Sometimes all the ducks line up... A friend asks if I'd like to come along on a trip up north. How about joining us for a road trip to wander out yonder. Two 4WD support vehicles to carry your gear. Just ride and enjoy our great state. Photograph and video a lot (Many thanks to JonO for sharing photos and videos). Fly the drone around. Very hard to resist... Kots very kindly lent me his drone. When we loaded up the 4WD on Saturday, JonO says, "Guess what I got for my birthday?... a drone..." So I thought it pertinent to not risk me crashing Kots' super drone. Leave that task up to JonO...
She who must be obeyed approves. Work says 'Yes'. So I'm in...
So I couldn't... resist that is...
The Plan
Day 1 (Saturday): Gabyon Station
Day 2 (Sunday): Murchison Settlement to Mt Augustus (two nights to see as much of Mt Augustus and surrounds as we can manage for a bunch of old farts)
Day 3 (Monday): Mt Augustus and surrounds
Day 4 (Tuesday): Pingandy Road / Ashburton Downs Road to Paraburdoo / Cheela Plains
Day 5 (Wednesday): Cheela Plains
Day 6 (Thursday): Cheela Plains
Day 7 (Friday): Cheela Plains to Geraldton
Day 8 (Saturday): Geraldton to Perth
Day 1: First stop at the club Bakehaus in Bindoon for pie and coffee. It really didn't seem like we deserved a stop yet, but the coffee, pie and cake sustained me for most of the day, just kidding...
Heading north, the country was lush and green. Fields of gold to brighten up any city-bound covid-19 escapee...
Just out of Morawa, the train ambles slowly along. Almost enough time for another coffee... "Got any coffee Rodney?"
It says that The Outback starts here... On the Morawa-Yalgoo Road, it's probably pretty true... JonO reckons that he's been passed the sign so many times without stopping. Not this time...
Ergo, The Inback must be this way...
Wildflowers are certainly not yet in abundance. This looks like last years dried-out crop...
Moving right along
Made it to Gabyon Station. Looks precipitious. Hoping that the grey skies are just that... grey...
I really do like staying at the Gabyon Station Shearers Quarters, not beautiful but certainly authentic with great hospitality and food, undercover parking for the big girl...
I talked JonO into bringing along a bike. Ben's little Yamaha 250 was therefore mounted to the trailer. Ben would be happy that it's being looked after and kept clean... This way JonO won't miss out on the fun from Mt Augustus out the Pingandy Road, up the Ashburton Downs Road to the Paraburdoo Road to Cheela Plains Station. The long range tank on the little Yammie should easily suffice for the required 400 kms.
Himalayas Royal Enfield Tour 2017; Camp Cook-Off Winner 2017; Kennedy Ranges; Three Oceans Tour Australia; Hyden-Norseman Breakaways; R1200 series final drive repair; Mt Augustus; Bimbijy Station; Around Oz
Gabyon Station turned on their usual amazing hospitality. Aside from a slide in the dark by one happy camper all went without incident.
The grey skies turned on us... It was calming hearing the rain falling on the roof all night long. However, it didn't stop until morning.
We had 11mm of rain overnight. The station people were happy. It remained to be seen how happy I would be.
Walking around outside, our shoes sunk an inch into the ground, and slippery!
If the sound of the rain offered some music for sleeping, the sound of a coffee machine was a mystery? Peter doesn't camp without his coffee. It did make rising in the morning more palatable knowing that a seriously good short machiato was waiting. You da man Peter! Obviously not a motorcyclist though...
Discussing the situation with JonO, I said I would head back to Mullewa on the bitumen and head north on the Mullewa-Carnarvon Road rather than try to tackle the slippery conditions on the station roads. I would meet up with the vehicles at the Murchison Settlement.
Give it a go for a couple of kilometres on an unladen bike says JonO.
OK, so it's not looking too bad. Peter and Co take off in the Patrol. JonO agrees to stay behind me in case of failure.
Starting to think this wasn't such a good idea... Zero traction on tyres and boots. Simply skating across the surface. Grip one minute, wet clay the next... The idle speed controller on the 1250 engine is very helpful maintaining engine speed without throttle. Just firmly hanging on to the bars and feathering the clutch to avoid sudden slip conditions. The idle speed controller will drive the bike in traffic in first and second gear very smoothly. Works well in the mud as well.
The thought crossed my mind that this definitely wasn't the best idea I've had in a while... About the same as that sand decision I made a few weeks ago... Must be something about the right-hand side of these big girls...
Note: That's what friends are for. To check that you're OK... To laugh maniacily at the pickle you're got yourself into... To check that you need help... To grab the camera for that photo shot knowing that you're not going anywhere... then finally render assistance. Thanks mate...
Ice skating on a BMW R1250 GSA...
I've got to point out that it's seriously muddy. Even the little Yamaha 250 is getting a work-out on the trailer. Wonder who's cleaning that?
Finally onto a drier track with actual traction and covering some decent ground. However, I'm eating sand? It's coming up through the bike from the front wheel. I've got sand in my eyes under my glasses? Sand through my buff? Much like the noise passing up the same path on the bitumen. Switching to Continental TKC-70's improved the noise situation over the standard Bridgestones. I never ride this bike without hearing protection. It's very noisey.
We all somehow get separated around the Wooleen Station area and all somehow managed to end up at the Murchison Settlement roughly around the same time.
Fuel stop for bike, vehicles and humans with the familiar good tucker as always.
Further up the Mullewa-Carnarvon Road, we arrived at the turn-off to Mt Augustus. That's around 400km back to Gabyon Station. 200 km to Mt Augustus per the sign.
More progress. 106 km to go and the road is looking pretty good.
Famous last words. On 4 wheels, you wouldn't notice the difference. The track had been wet. It was now dry with errant hardened clay wheel tracks heading all over the shop. So it was a matter of picking one shiney stripe, focusing on that one shiney stripe out into the distance and gassing the big girl along said shiney stripe. No deviation from that shiney stripe would be tolerated. Needless to say I covered ground very quickly...
Sun is starting to get low with 10 km to go...
Here's one of my favourite scenes: Long shadows. Almost at Mt Augustus here.
I arrived at Mt Augustus Tourist Park well ahead of the 4WDs, unsurprisingly... So I simply sat back and enjoyed the wait. The place was packed with all manner of vehicle and trailer combinations. JonO arrived and chose a camp site with an unobstructed view of the Mount. So tents up, grub in tummies, drinkies time.
Sit back and enjoy the setting sun at Mt Augustus.
Sun almost gone from Mt Augustus...
Himalayas Royal Enfield Tour 2017; Camp Cook-Off Winner 2017; Kennedy Ranges; Three Oceans Tour Australia; Hyden-Norseman Breakaways; R1200 series final drive repair; Mt Augustus; Bimbijy Station; Around Oz
Thanks for the ride. Great pictures and descriptions.
These details are great for those of us who can't do it at the moment but keeps us enthused for when we can.
We're staying in the Mt Augustus Tourist Park for a couple of nights. It's a pretty special place that deserves a bit of time to explore. If you are physically fit and love hiking, a week would be even better. So much to see and do.
The last time I was here, we fueled-up (a couple of us even had beer) and headed straight out to bush-camp 40km further north... I actually took a wrong turn and ended up heading towards Cobra Station in the late evening. Realising way too late that I'd gone the wrong way I turned back to Mt Augustus in the dark with cattle wandering everywhere. Quite a hair-raising return. The hospitality back at the Mt Augustus Tourist Park was exceptional though...
First job is to get some air over my clothes before heading out in the 4WDs to look around...
Map: Walking at Burringurrah (Mt Augustus) - This day we'll climb Edney's Trail (Ooramboo) and have a look at Mundee art, circumnavigate the rock, check out Cattle Pool...
Map: Ooramboo, the Stockman's Camp, Edney Spring, Edney's Trail (A 3 hour, 6 km return walk). There's a few mixed messages in there. The locals probably need some consistency in the signage...
The Stockman's Camp
Edney's Trail
Oh Mother Nature on Edney's Trail
Himalayas Royal Enfield Tour 2017; Camp Cook-Off Winner 2017; Kennedy Ranges; Three Oceans Tour Australia; Hyden-Norseman Breakaways; R1200 series final drive repair; Mt Augustus; Bimbijy Station; Around Oz
paulknight wrote:Thanks for the ride. Great pictures and descriptions.
These details are great for those of us who can't do it at the moment but keeps us enthused for when we can.
Hi PK, We're locked up in a beautiful neck of the woods. Great we are even allowed to go out
Happy that you're happy with the pix. More to come
Himalayas Royal Enfield Tour 2017; Camp Cook-Off Winner 2017; Kennedy Ranges; Three Oceans Tour Australia; Hyden-Norseman Breakaways; R1200 series final drive repair; Mt Augustus; Bimbijy Station; Around Oz
Spacey can you please enlighten me about the idle speed controller on your GSA. OEM or after market, method of activation/setting or should I read between the lines and accept it is just your delicate right hand.
Re idle speed controller, that sounds like a discussion for tuning day on Saturday
Himalayas Royal Enfield Tour 2017; Camp Cook-Off Winner 2017; Kennedy Ranges; Three Oceans Tour Australia; Hyden-Norseman Breakaways; R1200 series final drive repair; Mt Augustus; Bimbijy Station; Around Oz
So Edney's Trail it is. There's a view to the Mt Augustus Homestead from the end of the trail.
Gone the wrong way already. The trail markers are a little indistinct. We do have five pair of eyes looking..
Where to now?
One of the joys of being lost is that you see interesting things that weren't on the plan.
Here's some rock slowly giving into the relentless forces of time...
Quartz-filled veins exposed by again, the relentless forces of time...
So doing my usual mountain goat thing, I'm off on a hunch and re-discovered the trail markers. "It's up here Gents."
Chris says, "You've gotta be joking."
Back on track and heading in the right direction again. Looking up and around occasionally you can see the the summit of Mt Augustus - It's a 12 km round trip according to the instructions. We're probably not going to make it this time. This 6 km trip is going to be a test. We all have water, hats and sunglasses. The temperature is still quite mild thankfully. It won't be long before it becomes a much more daunting task climbing up here. The temperature will soar in the coming weeks.
JonO is first to make it to the End of the Trail. A knob of sharp ancient rock with beautiful Australian Outback views of the 'Never Never'. I've always wanted to say that...
The Mt Augustus Homestead from the end of the trail.
The rest of the crew make the last push to the top of the trail.
Spectacular views and rock formations. Given the opportunity, I like to use natural formations to frame a photo, like this hole in a rock at top of Edney's Trail Lookout.
Through the hole in the rock at top of Edney's Trail Lookout.
JonO with Mt Augustus summit in the background.
Yep, I was really there...
It is quite an ardous trek up and back. Returning to the shady Stockmans Camp was a welcome respite. And the temperatures are only very mild...
Adventure riding is not just about 'riding'. If it is then I'm certainly not an 'adventure rider'. Motorcycling doesn't just have to be about the journey. Stopping and smelling the roses can be a big part of the journey.
Back to the vehicles then around to Mundee, a Wajarri site and the Petroglyph Trail.
The Mundee Wajarri art is the main feature of this spot. It's an easy walk from the vehicles.
Another example of the relentless forces of time, mushrooms eroded in stone...
Look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane... no, it's...
Himalayas Royal Enfield Tour 2017; Camp Cook-Off Winner 2017; Kennedy Ranges; Three Oceans Tour Australia; Hyden-Norseman Breakaways; R1200 series final drive repair; Mt Augustus; Bimbijy Station; Around Oz
Himalayas Royal Enfield Tour 2017; Camp Cook-Off Winner 2017; Kennedy Ranges; Three Oceans Tour Australia; Hyden-Norseman Breakaways; R1200 series final drive repair; Mt Augustus; Bimbijy Station; Around Oz
Climbed it fairly easily about 10 years ago but would not be able to even do the surrounding foothills now ................Must be time for another diet
Swampy
"I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains.
Of rugged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons, I love her jeweled sea.
Her beauty and her terror, the wide brown land for me."
Moving on from Mundee, we decided that daylight hours were diminishing before our eyes and it was time to head back. No further attempts at climbing... Whilst circumnavigating Mt Augustus, we noted and had many semi-scientific theories regarding these white rocky outcrops... any of you geologists know what's going on here?
On a previous excursion around Mt Augustus, I've ridden past the sign, 'Cattle Pool'(Goolinee), and wondered what that was about! I could never have imagined in this harsh place such a river and permanent water alongside Mt Augustus. Sure maps refers to the Lyons River. But you take that with a grain of salt in the Australian Outback. Not so Cattle Pool...
And an even bigger surprise, finding someone with a rod in the water... the water!!!! Fishing at Mt Augustus, someones pulling my leg... but there you have it!
Incredible how large this water-way actually is...
It's warm, we've been exploring all day, what could be better than a cold beer from the 4WD's fridge in the shady climes of Cattle Pool... there's something to be said for that...
The Wife says that all we motocyclists talk about is tyres. They are a very important aspect of motorbiking really. Back at the camp now and I noticed that beautiful track made by my Continental TKC-70 tyres... Art really...
About that time JonO noticed that the upper tailgate on the ute's canopy was falling down on our heads. Time for a strut change... What a stroke of luck... JonO carries spare struts!
And that's just about it from this tired bunch of trekkers for this day. Time for a campfire, beer (more), wine, and tucker...
Sneaking in another beautiful R1250 GSA shot... errr, sunset shot...
I had a go at astrophotography as the night sky in the Australian Outback is extraordinarily beautiful... Not so much my attempt. No tripod and wrong lens...
And that makes it bedtime for these tired legs et al.
Tomorrow, it's the Pingandy Road...
Himalayas Royal Enfield Tour 2017; Camp Cook-Off Winner 2017; Kennedy Ranges; Three Oceans Tour Australia; Hyden-Norseman Breakaways; R1200 series final drive repair; Mt Augustus; Bimbijy Station; Around Oz
................Must be time for another diet 
