2010 Ride Around Australia

[spacey1]

Around Oz Solo

Perth - Kalgoorlie - Laverton - Great Central Road - Alice Springs - Darwin - Longreach - Karumba - Gulf of Carpentaria - Nambour - Phillip Island - Perth

BMW R1200 GSA 2008
40,000km odo start
40K Service just completed at Auto Classics (Perth)
New Mitas E-10 Enduro tyres front and rear (Tyres for Bikes Perth)
First half - July 2010 (Australian Winter) - Short daylight hours
Second half - October 2010 (Australian Spring)

Greetings all, I'm beginning my story from somewhere near the end, while I was broken down in Longreach Queensland due to a cracked brake line under the fuel tank. It is part of the ABS distribution system. Only 47,000 km on the clock. It's gotta be vibration induced as nothing can touch it nestled under the tank. I will build the story with photos as time allows.



What did I pack?



Left pannier: All tent gear including, 2-man tent (200 grams heavier than a 1 person tent allowing more room to stow gear undercover); 3.5 cm self-inflating mattress to keep warm bodies, well... warm; groundsheet (to keep tent cleaner and drier); metal and sand tent-pegs; 2x thin sleeping bags (2 for the cold, one for hot temperatures in the north - Darwin / Karumba), both packed in compression sacks.

Right pannier: Tools/repair kits; chargers/power packs for electronic devices; 12v to 240v invertor for emergency power; first aid box; small hammer for tent pegs and protection while sleeping; backup map book; tow rope; food items including emergency rations / tea / coffee in tube / museli bars / berroca tablets for cramps / glucose tablets / water purifyer tablets / army cutlery; hiker's gas cooker and 2x gas cans; hikers cook set; sunscreen; long sleeve shirt for sun protection; assorted rags.

Top-box: Gortex jacket (in compression sack); clean clothes (underwear, thermals, socks, shorts, tee-shirts, beanies, gloves); cable lock (to secure bike); misc daily food items (nuts, dried fruit, museli bars, fruit cake, fresh fruit where available, waterproof ex-army ground sheet- quick rain protection and keeps tent cleaner); mini camping towels (x2)

Rear seat: String-type net grocery bag (Held down by a selection of bungee cords) containing water (2 litre bottle), strong ratchet tie-down (emergency strap), thongs, one piece wet weather overall; assorted climbers aluminium loops.

Tank bag (BMW): Day maps printed from the HEMA 4WD Tracks of Australia (feature all campsite facilities in Australia updated yearly), 11" laptop with HEMA 4WD Tracks of Australia loaded, GPS (cheap TomTom Start for Australian town/city use only for guiding to friends addresses and Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne transits), USB hard disk / thumb drive for backing up photos/videos, wallet, etc. Broke both zips on main cover of the 'BMW Tank Bag' on 2nd day.



Helmet: Arai Tour-X 2 DC - lightweight, good vision, peak provided shaded vision from sun in early mornings and evenings, noisey (very) at road speed behind the tall screen. It's quieter in clean air standing up at 130kph. Eventually applied gaffer tape over the trailing edge of the peak to close the gap at the top of the helmet. This reduced the noise significantly. May consider a screen extension for the ride home.

Boots: SIDI rain boots; warm and dry; comfy; easy to walk in all day (eg 20 coffee shops in Longreach, wandering around the Olgas).

Back Pack: CamelBak 3 litre (water to sip constantly); safety glo vest (for emergency); misc storage of assorted loose items.

Cameras: GoPro Hero (hands free shooting) worn on Chesty strap (Full 1080p HD and 5-megapixel-stills with 2sec/5sec/10sec/60sec mode); note to self, forgetting to turn off camera when 2sec auto shooting mode is selected, fills a 16 gb memory card quite quickly; mostly used the 960p tall mode for video; fantastic quality video and images; Olympus Tough 12 megapixel waterproof still camera for pocket use, great camera for all round use; robust and waterproof.

[spacey1]

Perth to the end of the bitumen at the Great Central Road

July 1: Day 1 - Perth to Kalgoorlie

600km to Kalgoorlie in unexpectedly cold weather 12 degrees C, under-dressed for the occasion, saved by heated hand-grips. Beautiful stands of copper coloured Gimlet gums, beautiful at sunset, a medium sized eucalypt with very attractive fluted, copper or khaki coloured trunk, very frost resistant and salt tolerant and is grown throughout the world. It's preference for rich loamy soils resulted in large stands being cleared for farming. The trees need to be frost resistant, it gets bloody cold out there in the winter...

July 2: Day 2 - Kalgoorlie to Laverton

Thanks to Dear Friends in Kalgoorlie for rescuing me from the unexpected cold with a warm fire and even warmer hospitality. Even got a chance to convert the young 'un to BMW, on ya Harry



One reason to visit Kalgoorlie-Boulder is to see the Super Pit gold mine, the main reason Kalgoorlie-Boulder exists. This super open cut mine is moving ever closer to the town. In 2010, it was given a reprieve. More land was allocated extending the mine life by reportedly another 7 years. All I can say is that there's a lot of money in gold Apparently it is possible to drive under the town through tunnels. One day, I'm sure they will move the town.

There was an earthquake in Boulder in April 2010. Many buildings suffered superficial damage. Sadly none were repaired (as at July 2010). Apparently a lack of people to inspect and assess the buildings and homes. There are still people who are locked out of their homes.



The Kalgoorlie Super Pit gold mine is simply overwhelming in size.





To the uninitiated, the first sighting of Australian road trains is going to be a little intimidating. Leaving Leonora on the way to Laverton, this little road train came my way. I managed to get a reasonable shot with the GoPro 5 megapixel set on 2 second mode. The road trains can be up to 4 trailers and 53 metres long.



One of the many surprises on this trip was the road conditions. From Perth to Kalgoorlie, the highway was generally in very average condition. North of Kalgoorlie to Leonora (see photo above taken in the GoPro standing position), the road condition just improved from average to simple outstanding. I was beginning to wonder why I was riding a GS Adventure, no rough roads here. It just kept getting better all the way to Laverton. Simple amazing tar roads out there, smooth, flat, wide, beautiful.



Laverton turn-off





Just in case you don't get which direction to Laverton, multiple signs act as reminders



The highway into Laverton from Leonora...



Dropped in to check out the Telecentre in Laverton. These telecentres are set-up in most country town libraries. Internet access is available at all these libraries for a small fee.



However that was all to change past Laverton... thankfully

[goodguy]

Great story there Nev, looking forward to reading it all...Guy

[spacey1]

On ya goodGuy

July 3: Day 3 - Laverton to Tjukayirla

Bloody freezing. Left the last of good WA friends at Laverton. Finally left the bitumen and hit the dirt, nearly literally... The track was quite good. Had to be careful of loose surfaces. Master of understatement, aren't I





Fully laden GSA's are not re-known for stability in sandy, loose washouts or for that matter, windrows consisting of great piles of pea-gravel built up between vehicle wheel tracks.

About three quarters of an hour on the dirt, I encountered just that. Braved my way through the biggest, longest tank slapper ever. Name a shade of white, and I was it at some stage. With handlebars waving uncontrollably and the backend flapping like a flag, I thought the end was nigh, but praise be the desert gods. They were saving up for later no doubt.

Around Yeo Lake Nature Reserve, I stopped to scope out the remoteness of the place



Check: Remote







250 km (or so) later, I arrived at Tjukayirla Roadhouse. Now you'd imagine the roadhouses out here are not going to be showy affairs. But how wrong was I!



Surprised to find free wifi, best hamburger I've ever eaten ($13 and worth it), no mobile phone out here. So splashed $16 on Skype and made all my calls to family this way. Cheap calls and unbelievable quality. Way better than my mobile... So cold, I chose the 'woose' option and got a donga out back. $75 and worth every cent, clean, heated, and secure. Couldn't ask for more. Friendly good advice from the manager (Avoid camping at Warburton and Docker River). Much drama can be caused by petrol sniffing, alcoholism, drug addiction and abuse. I won't comment on the price of fuel, other than to say it's definitely not city prices. Ya gotta have it. Unleaded was available! Don't need to put the rubbish Opal anti-sniffing stuff in yet.

[spacey1]

July 4: Day 4 - Tjukayirla to Warakurna (Giles)

Departed Tjukayirla, on another cold desert morning, got up to 12 degrees C this day. I stopped quite a lot on this section of the trip. Mostly when the track passed through rocky escarpments. Great opportunities to drop the side-stand, turn off the big german twin, grab a bite to eat and drink, then climb to the top of the escarpment. This provides the opportunity to sit and ponder those who have passed this way before. How brave souls walked this land covering in a week what ground I cover in a day. How time has forgotten this land. Sitting and listening to the silence... It adds a real perspective on life. This stolen time empties ones mind of the rubbish that propels us through the juggernaut that is our daily grind. The simply sweet pleasure of nothing... In this pure isolation, one focuses on the important things in life. The rest... forgotten.



Arrived in Warakurna (Giles) early, or so I thought. First gotcha out here is that Giles, while still geographically located in Western Australia, actually works on Northern Territory time. That is one and a half hours ahead of Western Australia. Therefore 3.00pm = 4.30pm. If you are not aware of this, they are quite unforgiving. Example, no weather station tour, no access to the roadhouse on Sunday after 3.00pm.

Check-out the steel cages around the diesel / petrol pumps at the roadhouse. The brown boxes in front of the roadhouse are not boxes but cages. The non-sniffable Opal petrol is only available here. It really is rubbish fuel. It took two (2) tanks of real stuff to bring the engine performance back again.







Therefore the roadhouse was closed. In fact everything was closed. Sunday afternoon, 4.30pm, that's a surprise. No early starts from here. Need to wait for the roadhouse to open at 8.00am on Monday morning for a fuel top-up. No early starts... There were another four vehicles at various stages of setting up camp at the very good campsite. Good facilities; water; backpackers quarters (not open Sunday arvo), enclosed cooking / eating area; but no one around to take your money for fees. Warakurna also appears to be secure. Probably due to the Police Station across the road.

Now if you needed to get away from the dirt, Warakurna provides a short stretch of bitumen through the community to keep the dust at bay. Don't speed however, as there is the small matter of the police station at the half-way point on this 500 metre strip. That'll be an air strip for emergencies no doubt.

[spacey1]

July 5: Day 5 - Warakurna (Giles) to Yulara

Compulsory viewing is the weather station at Giles about a kilometre from Warakurna. Giles is one of the key meteorological stations in Australia. Make sure to be on time for the weather balloon launch / short tour. They are quite grumpy out there and will not let you in once the demonstration is completed. Fortunately the museum is always open and is very interesting.





The location, with mountains in the background is gorgeous. Come to think of it. All the Aboriginal settlements are in stunning locations with water and mountains close-by. Warburton and Docker River are actually very scenic. However, I was warned about the joys and dangers of staying at these places. I've never seen a supermarket with steel cages at the front door and at the checkouts, both in and out...



The rocket booster stage adds to the mystique of this remote region.



Heading east from Warakurna, well at least at the end of the bitumen, is the sign we all want to see.

'Warakurna to Warburton >> Road Open'

a) You're going in the right direction and

b) the road is open... (ie. the rain has stayed away so far).

It's a long way home if it's closed



About three quarters of an hour out from Giles, I encountered another of the biggest, longest tank slapper ever (Number 2). Handlebars again waving uncontrollably and the back-end again flapping like a flag, I again thought the end was nigh, but praise be the desert gods. What the hell are they were saving up for...

One of my more eventful stops... I parked on the Great Central Road heading past Mt Taylor. The bike fell over here. I had to unload it and drag it down on the flat to get it back up again. This is the reason that you always see experienced GSA riders fuss around like chooks when it comes to parking one of these babies.

Hurt my knee in the process. Note to self: This is a very large heavy motorcycle. It is a sorry story about the need to disconnect the engine cut-out on the side-stand. With the suspension in the highest position, the side-stand down on the high-ground-side of the bike, it was teetering close to tipping over, I could only just touch the ground with tippy toes on the high-ground-side, and didn't have enough purchase to kick-back the side-stand out the small rut that it was stuck in. 'Put it in gear and ride out' I hear you say. Tried that and good ol' german safety standards cut the engine... 'Let the suspension down' I hear you say next. Did that and of course those 2 inches of suspension travel downwards on to the side-stand was all the convincing a 300 kg GSA needed to finally prove gravity really exists. Luckily, due to the engine protection bars and the right side pannier, no damage ensued.



I left my compulsory offering to the desert gods. The german safety standard rear mudguard broke off due to corrugations on the track past Docker River.

Now you have to remember, this was my first big solo ride out into remote regions likes this. And on a very large heavy motorcycle that I'd only just purchased a few months prior. The corrugations and road conditions on the Northern Territory end of the Great Central Road are appalling. Sand, invisible wash-outs, corrugations and mixtures of all of the aforementioned. Corrugations that force you to crawl along in 2nd and 3rd gear. I thought that it would never end and I would never leave this place.

However, I finally made it to the Olgas at 1.14pm.





Speedometer reading at the Olgas was 42,504 kilometres. The bike had it's 40,000 kilometre service on the day prior to departure. Do the sums, that means that Perth to the Olgas = circa 2,500 kilometres.



I parked here for a while and went for a walk around. Magnificent location, however, rain was threatening and I was still on dirt roads that can turn to quagmire in a flash.



The experiences I encountered on the Great Central Road put me off riding dirt roads for a couple of years. It actually scared the crap out of me. There were times when I thought I would crash and die. The relentless sandy washed-out corrugations that could only be traversed at low speed sapped my mental and physical strength. It wasn't until 2012 that I was so fed-up with bitumen road riding, and not riding in the dirt, that I splashed the cash and purchased a steering damper. Since the steering damper fitment, I am now able to attack the dirt roads in the fashion I'm accustomed to...

I have been racing off-road since I was a kid. This is the first big heavy motorcycle I've ever attempted to punt around on the dirt. Fitting the steering damper to the BMW R1200 GSA is a revelation. It settles down the whole machine. Surprisingly, the new BMW R1200 Liquid-Cooled motorcycles all have steering dampers fitted standard now.
Wonder why? I don't...

Modern 4WD vehicles make travelling on dirt roads effortless. In fact, I would go as far as saying "Anyone could drive a modern 4WD just about anywhere."

Motorcycling is hard If it was easy, everyone would be doing it...

Finally just before Ayrs Rock, the bitumen road started.

The sign at Ayrs Rock stated that the rock was closed due to possibility of rain and high winds.
I was later informed that the sign is mostly always up in an effort to discourage Australians (and tourists) from climbing one of our icons.

So I made the most of this solid stable ground (bitumen) and toured around the Rock.







My stop-over for the night was at the Yulara Resort. Even the cheapest accommodation (Backpacker dorms) was exorbitantly expensive. However I guess it is a long way from anywhere...

I spoke to a young married couple from Venice, Italy. They agreed that it was the most expensive place they had ever encountered.

The rain started...

[spacey1]

July 6: Day 6 - Yulara to Alice Springs

Yep, the rain started and didn't want to stop...

A break in the rain allowed a stop for a view of Mt Connor.





I was lucky enough to experience the 2nd coldest DAYTIME temperature on record in Alice - 6.7 degrees C maximum during day... and did I mention bucketing down with rain. The Todd River was overflowing all causeways in Alice. 40 mm of rain on previous night.



I again called on friends who put me up for the night. I was freezing cold and spent about an hour in front of a gas heater to get some warmth back into my bones...

There was a scenic hiking trail at the back of their house, so off I went, walking through the hills around Alice Springs...

[Bozo]

Nev

Brilliant ride report.

It can be very cold in Alice Springs.

The last time I camped was in Alice Springs in August 1982 having left Kununurra with summer clothing and a light sleeping bag. I recall the minimum temperature was 2 degrees C. We would have booked into a warm Motel except we had a puppy with us.

The coldest minimum temperature ever measured in Alice Springs was -7.5 degrees C see http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/extreme/r ... tional.pdf

Your 6 degrees C is positively balmy.

Bozo

[Cookie]

Great ride report Nev

[spacey1]

The coldest minimum temperature ever measured in Alice Springs was -7.5 degrees C see http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/extreme/r ... tional.pdf
Your 6 degrees C is positively balmy.

Hi Bozo, just want to point out that 6 degrees C was the maximum daytime temperature, not the overnight minimum. And raining cats and dogs. I've no idea how bloody cold it was that night. I was sleeping on a concrete floor in the basement. I really was looking forward to a little sun...

[spacey1]

July 7: Day 7 - Alice Springs to Tennant Creek

Cold and rainy but Northern Territory speed limit is 130 kph Getting easier to cover the kilometres. With so much rain in the Outback, the whole country-side comes alive with lush green plants eager to get the reproduction cycle into full swing before the sun dries it all away.

Breaks in the weather allowed for decent stops at the Tropic of Capricorn on the Stuart Highway for the obligatory photo stop.



And at the Devil's Marbles. Still lousy weather... but still better than working



Stayed in a dump of a caravan park in Tennant Creek. Expensive, dirty, broken, old and muddy to boot.

[spacey1]

July 8: Day 8 - Tennant Creek to Mataranka

The day starts out cold and rainy. I met four chaps on on Harleys and a Triumph on a bucket-list ride (Melbourne to Darwin to Perth and back to Melbourne) at the Three Ways just past Tennant Creek. They were equally as cold as I and invited me inside to join them for a much-needed warming-coffee and to share their journey to the Noonamah Pub in Darwin.

Great fun. Lots of video on the GoPro Hero. Passing 50 metre road trains in a group of 5. Magically, the rain, the cold and the clouds disappeared about Renner Springs. We pulled into a road house, laid on the lawn in the sun and stripped off the cold and rain gear... heavenly

From there onwards, any excuse for a pub stop... the Daly Waters Historic pub, Larrimah...



And ended up at Mataranka for the night at the Mataranka Hot Springs. Soaked our cold weary bones and drank copious quantities of cold beer and ate barramundi (fish).

[spacey1]

July 9: Day 9 - Mataranka to Darwin

An early morning soak in the hot springs set us up for an easy day to Darwin. Lots of fun on the Stuart Highway, passing road trains, videoing the group with the GoPro Hero on my Chesty. Had the luxury of time on our side therefore we never passed a pub without a stop. The Adelaide River Pub, and the other northern must-drink-at pub, the Noonamah. Wished my fellow riders well from here and moved on to Darwin. Mitas E-10 rear worn out - could possibly last another 964km back to the Three Ways, but then what?

[Bozo]

Nev

Sorry I misunderstood that it was the maximum temperature...I agree pretty cool.

Like the Cane Toad on the top of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Bozo

[spacey1]

Hmmm, good pick-up Bozo... I thought there was something strange about that monument