day to all the fathers in Australia especially Reg Wiliams in Lithgow and Peter Kemp in the Taree area. A big hello to Carol, Lin, Trish, Heather, Tony and the biggest hello of all to Cathy take care and I will c u all again real soon.

regards to all

Max

Day 10

3rd september 2012

Townsville. What a city. Central to townsville is "Castle Hill" and this hill dominates the city. Every city should have a hill like this one built there. The view from the top is just the best. You can see for miles or in the new system kilometres. As you have guessed I jogged to the top a snapped a few pics! Well I was going to jog to the top but I didn't want to show up the younger runners. It was very warm on the hill but the breeze made life bearable. I also washed the bike and adjusted the drive chain slack. The bike will be due for an oil service in Darwin, but at this stage everything with the bike is going well. I had a counter lunch at the ""Newmarket" hotel. The friendly staff looked after me well and the food was excellent. First veges for a few days, and the wind on the hill wasn't the only wind in townsville today. Met a fellow called Roy from perth. He is riding around australia in the other direction, and I dont mean in reverse gear. It was good to swap yarns with him. His noble steed is a honda Valkyrie. 1500cc six cylinder cruiser with a trailer. He says it's a very comfortable bike for long distance touring, and is very reliable. His bike has a fuel range of around 200km, he says I should be ok for fuel stops but he also carries extra fuel in the trailer. Maybe something to think about! Tomorrow I head west toward Hughenden, so perhaps an early start is called for. Sad to say goodbye to Townsville, it really is a special city for me. A big hello to Judy Gordon and Sean Browning.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 11

4th september 2012

Not much to report on for today. Turning west at townsville and heading off towards Charters Towers gives one the sense of heading into the outback. I started to encounter 50m long road trains going in both directions. The bike setup seems to be handling the turbulent wind currents coming off the road trains better than from the setup I had for "Widenose Adventures No1" and I have a lot more confidence to overtake them. I arrived at Hughenden about 1:30 so decided to push through to Richmond. On arrival at richmond I had a slack attack and decided to take a budget room for the night. This means no seting up camp and having to repack the whole thing next morning. An early start meant I would make Mt Isa easily in one day before the heat of the day. A proper sit down meal in the Mud Wall Pub meant no takeaway cholesterol tonight. Nice comfy room for the night, I even went for a dip in the pool, and because I have lost a little weight the "save the whale" mob didn't even try to push me back in the water when I was getting out of the pool.

Whilst walking around richmond "dodging the traffic" I bumped into two people from Kununnurra NT. They had traveled to Rockhampton for a birthday party, wow keen! The bike they were riding a "Triumph 1000", and was having an overfueling problem. Karen and Henry were staying at the "Palace hotel" in richmond, we had a beer together and discussed the various aspects of motorcycle touring. It's great to see how other people cover the huge distances involved.

comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 12

5th september 2012

Now it feels like your traveling in the outback. Nothing but wide expanses of grazing land. Good for cows and snakes. I was surprised at the amount of wild cats spotted and how they are getting to have no fear of humans. I also spotted my first emu for the trip, although I still have not seen a single live kangaroo. An early start on the road 7:20 meant travelling in the relative cool of the morning. Undulating roads from flood damage means for exciting riding, especially when you get a good kick in the "u know whats" when the bike is lifting up and you are traveling down after hitting another of the notorious bumps. All in all areally good days riding. A really good breakfast at Julia Creek BP servo meant no reasons to stop until Cloncurry. Cloncurry's holds the australian record for the highest temperature of 53.1 deg C on the 16th january 1889. When you look at the surrounding country side you can see it gets very hot in this region of australia. I stoped there and had a quick lunch as to ensure an arrival at Mt Isa before the really hot part of the day. Hoo ray for me, I made Mt Isa by a quarter to 2 or in the old way 1:45. I am hoping for another early start tomorrow as to ride through to the "three ways". Probably just on 500km. The last part of the ride from outside Cloncurry to Mt isa is some of the best scenic days I have ridden. The country is indescribable, and the pics I took dont do justice to what I have seen. I guess if you are able, try to have a look for yourselves, "magical". Since I have eaten well in the past two days I might just have junk food tonight!, its not much fun having cholesterol if it's not upthere where it belongs "sorry Cathy you can diet me later". I suppose when the nurse is away the wombats will play.

comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 13

6/09/2012

What can i say about today's ride. I can some it up in three words hot,hot and hot. I decided i would ride to the three ways caravan park today. thats a distance of about 630km. Good idea or so I thought. The ride started off about 7:10 and do you think I could find an open servo on my side of the road, no way. So I turned around and headed back into Mt Isa to fuel up. The country side heading west from Mt Isa is similar to cloncurry so I set the gopro camera up to take pics. Then the day started to heat up and the roads become straighter. On leaving Camooweal with advice from the lady at the servo suggesting to bypass caravan park accomodation at the Barkly Homestead, I again encountered road works. The detour tracks around the roadworks are fine for cars and trucks, but lead to some exciting riding for those of us on motorcycle. Because the temperature was rising and low speed through the road works, the poor bike was starting to get hot. The road works lasted for about 40km but not in one section. I suppose the best thing about NT speeds is you can legally do 130kph. I know you used to have unlimited speed, but 130 is agood touring speed. I did see one great big "mutha" of a dead roo and can't help wondering what happened to the vehicle that hit it. I had planned to camp at the Three Ways but decided to head south the 25 km and camp at Tennant Ck. The town has more amenities and places to eat. All up I travelled about 660km and in the days heat, max about 36 deg behind the screen 660km is more than enough. Even with the hydration pack I am struggling to drink enough water and try to keep cool. I wont do a 600 plus day again, there are more frequent towns now I am on the stuart highway.

I am not sure where I will end up tomorrow, I think I will wing it.

comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 14

7th  september 2012

Sorry about the delay in updates but Daly Waters has no optus and only very sporadic telstra service's so no way to update site.

Had a relaxing night in Tennant ck and todays ride was to Daly Waters, where I had planned to stay for 2 nights. The ride was uneventful and I was at Daly Waters by 1pm local time. I departed Tennant ck early and the ride in the cool of the morning is the only way to go. Lucky for me, I got the only camp site left at Daly Waters with shade and grass, well it sort of looked like grass. I bent nearly every tent peg I had, the first inch of soil is not to bad, nice and soft but after that it's more like cement. Anyway the camp costs there are sensible only $12.50 per night for a small tent, one person and power. Add to that a $27 meal of barra and beef, "and salad but dont tell anyone" and it makes for a reasonable expense. "Did I tell you why there are so many dead rabbits on the roads. Well rabbits eat salad and can't get enough energy from salad to safely run across the roads, humans on the other hand eat lots of junk food and obviously get a lot more energy from the food we eat, not many dead humans on the roads". And then I met some people, and because it was hot decided to have a few drinks, which led to some more drinks. Gee did they get drunk, I on the other hand I was my normal respectable, sober self and as always behaved myself impecably. "isn't that correct Cathy"? We spent most of the afternoon in the pool, a touch of paradise in the wilderness. Daly Waters pub has to be experienced, you cannot capture the atmosphere in words, pictures or related experiences, this has to be one of the best pubs anywhere.

A big hello to Trudy and Paul from Melbourne, Tanya and Mick from Mackay and Maxine and ron from Bundaberg. Thanks for a great afternoon/evening

I then decided that I would stay for the second night.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 15

8/september 2012

After a bit of a sleep in I decided to do a sort of bushwalk, by walking the heritage trail and tour the Daly Waters aerodrome. I set of about 9am as it was cool and I wanted to be finished by about 1pm. The walk was easy as the ground is mostly flat. The daly waters creek has basically no water in it although there are some pools af water. I don't know how long it's been since they have had rain, and the recollections of the locals vary wildly, but looks like they need some rain soon. The airstrip is signposted as being an active strip, but the documentation says it was delisted about 1962? In one of the sheds there was an empty 205 litre drum of jet fuel. So it may have been used lately. I suppose helicopters use jet fuel too so a helicopter may have used the strip as the taxiway to the runway did not appear to have new tyre tracks through the loose gravel.

I looked at the  "stuart tree" for some time and I think I can make out where the "S" was supposed to be carved into the tree, but I my have been suffering from the last nights effects. The huge variety of bird life astounds me. Early morning like the time I did the walk and finch's were there in huge numbers, and all trying to chirp at the same time. Australia has the prettiest birds in the world.

After the walk, into the shower to wash the dust off and then into the pool to cool off before happy hour. But I was a good boy today and only had three beers and two of them were during dinner. The barra abd beef meals is cooked to perfection, I highly recommend this meal. "although masterchef may not agree, the salad has probably been cooked too long"

Unfortunatly I knew I was going to have to move on from Daly Waters, but if anytime in the future I am fortunate to be in the area I would not hesitate to revisit this paradise.

Anyone who dosn't like Daly Waters is "bloody hard to please". please excuse my misuse of the english language.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 16

9th september 2012

I had to leave daly waters and continue the trip. I decided to ride to Katherine, and was not sure if to stay at katherine or katherine gorge. I rode the extra 30km to the gorge but with no phone service decided to stay at katherine and ride back to the gorge to go canoeing. The ride was started early again and I was going to stop for fuel at Larrimah. on arrival at larrimah I found that the servo had burnt down some yaers ago. The roof was all caved in and from memory I think that they used to have a small crocodile in an aquarium on display there back in about 2005.

Just outside larrimah I had my first run in with a live kangaroo!. I was approaching some road kill being devoured by about a dozen birds, like crows. I was furiously sounding the horn to scare them off the carcass and must have frightened a small kangaroo who decided to run across the road, fortunatly form he crossed the road behind me. Things like that bring you back to reality, as I didn't see the kangaroo until it would have been to late, I was lucky and thats all it was.

I am now giving a three day update and while I have travelled about 1100 km there has not been much of huge interest. But to me the trip and the country I am traveling through is not boring, this is australia.

Tomorrow I will travel to katherine gorge and go for a canoe trip. I have never been to the gorge so I am hoping it will be spectacular and provide some good contrasting aspects of the trip for a more interesting update tomorrow night. 

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 17

10 september 2012.

I had a good lie in this morning, and awoke to find smoke everywhere. they have been burning off somewhere,and the town was enveloped in smoke, but I still rode the 30 km out to Katherine Gorge the skies were clear there. I walked to the top of one of the lookouts and the sight there was well worth the effort. I took a few happy snaps and drank nearly half the water I was carrying. Very humid. There was not much wildlife around except for heaps of small birds. I then returned to the canoe hire shed and hired a canoe for a half day. This would allow me to paddle to the end of gorge 1 and return before the time was up. I didnt take a watch so I had to tell the time by the sun. It's very easy. If you look up and the sky is blue then it's day time. if you look up and the sky is black then it's night time. I spoke to a couple who had hired an overnighter trip in a canoe. If I had known about the availability of this overnighter then I probably would have done this adventure, that would have been a pearler of a night. I paddled to the end of gorge 1 and didn't spot any crocs, but there were signs saying where they were nesting and warning people not to disturb the ground. On the way back to the landing there was a croc trap set. Some of the signs in the park warn about salt water crocs sometimes in the gorge, this trap may have been for "just in case" I think the crocs that inhabit the gorge are a freshwater specis called "Johnstons" crocodile.

All in all it was a very good outing to the gorge well worth the travel out to the park.

If you are wondering why I dont have all the proper names and terms for where I have been then my response would be I never set out to document another travel australia" book. There are too many around and then you have to have all your details exactly correct, or someone will nit pick your blog to pieces. I am not a walking encyclopedia, I like riding a motorcycle and I love australia.

Onwards to Darwin tomorrow, the bike is booked in for an oil change. My anxiety levels are rising as the toughest part of the trip happens when I return to katherine and turn west, long distances between civilization. At least there are no cyclones this time to stop my progress.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 18

11 september 2012

Well one third of my trip is nearly complete. Todays ride and another hot day was from katherine to darwin. The ride was uneventful except forthe blustery wind, that couldn't seem to make up its mind which direction to blow from. A cool start to the day after filling with fuel and checking tyre pressure, was quickly swamped with hot temperatures. The air temp behind the screen of the bike was reading 36 deg. But with only 320 km for today the heat could be tolerated. The angled tyre valve adaptor that I managed to get from Lithgow Bike Stop proved invaluable. Many tyre inflator hose units won't allow access onto motorcycle valve stems so the 90 degree adaptor means for easy checking of tyre pressures. On arrival at the Shady Glen Tourist park in darwin I was told that the park does not cater for tents/camping anymore. Thanks guys, this issue combined with the days heat made for one cranky wombat. But with every downer theres a silver lining. I rode to the Hidden Valley caravan park. No dramas here and there is even a competitive priced resaurant where roast lamb for dinner was warranted. A dip in the swimming pool cooled me off and talking with the caretaker and his wife "Gary and Kim Williamson" I discovered he used to work at Kandos NSW and was good mates with Ken Best. It really is a small world sometimes. Ken lent Cathy his canoe to take me on an outing to Dunns swamp NSW some time ago.

I also met a fellow from coffs harbour who was riding to phillip island via darwin, he was taking a short cut "as you do" good luck to Tony Fox in your ride to the island.

The next few days will be spent having the bike serviced and preparing for the secont third of my trip. I have visited darwin before so I know some of the sights. I hope I get a chance to see what has changed since my last visit to darwin.

Some of the things I have noticed along the way are, kenworths are the best for low wind blasts from truck combinations, Most establishments cant make a decent cuppa, Emerald Springs have had the tastiest bacon so far, Too many people are in a hurry and miss their lives going by, The eagles are a good band to listen to when riding. If you see a tour bus at the servo, dont stop you are better off running out of fuel, inside will be 50 people all wanting a white tea, not to much milk, two sugars, flat spoons not heaped, and how much was the piece of cake in the middle again, and wanting to pay with 5 cent coins. 

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 19

12 september 2012

Did heaps today for not much of a result. I woke up to find a colony of ants that I thought I dealt with yesterday had resurected themselves and attacked my food stocks in my saddle bags. They ruined my scotch finger biscuits, what was i gunna have for breakfast?, ok bacon and eggs on toast again, ahh the rigors of life on the road. I then knew that clothes washing needed to be done. Due to the high heat up here most of the clothes were on the nose, so to speak, and with my nose thats means for serious trouble. After washing my clothes and then myself, I got very dizzy in the washing machine, I rode into darwin and washed the bike so that the motorcycle dealership would have a better time of the oil change, those damn ants had nested in the bike somewhere too. The wash got rid of half a million of them. I visited the aviation museum again. I always call in here, the museum s just next door to darwin airport and the amount of fighter jets here is pure joy for me. I think the americans must be here on some joint exercise as there were some jets in the air that were not FA18's. Tomorrow I take the bike to "Holeshot Kawasaki" in Winnellie for an oil change. I have faith that they will do a good job or else I will send some of the "brudders" around to sort themout.

Talking to the caretaker here, and he said that after the local elections the governing politicians relaxed the alcohol laws in the NT. The local population are now complaining of drunken anti social behaviour creeping back into darwin city. When are the pollies going to cease being like engineers and stop fixing things that arn't broken. 

A vehicle was broken into last night here in the caravan park. Thet are not sure if anything was taken, the locals only go for cash or alcohol, the van park backs onto emergency housing and it is assumed they probably did the breakin. I will have to keep my tent locked.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 20

13th september 2012 

Well the bike has had the oil changed and as expected I had a new rear tyre fitted. The heat and the road condition meant change the tyre at darwin now, not at perth as I had hoped. The guy's at Holeshot Kawasaki Darwin "thanks Nathan" did an excellent job and I can now confidently continue with my trip. I will have the front tyre changed in perth. I spent most of my waiting time watching aircraft land at darwin airport, they come right overhead on short finals onto the second runway.

As the day was heating up I made my way back to the caravan park to start putting bags back on the bike. My friendy tribe of ants are still nesting somewhere on the bike, but I have no food left for them to attack, they will probably get off back in katherine. It seems like everything stops in darwin for the Mindil markets, and the restarant in the park is closed all day as well. So of to the pub for lunch. I highly recommend the "Pit Stop" in hidden valley road for a great meal and the guiness wasn't bad either. I am getting quite a liking for the guiness, look out Tullamore irish festival 2013.

Tomorrow I make myway to Jabiru or into kakado national park. I am hearing some mixed reveiws for kakado but I figure I have to find out for myself. I am not too hard to please, especially if the food is good. I hope to see some smiling logs in the wild.

A big hello to Steve Higgins and Ian Dorling.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 21

14th september 2012

Well well well, the story of three holes in the ground. What a day for a ride. I finally dealt with those pesky ant's, well the ones in the tent, the ones who are camped in my rear wheel will still have their eyeball rolling around their heads. I said my goodbyes to darwin and rode into kakado park with the intentions of staying at Cahill crossing. Once I turned off the stuart highway the scenery started to change. Riding into the wetlands an abundance of wildlife was to be seen everywhere. I stopped for breakfast at Corrobore Park and took the chance to refuel the bike. On crossing the east alligator river, boy was I impressed. This river must be alive with crocs, fast flowing and murkey. By the time I got to cahill crossing I was hoping to see some crocs in the wild not the pet ones in the croc show parks. I was talking to some fishing buddies who suggested that the best time to see the crocs there would be at the next high tide. Unfortunatly that would have been at 11pm and with no moon to speak of not much action would be observed. Aparently when the tide comes in the crocs wait near cahill crossing for the fish to swim upstream and then they gorge them selves silly. So I waited at the upstream crossing and after a short wait I spotted a couple of smiling logs. They were no overly large crocs but a croc is a croc is a croc, and beggars cant be chosers so I took the apropriate happy snaps. The crocs were about 30 metres away and I could not get closer safely. I then decided to ride to the caravan park at Jabiru, the park there has a swiming pool, I needed a swim.

On setting up my camp site I spotted Lyn and Ray who I had had a conversation with at Daly Waters some days ago. They had only just arrived at Jabiru having travelled there from Katherine. They suggested some places to visit on the ride through to katherine tomorrow. After a good swim, some pics in the pool and a cool off, I headed to the bistro for food.  

The new tyre feels really stable and I think I will get the same brand fitted to the front wheel when I get to perth. The ride today wasn't long and although the temperature was about 39 on the bike, today was fairly easy ride. I have had another dose of sand flies, these little pests must wait for the bits of skin I havn't insect proofed and bite just the bare bits. Ahh well a voltaren tablet stops the itch's for about 8 hours. Anyway I think I enjoy the open road riding better than the city, I seem to find more to take pics of. Tomorrow will be another good day for sight's so the updates should be a bit more interesting.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 22

15th september 2012

The trek had been long and arduous, and Wilma my favorite camel I feared would not complete the trip, after our provisions of rum ran dry. Poor intrepid Giles had to be subdued with a ferocious mulga snake after eating an out of date piece of salt pork and succoming to a bout of scrub silliness, oops, sorry about that, wrong dream!

Back to the Widenose Adventures No 2. Another really good riding day, nice and cool about 24 deg and a slight cooling breeze. The Kakadu highway from Jabiru to Pine creek has a lot of tributries into the east alligator river and I stopped on numerous occasions to take some pictures and watch to see if I could spotsome crocs. Unfortunatly I didn't see any today but thats not to say they were not around. There certainly were plenty of barra's around you could see them feeding off the surface. My 240 volt Gopro charger has died and I am charging from the bike power supply until I can jury rig a fix. There wont be many pics from that camera today. To date I have about 8000 pictures and video. I also met a aboriginal guy at the boozer at Jabiru last night. His name is Moses and while I couldn't understand him he didn't seem too bad a bloke. I didn't buy him a drink though perhaps thats why he didn't stay long. I am staying at a different caravan park to the Knotts Landing resort this time. The Boab Caravan park at katherine is an appropriate name as there is a splendid example of a boab tree at the park entrance. The tree is just starting to get leaves and will be a spectacular site when in full foliage. I can get hot food here as well so there is no need to travel into the town proper. I think I am getting used to the humidity or the humidity is not as bad as it has been, as I seem to be riding a little easier, I am not so tired in the afternoons.

Tomorrow the trip starts into places I have never been before. I should have no issues with fuel and the bike is running like a clock. The road got a bit twistier for about 40 km and the new rear tyre feels great. I will have a new front tyre fitted asap, gotta give a plug for "Michelin Pilot Road 3's" the grip feels fantastic. I will have an early night tonight so as to get away about 8am tomorrow. I will just cruize for the first hour as to let all the roos get off the roads, then arrive at Victoria River before the hottest part of the day.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 23

16th september 2012

After a good nights sleep I awoke to start early and packed the bike up. The owner of the Boab caravan park gave me a free cuppa as the shop wasn't officially open at that time of the day. Congratulations to Helen and Les for a great caravan park. I then headed off along the victoria highway bound for Timber Creek. I didn't ride quickly today as there were a lot of kangaroos sitting quietly on the edges of the road. None were prepared to jump across the road but I was not going to take any chances. I like riding in the cool of the morning you just have to be a little more vigilant. About 60km from katherine I came across three people, a 4wd and some fresh road kill. I kid you not I saw the 4wd some time later and I swear the road kill was in the back of the 4wd. On heading down into the victoria river valley the scenery becomes magic. escarpments and mountains so close to the road and not a decent place to stop a bike anywhere. I stopped at the victoria river roadhouse for food and wandered onto the bridge to take some pictures. The new bridge dwarfs the old bridge which must have been at the mercy of floods. Looking into the river and river bed the amount of water that flows through here during floods must be astronomical. The pictures I am posting have not been enhanced with a paint program and the colors arn't as good as they are in real life. Those that want, can wait for the dvd which will feature better quality pics. On arrival at timber creek I decided to take a budget room as I didn't want to wrestle the tent/camp set up today. The room is more than adequate and a softer bed will be appreciated by my back. This area is one of natural beauty and then compare this region to your home and the diversity of the australian continent becomes more apparent. With the end of the tourist season most of the tours are closed, but thats life. The trip is about riding around australia, the tourist bits will be done at a later date, with my partner Cathy P. To stop and listen to the australian bush is something you cant capture, all of the sounds just mix together to make australia the best place in the world. I think the bike is happy with the shorter distances, and just keeps purring along "aint she sweet" clint eastwood Grand Torino. Tomorrow it's off to lake argyle in WA so tonight will be my last in the Northern Territory, but this is one area of australia I will definetly revisit.

As an aside, in the freezer at the timber creek store there were roo tails for sale. Just not sure how to crumb and deep fry the thing. hmm roo tail schnitzel, might be onto something there.

A big hello to brother Graeme and his partner Sharon, thanks for all you guys have done for me.

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 24

17th september 2012

The budget room at timber creek really hit the spot with my entire body, not having to wrestle the camp setup and try to get a good nights sleep on the air mattress, a proper bed was pure heaven.

I mounted the gopro camera to my helmet and I think the picutes have taken on a better perspective. I stopped on numerous occasions just westward of timber creek as there was plenty of photograph subject matter. Boab trees by the hundreds and the magnificent victoria river provided excellent photo opportunities. I stopped just on halfway to lake argyle and the stopping spot was occupied by two groups of campers.Both vehicles looked like they were on their last legs, still the people are probably still travelling around and having fun, first looks can be deceiving. On arrival at the quarantine inspection check point I was informed that the time zone changed again. 11am on the bike clock "still set to east coast" meant it was now 9am in western australia. I took some tourist happy snaps and hit the road again, I only had about 42km to go. I arrived at lake argyle and was in the process of setting up the camp site when a complete stranger suggested putting the tent up slightly into his camp site so as to get better shade. I was erecting the tent when he brought over a can of the coldest coke I have had to date, " it had little bits of ice,really good on a hot day. He said drink first then put up tent. Roman and Gabnela are from Switzerland and they are going to travel some of the gibb river road. They were really friendly people. I went for a walk to the tank lookout and marvelled at the size of this dam. Who came upo with the idea of putting up a wall here to create this dam, they didn't have google earth back then "1970's". Tomorrow I will go on a dam cruise and walk to the ord river gorge lookout.

The lake argyle caravan park has the best swimming pool yet. Well the pool may not be the best but location, location, location. On a full moon you could skinny dip here real easy! eh Cathy. 

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 25

18th september 2012

I woke up early and did the quick bush walk to the ord river gorge lookout, a distance of about 3km. The recent bushfires made for easy walking and the scenic aspects made for a good walk. At the lookout my gps indicated a height of about 230 metres and the dam water level is at 92m, so you get a good view of the dam wall areas. The cliffs and gorge walls have been formed by the water erosion from the ord river, and shows how powerful this river is. I took some pictures of the sun rising, but I’m not sure I got the light right I will have to see how they print out. The temperature rise during the day is strange. The temperature seems to rise quickly from overnight, so at about 10am the day is already hot. I booked in for the Triple J sunset cruise. This cruise leaves at 2:15pm and was well worth the money. The cruise length is about 48 km in length and takes about 3.5 hours, but even this is not long enough to completely cover the entire lake. The lake at the 92 metre depth is 42km wide and 55km long. The boat was custom built for lake and because the lake is classed as an inland sea has to carry all safety gear vassociated for offshore operations. We were lucky enough to see some crocs, it is estimated that there are 35000 fresh water crocs in lake argyle. It has been reported that salt water crocs have been spotted here but this has not been confirmed with a captured specimen. I now have quite a bit of sunburn to my face, but it’s not sore. After the cruise finished I went to the café to sit and download pictures from my camera and bumped into Trudy and Paul again. They have been nearly to all the same places as me but about one day behind.    

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 26

19th september 2012

I had been warned against going to Wyndham, said to be a pretty bleak place. Well I have a big nose maybe I should get some big ears and listen now and then. Apart from the five rivers lookout it was nearly a waste of time. On the top of the lookout I met up with Peter and Sue. They were from sydney NSW and were traveling around australia the same as me and on a suzuki 1250.They were just doing longer rides each day. After chatting to them I decided not to stay at wyndham but to travel on the the doon doon roadhouse, they were going on to broome and we would ride on together. On arrival at doon doon all that was there was the roadhouse and a rather barren looking caravan park. so on the halls creek. The ride to halls creek was really good with planty of grip and winding undulating road, the only minuses were the odd stray cow and the ever present bushfire/burnoff. We stopped off for a drink at Warmum or Turkey creek and met another fellow ride called Tony and he was from townsville. Tony had just completed the gibb river road on a motorcycle and wad headed home, his description of the ride was horrendous, but satisfying. So waht started out mentally as a bad day was about to get worse. On arrival at the motel there is a speed hump at the entrance and in this speed hump is a piece of plate steel about 1cm thick but sticking up in the middle of the hump to guide the sliding security gate. As I rode over the speed hump I heard a thump and when I investigated  I saw that the belly pan of the bike fairing had been torn off the mounting screws, by the steelplate completly shattering the plastic panels. Bummer or similer words ere exchanged. Ah well what can you do, but build a bridge and get over it. I removed all the broken pieces as best I could and at least there were no mechanical damage to stop the ride. We had a meal in the restaurant and headed off to bed feeling as I had that morning about it being a bad day. I never slept well and I havnt been eating well either. There are plenty of eating places but you get tired off egg and bacon rolls and crave for vegetables or baked beans on toast, a lot of places dont serve this type of food. I havn't seen a stew of any description for 27 days. 

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 27

20 september 2012

After a worrying sleep, I kept thinking did I miss something mechanically broken on the bike after yesterday's issue with the speed hump. I checked the bike over and everything looked ok, so I packed my gear and got ready to ride. Bike started ok but on attempt to select 1st gear the engine died. This occurred about 4 to 5 times. Eventually I found that the when the belly pan shattered the edge of a break had partially severed the side stand lock out swicth wires. Bugger. So I cut the two wires and bridged them out. This got me mobile again and I will get some crimp teminals in broome and make a proper fix. So on the road again, no dramas of any kind all the way to Fitzroy Crossing Lodge. This place is an oasis, quiet reasonbly shady, pub, resaurant and a pool. I arrived early in the day and am going to have two nights here just to veg out. Tommorrow is washing day for my clothes and I will take some pics of ther Fitzroy river. At least this time there are no cyclones or floods to stop the trip.

I feel now that I will succeed in my trip even though I am not halfway around yet. But mentally I know the trip cannot be stopped, except by mechanical failure or rider error. So today and tomorrows updates wont be much, you never know what the future may bring and I might get that million dollar picture.  

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Day 28

21st september 2012

Today was one of those veg out days that you need now and then. I took this opportunity to wash all my clothes, riding gear included. Due to the heat my riding pants and coat were starting to smell like after treking the kokoda track, New Guinea. Now they only smell like hydrating shampoo as that is the only liquid soap I had for the washing machines. I have yet to see really small packets of washing powder aimed at the motorcycle fraternity. I ventured down to the Fitzroy crossing bridge to see the river condition. There was no water to speak of flowing under the bridge and it is hard to believe that this was one of the locations that had the road closed easter 2011. The debris in some places gives an insight to the amount of water that can flow along this river and when you look at the caravan park layout it is noticeable that any building important to the infrastructure of the grounds is built on raised mounds of grassed earth. I suppose it gives some protection from flood overflow.

Showering in the far north is easy at this time of year. Into the shower, wash yourself, don't worry about drying off, put your clothes back on, go outside for 5mins and you are dry. Today has been much the same as yesterday 40 plus degree heat, but at least I had some cold drinks for all through the day.

I went to the fitzroy crossing IGA and bought some precooked meals, like mcCain roast lamb dinner. I had not been eating properly and a good friend of mine, who is also a very good nurse suggested some smart ideas for my diet. PS, I also ate some fruit but don't let Mr KFC know this, or the "Brewery" in mudgee.

About 4:30 to 6:30 of an afternoon the caravan parks across australia change their culture. In roll Mr and Mrs retired traveller. With steadfast determination they place their castle into the allocated site within the cm and then commence to setup. Out with the water inlet hose, the waste water outlet hose, fifty thousand metres of extension lead, extend the van levelers and level off to the micro degree. Place the solar power chargers, setup the satelite dish for tv and turn the aircon on. Extend the roll out awning, erect the fold out seats and table, then collapse into an exhausted heap while they plan the next days events. Next they eat the cheese and biscuits drink some red wine, cook the bbq, prepare and eat a 5 course meal, then off to the showers and bed. All this happens on dusk and a park can fill in these hours quite easily.

And by 7:30 the next morning all are nearly packed up and left for the next port of call on their trip. I tell you what though, I envy that kind of lifestyle. I am trying to see as much off australia as I can but I only get one lifetime, I think you would need about three or four to see australia properly. 

For comments please post to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

regards from

"Max"

Hi

I have now added a second page to the site. Its on the upper left hand side, called "Around Australia Pg2" just click on it