Day 7 Birdsville

Last and final dune

It took a lot of effort to turn the bikes around. So we spent some time to relax.

Dune after dune. It would be sooo easy in a 4wd.

Today was a relaxation day for us in Birdsville. However we did get up to some fun. At 10am, yes we slept in :) we headed off to Big Red. Big Red is the biggest sand dune in Aus  and is in the Simpson desert. It's about 30-40 km's from Birdsville.

My last attempt at riding in sand in the Little Desert (sth of Mildura) was a disaster. I hurt myself in my first drop and did not recover after that. (drop means falling off). I lost all my confidence.  So what to do?? I attended an Adventuring Riding course over a weekend a few months ago and had a ball and learnt a lot. So on paper, could I do it  given my last attempt? I was worried. Shitting bricks really.

We headed off with no luggage so the bikes were light and manouvourable (209 kg isn't exactly light tho). Once we hit the red sand I did what was taught and had a ball. The front going right, the back going left and right but with throttle and weight control I managed to traverse 3 dunes. It was scary and a lot of hard work but was AWESOME. The 2nd dune was challenging because when you hit the top, with power on, the dune suddenly drops down the other side. So your body (and mind) is still going up when the bike is going down.  

The down side was it was already mid 30's, Pete had dropped it on the 2nd sand dune and we had no idea how far away Big Red was, so it was time to call it quits.  It was a failure, but speaking to a lot of bikers on the net and here in Birdsville, not many are getting to Big Red. 

I don't care we didn't make it. I can ride on sand and enjoy it :) Big achievement!!!  But I think I'll leave a Simpson Desert crossing to others. 

After coming back we headed to the top spots in Birsville. The famous Birdsville horse race track, Bourke & Wills tree, Diamantina River, Museum (closed), tourism centre (closed) and the famous bakery (closed last Wed and will re-open April 2012). It's the start of the hot season and things are closing down :( 

So in the afternoon, after relaxing in our air con rooms, we tended to our bikes and did some basic maintenance. Once done, we headed off to watch the Rugby World Cup at the Birdsville pub. New Zealand Vs France.  Great game and great result.

I have the runs at the moment and am praying it goes away soon. Early start tomorrow 0 8am as it's a big 

day. Off to Innamincka via Cordillo Downs track. 

No net access in Innamincka so I will update later. 

Richard