The trip continues

26/9/19

I am there at the Ayers Rock campground. For the rest of today I'm gunna have a rest. I lucked a good spot with some shade from the arvo onwards and its too hot to do anything much else.

So i set my tent up, wandered over to the servo and got some snacks and drinks.

I had a really good free camp last night, there were a few trucks that were noisy but mostly I slept well. I took some pictures from the dry river bed in the morning, then began to pack up getting on the road fairly early.

Stopping at Erldunda to fuel up and do the last 244 km to the campground was entertaining. Huge line ups on the bowsers, the busiest being for diesel. It was more luck than good driving that there were no accidents.

The last leg of the trip here was relativly easy, my backside has got used to the long days ride. I stopped at Mt Ebenezer, but the place has long since been deserted and ransacked. Here and there through the rest stops and it was plain to see, how many people were free camping as close as they could get to the rock.

I spent a fair bit of the time at the camp kitchen, a mostly good setup, but limited power outlets so charging phones and ipads need to be managed as there are others wanting to do the same. Listening to the other campers and Most of the conversations are all about climbing to the top.

Funny watching the travelling pack turn up. Mostly been driving hard all day, get here late and expect the perfect spot has been left all day just for them. When its in the sun or a dusty spot they snort and swear and tear off at speed trying to outdo the next traveller to try their luck. 

Tomorrow I will go to the rock and see if the climb is open.

Max

27/9/19

I'm just going to let the pictures tell the story.

29/9/19

Cant seem to get a really good break from the wind. I left Ayers Rock early to keep out of the heat. By the look of the sky, I thought I may have gotten a little rain on the way to Kulgera. The wind was back to its worst by Curtin Springs, but Im used to it now. There is nothing new to photograph but I do have a couple of snaps. The traffic is busy going to the rock, but not as busy as I expected. There are some huge vans being towed here and there and they maybe getting more trouble from the wind than I am. More huge lines waiting for diesel at Erdunda, but I got straight onto the unleaded pump, which is really handy. I arrived at Kulgera and cooled down in my air con donger room. The pub here seems busy and as usual there are aboriginal dot painting exhibits along with the artists. I didnt check the prices out, maybe tomorrow morning. So not much of an update today, but Im on the Stuart highway heading home. I have very limited wifi here, so I may post the pictures up tomorrow from Coober Pedy.

Max

30/9/19

Made it to Coober Pedy before the extreme heat of the day. I left Kulgera and the sky had the look of I might get a little rain on the way. I could smell the rain on road but I never got any spits on myself till about Marla. Being on the cooler side made for an easy run of 180km to Marla with the only differences from the normal scrubby vegetation was the amount of abandoned cars. Seems to be more along this stretch of the Stuart highway. There were heaps of car caravan combinations heading to the rock, is my guess and again most travelling in convoy. Marla hasn't changed much over the years, I've been here on quite a few occasions, but its a busy stop over point for most travellers heading this way. The last 238 km into Coober Pedy and the cloud had disappeared and up goes the temp but only to about 32. I stopped at one roadside rest area, it had a carport type cover and tables, but it was very warm and there was nowhere to escape the conditions and rest up. So back on the bike for the last 73 km into Coober Pedy. I booked into my room at the big4 caravan park, turned the air con up, had a shower and hunkered down till about half 3 then ventured into the town proper to get some pics and take in the atmosphere. There were a few arguments going on, mostly about access to alcohol, but it was only between the locals. While they are mostly harmless, it would be intimidating to families walking the streets exploring. 

So tonight Im all fuelled up and ready for tomorrow. Only a short ride but when Pimba didn't answer ph calls for accomodation, I decided to stay at Glendambo. I only have two more nights in South oz then I will be back in nsw. Nearly home, I just have to keep focused and my fatigue levels under control.

I am not sure on network coverage for tomorrow, so if there is no update then I will fix that at Peterborough the next night.

Max

1/10/19

Not much to write about today. Only a short ride to Glendambo, a small haven in the wilderness. I had 2 planned stops today, the first one was the best. Ingomar rest area was set on the side of a huge depression in the land. At the rock cairn being on elevated ground, the view stretched seemingly forever. I only stopped here for a drink and happy snaps and being able to get the bike under the awning helped too.

Second stop was at Bon Bon rest area, here i cooked up a rough meal and rested for about an hour. Again, my friend the wind was making its presence felt. I did manage to avoid a dust storm, just when I though this is gunna be dicey, a break through one end of the storm gave me the opportunity to make a quick getaway.

I spoke to a fellow in Coober Pedy this morning, he had hit a emu just outside Glendambo about 4 in the arvo, there were still feathers in the wheel rim, did a lot of damage too. So I though I had be more vigilant coming into the town.

So I made it to Glendambo and booked into my room. I was reading a flyer in the progress association shed and it stated that during sept to october 5 the defence department would be closing the Stuart highway at times for tests on the Woomera Prohibited Area, some of the stoppages for up to 12 hours. Now they tell me, I had no contingency plan for that, not that it happened but it could have. The menu at the pub looks great and with only 250km of the Stuart highway to go, I think I might have a drink or two plus a meal, bring on 6pm.

Tomorrow on to Peterborough and I will update from there,

Happy travelling, Max

2/10/19

I left Glendambo for the last 260km of the Stuart highway into Port Augusta. As usual the wind blew all the way, but at least sometimes it appeared to be coming from directly behind, so it wasnt all bad. Some of the country I rode through was the most sparsely vegetated so far, so I didnt have to worry much about animals straying onto the road. 

I did see a motorcycle copper heading north, just near Pimba. We waved to each other as most motorcyclists do, god knows where he was going and he had the wind to tend with as well. The cops normally travel in pairs but this bloke was on his own. 

I had ridden into Woomera, simply because I could and I wanted to see if there had been any significant changes over the past 10 or so years. The entire town appears to be deserted but after a while you notice cars in driveways, the streets are clean and there are still some scientist type people doing testing. Its an interesting place but I didnt have the time to explore properly.

Arriving in Port Augusta and in all the times I have been here, I could not say ive had good weather in Port Augusta, its either windy and hot or windy and cold. I fuelled the bike and myself and then rode off back out of civilisation towards Peterborough. The highlight of the ride being a chance to test the edge grip of the tyres on Horrocks Pass, only a few km's but nice and twisty. The hills had a nice greenish tinge to them, but I dont know if the drought is having much effect, I suppose the whole country could do with some rain. 

Arriving in Peterborough, I booked into motel then went foraging. The hotel Cathy and myself had a meal at when we passed through here on our way round australia is now closed. The old federation hotel is closed and probably wont reopen, not enough clientele and probably not enough younger people living in the town to make a pub a profitable business, shame about that.

Overall it was a good ride today, lots of scenic spots, some bendy bits and heading into civilisation, even if only for brief time.

Tomorrow I will be back in nsw and with the long weekend approaching I will have to be careful of the boys in blue and keep a careful eye on my speed.

3/10/19

Its down to the last few days now, I am back in nsw. 

Tonight I am at the Warrawong on the Darling caravan park at Wilcannia. They are doing some good stuff here, but the drought is not helping.

Back to the begining of today, I woke early enough and headed off to Broken Hill. I just couldnt settle on the bike for about an hour and a half. Too many emus, roos and goats made for a nervy ride. I stopped at Yunta and Mannahill, two of the small towns along the railway route. These towns would have been thriving some years ago, the steam trains needed water and cars and trucks didnt have the huge fuel tanks of todays vehicles. Olary was a complete ghost town and Cockburn on the border, I did not see a single person, although the town did seem to still have some inhabitants. True to form by the time I got to Broken Hill the wind had returned with a vengance, that combined with mid to high 30's heat, I just refuelled the bike and returned to the ride. I intended to stop at Little Topar roadhouse for lunch. I had settled down into the ride by then and the km's seemed to pass quickly. I stopped for lunch "Topar" and decided to take food "steak sangers" from there with me to Warrawong caravan park as on thursday they dont do meals. They must have had some rain here recently as some of the paddocks and roadside were the greenest ive seen. I had seen 2 nsw highway patrol vehicles today, one at Cockburn the other at "Topar" so I think they are getting ready for tomorrow and the weekend. Again not much to photograph today, I just enjoyed the scenery today, Its very hard to capture the essence of the country from a motorcycle, buy I'm having a great time anyway.

Till tomorrow

Max

4/10/19

Nearly home, only about 360 km to go. It was a good day for riding, nice and cool until about 11:30. I rode back into Wilcannia and took some pictures, looks like the town has some cleanup program happening, so things are looking up. There is not much water under the bridge and no flow at all is happening. The road has quite a few "bends" and is now starting to undulate, providing an increased level of interest. There were a lot of goats on the verges, but they seem traffic savvy and I couldnt get close enough for any pictures, but I still have to be careful of the little goats. Lots of emus along the way and I noticed that a few stock dams had water in them.

I stopped in Nyngan for a leisurely lunch before the final 90 km into Trangie.

Trangie seems to be doing ok, there are 3 pubs and 2 clubs and they are all open. Not much else apart from the IGA but there is a good pizzeria on the end of one pub. The room I took was basic but clean and functional, just what I needed for my last night of the trip.

Hopefully I will be home early tomorrow and It will be a treat not to have to prepare for another day riding to get somewhere. I hope the police dont give me a hard time, I'm sure they will be around somewhere, just have to beware of my speed.

Till tomorrow

Max

5/10/19

Finally home, 6650km most of it with cross winds. As usual the bike went like a well built clock. 

The last day started out with overcast and I thought I may have got some rain, but apart from a spit here and there the trip home was dry. I stopped in Dubbo to refuel and I knew this would get me home easily to lithgow. I only stopped in two locations on the way home. The first location at the bridge over the Macquarie river at Wellington and there seems to be a reasonable amount of water here considering Burrendong dam is close to empty. The second was at the Larras Lee rest stop. The Bell river is in close proximity to the stop, so I walked down to the river banks to take my pictures, there is good water flowing here and would probably make a good free camp site.

Other than that for a long weekend I only saw two roadside police actions and one of these at Bathurst was packing up and going to maccas. There was an increase in traffic from Wellington through to Lithgow and all seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, but I didnt see anyone do anything silly for the whole trip, except one incident near Mt Isa.

In summing up, apart from the wind, this trip went without issues. Staying in motels and donger rooms provides a better rest and faster recuperations and not having to setup and pull down a campsite each night gives more time for riding, especially in the cool of the mornings. You just dont get the same levels of social interaction with other travellers that you get when camping. I did enjoy the free camp at Finke River, just something about the quiet solitude. There are some good food stops to be found, but they really need lessons in making a proper cuppa tea.

Till my next trip

Martin "Max" Williams signing off.