Helga

Helga

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Day 32: Perth for a break

Olga's tyre was holding this morning so we decded not to muck arund and head off to Perth but also to include a bit of "scenic" coast road near Coolimba. I put scenic in quote marks because it wasn't really what we would have called a scenic road. But we didn't have too many kms to do that day so we were in cruise mode and stopped for a break by the Indian Ocean.

Then it was basically just a pootle into Perth. Dick decided to ignore the instructions from the GPS and plotted our route into the hotel which he did very well. Unfortunately we overshot the hotel and wound up in a very fast moving one way section just beyond the hotel. Nothing for it - this is what R1200GS's are for - we rode back along the footpath and into the hotel where we parked up out the front. The people waiting at the bus stop didn't seem to mind very much.

The receptionist was distinctly snooty with us - perhaps were a bit too grubby and noisy for him. They had also cocked up the booking and had put us in a double room. He sniffingly checked us in and then told us that we couldn't possibly leave the bikes parked at the front of the hotel. That suited us just fine anyway so we parked around the back and hit him up for a trolley to get all our filthy and mud encrusted panniers into the lift and up to our room. He also organised a trolley bed so Dick and I wouldn't have to top 'n tail in a double bed.

Dick was heading off for three days in EnZud to do some business stuff so he was up and away at 6am leaving me to enjoy the delights of Perth - and to get his bike retyred and repaired.

So I'll pick up this blog on Thursday when he gets back and we hit the road south.

Cheers to everyone.

Day 31: Sliming our way to Geraldton

Up early again in the morning and hello. Hello hello hello. Olga's rear tyre has only 5psi. Hmmm. And bugger. We put her on the centre stand, rotated the wheel to find the plug and put a big gob of spit on it. Shades of Rotorua. Lots of spittly bubbles. Conundrum. Replug? Pump up and go to tyre repairer? Then Dick remembered that he had a can of slime in his kit. It was only a little hole and the trye was due to be replaced in Perth so it made a lot of sense. The pressure in the can lifted the rear tyre to 35psi and we headed off.

Stopped at the Wooramel Roadhouse for breakfast and then kept heading south. We debated going out to the Denham Peninsula, partly because it was the most westerly part of Oz and also because the road was called The Useless Loop. Common sense won out however and we continued heading south stopping off at the Overlander and Billabong Roadhouses for petrol and a break and arrived in Geraldton in the mid-afternoon. We had a look at the Lonely Planets book and thought that a backpackers called the Foreshore looked ok so - as usual in case they don't like bikers - called in by phone and made a booking. The backpackers was great - a real faded lady but good rooms adequate facilities and a good central location.

Olga's tyre was holding well so we set off and went out for a roam and dinner. Wound up in the Freemasons Hotel (I can hear my dad turning in his grave - well I could if he hadn't been cremated) where we watched Australia thrash the Irish in rugby. It was quite bizarre - in a very old hotel surrounded by aussies watching rugby. I made the mistake of ordering a schooner of Hoergarden (wheat beer) and was stunned to be charged $10.70 per glass. Goodness me! (or something like that!)

I was feeling vegetable-deprived so we went Chinese for dinner expecting to find a vegetable chop suey or something similar but ended up ordering two dishes that were almost identical - both with battered meat/fish and a spicy brown sauce. They tasted great but we were a bit overwhelmed by it all.

Tonight was Saturday night so the place was pretty rowdy that night. Also the bikes were parked in an open area and the back of the hostel so I was a bit nervous about that too. So ... not the greatest of sleeps that night but all was ok.

Day 30: Dampier to Carnarvon - quite a lot of not a lot....

A big day riding today from Dampier to Carnarvon. We got away early and stopped for brekkie at the Fortescue Roadhouse and then basically pushed on the 680kms to Carnarvon. As the heading says - quite a lot really of not a lot at all. Just sand and scrub and long long long long roads.

A highlight was recrossing the Tropic of Capricorn - we are officially out of the tropics!



Not much there really but an opportunity to stop and be silly - I'll post the silly photos when Dick gets back with his/our USB cable. Here....

On down to Carnarvon where we checked into a backpackers in the old part of town. There was a big rigmorole with opening and locking gates where we could actually have driven in the front door of the hostel and out the back to the cabins. Seeing as how we planned to stay there the night we thought this might not have been the best of ideas.

We were getting a bit worried with the state of Olga's tyre by now - it had been losing pressure right through the day. Seemed to be holding for now but we'll see how it goes in the morning. Then we went out for dinner - for the life of me I can't remember where!!!

:-)


Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Day 29: Crocs, sand and hamburgers

A gentle start again to the day today with breakfast supplied by the hostel. We spent some time getting organised and then went down to the local McCafes for a latte and some free WiFi access. We went off at about 11am for a visit to a local Wildlife Park - I was a bit doubtful about this but it was great. Lots of crocs but also lots of other animals - including the most gorgeous dingos. I'll post some good photos when I can but for now .....






Now that is something I am glad we didn't meet on the Pentecost River. We then cruised on south for about 370kms to a beach caravan park called Eighty Mile Beach. A lovely beach although the campsite itself was a bit crappy. They had heaps of tent sites in sandy locations but for some reason put us in an area with a coarse pebbly ground. Not so easy on the tent floors. So we - as you do when faced with adversity - got the port bottle out and went and sat on the beach to watch the sun go down over the Indian Ocean. It was great. A beautiful white sandy beach with people walking, swimming, fishing and generally having a good time. And a beautiful sunset.


That night was camp hamburger night so we went for that - we still have some pasta we could have cooked up but couldn't be bothered. Hamburger night was obviously a major social event as lots of the campers brought chairs and stools (and wine) up to the reception area where the cooks were being kept busy. And the hamburgers themselves were not bad.

We went back to our tent site and were invited over the neighbours's site for a glass of wine and a chat. A really interesting couple from Sydney. She was a social worker and he was obviously a successful businessman. He and Dick had a lot of fun talking business and I had a lot of fun sitting quietly and drinking their shiraz. (Yeah right) They were both strong Labor (!!) and KRudd supporters so that was interesting; especially in view of what transpired later. They had also visited NZ but had only toured around Stewart Island. She (Sue) was a bird-nut and they tended to go places where she could do lots of birdwatching. They were interested to hear that we had stayed at Parry Creek and asked us a lot about the birds in the billabong there.


That was about it so we headed off to bed. A big ride tomorrow through Port Hedland and Karratha to Dampier.

Day 28: Sweeping down to Broome....

An easy day today with a shorter run through to Broome. Dick got on the phone to BMW in Perth and got things sorted for both bikes. New pannier and tyres for Olga and a tune-up for Helga. Not sure what BMW in Darwin did but they didn't get it quite right. Helga doesnt like being shut down and then started up again straight away - also idling roughly. If she wasn't fuel injected I'd have said it was a vapour lock but I guess it's some kind of computer setting thing.

On the road then down to Broome - good sealed road and we cruised into Broome before lunch. Went to the Visitor Centre and organised accommodation at a backpackers/hotel in Cable Beach. A bit expensive but it was breakfast included with vouchers for a free beer each so that was fine. And it had a pool and comfortable beds.

So we basically spent the day lounging around and pretending we were tourists. I spent some time in the pool and some in the internet room before we went out along the street to a local pub for dinner. It was great - heaps of families, good-humoured staff, reasonable music and the best fettucini I have had since arriving in Oz.

All good so we headed off to bed again.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Day 27: The Puncture Derby

We had an early start to the day but took a while to get Dick's bike organised. He has some cloth straps which we used to hold the broken bracket against the screwhead and another to stabilise the pannier. We put all his heavier stuff into the top box and the other pannier and set off carefully back down the Manning Gorge Road. We were early out so had not too much traffic to compete with and made it back out to the main road without incident.


The road quality was then really variable - sometimes graded smooth where you could sit at 70kph, in other places as rough as a long night on the turps. About 85km down this road we came to the next roadhouse at Immtji (try pronouncing that!) and about another 65kms after that to the section where the road was supposed to be sealed. And it was!! Wahoo off we went at stellar speeds approaching 85kph when all of a sudden the road turned to crap again. And that was really the sum of our day - good road ... yahooo. Crap road ... bugger. We kept our speed well down because we didn't want any more bits to fall off Olga and eventually arrived at the information bays just out of Derby. We stopped there for the obligatory "Yes we did it" photos and a local taxi driver stopped by, having seen the UnZud stickers on Olga. He was a teacher from Timaru who had recently chucked everything in back home and come to Derby to be with his daughter and son-in-law.


We had a good chat and then .... bugger ... nothing happened!!

Nothing happened because Olga's rear tyre was all flat at the bottom.

We wheeled her into the shade and got her up on the centre stand - not an easy job when the rear tyre is flat. Spun the wheel and eventually I spied a tiny fragment of something sharp - still not sure what: a nail, a piece of glass, a sharp stone? We dug out the tyre repair kit and got to work. Just then another kiwi stopped by - he runs a motorcycle workshop just up the road. He could see that we sortof knew what we were doing so he left us to it leaving instructions on how to find him if we needed him. I tried really hard to pull out the sharp but in the end I think I pushed it in. Reamed out the hole, plugged and glued and then sat for 10 minutes with our fingers crossed. Trimmed off the ragged ends and pumped up the tyre and it held. Yes.

Apparently accommodation is impossible to find because the federal government is using motels and hotels to accommodate "asylum seekers" aka "Boat People" depending on whether you vote for Rudd or Abbott. Obviously a sore point with the locals. So we organised a tent site in the local caravan park and settled in. It was T-bone steaks night at the local pub so we went there and just to be different we had T-bone steaks. Not bad either for $12 a time.

We were pretty knackered by now. Again. So we crawled into our little tents and went to sleep. Exciting aye!

Day 26: Dick meets his quota....

Earlier in the trip I had suggested to Dick that we would probably have 3 or 4 offs during this trip around Oz. Today Dick met his quota!

Dawn comes early in Eastern Western Australia so we were up early and into the weetbix. All this from a Hubbard's man! Then back down the track from Ellenbrae towards Mt Barnett. We were warned off the Drysdale Road so kept on the main "road" towards the next roadhouse. There were a few fords to cross but generally the road was ok - a few parts with terrible corrugations and then evening out. (Nothing like a good evening out.)

When we got to Mt Barnett Gorge we decided to go up the sideroad to have a look. I was in front and working through the sandy sections when I suddenly realised that Dick wasn't behind me anymore. I parked up the bike in the middle of the track and sure enough - there was Olga lying on her side. Dick had put the front wheel into a sand drift and lost the front. All good though - no hurt and no damage so we heaved the bike upright and carried on.




Mt Barnett Gorge was lovely with a deep billabong and swimming area. Dick spoiled the scenery by stripping to his daks and going for a swim while I stayed on the bank doing crocodile watch! Not a pretty sight. Unfortunately there were no crocs.


We got Dick decent again - well sort-of - and headed back down the track to the main road. Dick in front this time and at almost the exact same place almost the exact same thing happened - Dick put his front wheel into a sanddrift and over he went. I saw it this time - a lovely dive over the handlebars and rolling in the sand. Olga went in on her right hand side this time and was in deep sand so we struggled a bit to get her upright and the sidestand out. Dick seemed to be ok. Apparently he landed on his head and it didn't hurt a bit.

Back onto the main road and Dick was determined to show he was unfazed by it all and took off like a rocket up the road. I tried to slow him down by hanging back but it didnt work.

After a while we got to the Mount Barnett Roadhouse and checked into a camping ground. Only then did we discover that the camping ground was 7kms up the Manning Gorge Road - again along a sandy track. I was in front again and again realised that Dick wasn't behind me. Went back to find him and he was ok - seemed to be having some problems with the brakes. He led off in front and then again hit some sand and went over once more - heavily this time and onto the left hand side. Dick was ok (ego damaged he said) but Olga was bit worse for the wear. The stay that holds one of the pannier mounting brackets was cracked right through and one of the lugs on the pannier itself was broken. We asked a passing motorist to take the pannier bag on to the camp and followed.

We found a campsite (the place was packed with grey nomads and families) and recovered the pannier. We then got out the straps and the duct tape and made an onthespot repair - the best we could do. A quick swim in another lovely gorge (Dick in his togs this time), some rice and fish for dinner (no port!) and we headed for an early bed.

A tough hot and rough day - but all good. Because of the damage we decided to go out to Derby the next day to arange for repairs to the bike. So a good ride tomorrow - supposedly along some sealed roads!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Day 25: Down the mighty Gibb River Road

Up early today for our next major challenge - the Gibb River Road. 800kms or so of gravel and dirt. We decided to take the easy way into the road (we thought) and cruised up to the first stopping place at Eol Questro. Here we had to cross two rivers, one being the Pentecost River. I was a bit nervous about this but Dick was keen so we gave them a go. While I hate to admit it - he was right and I was wrong. The rivers were excellent practice for what came later. They were both quite deep - over the engine cylinders - and a bit pebbly but we found if we kept the speed up and didnt worry too much about how deep it was we were ok.

A quick look around El Questro - this is the place that offers accommodation for $AUD6-8,000 per night. We weren't overly impressed so topped up our tanks and then headed back over the two rivers again and onto the Gibb.
Next challenge was the real crossing of the Pentecost. When I can I'll post some photos but let's just say it was deep, long and rough - with a reputations for saltie crocs! Dick went first and was going well untill he stalled on a huge rock in the middle. Fortunately he's got long legs and was able to hold the bike up, get it started and forge on to the other side.
My turn - I kept well up to the left hand side of the weir where it was fairly shallow with smailler rocks and did well for a while and then turned into the deeper water and went for it. Helga was great - she pushed on thru with the water coming right up over the front mudguard and me saying "We're going to make it, We're going to make it - and we did!! High fives all round - Dick has a great photo that once we work out how to do it, we'll post on the blog. The practice earlier in the day was invaluable. (Here's one photo -the River Pentecost is deep and wide!!!

Here's another!!!!
And one more!!

After that was the Durak River which, while shorter, was a bit deeper but we managed that ok as well.



We camped that night at Ellenbrae. Interesting. Basically you checked in at the farm house, had a coffee and were told to go that way and pick any spot you like along the Bushmans' Camp Track. We did exactly that and were in real Ocker camping mode for a night. We brewed up some soup and some pasta - both of which were delicious. We tried to add a tin of what I had thought was kind of a corned beef but it turned out to be more like meat paste. It was disgusting. We finished off Dick's bottle of port and - because of where we were in the time zone - found everything went dark just after 6pm. Not much for it then but to go to bed. A great night's sleep for two very tired bunnies. Tomorrow - Ellenbrae to Mt Barnett.
:-)

Day 24: A gentle day

We decided on a quiet day today. We went from Kununurra up to Wyndam stopping on the way along a dirt road at Parry Creek Farm. Such a lovely spot we decided to camp there the night. Got booked in and then went on to Wyndam. Not much there except a great little museum. We tried the copshop for some info on the Gibb River Road but didnt get much so went back towards Parry Creek. But there were some great boab trees.....



On the way we stopped off at an amazing billabong full of birds. Lots of white egrets but also large nos of brown ducks and other birds - cranes, shags and so on. Just fantastic.
Set up camp back at Parry Creek and sat out on a ramp over their billabong being eaten by tine but vicious mossies. Had dinner at the restaurant (expensive - ouch) and then went off to bed. A lovely day....

Friday, June 18, 2010

Day 23: On the road again!!

Well it's been a hectic week or two. Back in NZ for some work and then sitting huddling from the wind cold and rain. Then off to sunny Raro for a family wedding. A bit of a sprint back: Raro - Auckland-Welly-Sydney-Darwin. Phew. 4 time zone changes in 36 hours.
Found the bikes looking fine and perky at BMW Darwin. Helga had a faulty starter motor and it has been replaced (under warranty fortunately.) Olga had a stuffed battery which was also replaced - $350 ouch!
We didn't hang around in Darwin for long. There is the V8 Supercars there this weekend and the town was going mad. So we headed south to Adelaide River and checked in at a motel there for a beer and a meal. Then the huge sort-out as we repacked and reorganised.
Up early the next day and off for the full 720km run to Kununurra. Both bikes are running well so we sat on 130-140kph for the whole day. That does amazing things for your fuel consumption - not good things either. We really did nothing this day except ride and fill up with petrol. We stopped again in Pine Creek for breakfast and to see if the sour-faced waitress had improved her customer relations. (She hadn't.) and at Timber Creek for a bit of a break and some lunch. Then into Western Australia and put our times back two hours. This meant that we left at 7am, rode for 720 kms and arrived at 2.30pm. Only in Australia.
Booked into the YHA for the night and went out for a meal. The hostel is full of Korean young people working in the sandlewood plantatiuons and of course Korea was playing Argentina in the World Cup. It was great - tears and passion and screams. Then off to bed and crash - the time zones caught up. .
We plan to have a quiet day today - maybe go up to Wyndham and then hit the Gibb River Road tomorrow. We'll see how its goes.
Cheers all.