Around the Big Paddock – 9 Days
I found it easy to describe the actual route taken on this run, jump on the National Route 1 and follow it around Oz back to where I started. Responses were good, like, wow! What a great trip, fantastic! taking some long service are you? What a great thing to do, etc., then the magic question is asked, how long will you be away? It all then turns into disbelief from those who just can’t get what long distance riding is about and I am sure there will be a few readers who still won’t get it by the end of the report….9 days!! You won’t be able to do that, geeze are you nuts? Or simply the nod of disbelief.
I am sure others have done the ride around Oz in their own way and I know of a few that have done it more than once. They did it how it suited them and enjoyed what they accomplished, I, as a LDRider, enjoyed immensely what I achieved and what I believe was the manner in which it was all planned, executed and to me, most importantly, being able to manage my fatigue. The one new item I took along this time to assist in this was a Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) camera to help with night riding, more on that later.
One other item I used this time, was the programme Bubbler on my Android phone with is the Galaxy 111. I actually thought I had it working but unfortunately did not get it to function correctly until Port Augusta. From then on it performed very well and allowed my tracking for the rest of the trip without fail.
My attempt was to start on the south side of Brisbane and travel in a clockwise direction. The two pieces of the highway that were important to me, was to ensure that I included the run from Katherine up to Darwin. Secondly to make sure I travelled the highway out to Borroloola in the NT where the bitumen runs out on the National route 1 as it heads to the Queensland border some 290Km away (I just do not travel well on dirt roads or like attempting river crossings with my bike), then head down to the Barkly Highway onto Cloncurry then up to pick the National Highway at Normanton. From the research I had completed on the route, it appeared that most people included the run up to Darwin but on the way back by passed the turn off at Daly Waters, that is part of the National Highway and continued on down to Three Ways, turned left onto the Barkly Highway, down onto Cloncurry where they would then turn left to head up to Normanton and once again pick up the National Highway. I wanted to maximise the amount of the National Highway that I was to complete.
I understood that day one was going to be not only my longest day but more than likely the most difficult. This part of the ride included riding through the highway through one of the busier parts of Sydney then knowing that I would be tackling all the little hamlets down the south coast of NSW. This was one of the many considerations in planning this ride, do you do it first or last? Well from my perspective it was definitely better doing it all first, I would not like to tackle the east coast of Oz having completed eight days of riding prior, I would have ended up being nuts all right.
Around midnight was my start time which allowed easy access down through most of the road works in northern NSW, especially around Coffs Harbour. The run through Sydney took place late morning so that I missed the peak hour traffic at both ends of the work day. The real slowing down occurred after Bulli pass. Not only were the number of smaller towns an issue but there is also a large amount of road repair/rebuilding occurring. Like most things on a trip there is nothing you can do but just keep going being satisfied that you had a bed for the night at the end of the day, come on Lakes Entrance!!....sleep was easy.
I was hoping to hit Melbourne just before peak hour traffic, however, the run up through the hills with a bit of wet weather around took its toll and I hit the jackpot with the traffic. It was amusing though, in Brisbane on my way to work we will get three lanes of traffic bumper to bumper and travel at 5Kph, in Melbourne they have five lanes of bumper to bumper traffic and still do 100Kph!!
With the slow start and weather that you hoped would not come, the run across Victoria became a real challenge. Decisions needed to be made. The rain was there, all the way, so was the wind, boy was the wind there, it was trying to keep me horizontal. Do I stop and hope that it dies down or take the battle to Mother Nature. Well the battle continued for the next few hours, not at the speed that was required but at least I was still going forward, it was a great feeling to reach Port Augusta. Changed rooms at the motel due to a really bad fish smell in the room, fixed Bubbler so that it was now working and found sleep very easy again.
By this stage and only two days in you will have already guessed that I was a bit behind in my plan, well that is what the NT is for :) I had used my buffer of a couple of spare hours and was now looking at cutting down the extra time I had planned for fuel stops. The vast majority of fuel stops were planned for 20 minutes which may seem excessive to some but it was also my last line for obtaining time back.
Well, for me the ride was really about to get into the full swing, out onto the paddock on the bottom edge and cruising across those incredible plains. This time the flowers were in full swing as was the wind and the fuel consumption rising. It was about this time that I was thankful for the external tank.
The last time I went across or should I say came back across the paddock the most expensive fuel was at the Nullarbor Plains, so this time it was nice to just pass it by.
It was an interesting feeling to hit Norseman in WA and turn left instead of the normal turn to the right, now for a bit of a trip into unchartered territory. Down into Esperance for a corner docket and then over to Ravensthorpe for a sleep. The uncertainty of fuel always plays on my mind and due to my arrival time I was concerned of the availability of fuel here. An earlier phone call prior to the trip confirmed that the servo would be closed by the time I arrived but 24Hr fuel was available via the use of a credit card. I actually refuelled in the morning prior to departure using this magical system which allowed me to utilise my savings account and not my credit line…..it worked flawlessly, phew.
I continued on towards Albany and out towards Denmark for another corner docket but in the back of my mind was reminded that it was down this way that Tabledrain (Ian) had a run in with a roo on one of his IBA ride attempts, boy was I ever mindful of this which helped in keeping my mind very alert. The rain had hit again at this stage and kept up for a few hours and required, due to my riding style, a bit of a slower pace. Once the weather cleared it was a nice run up the Old Coast Rd and through Perth and out to Cataby. That trip up through Perth seems to take forever. BP Overlander was the stop point for a sleep and refuel, again time management was critical as missing the closing time here would have meant a long wait before being able to obtain fuel.
The run continued on up through Carnarvon and onto Port Headland where I was expecting to refuel, well it is a big place with lots of people due to the mining in the area. On arrival at the pumps there was only 91 octane unleaded. The choice was to return to town and search out another servo, losing some more valuable time or top up and continue on. Well I still needed to make up some time so reluctantly filled up. I did keep in the back of my mind that some of the owners at OzSTOC have been using 91 for years without issue so I did feel a little better knowing that I would be back to 95 or 98 at the next refuel….hopefully?
Roebuck Plains Roadhouse was the turning point for what I considered as the run across the topside of the paddock, which meant I only had a boundary and a half to go on my attempt. What a trip across the top part of the paddock this turned out to be, three days of 40c+ temps. The water bladder in the tank bag was hot enough to make a cup of tea with. I regularly need to change out the water and purchase more across this part of our beautiful country. I was a little shocked to pay four dollars for a 2 litre bottle of water at one of the roadhouses. My sleep spot was at Fitzroy River Lodge where I paid $150 to sleep in a tent, now don’t get me wrong it was a great tent with an on suite, air conditioning and was very comfortable. After a long hot day in the saddle it was soooo worthwhile. It was along this next stretch of road, minding my own business, when out of the blue this great, no gigantic demon bird attacked my bike and ate, well swallowed whole, my right side HID driving light, damn demon bird!!
Onwards, onwards towards Kununurra and out through the WA/NT border and then to Gregory National Park which I had been looking forward to all trip. My last run up this way, earlier in the year, on the Australian Southern Cross run, had wet my appetite for this great stretch of road through the park. 130Kph, fantastic road with wide sweeping bends and a smile on my dial from ear to ear. I just don’t have this opportunity anywhere else in Australia, how good was that!!!!
Refuel at Katherine and then continue the following of the National Highway 1 up to Darwin and a sleep for the night. The regular stop for fuel in Darwin was having problems and was unable to provide fuel so back down the road to the Coles Shell, refuel and up to Doctor’s Gully for a photograph. I like taking the opportunity to visit Doctor’s Gully as it is a personal reminder of OX (Peter) and acts as a trigger for me to remember some great LDRiders here in OZ including Tabledrain, Crappy, the Cudlins, Grey Gentry and Marls, Derrick, Margaret Peart and a whole range of other names/nicknames that I just can’t put my finger on, more than likely as I don’t have access to a forum regarding IBA in Australia at the moment. I suppose that, it is my way of reminding myself, that we have some extraordinary LDRiders doing some extraordinary rides out there, good on you all!!
From Darwin it is off down to Daly Waters for a refuel and into uncharted waters for myself as I have not travelled this part of the National Highway 1. This is very much the single lane Highway, if you see a truck in the distance, best advice is to pull well of the road and let them pass, as the chances are it will be one of the very long road trains. Thankfully, I only need to move off the road three times on the way out to Borroloola and found that oncoming traffic moved off the road or partially off to allow me to stay on the bitumen.
At this stage of the ride, this had been the most isolated piece of road that I had ever travelled but that was about to change very quickly. Once I had been out to Borroloola and the end of the bitumen for the National Highway 1, I returned to Cape Crawford and the roadhouse for a top up of water and headed down the Tableland Highway towards Barkly Homestead for fuel and a sleep, (387Km).
This section of road, for me, has to be the most isolated section of road that I have ever ridden. From memory I may have been lucky to have seen three vehicles. I am sure that I was able to get the bike airborne on at least two occasions, travelling at a speed that was less than the posted limit, and on the way back to terra firma the wind gusts could be felt around my crutch. The road in places was like a roller coaster, it is not a road I would travel at night. I was also amused to see some signs “Road subject to flooding for next 30Km”. This piece of real estate was incredible to see and my mind was blown away with the vastness but yet so much beauty in its landscape.
