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?