Wide Nose Adventures Rides Again

13/8/19

I apologise for such a long delay in updating this web site. Cathy and myself have been very busy with our new home and farm. We have built sheds, horse houses, chicken coops, fences, painting all sorts of things to make life enjoyable.

we traveled to Tasmania earlier in the year with the trusty prado, kayaks and caravan. Unfortunately we only had one little dog Josie to accompany us. Our feisty companion Fonzie passed away following a long battle with a heart issue. 

So after many months of work Max will ride again. I have choosen to ride to Ayers Rock via bourke, mt isa, tennant ck then home via port augusta and broken hill. I have not riden this part of the stuart highway and the call of the outback beckons. 

I will camp for some of the trip, but old age and footy injuries are catching up so I will motel a fair percentage of the trip as well.

As usual my trusty steed will be my 2003 ZZR 600. 

Stay tuned for more updates

Max

15/9/19

My preparations are all complete. I only have to pack the last of the equipment on the bike and wait till mid week. I went for a small ride yesterday to get familiar with riding again. All felt really good and the bike feels strong as usual. I havnt been on the bike for some months. Work has been a pain in the proverbial. My new bluetooth helmet speakers work perfectly. They are from USA "3E" brand. They bluetooth from any device via a control mounted on the left hand handle bar to the head phones. Not ear phones as previous. I think i will be able to keep the head banging music going all day long now. 

The plan is to get going about 8am on Wednesday, day 1, and ride west to Nyngan via bathurst, orange dubbo. Its only about 420km, but I think at my age thats about far enough. I only have two planned camps for the entire trip and they will be Finke River Rest Area and Ayers Rock campground itself. I am fortunate enough to be able to motel a big percentage of this trip. Im not sure if my body can handle wrestling food and living in a tent on road trips any more. I will see how this trip pans out, maybe i can still camp on air mattresses and then ride 500 km a day. The days are getting warmer quickly, so I will have to keep hydrated. Because of motelling most of the trip, I will be able to spend more time getting from point a to point b, so more pictures and more commentary.

Talk to you all again on day one from Nyngan.

Max

17/9/19

One day to go and its 6:30am. On the weekend i was wearing shorts working on my tan. Now this. Its supposed to stop later today.

18/9/2019

Day 1 is complete. 420km today and the trip start was looking very bleak. I woke up to nearly the worst conditions possible, mIsty rain, wind gusts up to 50kmh and a temp of 6deg combined to make the trip start an exercise in anxiety. Within the distance to get from Lithgow to Bathurst about 50km the rain had stopped and the day had warmed up to 16deg. By the time I arrived at the outskirts of Orange condition were great for riding motorcycles. I had wind most of the day, but by Dubbo the gusts had dropped off nearly completely, so today was a really good start. I didnt take many pics today, mostly because I am familiar with this area and dont want to bore you too much. 

I stopped for lunch at Geurie general store, Cath and myself had been there before and they always do good burgers and such and i wasnt let down. A burger with the lot soon had me fuelled up and back on the road again. Road conditions were good and I made good time through Dubbo and on to Narromine where I stopped at the Aviation museum for a visit. This base was for the RAAF no 2 Elementary Flying School during WW2 and graduated 2850 pilots, including Charles "Bud" Tingwell. The museum is well maintained and the exhibits are well worth the visit. Amazing that after the war ended a Mosquito fighter bomber could be purchased for 35 pounds, mostly bought by local farmers because they were still full of fuel. These planes would be priceless in todays warbird community. And two Rolls Royce Merlin engines in each one.

I left narromine and turned on the headphone music and just cruised into Nyngan, my first day's travel complete. As usual the bike is running nice and easy, the new brake pads all bedded in and stopping power feels better.

Just west of Nevertire is one of australia's largest solar power farms. Covering 180 hectares and generating 132 mw it will be connected into the grid and was supposed to be ready by quarter 1, 2019. So should be online now. Im not sure if its finished but there were a lot of cars there.

The motel room is comfortable and the Australian pub is just down the road a few blocks, so I went there for dinner. The meals are tasty and well priced and I think the best place to go in Narromine.

I only saw one emu today, I admit, I was expecting to see more of the local wildlife, not a kangaroo in sight. They must have got a bit of the rain that Lithgow received as there was some water to be seen on the roadside drains and some paddocks had a greenish tinge to them, but they will need a lot more to break the drought. The Bell river seemed to have a fair amount of water in it, around Molong area.

Plan for tomorrow is 8am start and ride to Cunnamulla qld. I hope all goes like it did today, except for the rain, wind and cold.

Max

19/9/19

Tonight I am safely in Cunnamulla qld. Its been a mostly great ride today. The last 90km, so from about 2 pm there was only hot air coming into the helmet, so it got a little warmish. I rode about 460 km today, tomorrow is only 400 so I should get to Blackall before the heat of the day. The road from Nyngan to Bourke is not too bad for straight road, but it undulates for most of the 200 km. Along the way it follows the old railway lines. This railway is smashed, a lot of wash outs, trees growing between the rails and the sleepers have rotted away. Its a shame all the man hours building this railway infrastructure are now gone forever. I did notice, that on the railway lines, text was rolled into the rails with maybe the date of 1884 as part of the manufacturers credentials. A small truck followed me from Nyngan till not far from Bourke. I did notice that he stopped along the way at the small community post offices, he may do the mail run along this road. Most of the towns between Nyngan and Bourke would have been vitally important at one stage, now with the advent of large fuel tanks for cars and trucks plus the demise of the railway, these towns are deserted. Must have been a sight back in the steam locomotive days where the locos would have taken on water for the boilers.

I stopped at the trig marker at a roadside stop. This forms one end of a datum line used in mapping western NSW. A huge job back in those days. From Bourke through to Cunnamulla the road had a few more bends but nothing that needed any brakes. I did see a lot of emus along this bit but they didnt come anywhere near the road. I stopped about 60km north of Bourke and had a good lunch of noodles and black tea. Not in the same mug, but when your hungry I probably would have eaten it even if it was in the same mug. It was a good break for half hour and the new cooking gear worked flawlessly.

So on to Cunnamulla and I arrived here about 3pm. It was a bit of a lonely ride, not much traffic, just enough to give some hope that in the event of a breakdown, I wont be stranded at the roadside for long.

Thats all for today, but check out the pictures.

Max

20/9/19

Day 3. Long day today, 502 km and battling the wind all the way. Gusts of 50 kmh are a little shakey, but nothing too serious. The worst is getting dust in the eyes. Still all went well. First stop for the day was at the general store / post office at Wyandra. I got a cuppa here just to keep me going until Charleville. Nice little shop, had a lot of retro style good. Next was on to the site of the Angellala Bridge memorial about 27 km south of Charleville. On the night of sept 5, 2014 a truck carrying 52 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate crashed off the bridge, in the ensuing fire the truck exploded and completely demolished the road, road bridge and rail bridge. No one was killed in the accident, but more from good luck than anything else. I had a good look around here and a break from the wind was welcome. Then on to Charleville and by now the day was warming up. 

A quick bacon and egg roll, fuel top up and onto hopefully somewhere near Augathella for lunch. Unfortunately the road side rest area had no tables, so I road off towards Tambo. I found a good rest area about 25 km south of Tambo, stopped and had my lunch there, again noodles and tea. Happy again I rested here taking in the sight and sounds of outback highways before resuming the ride. I refuelled again at Tambo and not far out of town came across the 3rd wrecked car for the day, but this one was the only one where I could get off the road to take a pic.

Tonight I am in Blackall, not feeling too weary, I think the motel accomodation is having the desired results, nice and restful after another hot, windy day.

A short day tomorrow, I am looking forward to that.

Max

21/9/19

Day 4. Tonight im in Winton as planned. Been a short day for km's but the wind gusts were severe, combined with 35 deg heat and im feeling a little second hand tonight. I spent most of the morning playing dodge the tumble weeds, not fun because you cant see them until they contrast against the road surface, then its nearly too late. It dosnt matter that much, the weeds are brittle and shatter on impact, but its probably not good to hit them. I will be resorting to watering myself down when the heat of the day gets too much from here on that should help.

Barcaldine was very quiet this morning and the wind was still increasing so I rode off towards Longreach.

I went to the Qantas founders museum again. They have some newer displays like gas turbine engines and such. Well worth the visit and it will be better when the roof project is completed. They are going to build a roof over the jumbo jet, the boeing 707 and the super constellation. Its just too hot up here to be comfortable out of the shade. I rode off to a roadside stop about 30 km west of the town. While I was waiting for the water to boil, 2 people showed up on push bikes. Helena and Oliver from germany were riding from Darwin to Brisbane. They said they were about halfway and were going to head to rockhampton and then turn south. We chatted and ate our lunches and must have spent easy an hour at the rest stop. We exchanged pictures and web site details and then went our seperate ways. The temp was up to 35 by now and i had 140 km still to go in the hottest part of the day. I had my last rest stop 30km from Winton, drank all my remaining water and had a nanny nap. This is not so easy up here. Some of the stopping spots do not have shade hopefully tomorrow I will start early and try to get to Mt Isa before the heat of the day.

Talk to you all tomorrow night

Max

22/9/19

Today started off really good. The sparrows must have eaten baked beans last night for dinner cause the results are what woke me this morning. I was packed up and was riding by 7, there was no wind except for the sparrows. So I made really good time to Kyuna 170 km, I took a few happy snaps then thought I will refuel at Mackinlay. Not a big mistake cause I knew if i kept the speed at 90-100 kmh I could make it to Cloncurry, just. I pulled up at the servo, but its not a servo now, just a sort of an australia post closed office and a self serve system for fuel. The fellow trying to get diesel was doing his banana. The machine was taking the money, resetting the pump, but not supplying any fuel. He had done $200 and there is nowhere else to get fuel. He wandered off the the Walkabout Creek Hotel and some old bloke there gave him some diesel to get him to Julia Creek. I was talking to another bloke who just arrived with his car and caravan. We all got to talking and he ended up giving me some fuel to make sure I would get to Cloncurry, thanks Ian. So there you go, nothing to worry about. Dont trust the servo at Mackinlay for a fuel stop. I rode off and stopped at a great rest stop north of Mackinlay, made a cuppa and had a snack. My food system is working well. On to Cloncurry to top up the fuel grab some food and beat it. The day was heating up but I made Mount Isa just after 1:30. Great to get a ride in with no wind and temperature under 34, I made hay while the sun shone. I got some pics of proper wild camels, first ones I've seen and I did see a thin dead snake on the road. About 4:30 I'm gunna walk to the lookout and take some pictures. I will finish posting the pics tonight.

Tomorrow I will be in the NT, hopefully another good day for riding.

Max

23/9/19

Another nice early start just on 7 am and I made good time to Camooweal. I think the town was awake, but you could have nearly stolen the entire town and no one would notice. A refuel here also confirmed that I would easily make it to the Barkly Homestead, some 260km to the west. The temperature was lower today due to cloud cover and some wind had made its presence felt, but it seemed to be coming from behind more that the sides, so It didn't ruin the ride. There is not much to take pictures of, so todays blog will be a bit shortish. I made the obligatory stop at the border, with my roadside stop planned for Avon Downs rest area and police station. I ate in relative peace here, the traffic was a bit light, but beggars cant be choosers. The police station looked deserted, no noise, no people. It wasn't until I walked across the road that I saw about 4 police cars in the yard. The station could still have been deserted, but cars there would put risk in any attempt at break ins. The only interesting things along this part of the ride are the attempts to decorate the termite mounds with articles of clothing. I didn't get a picture yet, but there are still plenty of km's to go. I passed wrecked car number 1 million, I suppose they gather them all from the roadside eventually.

So tonight I am at the Barkly Homestead, at least I'm in the correct state now. A good feed at the only eatery here and I should be able to get another early start tomorrow. At least the legal speed limit is 130, This speed doesn't seem to greatly influence fuel consumption and now there are more servos closer together.

Till tomorrow

Max

24/9/19

Day 7

I woke early and by 6 the wind had risen again. I wasn't looking forward to the days trip length of over 500km with huge winds. Luckily the wind didn't really become an issue, I think the closeness of the bush to the road helps block some of the gusts. I made good time to the Sturt highway at the Three Ways and they are upgrading the intersection to a safer turn off. Just as I got there it started to rain. The rain is fine as long as the wind stays calm and I refuelled at Tennant Creek. The wind was now more head on which makes it easier to handle. The locals here have been doing a huge cleanup and to their credit the place is looking really great. With the threat of rain at anytime I didnt dawdle and rode off till I stopped at Devils Marbles again, I didnt stay very long, but it still a fantastic place to visit. Next was a fuel top up at Wauchope, here I met Jimmy and Phil, two locals just hanging around, I think maybe for alcohol sales time, but what can you do. I also stopped at the Wycliffe Well dragstrip. The site of local unrest during Cathy and myselfs trip to the northwest some years ago. Nothing seems to have changed much, just a small group of caravaners, the drag strip cleaned for the matinee performance and the blue car seemed familiar. Being able to do 130kmh up here makes for quick times between places and before long I had also stopped at Bonney Creek well site, I will google up some more info on the significance of this place, but it seems they tried to put a well here to provide a permanent watering station at some stage. The temperature had been dropping since Tennant Creek and before long was well below 18 deg. I was getting cold so decided to stop at Barrow Creek for a hot pie, tea and put some warmer clothes on. Just on the outskirts of town was a highway patrol doing speed checks, honest max never breaks the law so he had no chance of catching me and I stopped at Barrow Creek. I had originally planned to stay here overnight, but my phone calls went unanswered and I eventually opted to stay at Ti Tree. Sometimes Im glad thats how things work out. About 30 km from Ti Tree the heavens opened the temp plunged to 11 and the last part of the ride was somewhat cold and wet, but you get that with motorcycling. I booked into the room and turned the heater on, mainly to dry out wet gear for tomorrow.

I am now about halfway along the trip in km's. I will soon be at the rock and I will spent 3 nights here. I need a break from riding each day. The ride days will get shorter from here until I get to western nsw on the way home, but thats another story for later in the site updates.

And I did manage to get some pictures of the termite mound decoraters exhibits, top stuff!!

Stay tuned for more updates

86 out!

25/9/19

Day 8.

Tonight as I write todays blog, I'm sitting in my tent at the Finke River Rest Area, about 35km south of Stuarts Well. I had planned to do a free camp somewhere and this spot was a logical choice. I have a nice spot under some trees, there are other campers here, so safety in numbers. Yesterdays rain and wind have stirred up a little hay fever, but some drugs have taken care of that. 

With today only being about 330km, I didnt have to leave Ti Tree early. I had a decent  breakfast there and headed off towards Alice Springs, making good time. I stopped there, but not for long, If you want to know Alice Springs then a few pictures will not capture it. I did get a few pics of a spot I hadnt photographed before. 

I rode off to a roadside stop area for lunch and when I arrived, the coppers were there doing roadside drug tests and vehicle inspections for drugs. I set my self down for lunch and the cops were quite interested in my travels and they didnt hassle me at all. Just as I was getting ready to go a greyhound bus was pulled over. Out came the drug dog and was let loose in the bus. Funny that, a labrador going over a greyhound, still the dog found 2 people trying to take some drugs somewhere. So the cops nabbed em, right in front of me. Obviously I took a few pics and then cleared off towards Stuart Well. 

Last time we were at Stuarts Well, we stayed with camel farm owner Neil Waters, but he sold the place, now the farm looks deserted. I stopped to get some supplies for the free camp and so now I am at the rest stop. I put the tent up, made my bed and promptly fell asleep so I will get my pictures in the cool of the morning. I am glad that at last I'm doing a proper free camp. Its a good atmosphere here tonight, listening to a family interacting with each other.

I have no internet here so I will post this tomorrow from Ayers Rock.