Kiwi XplorOz

[tri boy]

Aiming for Cairns friday night to get supplies in and new tyres on both bikes as well as a service for Bass's.

Cheers all, Jamie.

.......and a VB or two, while perving on the Swedish backpackers along the esplanade no doubt.
Bistards.

[young1]

Great to read that you are on your way, I am sooo envious! Ride safe and keep the updates coming.

[Dave Milligan]

Sorry to move away from the thread. But watch this guy.

We intended taking 4 bikes and registered our interest with him a couple of years ago. We had been advised that he only took full containers - and here's the rub.

Just a few months out from our time of departure we were raring to go and just counting down the days and he says that he had no other bikes booked. Great. So we may or may not be going?? More than likely not.

Yeah that happened. I had a bunch of other guys saying they would make bookings and they dicked me around for weeks then never went ahead with it. I sometimes wish clients would run my business to understand the stress we have to put up with from people who can make decisions or who don't read our Terms & Conditions, like the idiot who put food in his panniers several years ago - we got rapped over the knuckles severely by MAF.

Yeah, I know, I don't have to keep on running the business - I'm a Kiwi who had some bad luck in 1993 and at 60 can't afford to retire.

And at least I use my name when posting in forums. Don't hide behind pseudo names taking pot shots at people.

So we were obliged to make other arrangements. (Which BTW worked out perfectly.)

Glad your alternatives worked OK.

Rang Dave to pay him the courtesy of keeping him informed and copped an ill-mannered earfull!

Yes I do get grumpy. Fair comment. I apologise for that.

We've been shipping Aussie bikes to Chch every Summer since 1997 and have 99% of the time done a damned good job. Being a good little (grumpy) Kiwi I wanted to extend the business to bring Kiwi bikes over here. I know the Kiwi bike scene is much smaller than in Aussie, but we''ve tried and will continue to ship bikes over.

Being underfunded and trying to run a small business as complicated as the shipping industry and considering it's only for motorcycles adds to that. I wonder why no one else wants to set up in competition to us, NOT. Other general freight forwarders will ship bikes, and some do a good job, but in general the industry has a bad name for shipping bikes and other delicate items and that, in part, is why we started Get Routed.

Kind regards
Dave Milligan

[ducatijim]

Been in Cairns since late thursday; my bike running like shit, hoped Wayne Leonard m/c would pull out some stops since we are getting 2x sets tyres + tubes+ 1 service!

Ahh....no actually, not really interested.

Tyres and tubes....well you see, I know that 17" would be a problem up in the land of 18/19" rears so I went to the length of phoning WL m/c from Brizzy on monday and asked if they had/would get what we needed-gave him sizes...."yeah, no worries mate".

Well, it is a worry, got there this morning and they hunted to find 1 set only and NO HD tubes...all sold out this week mate, been busy! I had offered to pay by CC over the phone from Brizzy to secure wot we needed..." no need mate".

It is 'sport' over here to mislead or fool a Kiwi. Watch them if you do anything like this, this is NOT the first instance of deliberate mis-information I have heard of!!

Scouted right round town and found a mismatched set for Neil and some HD tubes-in the wrong width but, ...am off now for our fittings!! Wish me luck, think I might need it!

Oh, the carbie? we stripped it in the motel carpark, cleaned and reassembled; sounds like an improvement?

[Crisis management]

Sounds like you're really enjoying this Jamie!
Pity about the difficulties but it looks like you've almost got them behind you now, keep going and enjoy the riding!

If it's any help, I've been at work all week and would give my eye teeth to swap places with you!

Iain

[tri boy]

Thats really poor service from Wayne.
We, (the workshop and spares) prided ourselves on going the extra mile for the travelers.
I guess few, if any of the old crew work there now.
Give "Magic", (Wayne), a big get F**Ked from me.

[cooneyr]

Just updated the map.

Cheers R

[OV Lander]

Tyres and tubes....well you see, I know that 17" would be a problem up in the land of 18/19" rears so I went to the length of phoning WL m/c from Brizzy on monday and asked if they had/would get what we needed-gave him sizes...."yeah, no worries mate".

Well, it is a worry, got there this morning and they hunted to find 1 set only and NO HD tubes...all sold out this week mate, been busy! I had offered to pay by CC over the phone from Brizzy to secure wot we needed..." no need mate".

It is 'sport' over here to mislead or fool a Kiwi. Watch them if you do anything like this, this is NOT the first instance of deliberate mis-information I have heard of!!

I feel for you mate!

3 yrs ago I was over doing a trip in WA, albeit in a big camper with my wife. Short story is we suffered a blow out in the middle of nowhere (passed a sign 100kms back stating "drought zone for 690kms"!). When we dropped the spare down found it had a 3 x 2 inch 'chunk' of rubber missing from the tread, and was down to the canvas. To top it all, there were no tools except a deformed wheel brace that could no longer grip a nut and the steel braids of the tyre had severed the lowest hose on the drinking water tank - Luckily a bloke from Napier with a boot load of tools (plumber!) stopped to lend a hand after an hour!

Took us 1650kms, and over 10 tyre shops to find two replacement tyres. Same story - rang ahead with the specs to ensure availability, but nothing then upon arrival.

Ruined a great holiday, but if you'd like to see my photo album of Aussie Tyre shops????

Lessons:
- Never trust 'em! (Tyre shops, hire vehicles, Aussies!)
- Never use Kea Campers (dis-interested, unhelpful and accepted no responsibility for an un-roadworthy vehicle)

[ducatijim]

Hi folks, made it to Darwin in 1 piece...just! Rolled in here 1200 yesterday....boy was it hot=35`!!
Town was crazy, its high tourist season here now and we had to finally settle for a donga about 8 k out at Winnelie as everything closer was booked.

I did a report of our progress in Weipa about 10 days ago...went to post it up and the local server went down....I was GUTTED, had been 40 mins single finger typing to get it done and lost it all!

I will try to convey a breif roundup:
Day 1 out of Cooktown we only did 85km...all bulldust/sand and creek crossings, including our first with a WARNING;ESTURINE CROCADILES INHABIT THESE WATERS....trepidation. Now...it doesn't get a second thought as we plunge in! Day 1 ended with a bush camp out nowhere.
Battlecamp road and Lakefield NP where apalling tracks; all corrugations, like 98% of the Cape as we were to find out, a lot of 30kph riding, now I know why I did not want a watercooled engine up here.
We did the southern section of the OTL track( old Over Land Telegraph track) northwards; got thru all the crossings Gunshot & Cockatoo included ( applause for selves!). Passed,going the other way, a comm. m/c tour, on the track....looked like FUN on an unladen DRZ400!!
Did the tip and camped out at the abandoned 'Sommerset' on the beach near the Jardines graves.
Did thr northern section of the OLT as we headded south= 3.5 hours for 32km, now thats adventure!! I drowned the DR in 1 crossing it was Soooo deep; just electrically fortunatly. The Southern bypass road was a big shithole once we came off the OLT, the first hour = 28km, the second = 31km, with still 80k to run to Bramwell to stay the nite, and it is 4-30. Fortunatly the road inproved graetly and I put on 'pace' to get off the road before dark(6), as my headlite is covered by a bag...just made it!
Limped into Weipa to a buggered battery; too much vibration and shock; had dropped her heavily that morning. $175 later and thats fixed; miracle up here. Then find a buggered rear axle bearing...found 1 of those too. Then a broken spoke;my spares were wrong size so a good local welder was able to TIG a new knob on its end for me...saved!
Neils bike...no probs.
My 'day off' was hardly that, all repairs, but did get a mine tour in in the arvo.

Next day heading south still, I get a puncture, Neil is ahead and goes on 50km before missing me...he has the electric pump.
I am unable to unseat both beads and struggle in 40` sun to replace tube thru the small gap afforded to me...bugger my first attempt so have to unseat again and remove and patch it now....finally get going again, meet Neil coming back about 10 min down the road. My repair fails and have to 'hopscotch' between pumping and ride a bit, into Coen. No tubes there but better vulcanising compound than I have and by second go have a good tube!
Stay the nite here, yay........................
Failed again the next day, in the middle of nowhere;Palmerville road near Chillagoe, again fix in the 42` heat amoungst the scrub...this time I take Neils only remaining spare tube. Fixed.
Again forced to bush camp near Mulgrave station on Palmerville road, in a clearing made for the water tanker of a nearby Road Plant, to turn in...6 by now and nowhere else in sight...Neil says we will be gone before these guys start. Yeah right! 6-15 the tanker rumbles in, lights ablaze...'ow ya going mate'...with a wee chuckle! Took nearly an hour to shake our new best mate, Russell, off, so he could go to work and we could ride on!! Funny start.

The people we meet out back are the best in the world I tell you, salt of the earth everyone, don't enjoy camping in places like Darwin...so impersonal, no comrarradrie.
Got out to Karumba, on up to Borroloola and then the apalling track to Roper Bar;360km of pure corrugations, took HOURS.
Been on the seal a couple of days now...its a real novilty cruising legally at 130kph...had a HP car go the other way and give a friendly wave when my GPS showed 128kph!! Neat!

Stayn here till Sunday, got tyres and services to do tomorrow, a day ride thru Litchfield NP saturday then out to Kakadu sunday before going again westward.

I will logon again before we move from here, Cheers, Jamie.

[tri boy]

...............

[Crisis management]

Awesome guys, character building stuff indeed but you sound like you're begining to enjoy it.

You know, one of the great things to come out of this is that from now on I won't have to fix punctures as you two will be so good you won't need my help........

[NordieBoy]

Good stuff

You're even getting an Aussie accent.

[offrd]

Awesome! but about the flats!

[TLDV8]

Stayn here till Sunday, got tyres and services to do tomorrow, a day ride thru Litchfield NP saturday then out to Kakadu sunday before going again westward.

I will logon again before we move from here, Cheers, Jamie.

Well done...

If you didn't know already (depending where you posted from,the city perhaps) there is a book store/internet cafe around the corner from Winnellie in Cato Street.
Being the Dry season now (cold) things are starting to go brown and the burn off's have started.You have probably noticed the cold nights with temps still in the 30's in the day time.The Wet season is the the same day temps but up to 90% humidity
If you are going through to Jabiru (You can't go much further in to Arnhem Land as it is Aboriginal land,permit only) it is worth stopping at Ubirr (Left turn just before Jabiru) to see the rock paintings.

http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/...aps/kakadu.gif



There is also Fog Dam and the look out not long after you hit the 130 kmh zone when you turn onto the Arnhem Highway.

[ducatijim]

Yesterday was the best, just laxed out and recharged! Did some shopping(for beers) and cleaned most everything, this morning Neils bike went in for a service and new tyres and I had tyres fitted too, am off soon to see if we can organise permits for Arnhem land.

The NT is much more catching to the eye than FNQ, lots of curves and small escarpments everywhere, very interesting to ride thru. FNQ is just FLAT and straight and you never get high enough to see anywhere!

Got on the piss last nite, went into town on the bus; did the Irish pub, then on to a good curry followed by a visit to the strip joint.......only got to the second dancer before the manager threw me out!! Bum .

Taxied home with that imfamy hanging over our heads!! There was a small 'possum in the leanto of our donga...very friendly...could touch him even. Turns out the previous long term residents of our donga fed him over 4 months!!

Tomorrow we will do an 'unladen' day trip out to Litchfield NP and just do some blasting on the gravel!.....just hope it stays fine?

We meet a fellow rider here last evening who we camped with last at Bramwell Jtn on our way north and his south...amazing to see him again this far west! I'm off to get some barra and prawns to throw on the barbie tonite and all have a good chin wag! Hey, TLDV8, why don't you swing round and join us for an ale? We are in No13, RHS just thu the gate!

Cheers team, Jamie