Widenose Adventures No2

Day 29

22nd september 2012

Todays ride took me from Fitzroy Crossing into Broome, more or less halfway. I feel now the trip is somewhat like climbing a mountain, you have reached the top but the climb down is still daunting. I have reached my trips zenith, now I have to get home safely. All day today it seemed like you are riding uphill, must be just the perspective when sitting on the bike. The temperature today was only 38 which is a big difference to the 40 plus heat that I had been experiencing. I stopped at the Willare Bridge roadhouse for food and fuel, Much to my surprise reasonably priced food, baked beans on toast with 2 eggs only $10.50 and free coffee. A big plus for the Willare Bridge roadhouse. The ride today was mostly uninspiring, but when you see the rivers and creeks that flow into the Fitzroy river catchment I can understand how I never got to complete my trip in easter 2011.The number of flood depth indicators is huge.

I arrived in broome and if first impressions counted for anything I would have turned around and gone back to Willare Bridge. The first caravan park I had on my list to stay at looked like a desert junk yard. The back packers camping area had crap from one end to the other and the grass was severely withered. I could not stay there, well not for 5 nights, my bike and all my gear would be molested. So I headed out towards Cable beach and found a good caravan park. Plenty of shade and plenty of area per campsite. This is gunna be heaven. I am planning for the rest of my stay here and have found heaps of activities The next few updates will be more interesting. I will have the front tyre changed in broome as the feathering is looking worse, The tyre would probably make perth but I don’t have the confidence. I am starting to get annoyed at wrestling all my gear around the tent, and will try to find an inflatable camp chair. Trudy and Paul have also just arrived in the park, it is funny how you keep bumping into the same people.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 30

23rd september 2012

The alarm clock sounded at its usual time of about 30mins before sunup. My alarm clock is the australian birdlife. When you just close your eyes and listen, especially in the early dawn it is amazing what you can hear. So I suppose its not just stop to smell the roses, its listen to life as well. Anyway my sunday was spent with a leisurely breakfast at "Zeebar" a bit pricey but a good meal. I then wandered down to Cable beach and splashed around in the surf and then walked nearly halfway down the beach. The water up here is about 28 degrees and of the lightest blue tinge. Everything in the top end is red and the jellyfish also have the same red coloring, some mining magnate will be able to mine jellyfish as the red coloring is probably iron ore deposits. It was pretty hot by then but I had some water to drink, I am drinking heaps of water up here. I saw some camels being led to the start of a tour, I will go on a camel tour hopefully on wednesday. Whilst photgraphing aircraft at the end of the runway I looked down to see the marks made by a rather large snake in the dunes. The fellow at the surf club said there are a lot of brown snakes around at the moment. I will have to keep the tent zipped up. There are a multitude of backpackers around the top end. Mostly german but a sprinkling of other european nationalities are represented as well. There is heaps of work up here in the hospitality industry and these short term jobs suit the backpacker life style. Although I still yet have to come across someone who can make a decent cuppa. Maybe masterchef should do this for a pressure test event, I will venture into the town proper tommorrow and arrange for a new front tyre and do a few minor repairs to the bike.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com come on I know you want to say something!

bye for now

Max    

Day 31

24th september 2012

Well the day started off okay, a quick healthy breakfast of pies and coffee, and then off to get tyre changed. Problem one they had tyre but no mechanic on duty. Damn and blast, off down the road to the only other choice,"sorry mate I only work on trail bikes". Back to choice no 1. I will do work if you can operate tyre changing machine. No dramas then off went the owner, made a quick call and Graham from the bridgestone tyre service turns up to operate the machine. Tyre is changed all is good. A big big thankyou to "Phil Sowry" of Motorcycle and Small Engine World in Broome WA. Without their can do attitude I would have been stuck in Broome a few more days.

Tyre changed I rode off to do the touristy bit and buy some momento's and stuff. I was nearly gunna buy a single pearl until I saw the price's, over 2 grand for a really good one, even the "not round ones" were a few hundred. I know tight wad Max, but I need money for a KFC hit when I find an outlet.

I did some sight seeing "Streeters Jetty" was a bit of a let down about 20 metres of wharf and no water underneath, only some really bright red crabs. Walk round chinatown and you can see the oriental origins of broome, I took some pics of the pearling industry founders but can't pronounce the names, so I won't even type them down. I was walking down one street when all of a sudden the biggest roar of all shook the entire street. One of mr qantas's 737 on final approach into broome. It was that low the locals were igniting matches in the planes jet engine exhausts to light their cigarettes.

All in all a reasonably good day, tomorrow I will walk the length of cable beach, work on my tan a bit.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 32

25th september 2012

I took the early bus out to Gantheaume Point. No I cannot pronounce the name. I knew from the tourist guide that I would not be able to see the dinosaur footprints but I was going to walk the 5km back down cable beach to the camp site. When I got off the bus a fellow introduced himself to me and said he used to work in conjunction with thales. Jeff Bailey used to work with the software development for handheld GPS units. Jeff and his wife Anne have traveled extensivly around the world as part of their careers and have now retired, they are going on a sailing boat for a nine day cruise I hope they have a great time. Whilst we walked to the end of the point, far off in the distance we could see whales surfacing. They must have been about 2km from the shore and there was no way my camera could get a decent pic. We watched for a few minutes and then they were gone. That was special for me as I had never seen whales in the wild before, even though we were a long way away, still magical. The walk down the beach was easy when you have someone to gas bag to. I suppose the walk took about 2 hrs by the time you stop to take pics and look at the various bits and pieces that get washed up on the beach.

After I got back to the caravan park I then went into town to do some small errands and find a new GPS power supply. I think the extra heat is destroying the power adapters. All in all another reasonable day of sight seeing, but I am itching to get back on the road again. The new front tyre feels nice and stable, so I am hoping to find some nice twisty bits of road. I have quite a few ideas for long distance motorcycle gear for the future, as I have seen many short comings with some reputable products.

One more night to go and then off to maybe the sandfire roadhouse, a bit undecided at the moment. I had a small video I was going to post as a sample, but I have to lighten up a bit. My mr serious face will crack if I smile a bit. I will redo the video tomorrow so if you all behave I will post a video clip, but don't say you weren't warned.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 33

26th september 2012

Not much to report today. I spent much of the day preparing the bike for the journey home. All of the equipment I had packed and was not planing to use for the rest ofthe trip has been posted home. Another colony of ant was dealt with, I dont know were they come from. I had a beautiful meal of bbq spare ribs at the Divers Bar tavern. Good size meal and well cooked, great value overall. I posted a video clip this morning and the web site said the video had to be processed, thats why it's not up and running. Most of my usage on the usb dongle has been consumed by the video so I probably wont be posting any more video, well not when I'm on the road. Tomorrow I plan to stop somewhere between the sandfire roadhouse and Port Hedland, as I'm not exactly sure where I cant predict if I will have internet access, so dont be too concerned if there is no update tommorrow.

bye for now

Max "widenose" Williams

Day 34

27th september 2012

Tonight I sit in what is called a "donger" budget style room accomodation at the Sandfire Roadhouse WA. After spending 5 nights in broome in my tent I decided to take this donger room here and spend a comfortable night in a proper bed. $40 is good value for a bed, electricity and a light. The ride started off early from broome and after refueling at the Roebuck Roadhouse I made good time to the Sandfire. The trip was alweays planed to spend the night here to experience the lonliness of this part of australia, apart from camping in the scrub this will be what I expected. There is nothing here except the roadhouse, some of the staff here are more or less permanent but some come through and work here for 3 months and then move on to the next roadhouse. One lady said she has been working her way around west australia doing just thet 3 months here 3 months there, all for free accomodation, meals and you get paid. As usual food becomes very important to me and I had a cooked pork chop with vegetable diner. Anyone who didn't like the meal here is very hard to please, the meal was perfectly cooked and the vegetables were to die for, the prices were very reasonable compared to meal prices in broome. The sunset here is just as spectacular as on cable beach, it just depends on your perceptions of life.

The sandfie roadhouse has a long history and I'm not going to recite it, I will just say that every time a disaster hits up here the roadhouse seems to get flatened. They have done a remarkable job to keep the place going and have done a lot of work with new amenities, they really are a hardy buch of people up here. This has been a very good day and tomorrows ride into port hedland should be great as well. I am hoping to have lunch at "De Grey River" and I dont mean "The Grey River" I can spell. I was going to free camp there but someone said the coast is not far away and sometimes crocs are spotted there. A zipped up tent is not security from a croc, still I will check the place out on my way to Port Hedland. Or maybe the crocs should be protected from me, "croc on a spit" now theres a delicacy.

A big hello to the "Wards" Bridie, Logan, Sonya and Andrew

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 35

28th september 2012

I feel I have now broken the back of the trip as I have safely made it into Port Hedland. From here on there will be no cylcones and only mechanical failures can stop me. I was talking to a couple from near geraldton WA who were on their way home from Kunnunarra. He said they had been on the road for two and a half years. The rig they had was massive, 4tonne of fifth wheel style caravan, a 4wd for a tow vehicle and a second 4wd carrying the satelite dish and all the other bits that would not fit into the van. He said that when towing he was only getting about 2km per litre of fuel. He also said that he had blown three tyres in a day and thats why he was at Sandfire RH. When I last saw them at Pardoo Roadhouse, I left about 5 minutes later and had the bike stable at 120kmh I never saw them for dust. I think thats why he blows tyres, travelling way to fast on stinking hot roads, and with 4tonnes of van a major safety hazard.

I stopped at Degrey River where I had planned to camp overnight. This would have been a great spot except for everyone one else got there first. Some were staying for a few days as the location is perfect, right on the banks of the river. They had not seen any crocs but were sure there would be some there, the cows didn't seem to be worried about the crocs, more me I think, some of the cows had calves.

Still it was a great ride to Port Hedland and I settled into the park pool real easy. The town seems to be in two parts, the dirty industrial side and the touristy side, I am undecided about this town, but the locals say there is heaps of jobs, just not neccessarily in the mining industry.

I only have one area of concern now and thats between Karratha and Carnarvon, but its not much of a concern, just another few hundred km of isolation. There appears to be more vehicular traffic as I get closer to the major towns and civilisation brings more competition to the food pricings. I have it on good word that the Nanutarra roadhouse is the most expensive in australia, I will stock up in karratha before going there.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 36

29th september 2012

Up early to get a quick start and decide to adjust chain tension. Thanks to the guys who changed the rear tyre, and did the nut up with probably a rattle gun, I have to borrow spanners from a mobile mechanic to undo the axle. No major issue I suppose but some of these mechanics have to remember that not all repairs are be done in a workshop, some have to be done at the side of the road and motorcycle tool kits arn't all they should be. Anyway off we go and not much to see really, a lot of mining vehicles and thats about it. Karratha is thriving at the moment and has a large shoping area so there is good competition on pricing. They also have "KFC" I was saved, now with my cholesterol recharged I will finish the trip easy. I have also noticed that the temperatures are not as severe as further north and the riding is getting a little easier. I did stop at what I think is the Sherlock River and take some pictures. This is one of the more picturesque river crossings that I have seen I suppose because there was water flowing in the river. I didn't see any crocs but there were lots of birds. I was attacked by sandflies again at port hedland,not severely but enough to want voltaren tablets, voltaren seems to take the edge off the itches from the bites.  The wind also blew like a banshee all the way from port hedland and didn't let up till about 4 oclock, made putting the tent up fun. Met a bloke from south australia, who has plenty of dollars, his vehicle is a custom built motorhome 320hp turbo diesel 6 speed auto and worth $900K plus.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 37

30th september 2012

Karratha to Nanutarra Roadhouse. Well thats what I started out to acheive today but as with all good plans! I left Karratha to go to the Red Dog memorial only 12 km down the road towards Dampier, shouldn't take too long. roadworks for the entire distance 40-60kmh all the way there and back. Took an hour to get a few pics and return to karratha to fuel up. Fuelled up and fed up I headed south towards Nanutarra. Down the road aways, I met a rider heading north at the Fortesque roadhouse and he was an ex bathurst boy and knew Mick Muldoon from the kawasaki dealership in bathurst quite well. He works fly infly out in the newman area, said the money was good but not so good for family life. So another hour long delay meant by the time I got to Nanutarra I was not in the best of moods. Nanutarra roughly translated means "Nothing to see here" the roadhouse needs some serious attention. Not just to the structures but to their attitudes, supply and demand has elevated purchases to the point where people only get the neccessities. And that was the same for me. $90 bucks for a room added to the pricey meals meant, start the bike up and head to Manilya river roadhouse. Manilya is about 160 km further down the road and when I arrived just before 2:30 local time the day was getting hotter. But the rooms here were cheaper and the food prices were reasonable, so I stayed here for the night in very comfortable accomodation. The room had a working tv to watch the footy and the meal of rissoles vegetables and gravy meant for one happy widenose adventurer. I highly recommend the Manilya River Roadhouse as a stopover point.

So at the end of the day I was a lot closer to carnarvon than I had planed but this was probably a better outcome.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 38

1st october 2012

Safe in Carnarvon, the 140km ride was very easy with only keeping an eye out for wildlife being the highlight of the ride. There were a lot of goats along the roadside. I had intended to stop at the Gascoyne river for some pictures but it was a non event. I arrived at the Coral Coast caravan park and the owner gave me a $5 discount per night on the camp site because I'm only one person on a motorcycle, shame more park owners didn't see things the same way. Then again I am over next to the park resident know it alls, who seem intent on drinking as much beer as they can while swearing and voicing their opinions as loudly as they can. Meanwhile in downtown carnarvon the main street was pretty dead until I realised it was a public holiday, so hopefully there will be more going on tommorrow. Time for a haircut before the dog catcher gets me and a walk to the end of Carnarvons one mile jetty for some pics. Now I am south of the tropics you can feel the temperatures drop off around dusk, so out with the sleeping bag again. They tell me the locals can cause some problems here but I havn't seen too many of them yet, maybe they took the day off for the long weekend.  

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 39

2 october 2012

After veging out yesterday I decided to walk the 6 to 8 km to the one mile jetty and back. So after breakfast and a new hair style "no 2 buzz cut' off I went. There isnot one tree on the entire trail and the sun certainly had some sting to it so I now sort of fit in with the locals. the walk eventually takes you to the land end of the jetty and provides a glimpse of a long ago era of steam power and the hardships faced by the pioneers of this area of australia. The circa 1900 built jetty is undergoing refurbishment but has withstood the ravages of nature time and time again. I walked to the seaward end of the jetty, there is a tram transport but I didnt see the need to use it, and whilev the water is not that deep the old pictures in the museum showed ships of considerable size berthed there while being loaded with cargo, mainly wool or livestock. I would recommend the walk and because it gets hot up here also recommend a beer in the pub on the way back. So a pretty good day was had even if I have another case of sunburn and tomorrow pack the bike again and head further south to Kilbarri, which is just north of geraldton. The bike is booked in for a service and I will have a new chain and sprockets fitted as the wear seems to have increased dramatically since leaving darwin.    

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 40

3rd october 2012

What a difference to a days ride when the temperature dosn't go over 30degrees. I left carnarvon sort of early making my way south to Kalbarri, apparently they have cheap lobster meals. Leaving carnarvon aslong the HMAS Sydney memorial drive I noticed that there were plaques spaced along both sides of the road. when I stopped totake pictures I realised that every man on the Sydney had his name on a seperate plaque, a very sobering sight. With that in mind It was still an enjoyable ride and I didn't drink much water as the temperature was down. I am still eagerly awaiting some corners as trhe straight roads have dulled my riding skills. One of the things that you have to watch out for are willy willy's. As you ride along watching for wildlife you have to pay attention to the trees or the scrub at the roadside. If the trees are not normally swaying with the wind and then you ride into where the trees are all over the place be careful as a willywilly has probably originated or is waiting in the middle of the road. I rode through at least three today and the last one scared me because I was standing on the footpegs at the time, and I wasblown from one side of my lane to the other. As i passed below the 28th parallel, "I will double check that statistic" you could gradually detect a change in the color of the soil, gone was the red oranges of iron ore country to a more browner land, more suited to farming, and at last the remote feelings of outback riding are changing as I have now encoutered dual lane highways and the traffic is getting slightly heavier. I have some wonderful memories if riding through the kalbarri national park with the early spring blossoms providing a special welcome to the area. I must be losing my marbles cause I normally  don't notice things like this, I suppose next will be max in a cardigan and hush puppy slippers. 

I took the opportunity to walk to the lookouts and take some pictures, off in the distance was a person wind sailing a long way offshore, I wonder if they had heard of great white sharks.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 41

4th october 2012

The start of a short day into geraldton about 150 km south beagn in overcast conditions, I had thought through the night that I had heard rain but there was nothing wet in the dawn so I am not sure about the rain. Fueled up I followed the coast road towards northampton and was rewarded by some of the best coastal scenery to date. From red bluff lookout all up and down the coast are rugged cliffs and shoreline, where many ships were wrecked over the years. I took a lot of  pictures from here and watched for whales, but couldn't see any.

Further down the road I stopped at "Lynton Hiring Station" and walked around the ruins taking pictures. The station/depot was where you could hire convicts to do work, I think mainly in transporting goods. Some of the buildings have been restored and some are beyond restoration, especially the goal but there was a bit to see and this is a heritage site. I took the opportunity to walk to the memorial on top of the hill and an excellent view out to the ocean made the climb worthwhile. There is also a small grass airstrip there with two runways. I arrived in geraldton safely and set camp up. Geraldton is a fairly big city and seems to be growing by the amount of construction going on, only thing I noticed is that there always seems to be some wind blowing.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 42

5th october 2012

Not much to say about today except that if you have work done it pays to check things over. I had the bike serviced and when I checked the work later in the day found that the mechanic had not tightened the axle nut and reinstalled the lock pin. The entire rear wheel could have come loose and caused a major accident.

Later on all I did for the day was work on my tan and veg out on the beach, there were a few ships moored offshore but there was very little dock activity.

I phoned a friend of cathy's who lives in geraldton and about 6pm I rode to their place for a visit. Lucie's partner Ken owns a 1400 suzuki and want to travel around australia as well. His bike is equiped with a trailer so he will have no problems with space for all the comforts needed for a trip of this size. The visit was a wonderful break to the living in a tent style of travel, I have been a bit flat with my updates and I suppose that comes from 43 days on the road. Even the days spent in the one town eg darwin, broome these days were spent doing touristy things and with the heat end up being a bit taxing on my 52 year old body. The week off in perth will be a holiday that will be spent not having to specifically do anything but relax. This week off should refresh the batteries and the trip hame and the updates will be back to my high standards, "even if my attempts at humor are a bit dry". The west coast of australia is a wonderful place except that there seems to be constant wind.

Back to lucie and ken, they asked if they could join me on my way down to Cervantes the next day. I had told cathy I was staying in geraldton and the ride into perth would be about 430km and I would not see her till late. Cervantes is about 200km north of perth and I will try to arrive at the motel as the same time as cathy, kind of like a surprise. I hope I can wake up in time to get to perth at the same time. 

Double Update

Day 43

6th october 2012

This was a better day I arrived at lucie and ken house and they led the way down the coast. We stopped at Leeman the same town as the guy with the 4 tonne caravan and we also stopped for coffee at jurien bay, a lovely little place full of holiday makers, they would then make their way back home taking a few stops along the way to make a day of it. It was a spectacular ride as we rode next to the indian ocean while seemingly in outback conditions. After we said our goodbyes and they departed I rode to the "Pinnacles" which is just south of cervantes. The wind had by now picked up significantly and blew all the way there and all the way back. As I rode through the  entrance station I removed one glove to fish some money out and never put it back on. So as I pulled into my parking space a lady commented on my single glove and lucky for her I was able to relate my yarn of listening to the weather man who said "today will be fine and sunny, but on the other hand could be cold and wet", she just walked away with a look of total bewilderment at my comment. The pinnancles is eerie to walk around but beautiful at the same time. It is funny to see these limestone outcrops and the ocean is only a few km away, an excellent place to explore. on leaving the pinnacles I rode into cervantes and the local caravan park. A really nice place, limited places to eat at but I didn't go hungry.

Tommorrow morning will be a reasonble start time with only having to get to Perth/ Fremantle. I am not sure if i will update the site during this holiday but we have a bit of sight seeing to do, and I suppose thats part of the trip as well and should form part of this site.

The trip is now more that two thirds complete and I am looking forward to home. I will have time to contemplate the rigors of a ride like this and I will certainly have some opinions to put forward. I will post my views, probably next week.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 43,44,45

7th, 8th 9th october 2012

Having a holiday session in Fremantle/Perth so upates will be sparse until about the 16th october. I am in fremantle and the trip is now 2 thris comlete. There have been a few dramas with the bike but nothing thats a show stopper. I will post afew pictures of the highlights of fremantle and there are heaps here to see. The architecture of the fremantle district is like a movie set.Cathy and myself are sampling the excellent restaurants and atmosphere and this is a welcome break to the rigors of riding, setting up camp and doing all again the next day. I feel refreshed and know that I will complete the trip as the seemingly riskiest part of the trip is complete, Tomorrow we go to Rottnest island, should be a really good day trip as long as the weather remains calm. I will post some pictures and put a few words together to keep everyone informed on my progress.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 47,48

10th and 11th october 2012

The past two days have been spent sight seeing around fremantle. Lucky for us "Cathy and Max" the bus stop for the fremantle blue cat service is right on the door step. This is a free transit service that takes you into the centre of freemantle, and this bus service occurs erery 10 mins. So we went to the fremantle goal and the eye opening part of this attraction is the fact that the goal closed in 1991, they were still using buckets for sewage, no flush toilets in the cells. The highest recorded temperature was in the low 50 degrees, and the capacity of the prison was 1000 inmates. We went on two guided tours and a good time was had. We had already had a swim on the beach earlier in the day, and later in the day travelled by car out to the swan valley wineries for lunch. Found an excellent place where we dined. We also had a bottle of wine but didn't drink it all cause by now I was driving the car. We have spent every sunset to date on the beach and each sunset has been different depending on the cloud on the horizon, but I wont make you all see the different pictures on this web site.

Day 47 and today we had it all planed to go to Rottnest island. The entire day went like clockwork. No dramas catching the bus, tickets collection, ferry to the island nor pushbike hire, just a perfect day. The ride across to the island was a bit rough but we were towards the back of the boat and didn't suffer from the rock and roll action of the boat, some of the other passengers up the front were getting a different type of ride. To put rottnest into words, well in my words is difficult, the island is a very relaxed way of life, getting around by pushbike is relativly easy because there are not many hills, and only very few cars. We stopped off at a beach and had a swim "no sharks to be seen" the water is warm but with the breeze you couldn't stay in for long. There are many beaches on the island and you cant visit them all. A visit to the main lighthouse gave spectacular 360 degree views and is the highest point on the island. A chat to Ron the guide also provided the information needed to find some "Quokkas" as no doubt everyone will ask did we see some. They are funny little animals and appeared quite timid. As we got closer to where food and people were more abundant the quokkas became more adept at begging for food and would come quite close to us but only looking for something to eat. We had an excellent meal in the Dome cafe and I think we only saw about one third of the islands points of interest. The ferry ride back was smooth sailing as the wind had dropped but by the time we arrived back at the "Heritage B&B" there was only just enough time to grab some wine and down to the beach for sunset. I cant describe fremantle properly, save some money, get off your donkey, do some planning and come and have a look. Anyone who dosn't enjoy fremantle is very hard to please or dead.  

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 49, 50

12th october 2012

The break in riding and having a holiday in fremantle has allowed me to put the rest of the trip into perspective, there is only about 3 weeks to go. I have a renewed energy and because i have crossed the nullabor before I am realising the trip will be completed. So today we wandered around fremantle shopping and looking for some action for later in the evening. The arrival of the weekend means the crowds swell significantly and the streets come alive. All the cafe's are open and the place takes on an even more relaxed feel. As usual you have to buy momentos, forage for food and we came across a beaut pub called "Rosie Ogrady's" they have really good food and the band started at around 9pm. So we had lunch there and then in the evening went back for dinner and the music. You could spend all day in fremantle just eating and drinking, the pubs, cafes and restraunts all serve good food, but I cant eat all the time or my poor old bike will have a coronary.

13th october 2012

Today is a veg out day, prep the bike and get my ride face back on. We went to fremantle markets, for food and then the weather started to turn sour. Light drizzle and wind will make the ride south miserable, I checked the weather site and rain is predicted for the next few days. I havn't made up my mind on tomorrows ride destination. I expect the weather will determine where I get to. I have been lucky with the weather. The only other rain I have had was when I arrived in perth and I rode for about 15 mins in the rain.

These are the extra words I needed to add.

We decided to go into freemantle for dinner and seemingly found a good place, well the food was good anyway. After the dance at Rosie Ogrady's last night we headed downstairs to the basement of the south terrace hotel. No worries four bands one after the other. I think this was a waste of twenty bucks. The first band was a head banger band, not our style of music so we left after the second "song" and went back to the B&B and watched tv. I suppose this was a smart thing to do as tomorrow is a riding day.

Day 51

14th october 2012

Ah it's great to be back on the road again. A nice easy run today down to Busselton, I had decided that would do for the day. The weather forecast was for showers most of the day and for a change they got the forecast right, but the wind was horrendous and the worst thing about the wind is you cant see it. There were some scary moments today with the wind. I had a quick stop at Bunbury for food but I didn't go into the city proper as the rain made for slippery conditions. No dramas with going on through to Busselton as the jetty was the reason for going there. As luck would have it the caravan park I had selected for tonight is within 200m of the jetty's location. I hired a cabin for the night as I didn't want to have to spend the night and then pack the tent after rain. I waited for the rain to ease and then made the 1.8km walk to the end and then returned as quickly as possible as the wind and drizzle made for a sort of unpleasant looksee. When you look at the construction of the jetty, it's been a huge effort to build it considering the weather conditions. Having to drive the pylons to hold the decking up during the wind an wave action must have taken ages to finish.

Thats all for today, and I'm now about 230km closer to home.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 52

15th october 2012

After an excellent nights sleep at Busselton in a park cabin, packing all the camping gear back onto the bike was easy and so enabled an early start to Albany. There was a little drizzle before I arrived at Nannup, and it seemed for a while that the weather would clear up and I would have dry roads for riding. But it was not to be, the showers of light rain occured almost all the rest of the ride. I had a brief stop over at the "Valley of the Giants" treetop walk. The valley of the giants is about 35km from Denmark WA and because I was running early I decided to do the touristy bit and take a walk. The treetop walk through these magnificent trees "Tinker Trees" was awesome and at it's highest is 40metres above ground and 600m in length. It didn't take lone to do the walk and I couldn't see any animals on the forrest floor, so I took a few pictures and made back to the bike as the rain started to fall heavily. The rain accompanied me all the way through to Albany and on the outskirts of the town I decied I would take a cabin or motel room as I didn't want to have to setup, stay and repack wet camping gear. I suppose even though the rain stayed with me for most of the days ride with modern motorcycle tyres I really enjoyed the high speed ride to albany. One of the other things iv'e noticed is that some of the roadside signs are placed after the intersection, makes for a bit of turning around and confusion when trying to find points of interest. I will stay here for two nights as I want to do some sight seeing in albany and then in another 4 days I will be leaving western australia. I have ridden over 11000 km and it is hard to believe that the west part is nearly finished.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 53

16th october 2012

I have had a completly full day today. After a visit to the post office I  rode to the Mt Clarence Lookout where there were 360 degree views of Albany along with quite a few million insects all trying to get into eyes, ears an up my nose. Leaving there just down the bottom of the hill is the "Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum" I walked around there for quite a while as they have a really great museum here. And the place is alive with lizards, I must have scared the hell out of them but their scuttling around in the undegrowth had me looking around too.

About 10km out of the town are The "Gap and the Natural Bridge" and "Stony Hill". I stopped there and took lots of pictures. looking at some of the rock formations and how the action of the wind and water has shaped this part of the australian coastline.

Then onto "Whale World" this was the last operational whaling station in australia. This is a really great tourist attraction. Plenty to see and do and just walkking around the exhibits gave plenty of value for money. The centre piece of the station is the whalechaser vessel the "Cheynes IV". You get to go nearly everywhere on the ship, the only place you cant go yet is into the lower engine room spaces. I am glad I stayed in Albany this time and had a better look around this fabulous city.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 54

17th october 2012

On the road early today because wet weather had been predicted for the ride to Esperance. For a long while it seemed like the weather man had got his forecast wrong, I arrive in Jerramungup and stopped for fuel for both the bike and myself and then commenced the final 305km to esperance. About 75kmto go and the heavens opened up, rain, thunder and big boilts of lightening made max screw the throttle a little further around and hightail it into esperance as quickly as safely possible. A big thank you to Mr Pirelli and Mr Michelin for producing excellent tyres. I didn't want to get caught out in the open in case of hail. I arrived at my destination and the rain eased just enough to allow me to set up camp. I walked into town to forage for food and I cast my mind back to april 2011 when I was here last. The weather was very hot and sunburn the biggest problem, now with the rain sightseeing was out of the question and trying to stay dry became the biggest issue. The sea lions were still at the tanker jetty but they were just enjoying lying on the sand trying to mooch food scraps off anyone. I did spot some dolphins in the harbor and took some pictures. You might have to look hard to spot them on the picture I have posted on this sight but they are there. i am only staying one night in esperance this time and tommorrows destination will depend on the skies clearing. I am thinking that the free camp site at Baxter Cliffs may be possible if the weather is fine but thats about 540km and makes for a big day and there are no facilities at baxter cliffs, no food, no water, only plenty of open space and mulga snakes.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 55

18th october 2012

I layed in bed for longer than normal this morning because when I open the door of the tent the sky didn't look all that promising. When i finally crawled out the sky was clearing so i packed up quickly and hit the road. Along the way I decided to try and make it to the Baxter Cliffs free camp site. I made good time to Norseman fueled up and was wondering what all the police cars were for. There were about 5 or 6 cars and an unmarked car. About 4 km out of town the police were setting up a roadside stop and they were going to great lengths to stop somebody heading west. About an hour later heading west were members of a motorcycle club and as they were on harleys I gather thats who the cops were after. I saw the last of them at Balladonia 200km east of norseman. As I rode from Esperance to Norseman I thought the bike may have gotten some water from the rain into the system somewhere as the bike didn't seem to want to accelerate properly, I also thought one of my arm had gone to sleep and I couldn't feel the throttle properly. As I left norseman I discovered that the rain had broken the bond of glue for the throttle grip to the mechanism. So I performed a quick repair "electrical tape" and kept riding. At balladonia I was going to have my major meal here for the day before the free camp but the motorcycle club guys just about ate and drank everything in sight. I had plenty of water and noodles for overnight so I fuelled up and rode off. I arrived at baxter cliffs and discovered a windy, rocks stones and dust camp area so changed my mind an rode the extra 60km to Caiguna. And thats where I am now having had a proper cooked meal with vegetables and will head off for the SA/WA border tomorrow. A long day today about 560km and I had my old friends 36degree heat and the wind blowing in gusts all the way from balladonia. Not far to go now and it's hard to believe that I am nearly leaving western australia only two nights to go.

PS. I had 5 minute epoxy glue onboard so I have repaired the throttle grip, I hope!

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 56

19th october 2012

One of the best days riding yet. Nice clear air, not too cool and no wind. I arrived at Cocklebiddy and had a quick bite to eat then headed off for Madura roadhouse. While at cocklebiddy I was talking to a contract "dogger", our conversation soon turned to gun talk and when I was leaving he showed me his "glock" pistol that he had stowed in the door, he said there were heaps of wild dogs and dingo's just to the north of where we were. The poor kangaroos have been coping a pasting here as there were roadkill carcasses everywhere, heaps more than april 2011. I suppose the smell is one of the bad things about motorcycle riding. I had been purchasing souvenier roadhouse trucks along the way and was hoping to get some more, "look out Lindsay Fox" my fleet of trucks must number about 10 by now, unfortunatly Norseman, Madura and Mundrabilla roadhouses do not sell them but I got one at cocklebiddy. Some way down the road from cocklebiddy the kangaroos disappeared and their place was taken by snakes. While the snakes weren't as many "I think the crows eat them first" I saw at least 10 to 20 dead ones and 1 live one. A big brown snake and as I came to a stop I thought get the good camera out and take a picture, because the snake had stopped just on the edge of the road. As soon as I stopped the engine the snake sensed something was different and slithered off into the scrub before I got a chance to take the picture "doh". So after a rather easy days riding I arrived at the Eucla motel which is 12km inside the western australia border and settled down for a relaxing evening. Tomorrow I will be in south australia heading for Ceduna. 

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 57

20th october 2012

Wind, wind and more wind. Nice early start to cross back into south australia and as per schedule up came the wind off the southern ocean. Another healthy breakfast of spring roll and coffee gave me the energy to ride to my first stop at the Nullabor roadhouse. I think the wind always blows here and thats why the roadhouse is the only thing left, everything else has been blown to the northern territory. I took the turnoff to the "Head of the Bight" and lucky me there were two whales left in the area, so I could get some pictures. Due to my impecable timing as usual "I should have been there half hour ago" you will need a magnifying glass to see them, but they are in the picture. So I have seen two more whales in the wild, but now I have a little eye strain to go with that. I left there and continued eastward and the wind gradually became stronger and stronger until near Penong I was nearly ready to stop. The only way to get any stability is to ride way over the limit to get gyroscopic stability from your wheels or follow something else like a 4wd or truck as they seem to break the air and provide a less turbulent space to ride in, but you have to get close behind them. Anyway I continued into Ceduna past countless lizards crawling across the road, and large dead snakes and then things got spooky.

Remember from one of my first pictures I posted on Barry Jackson, Andrew Ward and myself leaving the field at oberon after my last game of footy, well I went to the laundry to wash my jacket and met two ladies. After the usual introductions just so happens that Gloria and John Shawcross were at Sonja and Andrew's wedding the same as me, and Ellen and Peter Marsland are related to Barry's wife Allison. It's a really small world when you think that after all these km's I bump into two couples who are closely linked to that photo.

A tiring ride today trying to battle the wind but you get that riding a bike. After all the km's and time away I am starting to feel like going around for lap 2. I wont but I feel like i'm on top of the world, the trips highlights are starting to take hold, I wouldn't have missed this for anything.

Get busy living or get busy dying. 

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 58

21st october 2012

Only a small update today. I had a slack attack day and I only cleaned the bike as best I could, then went down to the jetty as the wind had dropped but as soon as I thought about throwing a line in the wind came back up to producing white cap waves so I gave up and went to the pub. After a few guinesses I went back to the tent to prepare for tomorrow. Hopefully no wind and then I should get a nice relaxing ride into Port Augusta.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Day 59

22nd october 2012

The 400km plus ride for today I have done before and just like the last time there is not much of note to write about. With wheat field after wheat field is about all there is apart from the silo towns. These towns are where someone built a wheat silo and then a small town spung up around the silo, but with more modern equipment for wheat and grain handling most of these towns have all but disappeared. I stopped at Wirrulla for a burger and Ellen and Peter Marsland followed me into the stop not long afterwards. They were going to freecamp somewhere between Ceduna and Port Augusta. We said our goodbyes and I dont think I will see them again this trip. I topped up with fuel and kept going to Port Augusta and arrived there in good time. I had no wind to speak of today so the ride was quite pleasureable. I stopped and took some pictures but the ride today was like getting on a train and going to sleep, only waking up at the destination. I only have about 1800km more to go and the trip is winding down. The sights around Adelaide, Mt Gambier and the Great Ocean Road will provide some more first time sightings for me so the trip is not without adventure. One thing about the Big 4 caravan park in Port Augusta, expensive, they wanted $40 a night for a powered tent site, what a rip off.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Day 60

23rd october 2012

Slept longer than normal and didn't hear the mob next site pack up and go. Through the night the wind picked up and I had to stabilise the tent by tying it down with more tent pegs. I know I keepgoing on about the wind but it is an important part of this ride. I rode to Port Germein to see the jetty. Having got there I walked to the end of the jetty for some pictures. Because of the wind I reckon it took me twice as long to walk back. There were some people fishing on the jetty but they hadn't caught anything. Back onthe road again and I see the marker for Red Hill. I remembered from last trip that the food there is good. So I set my heart for there and ride on, but with the roadhouse almost in sight the traffic comes to a halt. I dismount after watching numerous motorists get out of their cars and find out from one of them that there had been a car accident and two people had been killed. Police detoured us around the site and when I stopped at thge roadhouse you could see the accident site. Turns out the car had been stolen. After almost 13500km's this is the first accident I have seen. After eating and a really good cuppa "I made it myself" I rode into Adelaide. At one of the servo's I was talking to some riders from darwin, down for motogp. They had been doing long day's 700-850km per day of riding but were looking really shagged. The wind and heat was taking it's toll and I reckon they will be too buggered to enjoy the races. Also rain and showers are forecast for the weekend, long way to go to be tired cold and wet. Now I am glad i'm only trying to do 400-450km per day. I rode through adelaide cbd not really sure what to see or go. Because I have to get home I will return another day to go sight seeing. So I rode on to Murray Bridge for the night. Clouds are gathering so rain may be on the cards, oh well cant do anything about it so may as well get over it. On to the great ocean road tomorrow so that should be a good ride.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 61

24th october 2012

Todays ride from Murray Bridge to Mt Gambier started off well enough, with no wind to complain about and no rain. There were small delays for roadworks but even that didn't spoil things, there are even some corners and bends on the road now but nothing to get the tyres in a hissy fit. There are lots of bikes all going through to Phillip Island and I was passed by a group around Tailem Bend, not long down the road and three of this group had been involved in an accident. Apparently one on a yamaha "R1"of them had just come over the top of a rise to find a 4 x 4 pice of wood across the road, he hit it and his bike came down and was smashed up fairly badly, probably a write off, another guy and pillion on a kawasaki had both tyres blow out with the rear wheel rim being buckled and unrideable and another fellow went over the hande bars with cosmetic damage to one side of his bike, all three bikes being unrideable. A very lucky four people with there being no serious injuries. I arrived on the spot and they were still picking the bikes up off the road, I stopped but there was not much I could do to help. As I said there are bikes everywhere and finding somewhere to eat without having to wait half the day means finding little out of the way places but if you look around you will find them, just a lot further down the road than what you planned on. Not far from Naracoorte a pair of riders one on a roadbike and the other on a can am spider decided to get back on the road, they had been stationary on the verge for a few seconds having just overtaken me and some others. So without indicating or looking, they rejoined the road, the guy on the roadbike nearly crapped himself when he saw me and the guy on the spider kept coming out so I had to drift into the oncoming lane, because the spider is nearly as wide as a small car, lucky nothing was coming or it might have been a bit more serious. It pays to be aware all the time not just for what you are doing, you have to watch everyone else as well. Anyway we exchanged gestures and they rode away in the distance, I think if it had been mr Ken Worth things would have been different. I arrived in Mt Gambier to my usual welcome light spitting rain, but I found a good caravan park where I was able to secure a budget room for $45, so no having to pack a wet tent in the morning. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get some happy snaps around the town and puit some more pics in the update. mmm prawns for dinner.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 62

25th october 2012

Today I rode from Mt Gambier SA to Lorne V. It was a long day with the rain and wind a constant pain nearly all the way, forcing me to stop at Warrnambool to buy a jumper from an OP shop, best $5 I have spent yet. I did stop off to take some pictures along the great ocean road. I think it depends on which way you go along the road as to what you get out of the ride. The scenery from say Lorne to Apollo bay is very spectacular, and is a bike riders dream except for the wet road. The touristy lookouts and major picture locations are from Apollo bay onwards. I couldn't stop at all the lookouts and I wore my helmet at most stops as it kept the rain off my head. There were a lot of bikes on the road today most heading to motogp and I was able to keep up with most of the other riders, so adding to my wet weather confidence in my tyres. I was planning to get to geelong today but was so buggered by Lorne "my original destination" I took another cabin accomodation so I could use the heater to dry out my riding gear. I would like another opportunuty to ride the great ocean road but when the road is dry this time. I think I will have to be careful though as it is a motorcycle blackspot. I am only about 3 days from home, so I will have to make sure I keep my concentration up there as I have been a long way with no riding issues, and more rain is forecast for the next two days.

PS. to the guy and lady on the BMW who just had to park between myself and a Buell, you could have said "sorry mate I bumped your mirror and you will have to re-adjust it", thanks moron!

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 63

26th october 2012

Not a bad day for riding today, not much wind and no rain to speak of. The temperatures were a bit cool but with my new jumper i was warm as toast. I set the gopro up to take what pictures of what few kilometres I had left of the great ocean road. Not too many bikes today I suppose most are at the island by now, it will be cold and blowy there. The western ring road makes it possible to go around melbourne city quickly and that is what i did. I turned onto the Hume fwy and made my way to the Tank museum at Pakapunyal Army base. I spent a few hours there wandering around the exhibits. They have about ahundred armored vehicle pieces and the museum is very informative if you are into that sort of thing. Of interest was a display of armor plate that different shells had been fired at, and the amount of penetration by some of those shells. If you join the army don't go into tanks.

I will make it home tomorrow, providing the rain holds off. It will be a big day nearly 600km and nearly brings to an end this adventure. I will take a few days to let the enormity of completing a ride of this magnitude sink in as I have been approaching the ride on a day by day basis. I remember looking at a map at a roadhouse in central western australia "I will remember the name later" and gazing in awe at the huge distance I had covered and that was just in WA. I will marvel at just being able to go to the kitchen and make a cuppa and not have to pay $3.50 for it, or $13.50 for baked beans on toast. Not having to wrestle my food around the floor of the tent, or wrestling the air bed on the ground of a not so level tent site. Having to pay $40 for a single night tent site with power  "Port Augusta", or ants getting into every opened item of food that I had, I suppose I could have eaten the ants.

I'm not home yet and I dont want to curse myself but I wouldn't have missed this for the world. I have not enjoyed every minute of the trip but I have not had a moment where I wanted to stop and just go home. The kawasaki has run like a clock from day one, a small issue with the belly pan but that was my fault, too long a day in the hot sun and a lack of attention to the speed bump.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye for now

Max    

Day 64

27th october 2012

The end. Home at last and to modify a quote from the movie "Babe" "that'l do motorbike, that'l do"

After staying at wangaratta for the night I rose really early and decided to ride all the way home home to wallerawang. Because I wouldn't have to set up camp just get home the 650 km home would be an easy day. Fortunatly the day turned out to be one of the best riding days I had. No issues with wind, rain or temperature. I had an excelent breakfast at Holbrook, the bypass is almost complete and I wonder what will happen when the main highway traffic no longer passes through the town. All along the hume fwy you can see the remants of the old hume highway roadhouses and the desertion of the towns that thrived on the related highway traffic. The major roudhouses along the new fwy "BP, Shell and Caltex" are the only ones who will benefit.  So there is not really much to say about the ride home although I did have to come to a near stop to allow a kangaroo time to clear off back into the scrub.

I will do a further update to this trip when I compile all the statistics together. All up I travelled 15946km and apart from a few minor issues with the bike the kawasaki ZZR600 E13 didn't miss a beat. I have to give Kawaski a big wrap for this bike, it is a shame they no longer make this model, this bike is the perfect sports tourer for a smaller rider like myself. I think the final fuel comsumption figures will be about 4.1 litres per 100km.

This will not be the end of this site. I will be doing further adventures and intend to add seperate pages to cover these adventures, So keep visiting the site and I hope to add another adventure before the year is out. As the plan for this next adventure gets closer I will give some clues as to the subject.

A big thank you to all who visited the site to check my progress and I hope the site provided some enjoyment to you. This is my first attempt at a web site and your feedback will be welcomed.

feel free to email comments to bigmacs1960@gmail.com

bye til the next adventure

Martin "Max" Williams