THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES ( the DJ's in Ozzi)

[ducatijim]

The next 2 days will be devoted to getting back up to the Territory and liberating 'darkie' from her dungeon!
Its double stress for me as it is Ducatijoolz birthday the day we arrive up in Darwin and I will be required to arrange something suitable no doubt!
So, my shout at Shenannigans from 1900 Thursday.....c u there?
Friday will be another stress filled day with getting Darkie running after a 60 days rest as I know the battery goes down slowly, still, have packed an old set of jumper leads that I can chuck once shes going:stupid:
On my little map of our first 3 days on the road:
Red is Saturday morning into Litchfield NP,
Blue is a squiz at some shit in the NP,will camp out here somewhere.
Most of purple is dirt as we head back to the Stuart,
Green is a bit unknown, but dirt and:
Yellow is all dirt and quite remote in places( good chance to see wild stuff)
Camping again near Jabiru.
Orange is the start of the 1700km 'transport' stage down to the Alice!

I'm unsure of my qualifications to call this an adventure, you see, we don't wear peaks!:laugh: But we will regale you from time to time with just whats happening up here and how good the biking is( even if it don't class as adventure!!):doh:

Be in touch soon.
Jamie.

[Waihou Thumper]

Will watch with interest and I cannot belive you are going to put yourself through more self abuse with Darkie.....:eek:
AND, I don't wanna hear any more war stories about fuel woes....:no:
Have fun out there....

[clint640]

Jeez, ya can't keep away from Oz for long can ya? :laugh:

There's lots of neat stuff to see around there. The Stuart highway is pretty straight & flat all the way to Alice, but there is a surprising amount of stuff to see & do on the way.

Have a good one
Clint

[Bass]

I'm unsure of my qualifications to call this an adventure, you see, we don't wear peaks!:laugh: But we will regale you from time to time with just whats happening up here and how good the biking is( even if it don't class as adventure!!):doh:

Be in touch soon.
Jamie.

Ah mate, looking at that map brings a heap of memories flooding back and thoughts of "next time".

I hope the weather behaves itself for you guys.
Looking at the box last night, Darwin was 34 degrees and raining. Still, it's cooler than when we were last there, but no rain then.
What was it you were saying about your heat/humidity tolerance?

More importantly, I have been out there selling tickets to your latest stoush with Oscar. I just need you to keep it all in one thread and I will make a killing, OK?
If you co-operate, I might even cut you in for some of the action.

[MXNUT]

More importantly, I have been out there selling tickets to your latest stoush with Oscar......

What odds are you giving Bass, and in whose favor :spanking::jerry:

[Bass]

What odds are you giving Bass, and in whose favor :spanking::jerry:

Too close to call, so evens at the moment.

However, things may change over the next few days. 34 degrees and 100% humidity should get Jamie really grumpy and give him an edge.

[NordieBoy]

I'm unsure of my qualifications to call this an adventure, you see, we don't wear peaks!:laugh:

I dunno....

Without peaks it's just riding between pubs.

[Oscar]

I dunno....

Without peaks it's just riding between pubs.

Look, I found the helmet with the flexible peak I wanted...

[Waihou Thumper]

:love: share it.....BUT, funny....I like it...:Police:

[That looks like fun]

Quick look at the old score board...... :shifty:

[Waihou Thumper]

Oscar is ahead by a peak....Just....Coz Jimmy has been quiet.....
Wait for it though, by tomorrow morning there will be an explosion of expletives and humour....:soon:
Wish I could peak into the future on this one!
AND I would write more but I am feeling a little Peaky....:(

[Bass]

Oscar is ahead by a peak....Just....Coz Jimmy has been quiet.....


Dropped them off at the airport this morning - 4 a.m. bugger.
So they are under way - Sydney, Adelaide and Darwin tonight. That is if the dust cloud lets them into Sydney.

He hadn't seen it, so I warned him that I had hijacked his thread just a little. Normal service may resume this evening.
On the other hand, it's Julie's birthday today and so he may have other priorities.

[Bass]

I dunno....

Without peaks it's just riding between pubs.

Hoi!!!!
Two onto one, not fair!!
(Right or wrong has absolutely no bearing on the matter)

[That looks like fun]

All is quiet, have we peaked to soon :confused:

Peaked to soon, get, huh huh, oh I slay me, show mercy :2guns:

[ducatijim]

All is quiet, have we peaked to soon :confused:

Peaked to soon, get, huh huh, oh I slay me, show mercy :2guns:

Hahahah bloody ha.:2guns:

I have had other problems to cause me to feel a wee bit peakish. Like 11 hrs spent waiting round yesterday!
3 hours xtra spent in Orks cause yesterdays aircrew worked later than planned because of Syds dust, and could not return to duty in time for our flyte. Missed our connector ex Syds then, so were rescheduled on a direct to Darwin at 8 last nite. Got to our digs at 0100 local, 0330 nz, 24.5 hrs after we left the divine comfort of chez Baxteur.

Now I know wot an adventure is!:Offtopic:

I felt that for sure with a start like that, today would be shit. It almost was too......got to the lockup and found Darkie, dusted her off, she was pleased to see me I think, but wouldn't turn over inspite of the lite going quite well....hmmmm.
Covers off and the old jumper lead I took was duely attached....still a nice lite and no starter,......just needs some time on the jumper me thinx? Havn a wee squizz around I happens to notice the kill switch is off, I didn't leave it like that but the gang here had done a relocation for me and maybe bumped it??....however, that corected and she was into life!:doh:
My expected delivery of a 'liquid containments' 12L bladder had not arrived in spite of my best laid plans.....bugger! Then the nice lady who runs the place comes round with a parcel and says this is for you....Hoorah.
Back to the digs and start trying to find a spot for the kitchen sink, just behind the makeup mirror beside the hairdryer will do just fine. Don't know where the bladder will go if it is full, I know where mine feels best!, still, we can make that up as we go along its a wee while before we need that much reserve.

Oh man is it hot and steamy here? Bass, your weather man is wrong, as I knew him to be, there has been no rain here yet but the build up is about a month early, so after 5 minutes out and about, you feel like youve been caught in a downpour! We will suffer. Count on that.

Off to Litchfield tomorrow, just a short day to ease into it, 140-170km abouts, want to get outta hair ( like the brazillian, remember?) before 0700 in morning and get to a nice, shadey campsite beside a nice waterhole before the sun gets too high, and spend the arvo 'acclimatizing'. Pity there is no room for beer, but DJoolz says we must eat. Bugger. Well, must go and finish taking onboard the next 2 nites worth of beer now, have fun you buggers.

Jamie

[Taz]

Bass has just gone to bed. We be tackling the 42nd tomorrow. a few more tui's and I'll be off to bed too. Have fun Ducatijim :)

[ducatijim]

I think I made the wrong choice of saturday ride this weekend. We left Darwin just after 7 and it was stinking humidity and hot- the humidity maxes early in the morning and burns off later in the day,not so bad when riding thou( for now!).
The roads and tracks are quite now, the nomads have all headed south for the summer, like bloody geese eh, and all thats left are a few locals and some bloody slack-packers making everywhere untidy.
But the nomads have left their mark(s) well and truely- our first bit of dirt road into Litchfield is just slaughtered with corogations. Oh and now....its bloody hot!
Jumped into the pool at Wangi falls, along with 50 other bloody tourists in 'wicked' shit heaps...they came in the sealed way I guess....like most sane folk would( did I give them a compliment there?). From there the real adventure was to begin- poked my nose down the 4x4 track we were going to take down to Daly river- it was just 2 sand filled wheel ruts sunk about 8-10" lower than the surrounding terrain. We bailed on that 1.
Slunk off to some other tourist spots, termite mounds you know, that kinda stuff, oh and some more falls, before saying lets find a camp.
Found the shittiest spot in NT I tell you, stunk of bat shit from the colony we discovered nearby as it got dark....thats why all the flys were around in every oriface and your food too. What a dump. Slunk outta there about 6ish next morning, oh right, today I mean.
Did about 180km of tracks and dirt roads today, all fan-bloody-tastic, and while it was hotter, 38', the humidity is much lower out in Kakadu than around Darwin...thank goodness, and we found a really nice campground in Jabiru so that altogeather made up for a shit start yesterday I think.
I didn't feel PEAKY at all today either, so I must be getting over it, thanks for the thoughts and kind wishes!!!!
Tomorrow? well I am off to soak in some radioactivity, I think?:doh:
Pix coming as soon as I get the camera charged!
J

[Triwi]

DJ
how do you rate the front suspension of the 990 on the corrugations? My utmost respect to your wife.
cheers
triwi

[drbandit]

I think I made the wrong choice of saturday ride this weekend. We left Darwin just after 7 and it was stinking humidity and hot- the humidity maxes early in the morning and burns off later in the day,not so bad when riding thou( for now!).
The roads and tracks are quite now, the nomads have all headed south for the summer, like bloody geese eh, and all thats left are a few locals and some bloody slack-packers making everywhere untidy.
But the nomads have left their mark(s) well and truely- our first bit of dirt road into Litchfield is just slaughtered with corogations. Oh and now....its bloody hot!
Jumped into the pool at Wangi falls, along with 50 other bloody tourists in 'wicked' shit heaps...they came in the sealed way I guess....like most sane folk would( did I give them a compliment there?). From there the real adventure was to begin- poked my nose down the 4x4 track we were going to take down to Daly river- it was just 2 sand filled wheel ruts sunk about 8-10" lower than the surrounding terrain. We bailed on that 1.
Slunk off to some other tourist spots, termite mounds you know, that kinda stuff, oh and some more falls, before saying lets find a camp.
Found the shittiest spot in NT I tell you, stunk of bat shit from the colony we discovered nearby as it got dark....thats why all the flys were around in every oriface and your food too. What a dump. Slunk outta there about 6ish next morning, oh right, today I mean.
Did about 180km of tracks and dirt roads today, all fan-bloody-tastic, and while it was hotter, 38', the humidity is much lower out in Kakadu than around Darwin...thank goodness, and we found a really nice campground in Jabiru so that altogeather made up for a shit start yesterday I think.
I didn't feel PEAKY at all today either, so I must be getting over it, thanks for the thoughts and kind wishes!!!!
Tomorrow? well I am off to soak in some radioactivity, I think?:doh:
Pix coming as soon as I get the camera charged!
J
So this is how you are getting in more practice for down south! Weather here bad.. Who needs a DR.
Have a great time.......

[ducatijim]

DJ
how do you rate the front suspension of the 990 on the corrugations? My utmost respect to your wife.
cheers
triwi

I dunno m8, have never done well setting front suspensions, just don't seem to get it!
I have the rear so that even with 450kg approx auw, she will glide over most coros afrom about 60kph+. The front gives more 'feedback' than I would like at these speeds but I really have no idea(?) what adjustments to make so I leave it alone....wife would go ballistic if I was to be stopping and playing with the suspenders with any frequency as it is just too damn hot to be stationary( actually too damn hot even to be riding-we have seen low 40's today and saturday)
Yeah, wifey needs a medal, or she should have made a more careful choice of husband when she had the chance! I am getting a bit tired of folk looking at what we are doing and you can see sympathy in their eyes when they talk to DJoolz, and loathing when they talk to me!!!:argh:

Just had a 'seal' day today; Ubirr to Katherine-about 380km-but didn't get underway till after midday as I had to go and get irradiated first, then we rode from Jabiru out to Ubirr to see the wetlands from on top of the rock there.

Next 2 days are 'transport' stages- tomorrow to Tennant creek then wednesday on to the Alice for a couple of days. Will be later in the week before we go 'bush' again with trips out to both the East MacDonnell ranges and the West MacDonnell ranges and on to Ulurru. I guess we will shake off the humidity down there and the temps should be below the 40's, just!!:beer:

Oh well, bed calls and who am I to refuse? Nightynite NZ.

j

[Bass]

I had to go and get irradiated first,

I'd be interested to know more about whatever primary processing they do at the Ranger, when you get back


to Tennant creek then wednesday j

Say hi to Keith for us

[ducatijim]

Say hi to Keith for us

Just back from a beer with him, you should have heard what he had to say about the NZ Rugby football union..........:beer:

[Bass]

Jamie sent this and asked me to post it wiith the following:

Red Lily Billabong track.
60 km following South Alligator River and billabongs across flood plain and through wooded gulleys.

[Bass]

Jamie tells me that he put 2 new tyres on the bike in Alice Springs yesterday - Desert on the back and ED 11 on the front.

Paid AUS$ 560!

Ouch

[NordieBoy]

Jamie tells me that he put 2 new tyres on the bike in Alice Springs yesterday - Desert on the back and ED 11 on the front.

Paid AUS$ 560!

Ouch

He needs a DR650 he does :D

[ducatijim]

Can't remember when last I caught up? Jabiru I think, just proir to my irradiation right?
Well you see, we mortals get more rad exposure changing the batteries as we do, each year in our smoke detectors than the workers get in a YEAR at Ranger! WTF? I thought I was going to get sommit I could keep in credit against a future cancer! Was a very interesting tour and now I have known, for a short while, just how uranium is removed from a bit of rock.
The ride up there was fantastic, my fone pix of the track that Bass posted for me was shit, I take full responsibility for that, much as I would dearly love to be able to blame that man, but no, we did about 160km of remote tracks that day and they were all very good riding. I didn't see a buff but. Bloody dissapointed too I am, there are still some around but I guess it was still too dry that far south for them at the moment.:2guns:
The next 3 days were just transport stages, as one has to do over here, you just harden up and get them done; 1 day from Jabiru to Katherine, the next Kath to Tennant creek and a final day on to Alice. Checked out some stuff along the way but nothing really earth moving( outside of the mines!); a few rocks here and an old building or 2 there.

[ducatijim]

The boys at Race M/C's, the KTM dealers here did a great job of enhancing the already stream like heamorage from my wallet- $22 each tyre just for DISPOSAL!! And they thought, rather kindly I think, that $100 worth of seamless H/D tubes would be the go for my trip( musta seen the wife eh!!), so I could have gotten a heart bypass and some change for wot I paid these leaches!
Still, its the 'territory', as they say!:whocares:
While they did that we did the tourist thing and did nothing whatsoever to stem the outward flow of coin from my wallet( tight, who...ME?), but did, I suppose, get a better picture of what has happened in this area( pstt...wot was it again Joolz??).
Next day we decided that as Alice was so good at this cash heamorage, we should only do day trips away and so present ourselves at night for another flow, thus the scheme was born that we would do a day trip out into East MacDonnell ranges land. Up early, can't bloody sleep here still on NZ time, and out into the cold at 0600, 12' it was but no dust storm like yesterday!
Bloody froze all morning as we struggled out along something called 'Binns track'......after about 50km of worsening punishment, the track degenerated to 2 sandy wheel tracks into the distance, we said enough. Bloody new tyres were punishing us something aweful so about turn and back the 50km again and take the seal option further east. Short of fuel now with a 100km detour to knowhere, Joolz sees that Ross River station advertises fuel( this is where the mozzies bring the Ross river virus from), so out there we go to be bleed again;$2-35/L.....I didn't want to buy the whole station...:done:
1 lousey coffee and empty pockets later, we head off to the Arltunga road out to the old mining settlement. Great road now but still a shit ride. Ok, time for action.....out comes the leatherman and 3 clix off ALL the suspenders- take that you bitch!
Did our nosey round the old shit, as is polite, and I get this brain fart that says....too much air in tyres m8! I trusted 'mafia and sons' to have set me up right( no, really, I am just a lazy bastard) so while my guage is back at 'hq', I am more than competent to do the 'squeeze/kick/wiggle test in the field!
And I let some wind escape from said guilty partys. Now, that will be better.
Its ok, and we get home just before 'beeroclock'...great, now I can be bleed again.
This morning I decide a little science would not go astray in this matter so set about measuring the remaining wind......18 in the front.....great guess. And.....14, yes 14 in the rear! 150km 2 up with 14psi....go on shoot me:2guns:
So that was a day of mixed blessings, good roads, bad roads,can't say I enjoyed it much but did learn that Michelin Desert tyres have one hell of a strong carcase.
Heres a pic;

[ducatijim]

The observant amongst you will have noticed pic 3 bears no part in the above story, right?
Well sort of, you see this fine tribute to who was prolly an equally fine man was just on the roadside near Ross rvr stn.
Fish was his moniker, no points for guessing how he came by such a handle here near the town that boasts its the CLOSEST town in orstralia to every BEACH!
So between you and I, it is a no brainer to see that said fish scuttled his Harley one day whilst scooting along at in excess of every limit:Punk:
His mates were so impressed they built a fine concrete and steel BURN OUT PAD beside his memorial. Someones even used it.
I wonder if my mates would do that for me?
Would I be such a legend?
Fish was only 44, a victim of the 'territory'.
RIP.

[ducatijim]

Time for a laff>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Woke a bit before daylite in our motel room the other morning( NO, thats NOT where this is going) with a sensation of a fly on my bare gut!
I gives it a swat.
Peace again.......but nagging thought that I did/do not HEAR any fly?
Then, a tickle( No,no,no) along my side.....
Better check, roll over quietly so as not to wake Djlz, there is a huge cockroach crawling along beside me...
As big as our Houhou beetle this mother is.........
Better grab it before it crawls onto you know who...ooops......................

Too late..........

Wot the f***'s that she hollers as she is now standing beside the bed, so fast I did not see the transition!
( If only I could get the opposite reaction that fast from the girls...............)

Just a cockroach dear, won't bite, nothing to wori about, come back to bed?

Must have scared the roach more, we didn't see it again for 2 days, until that is this morning when Djlz is putting on her riding jacket and finds 'roachie' snug in a pocket!
I was away when this happened, but returned to a very flat roach in the carpark and some rather amused looking neighbours!!:done:

[ducatijim]

We shared Alice with about 400 Thrisickle drivers, you see there was a thing called 'trikefeast' being held there for a week!
It didn't cause us any hassles as they were predominantly way too old to cause any problems about town-some had only 1 leg, most behaved as if they only had 1 leg. Several had a dog on the back, some had better taste in pillion but they were really an ugly lot:Oops:
I guess that is nothing new; we see the same sorta sights in NZ on a smaller scale!
At Hermansberg, an Aborigional historic community out in the west Macdonnells, we had the misfortune of pulling up for smoko at the same place( the only place!) as about 100 of these things. That was ok, I have a pass mark in arrogance so fitted in with attitude well, but they ate out all the scones! When in Centralia what else do you pull up for at smoko but a genuine 'devonshire tea'? We went there especially( on our way elsewhere) and had to compete with 200 or so thrikers!
Needless to say I did not get my scone. After 40mins, Djoolz said enough and thumped the counter, as only she can do, and we got our money back and went on our way, unrefreshed.
As we set about remounting, amoungst a sea of trainer wheels, we were cornered by a kiwi bloke, who wanted to share his whole weeks worth of following around behind these thawats....I'd rather watch a goanna fry on hot bitumin, really:whocares:

Anyway, we headed for the gravel and bade farewell to that lot. For a while!
Back on thread, the ride around the Larrapinta/Hermansberg/Namatjura loop, about 400km, was truely some of the best mix of riding Ive done in a day over here.The scenery is up there with NZ, and the roads from very rough adventure trail to top class 'carving' seal....yes....with CORNERS!
We could spend a lot longer based in the Alice; there is so much to do and so many good rides to be had, wether you want sealed or bloody rough, its all here in spades. I'll be baack.

[ducatijim]

I have always been conscious of just what one can pick up while travelling( It helps to take ones own 'sleeping bag' thou......), but careful as I have been, I have found that I have succombed to 1 of the stranger ailments out here.
Its called THf.
Fortunately it is mostly like a cold, easy to get and not too hard to shake off.
It is all about surroundings, places like Broome are really bad, so is Alice, Monkey Mia is just teaming with disease. Even places like Coober Pedy do not grant you immunity, dispite its isolation from other places.
To get over it, all one has to do is ; get outta there. That easy, symptoms will subside quite quickly and most folk will be fully over it in a couple of days, with little long lasting effects.
THf?

Tourist Haemoragic fever.

( an affliction of the wallet):crybaby:

[ducatijim]

Holed up in Birdsville for a couple of daze, been a bit of a mission gettn here I can tell you:spanking:

So, time for some pix while I while the time away:

Part Mereenie loop rd,
Track into Tnorala( a comet crater, 142.5 million yrs old)
Inside Tnorala
Ellery big hole

All round Alice region

[ducatijim]

Did the tourist thing round the big rox in the middle.

That was all sealed road stuff and taking a big toll on my new(?) desert tyre!

Stayed- Curtin springs( don't) Erldunda( wonderful) and Coober Pedy( fun!)

PIX-
camp at Erldunda
'digs in CP; underground!
last 2 are the painted desert rd to Oodnadatta

[Bass]

Some of those corrugations look like dunes!

How are the butts and the suspension holding up?

Did you stop at Mungarannie?

[ducatijim]

We are holed up right at this moment in the smoko room at the Moomba oilfield gate house:
Sheltering from a dust storm, the second in 2 days!
Rode for 10 hours yesterday, from Birdsville to Innamincka, mostly thru a storm on attrocious trails( trails= worse than goat track, goats have better judgement!). Cleaned aircleaner this morning and after 1 hour on the track towards Arckaroola we were into another storm, turned back another hour later and a Santos worker told us to come here and shelter!!:rockon:

There is a Telstra site here so I am busily typing this up as we have coffee and sambos in comfort!

Have used our fuel range up now so cannot go ahead anyway, will have to try and return to Innamincka and refuel and then try again EARLY tomorrow, fingers crossed!

Wondering when we will get home now?:whocares:

[clint640]

See attached pic for what it's like when not dusty :cool:

It was pretty corrugated south of Moomba when we went through. Good luck.

We really enjoyed Arkaroola & the Flinders area. Be sure to leave Arkaroola by the western track not the main rd, it's a fun ride. How far south are you going to go?

Cheers
Clint

[ducatijim]

Adelaide m8!

:clap:

[Triwi]

Dj,
Stop at Wilpena for a night. It will be paradise after what you're going thru.
No dented front rims yet? And now where did I put that steering head spanner?
cheers
Triwi

[ducatijim]

Great idea Triwi, but got to Blinman and we were fucked, again! So pulled up at the pub!
Now this region has some fan-bloody-tastic riding, both sealed and not. And lotsa wildlife along the roads in the morning too( after a 'Reporoa' like FROST I might add!!!):Oi:

[ducatijim]

Clint is right; the road from Copley to Arkaroola is indeed a beauty! God bless the Gammon ranges.If you get back Clint, make sure you also ride the road from Tea Tree out station to Blinman; its also a beauty!
Anyway, back to Coober Pedy I think? We stayed in a genuine old opal mine/underground backpackers - 6.5m underground was so nice; cool,quiet and dark! I did the tour of a working mine the next morning while DJoolz drained my CC! Met a Dutch couple at the servo later who were travelling around oz on 2 Yam XT660's, see them here-
www.crisscroz.nl
We hit the road out thru the painted desert to Oodnadatta just before lunch, a quick 200k before lunch, right? That went well, good conditions and great scenery but too late at Oodna for anything decent for a feed. Head south on the Oodna track to find a campsite at the Algebuckina Bridge site for the nite, we come across a downed 1200gsa that had been travelling the other way untill the rider lost it in the deep gravel/sand mix. He was gone, rescued by following travellers without any serious injuries(?), a chap with a sat fone had stayed with the wreck for recovery...it would be a while as Adam from the 'pinkie' was away for a while so rescue would need to come from CP.
We had the campsite to ourselves and did some poking round the ruins before dark.
Next morning it was off to William Creek for a burger for lunch; did not see pix of anyone I knew on the walls! Then off to Coward springs for the nite. Nice, well set-up camp done by the station owners but done properly, except for the mosquito control....that left a LOT to be desired....the lil buggers were even biting us right thru our shirts! Was made up for by very nice company there.
Marla the next morning for maggot pax for brekkie, yum, beef curry! Then up the Birdsville to Maungerannie Pub, and yes Bass, Phil and Pam are still there, after 10+ years, and still doing a real great job of shareing true outback hospitality, great food and...and.......COLD beer! The Oodna was rough and loose, the lower Birdie was fine but, the rest up to Birdsville was Appalling, truely shite- took us 7 hrs to cover 300k's. I met Kiwi Chris by the fone box, really, he rode into town after us on a tricked dr650! I would think he is well known in NZ; he does some bike tests but Im not sure who for and he was with about 20 others including the Ed of 4x4 mag doing field tests on several rv's and also testing these 2 dr's that he( the ed) would be part of a team doing Sydney to London on,early next year. These guys had wives, girlfriends, electric coolers full of beer and campa trailers...wow......headed off 50km into the Simpson to set up camp. Then, thrash the shit outta other peoples rv's......and they get PAID for it! Reminded me of a bunch of kindy boys with a sandpit full of nice, new,somebody elses toys!!! I really enjoyed a few beers with these guys, and it turned out that Chris and I had done a 2 week tour of the SI on the same group ride a couple of years ago...fancy who you meet in Birdsville!!
Liked it so much here, we stayed 2 days and saw the sights! Also took the oppotunity to fit a new rear tyre, from my mate at the Shell roadhouse( chain last year), with the help of his bead breaker on sunday morning....this guy is a legend for sure....there seems to be nothing he doesn't have/can fix! And, he had 3 18" Michelin Desert tyres( all the station bikes use them here...can't wear them out he says....hear that Bass?)
Also filled my pillow tank, with 11 litres, for the first time here; ready for an early start Monday morning to attack the Cordillo downs rd to Innaminkca- 425km and a varyed lot according to Chris who had come this way the other day, admittedly at Endo speeds, unladen!
Varyed? it went from bad to bloody awefull and back again....huge rocks embeded in the surface with 75-100mm protruding, surrounded by their mates that had been completely ripped out and swathed into berms 100mm+ high.....not too much choice where to put the wheels! The dust storm started about 3 hours into it and by the time we stopped at the old Cordillo downs woolshed for lunch, visability was about 200m. Couldn't even get out of it in the shed; wind and sand just whiped thru relentlessly so we bolted lunch down and shot thru....our helmets which we placed on the ground, face downwind, were 1/2 full of dust when we picked them up.....bugger!
We had this storm for about another 5 hours, I was wondering what it was doing to the Kt's airfilter? I was also wondering if the fuel we had, 32L, would be enough given the slow speeds and the possible filter clogging?. We had lost a litre getting fuel out of the pillow before I cut the arse out of a water bottle to make a funnel to pour into the tank! However, the lo lite came on earlier than I would have liked so concern set in,not making the already hard riding any easier.
Then there it was; the Innaminkca repeater tower, these things are a beacon in the deserts, located at every little hamlet and visable from 20-30 km usually, we saw it at about 15km( dust was abating finally), by my best reckoning, so I was almost extatic....almost.....cause then it came-a falter in the engine.......then.........then.........stop.
We drained the last 300mls outa the pillow and 200mls(?) outa the Coleman into the bike.....off we go again, till........2km to go and we are MT! Kaput!
We park up and set off walking to town(?). A couple of local station hoons stop and gave us a ride to town(?), pity, servo was closed 1/2 hour ago! But wait....there are 2 BM's parked outside the pub, heaps of kit on board, bet they have fuel? For the SECOND TIME in ozzy, we are rescued by a BM rider; Andy; 800gs, top bloke!:Playnice:

Coming up....ESCAPE FROM INNNAMINKCA !!!!:2thumbsup

[ducatijim]

Had time now in Adelaide, while at Taffys place, to get some more pix sorted.

Here we have;

Campsite @ Algebuckina bridge, Oodnadatta trk

Scene(?) from the Oodna trk

Campsite at Coward springs( wot u can't c is the mozzies!)

Rail siding ruins( of origional Ghan line)

[ducatijim]

Its winding up for us now, last nite here in Adeliade so I will throw up a few more tasters to keep you interested(?) while I compose something that looks like the last leg( to you!) of our trip!:(
So here for your pleasure are ;

Me trying to look cool somewhere on the Birdsville track

The clasic pix, any desert traveller wants while here!

The Cordillo woolshed ruins inside from the sandstorm

Thru the Gannom ranged to Arkaroola

[ducatijim]

Andy, f800gs, doubled me out the 2km to Darkie with his pillow tank and we put a splash into the old girl; enough to get me back to 'town'.He and mate Mark along with Marks wife Maddy, all from Sydney on a weeks desert 'taster' had come up the Strze from Arkaroola today when Marks 1200gs spat the dummy 120km out and they were rescued by a passing Santos worker with a tray back landie. Good folk at Santos we were to find.I put the high consumption down to a clogged airfilter from the dust storm we had to ride in; 32L/425km, so next morning I was out there dismantling the bike( yes...990 filter is NOT roadside servicable by any means!!) and gave it a wee clean, it was not as bad as I expected. As we got on the road, Mark and Andy were pushing the 1200 to the bush mechanic who practiced locally....good luck i wished him, not confident at all that they would get it going!
We were fully loaded with fuel; 21L in tank, 10 in pillow and another 1.5 in a coke bottle!! No chances were being taken with 485km to get to Lyndhurst today. Took the 'old' strze outta town; had to show the BM riders that us Kt pilots were hard( mad?), and almost immediatly the track turned to shite, with lotsa sand patches( I later told Djoolz that the only reason I did not turn around was it was so narrow and sooo loose that I couldn't, when the real reason was I did not want to loose face to the Bm riders who would have surely noticed if we had come back thru town again!
1'5hrs and 46km later we cut the main Strze, bloody yay! Turn right and away we go.Right into the start of another dust storm. I also know with 1.5 hrs run time already up, we risk not having the range, running these doubts past Djlz, she says go for it and we do! For about an hour; we missed seeing the Moomba plant in the dust and didn't see trucks approaching the other way, visability was down to below 100m and we pulled off the road for a 'regroup' of ideas. As we did a Santos truck pulls in and asks how we doin? Well, you know! Go back 10k to the plant gate house and go into the smoko room he says, I'll radio it thru and tell them your coming.
Ok.
We do. Now I know we don't have fuel range anymore. We make coffee there and eat our sambos outta the weather. I do some emailing( there is a Telstra cell there just for the plant!), have some more coffee and we head back to Innaminkca a couple of hours later( have to get there before the servo closes so we can refuel tonite to be on the track before daylite tomorrow to beat this weather). Make it with 1/2 hour to spare, the visability got down to 10m, it was like real bad fog but it made you sneeze!
Mark and Andy couldn't belive their eyes when they saw our bike back there, however, I did not own up to causing our dilema with the time and fuel loss doing the old track this morning! They however had sucess with a fix on the 1200- fuel pump wires corroded, only $600 to have a couple of new wires soldered on! The mechanic was livid that Mark had accepted a recovery, for nothing, from a Santos guy, and done the garage out of their fee had they been contacted to pick it up! All are sure the bill reflected, and compensated this!
5am we were up and by 6-15 we rode outta there into a cold and clear morning, filled with promise! By morning smoko we were well down the track and it was warm now and we could see the dust storm way off to the north east of us; someone would get it today but not us! I kept checking my fuel usage a the light came on and a measured amount was replaced and the results looked promising. Even when the light came on the final time, with no more top-up, we had only 85km to go and at our usage rate we would do nearly 100km on reserve. We quietly celebrated roadside with a drink of warm water then settled in for an uneventful cruise into Lyndhurst. We thought!
7km out, she hesitates, 5km out she stops...dry again! Fark! You know, we are so over this! Its too far to push and we haven't seen anyone else on this road since early morning trucks going into Moomba ages ago.
Wait.......Djlz says lets drain the Coleman.....theres only about 300ml in there? In it goes and she fires up....we make it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never argue with a practical woman, if you can recognse it in time............:calm:

I will spend my 3hrs in Sydney airport 2moro to gloss out the final coupla daze thru the Gammon and flinders.......stay awake( unlike me now..too many drugs!)....it is some of the best and really accesible:hug:

[Frodo]

DJ

Enjoying your stories, as always. Tempted to do something similar myself, but will make sure that I have enough fuel!

Not sure if I'll be thinking of dust as I commute into another stinker of a wet southerly in a moment or two!

Cheers

[clint640]

Good stuff mate! Sounds a lot more exciting than our uneventful run up the Strez! Looking forward to the next installment :2thumbsup

Cheers
Clint

[drbandit]

Andy, f800gs, doubled me out the 2km to Darkie with his pillow tank and we put a splash into the old girl; enough to get me back to 'town'.He and mate Mark along with Marks wife Maddy, all from Sydney on a weeks desert 'taster' had come up the Strze from Arkaroola today when Marks 1200gs spat the dummy 120km out and they were rescued by a passing Santos worker with a tray back landie. Good folk at Santos we were to find.I put the high consumption down to a clogged airfilter from the dust storm we had to ride in; 32L/425km, so next morning I was out there dismantling the bike( yes...990 filter is NOT roadside servicable by any means!!) and gave it a wee clean, it was not as bad as I expected. As we got on the road, Mark and Andy were pushing the 1200 to the bush mechanic who practiced locally....good luck i wished him, not confident at all that they would get it going!
We were fully loaded with fuel; 21L in tank, 10 in pillow and another 1.5 in a coke bottle!! No chances were being taken with 485km to get to Lyndhurst today. Took the 'old' strze outta town; had to show the BM riders that us Kt pilots were hard( mad?), and almost immediatly the track turned to shite, with lotsa sand patches( I later told Djoolz that the only reason I did not turn around was it was so narrow and sooo loose that I couldn't, when the real reason was I did not want to loose face to the Bm riders who would have surely noticed if we had come back thru town again!
1'5hrs and 46km later we cut the main Strze, bloody yay! Turn right and away we go.Right into the start of another dust storm. I also know with 1.5 hrs run time already up, we risk not having the range, running these doubts past Djlz, she says go for it and we do! For about an hour; we missed seeing the Moomba plant in the dust and didn't see trucks approaching the other way, visability was down to below 100m and we pulled off the road for a 'regroup' of ideas. As we did a Santos truck pulls in and asks how we doin? Well, you know! Go back 10k to the plant gate house and go into the smoko room he says, I'll radio it thru and tell them your coming.
Ok.
We do. Now I know we don't have fuel range anymore. We make coffee there and eat our sambos outta the weather. I do some emailing( there is a Telstra cell there just for the plant!), have some more coffee and we head back to Innaminkca a couple of hours later( have to get there before the servo closes so we can refuel tonite to be on the track before daylite tomorrow to beat this weather). Make it with 1/2 hour to spare, the visability got down to 10m, it was like real bad fog but it made you sneeze!
Mark and Andy couldn't belive their eyes when they saw our bike back there, however, I did not own up to causing our dilema with the time and fuel loss doing the old track this morning! They however had sucess with a fix on the 1200- fuel pump wires corroded, only $600 to have a couple of new wires soldered on! The mechanic was livid that Mark had accepted a recovery, for nothing, from a Santos guy, and done the garage out of their fee had they been contacted to pick it up! All are sure the bill reflected, and compensated this!
5am we were up and by 6-15 we rode outta there into a cold and clear morning, filled with promise! By morning smoko we were well down the track and it was warm now and we could see the dust storm way off to the north east of us; someone would get it today but not us! I kept checking my fuel usage a the light came on and a measured amount was replaced and the results looked promising. Even when the light came on the final time, with no more top-up, we had only 85km to go and at our usage rate we would do nearly 100km on reserve. We quietly celebrated roadside with a drink of warm water then settled in for an uneventful cruise into Lyndhurst. We thought!
7km out, she hesitates, 5km out she stops...dry again! Fark! You know, we are so over this! Its too far to push and we haven't seen anyone else on this road since early morning trucks going into Moomba ages ago.
Wait.......Djlz says lets drain the Coleman.....theres only about 300ml in there? In it goes and she fires up....we make it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never argue with a practical woman, if you can recognse it in time............:calm:

I will spend my 3hrs in Sydney airport 2moro to gloss out the final coupla daze thru the Gammon and flinders.......stay awake( unlike me now..too many drugs!)....it is some of the best and really accesible:hug:
I bet you are looking forward to a no sand storm. no bugs. south island trip...

[ducatijim]

I bet you are looking forward to a no sand storm. no bugs. south island trip...

Yes I am, but are you SURE you can deliver to these specs Ross?:beer:

[ducatijim]

........so, I 'spose I had better make it a 'wrap" then.

I didn't get 3 hours in Sydney airport, only about 45mins, so it was spent walking, as one does when at Sydney airport!!

Lyndhurst at lasssst! Fuel, coffee and a couple of toasties and we feel just so much better - bit of a 'hole in the wall', so we press on all of 35km to Leigh creek and a nice cabin for the night. Bought some Coopers at the pub then cooked up our camp rations of canned spam( fried), instant mashed spud( good actually!) and peas! A feast!

Our fuel range woes are now over, we are almost back to civilisation from now on. In the morning we head back up the road to Copely and turn east towards the Gammon ranges, Arkaroola is our target for 'smoko'. Well, Clint knows how to pick em, this stretch was some of the best 'scratcher' road, in gravel, you would find anywhere....now we are having fun( can't remember where that stopped now...?), although the last 30km into Arkaroola itself was pretty bloody average, and the knowledge that we must come back these 30km did nothing to lift out sagging optimisim:mad:. Arkaroola...bloody tourist trap; no food till midday and bad fuel :mad:.
Lyndhurst was on the western side of the Gammon/Flinders ranges, and as we leave the Arkaroola acess road, we are now on the eastern side and plan to stay that side for a while before cutting west again. All along this leg we witness the 'birth' of the dust storms that are still bothering the northeastern regions...some of it started as Willy-willys on the road in front of us, most began in the arid country just to our east...huge dust devils...the biggest looking black like smoke rising from a burning tyre pile( or fuel tanker?)....looking further east all we could see was a 'brown-out', a curtin of dust headed to Innaminkca!!!! Very glad we are here! At something called Tea-tree Outstation we turn west once again and head up into the hills of the Flinders this time; well, i thought the road could not be better than this morning but was I wrong....hell yeah! It was another fantastic 'knee-scraper'(?) all the 50 or so k into Blinman( now I am starting to miss home). Cause we missed our 'smoko' at Arka, we indulged in a nice wee cafe in this historic little town while we ruminated over what( where) to do next, at 1530?
Pub looks good and cheap so we call it quits, had intended to get to Wilpena and camp, for our last nite on the road, but couldn't be buggered! I think this was a good call, the digs were good and cheap, the bar was very friendly and the food...well you get the picture by now!:2thumbsup
Out by 7 next morning and guess wot? yeah you already know...1' of frost on the ground and all over the bike, not so easy to dress for when we have been in the 30-42' range for the last 3 weeks; we have only hot weather gear with us now. I ride 'conservatively' to keep the airflow lite....and avoid all the livestock, man were there some roos and emus along this 35k stretch at this early hour! The funniest sight I think I saw whole trip was to round a corner and see 6 roos all lined up across the road looking at us - but thats not all....they all wheel around in unison and proceed to hop along the road going in our direction! We quietly overtook each one, one at a time, giving each a nod of the helmet as we drew ahead, and only then did some of them actually leave the road, some kept right on as if they also had an appointment with a Mrs Macs at Wilpena:oi-grr:
Fuel for both engines at Wilpena, too far to walk and see the 'pound' so put that on the 'next-time' list and away we went headed for Adelaide and our old friend Taffy.
When I txted Bass to say I was in Clare, he thought I was boasting about the nice lady, from down this way, we met 18 months ago while we were both( no, all 3) in Broome, when in fact we had just stopped for lunch in this little town! We were travelling thru grain fields now, a remarkable and abrupt change from the arid and desolate sheep country just a few k's north, and again north some more to the desert cattle runs. Its hard to picture such a diverse range of agriculture within 1/2 a days drive of each other. Yet to come, we discovered grapes as we moved closer to the Barossa( yeah, funny that:argh:)....then it happened.

Civilisation assulted the senses. Pure bloody kaos.

We had to disect the whole of Adelaide to get to the Adelaide hills region where Daryll lives, I said later it took longer to get across town than it did to get to town from Wilpena( 420km from Wilpena to Gawler, 80km on to Flagstaff hill!!!). They don't seem very big on motorways here( I know what Bass is thinking here...I set the GPS to 'shortest distance' not 'fastest route', but thats not the case at all.......there is just NO fastest route around adelaide!).

I reckon youall don't want to know bout the dirty knickers or babysitting Darylls kids so I just might check out here. Safe to say Darkie is holed up somewhere safe, all clean but in dire need of a service when I get back.

Qantas were nice thou, foned me the nite before we sposed to fly at 6am to say the connector; sydney to orks, would be well delayed so they put us on another flite earlier outta sydney, ok? Sure. Then, thinks we may not be able to transit in time, so why don't we leave Adelaide an hour later and we can catch a later syd-ork with less layover? Sure. I'm confused now( not too hard) but think we will make it ok, got an extra hour in bed which was ok. Only had 45mins in Sydney which was just enough to transit, without an expensive coffee on the way, and we were off again! All in spite of our runway being held up for- a bird strike ahead of us, a tail wind developed while we wait, then a stray dog that heads out for its last walk!

Adventure. Done.

[Bass]

Adventure. Done.

I think that your greatest achievement in this entire trip was managing to drag me out of bed at 3 am to drop you off at the fkn airport in the first place.

[ducatijim]

I think that your greatest achievement in this entire trip was managing to drag me out of bed at 3 am to drop you off at the fkn airport in the first place.

Do I hear Whitney Houston....." thats wot friends are for........."???????:hug:

I guess then, I shall appologise to all and sundry for subjecting yous to such a dull trip.

[ducatijim]

Hope I am not repeating myself with these, but just some interesting stuff(?) now I have had time to sort and re-size my pix.

This is some of the group of thrisickles at the Hermansberg historic prescint, if you like this kinda thing(:Playnice: ??) then there was some quite extrordinary sights, like 2 with paraplegic riders, ooops, sorry.....drivers!
I did mention that some had dogs as pillions didn't I?

[ducatijim]

Who is this arrogent looking bugger then?

Just might be yours truely along the Painted desert road from Coober Pedy to Oodnadatta?

And, poor DJoolz, showing signs of 'wear' after about 270km of murder along the Birdsville from Maungerannie to Birdsville....improving here as we enter the Dune country of the eastern edge of the Simpson.

[ducatijim]

Our lonely, but very beautiful, campsite near the old abandoned Algebuckina rail( Ghan) bridge. Along the Oodnadatta track.
You can just make out the camp in the middle of the frame I think.

[ducatijim]

This place was a bit pricey for us while in Birdsville, so we opted for the down market option!

[ducatijim]

We did the almost 'horrific' trip along the Cordillo Downs rd ( about 430km) just so I could see the largest shearing shed in Australia; here on Cordillo Downs station.
I simply could not belive that sheep had ever thrived in this country, even now with it a cattle station I still find it hard to belive cattle manage out here. I guess it was more productive at some stage, but the dingos made sheep a loseing battle here; the dog fence is 100's of km south.
It looked like a 'moonscape' this day, quite surreal. The indoor pic has little 'stars' on it which are a reflection of the quartz(?) in the sand that was flying about!!!
While at the time, we thought what a bastard of a day, but to see this place in these conditions makes one really feel for ths folk who make/made this region their home and the hardships they have to endure that most folk would run from?:doh:

[junkmanjoe]

was it possible to ride across the old rail bridge..i guess thats your tent down by the tree..

great write up, enjoyed every word.

JMJ

[ducatijim]

Well I wouldn't try it, but I suppose it could be done- there were just the old sleepers left and they have a gap of about 4-500mm. It was a challenge to walk on it I found.
Yes, thats the camp, only ones there that nite.

[ducatijim]

With 2 BMW's for company, but I didn't complain cause for the second time in Oz, I was rescued by a bmw and this time it was my favorite model-the wonderful little F800gs.
Did I mention the problem with the 1200 was corrosion in the fuel pump wiring? Amazing that a 'bush' mechanic was able to trace and fix it - $600 was way cheaper than an evacuation or even getting parts flown/trucked in when you add the extrordinary cost of living there. We would have used our tent but the conditions were far from conducive to elfresco living!!!:doh:
My air filter before I cleaned it, not really worth the considerable amount of time needed to remove/refit...what does it look like to you?

( hahaha...yes it does.......a paper element air filter....:stupid:)

[ducatijim]

This was it....the great escape! Away at dawn, not worried by bounders-there ain't any out there cause theres bugger all to eat!!!

This was probably the nicest sight we saw in Innaminkca!:Punk:

[ducatijim]

Two pix of the Moomba gas station, taken from about the same place.

As the dust storm was forming, and

Early the next morning; much more promising!

[ducatijim]

.....wasn't talkn to you mate, its that feather duster over there!!!

A couple of pix from the Montecollina bore along the Strze track. The water is from the great artesian basin, available from the Flinders in the south to Mt Isa in the north. Just bore down 3000m(?) and up she comes - just like the thermal waters we have here in NZ, only without the sulphur smell, its more like kerosene to my nose! No wonder as it is rain that fell on the coastal side of the Queensland ranges some million years ago( about 3 I think?). It is quite amazing really, had been told that rain that falls in the Cape, resurfaces up in PNG.
Who knows what were drinking!( Its too bloody hot to drink right from the bore-need to go downstream a few 100 meters!)

[ducatijim]

This pic really doesn't do the scene any justice at all, however, this area on the eastern side of the Northern Flinders ranges looked like it was the spawning ground for the dust storms that were sweeping out east.
I am no Jim Hickey(:argh:) but it may have had something to do with the very strong sou-westers the region was experiencing, coming down from the ranges and starting up 'willy-willies' and just generally picking up dust as it goes?
Some of the 'chimneys' looked to be 50m thick and dark like burning tyres-they did not hang around long so getting a fitting pic was never going to be easy.....and I have very little patience!:yawn:

[ducatijim]

Clint pointed me to the lovely roads in the Gammon ranges, just north of the Flinders, and they were superb. Then a little further south, the ride from the eastern side of the north Flinders up to the village of Blinman was a scratchers delight-would have loved to ride this section solo unladen( but the beer was just too nice( Coopers green) to drag myself away).

It would be very easy to have a whole adventure in this region-hills, corners, beautiful scenery and great places to camp, a week( or 2?) would go nowhere!:scooter:

[ducatijim]

I am sure a couple of folk have looked and read my waffle, and to those who have commented and pm'd....glad you liked it!:zzzz:

Those of you who I have bored senseless....collar me on a ride sometime and I might buy you a beer and explain........................................... .....

Parting shot....these sort of historic old buildings abound on the way down to Adelaide; you could easily see 'old England' in this area.

I'm gone:crybaby:

[clint640]

Mmmm... Coopers green... we sucked back a fair bit of that while in SA :apint:
You can get it at New World in Rotorua cheaper than ya can buy it in Oz ;)

Good stuff, the Flinders / Gammon Ranges area on it's own would certainly make a great Oz adv moto trip for a traveller with only a week or 2 holiday - hire a bike in Adelaide & head North to experience a real variety of roads & scenery.

Cheers
Clint

[ducatijim]

Mmmm... Coopers green... we sucked back a fair bit of that while in SA :apint:
You can get it at New World in Rotorua cheaper than ya can buy it in Oz ;)

Good stuff, the Flinders / Gammon Ranges area on it's own would certainly make a great Oz adv moto trip for a traveller with only a week or 2 holiday - hire a bike in Adelaide & head North to experience a real variety of roads & scenery.

Cheers
Clint

Man you are Sooooo right on both these counts Clint!

A 2 week hire/ride Flinders-Gammon area would be a great introduction to the thrills of the big island without a huge komitment of time and resources.

Now, when can I get to NW Rotorua?

[NordieBoy]

Soooo...

You'd probably be sick of gravel and dust by now?

[ducatijim]

Soooo...

You'd probably be sick of gravel and dust by now?

Yes, to some degree. For the first time in my travels over here, by the time we reached Innaminkca I wanted just to go home!
Had done 1600km straight of dirt, most of it hard to harder( loaded as we were) and that combined with the weather problems I was indeed feeling stressed and sick of forever running out of fuel on these long legs- I knew sooner or later luck would turn against us and we would have a bad outcome if it were to continue!
And yet had another 500km of dirt and another fuel issue just to get the bloody hell outta there :weep:

But, as they say, if it doesn't kill you it only makes you stronger! ( or as another brave female pillion we met in Inna says....'harden the fuck up'!)

This is the last time we will actively seek out dirt roads to travel, laden, over here. Our final legs will be mostly a sealed 'adventure';from Perth around the bottom and up to Brizzy next June.

I will return, DR650 mounted, to do more dirt sometime in the future:2thumbsup
Maybe with companions?

[NordieBoy]

I will return, DR650 mounted, to do more dirt sometime in the future:2thumbsup
Maybe with companions?

Damn! :mad:

A nice lead up and you go and stuff up my "should do it on a DR then" dig :oi-grr: