Final 2 days

Sunday June 9 2013

Boolboonda Tunnel

  Today we would go to Mt. Perry looking for a special street sign that Jeff wants to photograph for a contest he is in. We need to go about 50 km off of the main road to find this town. Somebody told us that it was all dirt roads there but they were wrong. About 15 km before the town I saw a sign for a tunnel that was only 2 km off of the road. You cannot miss a chance to see a tunnel so away we went. The road did turn to dirt but we tried it and found the tunnel. Naturally we rode through it and then followed the dirt road on the other side through the forest and some pastures. Eventually it met up with the paved road we were on and we continued on to the town and finally located the street sign that we were searching for.

We then returned back to the main highway and started searching for inexpensive lodging not realizing that this was a 3 day holiday weekend so Sunday night still brought higher rates. We stayed in Childers and found a Subway for a light meal. The young ladies at Subway informed us that the only public internet access was at the library which was closed but we might still get a connection outside of the library. My father is having some medical issues and I was hoping to get more information via email so I went and stood outside the library in the rain (with a couple of other people) to check my email. In the morning I went back and did it again.

Monday June 10 2013, final riding day
Clint had told us about a back road route to get back to Brisbane which we took. It was very enjoyable with lots of trees, farms and rolling hills. But about 100 miles from Clint's house it started to rain and then it really started to come down. It was very difficult to see but we finally made it back after several wrong turns. Our clothes were soaked as were we. It was a nice wet end to a good holiday. We were sorry that it was our last day of riding but it will be nice to get back home.

We arrive back in Brisbane beyond wet!

Tuesday June 11 2013
It's bike cleanup day and they really need it!! We are also starting to pack the motorcycle gear for the trip home Thursday. 

Great Barrier Reef

Thursday 6-6-2013

Charters Towers – Airlie Beach

After leaving the library we went by a park that I remembered from the previous motorcycle trip. This park's trees are full of big fruit bats.

We took a few pictures and then went looking for a caravan park that we were told about. We rented a cabin there that had a kitchenette and 2 bedrooms as well as a couch and eating table. This was the best place that we had stayed in yet. The park also had internet in select locations so we did some emails and I did the blog previous to this one. We did not feel like going back to town for supper so we looked at the meager offerings of the camp store. Jeff got a breakfast muffin and some potato chips. I bought a can of chili and some crackers. Gourmet dining! We actually had the tv tuned on watching news and then some long drama about high school girls working as interns in a hospital came on. It was not too good so Jeff went to bed. But then some American fictional FBI show came on and I watched it. Then it was off to bed reading a paperback that I bought from the town library. I also read more of it in the early morning when I could not sleep. Finally the sun came up and we got rolling toward Airlie Beach. We turned off the east bound highway onto the southbound Bruce Highway. We are now in the tropics and into sugar cane country. The sugar cane farmers use their own narrow gauge railroad for hauling sugar cane from one area to another. 

In the town of Ayr we passed a cemetery where is appears all of the graves are above ground. I had seen this before but did not get a picture. This time I stopped and took this photo.

In Airlie Beach they were doing major construction on the main street in the tourist area. We found a parking place right in front of a tour agency. We booked a tour to the Great Barrier Reef as well as 2 nights in a hotel/hostel/motel/??? It's a private room with a kitchen area meaning a sink. Pretty minimal. The twin bed were arranged as a double but housekeeping redid that for us into 2 twins. However there is only a light bedspread on the beds so I have my sleeping bag on the bed a it seems like it will be cool tonight. This place is setup for young people, block walls, no carpeting, the towel holders are made of heavy duty angle iron. When the young people leave they can just bring in a fire hose and prepare the room for the next tenant. Pizza for dinner, then back to the room where we did some maintenance on Jeff's helmet. Hopefully the night will not be too noisy as this is a party town and I imagine some of the younger set will want to continue partying when they return to their rooms.

Friday 6-7-2013

Great Barrier Reef

Well the younger set came to their room next to ours last night and they did want to party. It was a long night. They finally quit around 3 AM. Let's just say that I was not overly quiet when preparing to leave in the morning. After some confusion as to where the bus stop was for the pickup bus and the bus being late we were on the bus heading to the tour boat. The boat was a catamaran and quite fast. We stopped at Hamilton Island for some more passengers and continued on to the reef. After passing the Whitsunday Islands we entered what the crew called “The Miracle Mile”. It is a section that is much rougher water than the rest of the trip. The crew passed out sea-sickness bag and we enjoyed a white knuckled, rock & rollin', slammin' and jammin' ride. Yahoo! At the reef they have a permanent pontoon boat stationed with an opening to see into the water, a water slide and equipment for snorkeling and scuba diving. There is also a glass bottomed boat that goes over to the reef which was my main interest. Linda and I took a trip to the reef from Cairns on our trip and did not get to see much when snorkeling. Jeff and I rode the glass bottomed boat 2 times. One of the crew members had explained to us that the beautiful colored pictures of the reef that everyone has seen were all photographed at night and that we would not be seeing those colors. They were right but it was still very interesting.

 Lunch was served on the boat which was my meal for the day. As the tide went out the top of the reef was visible above the water . Finally it was time to turn back. The “Miracle Mile” was not quite as rough as before but people now had food in their tummies and there was considerable more use of the sea sickness bags. We got back after dark and Jeff wanted supper or “evening tea”. We went to the Hogbreath Saloon and he had a steak. I had a glass of wine. I only have 7 more days to lose 10 pounds. In my dreams!! It is Friday night and I am concerned that our yound neighbors will really be feeling their oats tonight. But luckily they were quiet all night. However we did quickly find out that house keeping and replenishment of the coffee packets and tea bags were not part of the service. But then again neither were blankets. Tomorrow we continue south back toward Brisbane.

Saturday 6-8-2013
Left Airlie Beach today heading south. We did not intend to go very far but finally rode 450km and are in a nice motel in Rockhampton. We went through an area where there could be Koalas but never saw one.

The Alice to Charter Towers

Alice Springs – Tennant Creek Sun 6-2-13

I kept trying to remember something about Tennant Creek other than it had a mining museum but my mind was a blank. When we got to town I had a vague recollection of the hotel/bar in the center of town but that was it. I cannot remember where we stayed and this is a one street town. Motel prices were just over our unspoken limit of $125 so we went 27 km out of town to the Three Way Station where the prices were higher. So we went back to town and rented a tent site at one of the caravan parks. We went into town to eat before setting up our tent which meant that we set up camp in the dark. Our meal at the hotel/bar was the cheapest we have had on the road (other than at Subway), only $14 and was actually the best, probably because we had veggies and no chips (french fries). It was not really a good night's sleep as the wind kept flapping the tent fabric all night and I had some aches and pains and could not get comfortable.

Tenant Creek – Mt. Isa Mon 6-3-13

The word for the day was wind, a headwind and a lot of it. It was a long ride with little to see. When we got close to Mt. Isa we left the flatlands and went up into hill country. In town we looked for lodging and once again felt like the virgin Mary as there was no room at the inn. We did find a motel that advertised internet but naturally it was “out of order”. We took the room anyway and set up for the night. Checking tires, oil and chains showed that Jeff's tire was really worn and we doubted that it would go much farther. Checking the phone book showed no dealerships in town but there was a listing for a motorcycle shop. I rode back into town to check it out and it was in fact a Honda/Suzuki shop but seemed to specialize in dirt bikes. We would find out tomorrow when t was open. I went to a Subway and got sandwiches so we got to eat cheaply that night.

Mt. Isa – Hughenden Tues 6-4-13

First thing in the morning we went to the shop and they had a tire we could use. The tire was naturally much more expensive than it would be at home but the labor to install it was much less. We were finally on the road at noon. The first town we went through was Cloncurry. Cloncurry states that the highest temperature in Australia was there.

127.5 degrees F in 1889

We had planned to get to Charter Towers that day which was a 500 mile ride but leaving at noon cancelled that idea so we would ride until 4 PM and then make a decision where to spend the night. The decision was Hughenden where we are now having just eaten some lasagna and now safely holed up in our room The road here is called the Flinder's Highway. If I was a scavenging bird I would relocate here as the kangaroos must be suicidal. There were lots of bodies in and alongside the road. We also encountered a 2-3 km section of road covered with cattle. They were on both sides of the road and also walking back and forth across it. We arrived at Richmond but the only motel we considered was booked up. 

Sign just before Richmond

There was also no place to eat but a bar and we decided to go another 100 km to Hughenden. That section of road undulated up and down and reminded us of the Alaska Highway that is full of frost heaves. The motel had 27 rooms in one area and room for maybe 15 cars. There was another 20 rooms next door also with not enough parking for the number of rooms.We ate at the motel bar and had lasagna. They actually served chips (french fries) with lasagna. We asked for no chips and extra salad.Tomorrow should get us to the east coast and we will see if we can find a tour boat to the Great Barrier Reef.

Squeezed the bikes by the SUV to park

Hughenden - Charter Towers Weds 6-5-13

Today we need to change the oil in the bikes. Jeff scheduled service at a shop in Charter Towers which is about 2-3 hours away. I have been looking for some road signs showing the distance down a dirt road to various locations. I have one showing 135 km to a lake but thought this one would be better. The bottom sign for Aramac is 270 km which is about 165 miles. That is a shortcut, you can get there on the pavement from this point but it is about 1200-1300 km.

How far down that dirt road?

Later we saw a police car in our lane heading towards us. He waved us off to the side and warned us of 2 wide loads coming our way. We pulled off the road and waited. The loads did not really need the room we gave them but a travel trailer might have had a tense moment.

Wider than normal wide load

I have been watching the road trains and noticed that there are different wheel configurations on the trailers, there are 12 wheel trailers, 20 wheel trailers and 24 wheel trailers. The tractor of course has 20 wheels and the first trailer has no front wheels. This gives combinations of 46, 62 or 70 wheels for these rigs. I stopped at a tire store today and asked about tire prices. The front tires on the tractor are $1200 each, the rears are $550 each and the trailer tires are $450 each. For a 70 wheel rig that is $450 x 60, $550 x 8 and $1200 x 2. 

$33800 worth of tires, how fast can a NASCAR pit crew change 70 tires?

Port Augusta to Alice Springs via other places

Port Augusta-Coober Pedy, May 30th

In the middle of the night I look out the window to check the bikes, all OK. Later on I do this again. Paranoid? Bikes are OK but why is the ground wet? I'll worry about it when I wake up. When daylight comes the weather looks good. We pack up and then do some maintenance checks; oil level OK, tire pressures are all low. The service station next to us does not have an inflation nozzle that will work on a bike. But I remember a tire shop down the street when we were looking for a Subway restaurant. He has a nozzle that will work, we pump up the tires and I thank him using my best Australian which leaves him wondering just where in the world we came from. A few minutes later we are at the start of the Stuart Highway named for one John Stuart who was the first person the cross Australia from north to south. We are on our way to Coober Pedy which is over 500 km away with 2 gas stations between us and our destination.

On the way we see a parked road train with different trailers than the one I posted before. Instead of 46 wheels this one has 62. If you look at the front of the road train you can probably see white stripes crossing the highway. These are marking one end of the highway designated as a landing strip for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

We chose to stay undeground in what is supposed to be an old opal mine. It is cut out of the rock like a mine but it has many square alcoves where you can pitch your tent. We chose to just use our groundcloth, air mattress and sleeping bag. The cost was $12 or we could take the mine tour for $22 and the camping was free. We signed up for the tour. We set some stuff in our chosen cubicle and went to town to eat and for Jeff to buy a couple of opals. Jeff got his opals and then we had pizza next door. I had a pizza with kangaroo, emu, wallaby and spinach. Jeff chose a more conventional pizza. Then it was back to the mine for the tour which was interesting. First one chooses a site by whatever method one chooses even including the use of divining rods. Then you drill a hole about 15” in diameter and check the soil samples for different types of layers. If you don't see what you want you do it again and again ad infinitum. If a hole looks interesting then you drill a bigger hole about 4' in diameter. Then you can lower some tunneling equipment into the hole and start carving out tunnels. All of that dirt has to go somewhere so you have a truck up above with a big vacuum cleaner that is sucking out the dirt making a big pile. If you are incredibly lucky you get rich. If you are normal you find nothing and start again somewhere else maybe only a few meters away. Needless to say there are piles of dirt and holes everywhere. There are also lots of signs telling people to be careful when walking as you could easily fall in a hole and never be seen again. Of course it is very slightly possible that there might be some opals in these hills of dirt so people go looking through the dirt. This is called noodling and people have developed some sophisticated techniques for noodling. After the tour we went back to our hole for a good, dry night's sleep. It suddenly came to us that we had overlooked something in our money saving campsite. We were not alone. There were several families with young kids that wanted to run and play, yell and scream and do everything but remain silent. But after what seemed like a very long time we did get some sleep.

Coober Pedy – Ayers Rock May 31st

I am an early riser so I left the cave before dawn to shave and brush my teeth. It was lightly raining and the prediction was for a lot of rain. We were a couple of kilometers from the highway on a dirt road. I was warned that the roads quickly became impassable as the dirt was clay and is extremely slippery. We made it out to the highway and started north towards Erldunda where we would turn west to go to see Ayer's Rock.

 As you can see the Coober Pedy area is full of dirt mounds.Ayer's Rock would be an 800 km ride so we got started early, so did the rain. My bike is limited on gas and is also thirstier than Jeffs. There are only a couple of stations between Coober Pedy and Erldunda and I remembered each one as I have ridden this rode before. We saw several flocks of white parrots but they fly away before you can take a picture. We did stop at a rest area on the side of the road to add another layer of clothing as the rain made it cool riding. While there a man pulled in with his travel trailer and small dog. He was returning to Western Australia which is a long way. He had recently lost his wife on many years to cancer and was traveling as it was something she loved to do. It was very sad. A little bit later we crossed into the Northern Territory. This is the real remote area. We did see several abandoned cars that had probably broken down. They were all stripped of anything usable and many were burnt. Say goodbye to your car if it breaks down here. After miles of forever we reached Erldunda and gassed up. It is 260 km more to the rock and we could not get back before dark. We did not want to stay at the resort by the rock as it is expensive. But there is a station About 160 km toward the rock so we got a room there and went to the rock and then would return. Ayer's Rock or Uluru as the Aborigines call it is about 3 km long, I am not sure how tall it is. At one location there is a ridge that you can walk up to the top on. It is very steep and has posts with a chain between them for the first third of the way up. I am glad they were there the first time I was here as Imy foot slipped on the way down. I was hanging onto the chain and was glad of it. There have been many fatalitiesthere from fallen climbers. The rock is closed when there is any wind, moisture or chance of lightning as the chain makes a good lightning rod.

 If weather conditions are correct the rock will appear to change colors during the sunset. There are areas set aside for photographers to try and get their pictures. In the busy season these area are extremely crowded. After getting our pictures we headed back to Curtin Station where we had reserved our room. It was only 85 km but it got dark before we were halfway there. It became evident to us that the lights on our bikes are woefully inadequate for high speed riding on 2 lane dark roads with lots of critters in the brush. We got back in time for an expensive dinner. Everything has to be trucked in from far away. A bottle of coke which is normally $3.50 was $5.  

 Curtin Station to Alice Springs June 1

160 km back to Erldunda, 200 more to Alice Springs. We are checked into a motel that I have stayed at before. Going to do laundry and feed the wallabies at sunset. Hopefully we can get a Subway sandwich instead of a big meal. And I hope to post pictures of the wallaby feeding on the next post. They really are cute.

Port Augusta

Thursday morning
  Port Augusta in the state of Southern Australia is considered the gateway to the outback. It is at the north end of Spencer Gulf which is part of the Southern Ocean. When we got to the edge of town I saw a motel but we had passed it before we could turn in. We went on into this tourist town and were found a motel with no available rooms and the host said it was like that everywhere. So we returned to the first one, got an inexpensive room next to the highway. For the savings we can put up with the noise from the trucks. But at 9PM the trucks quit traveling and it has been quiet all night.
  Port Augusta gets it's water from the Flinder's mountain range. We followed a large pipeline yesterday for may miles that I assume was the water supply for the city.

Pipeline at right side of road

  We met another Far Rider yesterday in Mildura. That makes 3 since Sunday. He was also an IBA member. Not far from Port Augusta we stopped at the memorial plaque for Davo Jones, the founder of the Far Riders who lost his life in the 2009 Iron Butt Rally after hitting a deer in Idaho.
  We saw a sign for a steamship in Paringa so we stopped for a look. Jeff wants a picture of a steam ship with smoke coming from the stack and I worked the ship's boilers in the Navy so I have an interest in steam machinery. Too my good fortune we were allowed to go aboard and look around. Too bad for Jeff though as the ship only operates on the first Sunday on the month.

  Last time in Australia I did not get a good picture of a 3 trailer "road train". After passing a couple of them yesterday we waited on the side of the road and took pictures when they passed by. There are road trains with more trailers used for mining in the outback but are not used on the public highways.

24 wheels on each trailer

While debating which GPS to follow at an intersection 2 flocks of wild parrots flew by. Naturally our cameras were in our pockets, hopefully later we can get pictures, These were white and red, not the red/blue/green we see at pet stores in the states.
  It was lonely on one 200 km stretch of road yesterday but from today on we will discover the true meaning of a lonely road on the Stuart Highway. Yes, we are carrying water.

Emus welcome us to Balranald

Today we took a relaxed pace from Tumut to Balranard. We are into “long distance between things” country. My bike is only good for 180-200 miles on a tank of gas so I am now into the mode of “See gas, Buy gas”. While gas stations are in short supply there is a surplus of emus. Our first sighting was 2 emus, then it was 2 dozen, over the next hill was another 2 dozen. Then there was a larger group off in the distance. When we checked into the motel the desk clerk said he was out checking on cattle today and saw around 500 emus. When we stopped to get pictures the emus would run off but if we stayed there they became curious and came over to the fence for a closer look at us. I am pleasantly that all of these birds were on the other side of the fence. Lots of the area is not fenced and it is enough of a problem riding through the cattle let alone Big Bird's cousins.

Curious Emus

We also saw a large herd of cattle, larger than what we have seen to date. And of course there were lots of sheep. It appears that different areas raise different breeds of sheep. I am guessing that this is because of climate and different vegetation types. This is also cotton farming country. When the cotton is picked the machines roll the cotton into large cylinders and cover it with yellow plastic sheeting. The rolls are placed in a row of groups of 6. The rolls are carried on trucks, 6 rolls to a truck. The highway has tufts of cotton all over the sides of the road.

No "Jump Down, Turn Around, Pick a bale of cotton" here

Passing through the town of Adelong? we saw a sign for the ruins of an old gold stamping mill so we took a look. We noticed on a sign here and also at the Killer Whale museum that Aborigine people were employed. It would be interesting to see how that worked as I had heard on a previous trip that they were not interested in living the white man's lifestyle.

Dinner was at a local pub. We started talking to a woman and her son. They were on their way to Adelaide where he had been transferred and she was keeping him company on the trip and would then fly back to Brisbane. The cost of living here is much higher so I asked about their minimum wage, She said that is about $18 an hour for people 18 and older. You can start work at 14 ½ tears old for a much lower wage. So the fast food industry has employees 14-17 years old and I guess they find new careers at 18.  

Killer Whales and Snowy Mountains

This morning we went to Eden's Killer Whale Museum. This was once a large whaling area both for ship based whaling and shore based whaling. The killer whales and the shore whalers actually worked together to capture large whales. The museum explains how that worked as well as the story of the whalers and the groups of killer whales that the townspeople had actually named. It's a fascinating story.

Jeff at the museum sign

After seeing the museum we did a little bike maintenance in the parking lot. As we finished the work it started to rain lightly. But 20 kilometers from town and up into the hills the rain stopped but it stayed cool all day. The road out of town took us to the Snowy Mountain Highway. This is an interesting road, it goes up into the mountains and looks like a rain forest, then it changes to desert and then again back to a typical mountain forest. In the first section we met one of the Far Riders that was at the Saturday event. He was on his way home but taking his time. The mountain sections are nice and twisty, the desert section is fairly flat but not really straight, it has big sweeping curves. There are many road signs warning of animals, especially kangaroos. And we saw plenty of them. They were on the side of the road, on the hillsides, in fields and on farmhouse lawns. The ones on the side of the road are the real concern as they tend to be suicidal and think getting hit by a motorcycle is great sport.

We reached the town of Tumut just as it got dark. We saw a Subway restaurant so that is what we ate tonight. The sandwiches are pretty much the same as in the states except for the sauces. They are also $7.75 instead of $5. Tomorrow morning we may try their breakfast sandwiches. But tonight we are going to enjoy the warm room and hopefully get the chill off of our bones.