Going home

Pete and I left Esperance at 8am for Norseman. It was a lazy 200 km and the plan was to have breakie and then Pete would head across the nullabour back home and my adventure would lead me north to Kalgoorlie.  As we were about to order breakie I noticed a voicemail. It was the news I was hoping would not come, but I'm cutting the trip short to attend to some family matters.

So after several phone calls, we left Norseman for Eucla. This meant the day would entail 912 km rather boring kilometres. The mission is to get home now which means little in the way of touristy things to be done. To be honest - we are +10 km from the WA / SA border and there hasn't been too much to see.

I know I will be back, so it doesn't bother me. I have really enjoyed my break and am hoping it will continue soon.

In the outback, the Royal Flying Doctor Service uses the main roads as air strips. 

Aus longest straight.

Kal & Esperance

Pete and I visited a Kalgoorlie brothel called the Questa Casa. We didn't avail ourselves to their services, however we undertook a  tour. The tour is quite famous in Kal with many people recommending it. Mostly it was a history lesson about madam's and the working girls during the gold rush years. Hay Street at the turn of the century and beyond was the famous red light district of Kalgoorlie. The girls earned big money, but the town of the day forced the girls to stay in Hay Street. Kalgoorlie was deemed to be a family mining town and they did not want working girls living or socialising (including solicitation of extra business) amongst the families. So they had to stay in the brothel or on occasion, could venture into town with the madam of the brothel. If the police caught them away from the brothel, they would be picked up, brought back to the brothel where they packed up all their belongings and then driven to the train station. The police would ensure they left on the train to Perth.

Dominatrix Room

We traveled 390 km to Esperance which is on the WA southern coast. The weather is a little chilly and windy, but this is a great place and is obviously uber busy in the summer months. The council are spending big $$$ improving the foreshore for visitors. It's about 400 km to Perth, which is where I assume most of their summer visitors come from. This time of the year, it's the grey nomads slowly venturing home as it gets too hot up north.

Today, Pete and I rode to Cape Le Grand National Park. It's about 50 km east of Esperance and has some of the most picturesque bays. Unfortunately, the weather was only about 18 degrees, windy, which kept the place too cold for a swim. I did take extra clothes and changed from my riding gear to clamber up some hills and venture into the bays.

Pete playing with his new friends. Mummy with joey in pouch and another little one in two. 

Your'e able to drive you 4WD on the beaches and go from one beach to the next. I wanted to give it a go and Pete agreed. But I did have my reservations as I only had a knobbie front tyre and a street slick on the rear. We traveled 1 km down the beach and I noticed Pete's rear wheel spinning under acceleration and then noticed my traction control kicking in. As a result, I pulled the pin, but not until we took some pics of the bikes and on the ride back on the sand, I turned traction control off.. Needless to say, the read wheel was spinning and I had some controlled fun.

We got back to the caravan park and have washed the sand and salt from the bikes and are now relaxing with a beer, contemplating what's for dinner.

Kalgoorlie

Whenever the young folk see the motorbikes, they come over and want to know more about the bikes, where have we been and whats the ride like. The older generation, especially in caravan parks, come up, admire the bikes for a few minutes and then tell us about their bike stories. Some of them get quite immersed in their stories and you can see they'd love to get back on a bike. Quite often this happens as we are unloading, undressing from our heavy and hot bike gear or generally busy which for me is annoying. Happy to hear your story, but I'm busy, can't you wait 30 min. I suspect the middle group - 30 -  55 y.o.  just think we are stupid for riding bikes.

We are in Kalgoorlie or "Kal" as the locals call it and it's a surprise. Kal is a very old town and the houses reflect this. From very old, asbestos walled, just holding together small houses to newly built palatial homes. Whilst most of the older homes are bull dozer jobs, they are the ones with character. Jacaranda verandas, established gardens and one I walked passed on my early morning walk, had an 1930's-40's rusty ute as an ornament. I looked over the fence for a better view and yes, they don't have chassis like that today.

Pete and I had plans for a Super pit mining tour and the Questa Casa brothel tour. The brothel tour is quite famous, as it is the oldest brothel still in business in Aus and everyone we have met, recommends this tour. Obviously something Pete wants to see. But he has had a huge dilemma today. Watch the rugby, Wallabies vs All Blacks or attend the brothel tour. Rugby has won out and we have been camped at one of the many pubs in Kal, for the past few hours. Needless to say,  3 pints in and I am feeling very merry. Maybe one more and then on the water.

Super pit tour is booked out for 3 days in advance and the current tours do not include a look at the mining operations. So I will travel with Pete to Esperance, stay a few days and then head up north again and do the Kal tours we have missed.

Kalgoorlie is a great place. The people are very friendly. I changed tyres, from a knobbie to slick rear tyre and was charged $30 and it was done in 15 min. In Melbourne, that's $50-$100 and will get done later in the day. Pete broke his spectacles and OPSM replaced the arm with spares they had free of charge. Gold prices are down which has had a direct impact on SME's in Kal. Over the past 12 months, miners are being sacked  and the FIFO, (Fly in and Fly Out) miners don't contribute to the Kal economy ie they spend their money when they get back home, as they are fed and housed by the mining company. So it's tough, economically.

Chatting with Pete, I commented that Darwin Hidden Valley was the best caravan park so far on the trip. He agreed, but stated, because it had a younger crowd. At Hidden Valley, within the camping area, everyone knew each other, their plans, country of origin, relationship status etc as we all congregated at the communal kitchen. But all the other caravan parks we have visited, it's been the grey nomads (retired Aussies travelling up north for 3-6 months) who dominate. They stick to themselves, apart from the few that share the communal kitchen. However, it's use is purely for cooking, not eating and socialising. I miss Hidden Valley.
  
We visited the lookout of the super pit, Rays Tent city for some supplies, Telstra so I could increase my data pack and as mentioned, have been enjoying the Exchange Hotel in Kal, watching the AFL, rugby to come and the locals coming and going.


Telephoto lens at it's best.

Kalgoorlie / Boulder township

Leanora caravan park. Obviously this site is a permanent one.

I don't get this. A couple from NSW, purchased a 4wd for say $100K, a huge home on wheels for say $200-$400K. And it can't go off road. So wherever they go, they will have access to a motel / hotel. That $$$ spend equates to a lot of motel stays in Aus or overseas.

Roadhouse in Menzies for sale. They have decorated the outside with car registration plates.

PS : Pub's in Kalgoorlie - full of kiwi's watching the rugby game. very vocal lot.

Great Central Road

We left Yullara and headed for Ayres Rock, the Olgas and then finally the Great Central Rd. Pete had visited Ayres Rock the day before and had to pay $25 for a 3 day pass. I didn't, so I had to use my permit to travel on the Great Central Rd as a pass to get through the gates. The Great Central Rd has two aboriginal tribes that own the land. So before anyone travels on these lands, they must get permits. We had them, albeit with dates changed by the WA aboriginal affairs office the day before. Interesting to note, that we were never asked for our permits once on the road.

The road from Yullara to the WA border was a challenge. We both came very close to dropping our bikes, several times. Whilst the road was severely corrugated, it was the sand that caused us all the grief. I lead on the dirt sections and was travelling slow, but Pete was even slower having a harder time of it. For a safety measure, as the lead rider, you travel a distance and then slow down / stop and wait until you see the head light of the following  bike and then travel on. The sand was so bad, at times I could not stop or slow down. Stopping was not the problem, it was the going again, in deep soft sand that leads to a drop. At 250 kg of bike plus gear, neither of us wanted to pick it up. Plus it was a pride thing. Neither one of us wanted to be the first to drop the bike.

At one of these stops, I took photos of a red flowering bush and once Pete caught up, we had a break and a well deserved drink of water. By chance another biker came by and gave us some good advice of where to go and most importantly avoid.

The avoids were;
- do not enter Docker River - we had to as we needed fuel
 - do not stay at Warburton Roadhouse (was planned too, but we took his advice)

He also reminded us, speed up in the sand. It was like a huge kick in the head and a wake up call for me. I was riding a little faster than Pete, which just was not my style of riding and being on a larger 1200cc bike, made riding on sand a nightmare. So I stuck the boot in, doubling (or more) from 40 km to +80 km, standing up and it was so much easier. The downside, super concentration is needed as one little slip - ie 5-10 cm left or right into sand could (will) cause a horrific crash. When you finish the days riding, you have had a super upper body and lower body work out and you are mentally drained. It's the mental side, ie being hyper, which takes me hours to get over it.

We entered the township of Docker River. It's an aboriginal community and you could see the shambles riding past the first house. Rubbish everywhere around the houses and it continued until we arrived at the general store. 10 - 20 aboriginals were sitting around the area and the petrol / diesel pumps were all caged. The looks we received as we took our helmets off, was a distinct - F^*& off - we don't want you here. I told Pete to stay with the bikes in front of the caged petrol bowser and I'll organise fuel.

As I entered the general store, to my right were two Asian girls at the cashiers and an elevated office window where two aboriginals ladies were trying to get some paper work completed. As I waited behind the two ladies, the stench of the place started to hit me. It stank!! I can't compare the smell to anything, but maybe close is sweaty socks left to stew in heat and then left 2 cms from your nose. It was horrific. Once the two ladies received their $140 fuel purchase order (currency in community life) I was served and was told the cashiers would help with the fuel.

It took a while for the cashier to help, as the lady with the $140 fuel purchase order was trying to buy groceries and an argument ensured, as she could not spend the purchase order on groceries. So, I'm listening, watching and loosing my sense of smell and finally the cashier escorted me to the bowsers. She was a great girl and we chatted. She had been in the community for 5 months and only had 2 weeks to go. I asked her - Are you glad to be going? She just smiled and said yes. Foreigners who want to have a 1-2 year tourist visa for Aus, are required to work in Aus and that working period is shorter if they work in remote areas. That's why most of the pubs, roadhouses etc in the outback have tourists working for them. The money is great, starting at $39 per hr and up to $55 for Sat & Sun.  

Whilst I was getting a sensory overload in the grocery store, Pete was abused via hand gestures. We filled up and I gave Pete $100 to go into the grocery store and pay, whilst I looked after the bikes. I wanted him to share in my experience. I still had the smell in my nostrils half an hour after leaving the community.

Once we hit the WA border, the road conditions turned for the better. Some sections were sandy, but for me it was +100 km's and I was having a ball.  The first night, we stayed at Warakurna Roadhouse and met up with the rider we met earlier in the day. He was a great wealth of information and we soaked up his advice, as he appeared to know this area very well. The aboriginal community was 5 km away and had their own grocery / petrol store, so it meant our campsite was relatively safe from theft. However, there were several dingos in the area and we saw two walk through the outskirts of the campground. I was so excited seeing them, but realised, shoes, food etc had to stowed securely away.

The following day was 225 km to Warburton Community for fuel, and then 245 km to our final destination of Tjukayirla Roadhouse. The Warburton roadhouse was also another assault to my senses. The lack of cleanliness and hygiene by the aboriginals just shocks me. You can tell they are within 2 mtrs from you, just by the stench. Fuel up and outta there.

The road conditions were pretty good, with the odd sandy section to trap those not concentrating and corrugation sections bad enough, that my teeth were chattering in my helmet. We made Tjukayirla Roadhouse by 3pm and it was a pleasant surprise. No community in the area and great managers. After our meals and a shower, we sat by a campfire with other campers and the managers and shared some yarns. Great learning more about community life, roadhouse life and some of their highs and lows. It gave me an insight into aboriginal life and the government funding that is handed out.

The last day riding on the Great Central Rd today was 303 km to Laverton and then another 124 km on black tar to Leonora. Easy days ride, but given the high km's between fuel stops, we had to keep the speeds low to conserve fuel. This peed me off, as most of the dirt sections were +120 km zones.

Along the entire length of the +1,000 km Great Central Rd, it's a dry zone. This means no one can buy alcohol. This does not mean the aboriginals don't have alcohol, as they travel 800kms to the nearest town, fill up the boot and then take it back.

Along the Great Central Rd, the dearest we paid for Opal fuel was $2.35 per litre. Opal Fuel is the only fuel in the true outback and it has no fumes/ This is to stop the aboriginals sniffing the fumes to get high and destroy their brains. This then begged the question, if the fuel is fumeless, why are the bowsers caged up? It's because the aboriginals will try and destroy the pad locks, cut hoses and destroy the bowsers to get petrol for their cars.

The outback is an eye opening place for a city slicker. I would like to know were does all the mining / tourism royalties go within the communities. I understand they get a fortune and yet the communities live in squalled conditions. Add to that, government money.  I have learnt a lot and would like to know more. I am tempted to work for a few months at the Tjukayirla Roadhouse, but I have things to attend to when I get back in Melb. But hopefully Melbourne will be another 2 months away.

All in all - it was a great achievement to get through the Great Central Rd on a 1200cc Adventure bike. It has given me the confidence to tackle the Pilbara, Kimberleys and Savanagh Way. Neither of us have dropped the bike..... Yet!!

Start of the Great Central Road

The Olgas in the background

These flower bushes look great along the roadside

Friendly biker - carrying +50lts of fuel.

Within 10 mtrs of passing the NT / WA border into WA, the road conditions changed from Nightmare to fair to good.

Warakurna Roadhouse

These signs are placed for all tourists to see. If the aboriginals see a petrol container, Opal (non fumes) or Unleaded, expect your car / caravan / tent trashed in search for the petrol. It's a real problem up here.

Easy sections of the Great Central Rd. Sorry, but I can't take pics of the rough sections as it's pretty tough going.

Fuel bowser cage.

Campsite at Tjukayirla Roadhouse. The only place on the road, alcohol can be drunk. Cannot buy it, it's BYO. Teachers, police and other workers in the dry communities will store their grog at Tjukayirla Roadhouse and every month or so, will spend the evening having a merry time. They will travel 200-500km just for a drink. Personally I think it sucks they can't drink in their private residence within the community. But if they knew they had grog stored, the house would be (allegedly) robbed.

Alice Springs

It's the second time sleeping in a dug out motel room in Coober Pedy and it is such a tranquil place to sleep. It's more than no noise, it's deafening silence which just makes sleeping a breeze.

My clothes were dried out, except for the bike pant pocket where I forgot to take a hanky out - doh!!!  It's amazing how much water, road trains pick up behind them. We've all seen pics of road trains and the plume of dust following them. Imagine that plume as water. On the last leg to Coober Pedy my first road train I encountered on the wet roads looked pretty as it was coming towards me. Big long truck with plumes of white and the glowing sun in the background. But when the truck passes you, that nice plume of water is about 3 bath loads of water. It hits you at 200 km per hr in the chest, head, arms and bike and it's force tries to push you out of your seat. After the 1-2 seconds of  shear terror you come through the other side feeling like you had done 1 round with Ali. In fact my first word was F#%%^. The many road trains that followed, I ducked very low under the windscreen. The bike received the pressure wave of water which was just a matter of moving the bike to the left hand side of my lane, aiming it to the centre as the pressure wave hits (as you don't want the wave to push you left, off the road) and when it comes, duck and hold on tight and hope there is not another road train following with another drenching.

As I passed the NT border, I got excited as I passed the 130km speed sign. So 154 km is not a loss of license and I upped the cruise control. To be honet, the first few minutes at that speed is quite nerve racking. Higher engine noise curtesy of a higher RPM, those white lines in the middle really do speed past and your level of concentration goes through the roof. But after awhile, the senses seem to get acustomed to the change in speed and it's business as usual. Whilst cruising, I noticed a car on the left, off the shoulder of the road and two people standing just off the right hand side of the road. Cruise off, slowing down to 104 km and via hand gestures, asking the couple if everything is OK. I got the thumbs up and then a highway patrol car came the other direction with the radar gun on the side window. Relief that I slowed down for the car and I must admit a sly grin on my dial. From then on, I cruised at 140-145 km.  The last 200km into Alice Springs city took 1.5 hrs. Gave me enough time to visit the motorcycle shop to organise fitting of new tyres the following morning.

Alice was the place that Pete and I would catch up. He left Darwin as I flew home and he visited Kakadu, Katherine, Daly Waters and Devils Marbles. Pete had already booked us into a caravan park and all I had to do was set up tent.

On Sat, the Alice had the famous Henly on Todd races. It's bascially a weekend where the locals, near and far, get together and have some fun. ie Yacht racing on the dry Todd River, Filling 44 Gal drums with sand and more. Great atmosphere and everyone joined in, barracking for their favourtire team.

The local college placed 1st and 2nd in the finals of "Make your own boat"

Maxi Yachts racing - with 8-9 crewmen running hard.

Navy had a great cheer quad.  :)

Kids bashing their mates into the water

Best presented - Make you own Boat - a crew from QLD created a submarine. It dived during the races and came last.

Hard work. First to fill up a 44 Gal drum with sand.

On Sat we noticed that a police car and police man was outside every liquor outlet we passed in Alice. In the evening, I purchased a bottle of Sthrn Comfort and asked the policeman why are they doing this today? It came as a shock, but over the past 3 months, everyday at every liquor outlet, a policeman would be there from open to closing time. According to the police bosses, crime incidents have decreased from 300 per day to 100 and the violent crimes around the liquor outlets dropped significantly. Speaking with the attendant in the shop, she was really happy to see the police there and confirmed a reduction in violent crime. Seems like a complete waste of resources, ie just standing there for 8-10 hrs, but the stats indicate it's working. Bravo for the police and other agencies trying different things. Note - the liquor outlet I went into, was a grocery store with a cage on the side. Padlocked and blacked out. I asked - "Where's the grog?" and the attendant opened the cage and allowed me to browse beer. But as I was after a spirit, they had to unlock other cabinets. Quite sad it has come to this.

We left early and I took Pete to some of the spots on the West MacDonnell ranges. Below is a pic of Simpsons Gap.

Take 2 - Alice Springs here I come

It's been a rather unexciting 2 days. The only highlight, which really is a low light (at the moment), was the last 135 km before Coober Pedy, tonight's stopover. The dark clouds I was heading to, decided to let loose their contents and it bucketed down all the way. As the sun was setting, the last 15 km was in the direction of the sun. Rain, visor fogging up and blinding light, I had to drop the speed to a crawl. 1,071 kms in 12.5 hrs. Loooong day in the saddle.

I arrived at the Desert View Apartments in Coober Pedy, a dug out motel. I was shivering and wet to the bone as I was greeted at reception. This is the second time I have been here and the owners are great. Helped me with the bike and offered me their car to go and have dinner. $95 for the night, great service and I hope to have the same sleep I did last time. Best nights sleep.

My clothes are drying but I doubt they'll be fully dry by tomorrow morning. There is no direct heating in the dug out motel, as I think they are naturally around the 20 degrees year round. No air con or heater.

Alice Springs stopover tomorrow, (688 km)  where I'll meet up with Pete. Can't wait until I pass through the NT border. A speed limit of 130 km means I won't loose my license. 110 km in the outback is just soooooo slow on a 1200cc motorbike.

Melbourne

Flight from Darwin landed on time, arriving very early Sun morning. After visiting mum, wash clothes, sleep in the afternoon and then dinner with great friends in the evening. 

Monday was more about relaxing, sorting RACV receipts and organising tyre changes in Melbourne & Alice Springs. Today, busy...... Service motorbike, coffee & farewell with mum, new tyres, rewired the GPS & now the Triumph explorer is ready to go. After dinner with my BF, I have started repacking my panniers. 

The plan is to leave tomorrow, about 10am and meet up with Pete in Alice Springs. Expect to be in Alice late Friday or mid morning Sat. The Triumph is a 1215cc large adventure bike which means doing +130km p/h in NT / SA is no probs.

Early night tonight with packing early and off after peak hr traffic.

The Adventure will continue!!!!!

RIP Robin Williams. He was a legend and we saw him in Melb at his stand up comedy show in 2010. Huge fan. Dead Poets IMHO was his best film among many great films. Yes, I have shed a tear or two. 

Captain my Captain

Final days in Darwin

As mentioned in a previous post, Crocodylus  visited the Hidden Valley Caravan park and presented us with a baby croc and snake and passed on some valuable education about these predators.

Below are some pics of the Crocodylus employee and the Irish couple I made friends with, whilst in the caravan park. They have been in Aus for 1.5 years with the sole purpose of touring. They have another 6 mths before they have to leave. They have seen more of Aus than I think I will. If they like a place they stay for a month or so and get a job to top up the money balance. They decided on Fri to stay in Darwin and by Sat, hubby had a construction job. He is a .net developer. So if you want a short term job in Darwin, it won't take long.

Hidden Valley pub is trading off it's famous motorsports park just 1 km's away. Great memorabilia on the walls of our motor sporting legends. It's a blokey pub!! They had strippers, topless barmaids and 1 on 1 acts. We had dinner in the bistro and then had a quick drink in the bar being served by a topless waitress. Sorry guys, no pics of her here. Best beer I had so far on this trip :)

Pete arrived Friday morning and after spending some time on both bikes, we had lunch on the docks, checked out the WWII fuel tunnels and then Pete earned a well deserved sleep as he had been up for effectively 2 days.

On Sat we went to Parap markets, similar to Mindil Market, just better food, less buskers less crowded and a smaller. Mindil market Thurs / Sun gets my vote as the variety of people attending is great to stop and just watch and listen.

We went to Crocodylus on Sat. It's a zoo which specialises in crocs. Now I'm not a fan of zoo and I feel for the animals who roamed the lands now have a 10 mtr by 10 mtr fenced off area to live the rest of the miserable life. I remember at Melb or Syd zoo watching a giant panda  completing laps and laps and laps. His / Her mind was gone. Seeing such a majestic animal with a lost mind put me off Zoos.

They had a couple of water buffalo. Check out the vast room they had to roam....

Below is the croc mating area. Most of the crocs were taken out of the wild as they were causing issues for humans. ie eating stock, eating humans and the like. Isn't that what they do naturally? For me it's like shark  culls. If you don't want to be Great White dinner, don't go into their territory. They are the kings of their domain and killing or relocating them into a 10 * 15 mtrs (approx) concrete pens is just so wrong.

The majority of the males here are about 40 years old, approx 4 mtrs long and when you are standing 2 mtrs above, them are awe inspiring. Unfortunately, they will have another 30-40 years to live in such a cramped environment.  

I had a very good chat with the ostriches and emus. Explained to the them, that as an emu, you are the most dangerous road kill animal on the road due to their lack of intelligence. Great chat and we'll have a safe trip from now on. Seriously tho, I stopped and chatted with them, with Pete looking at me strangely :) thinking I'd gone nuts.  But I know emus are very inquisitive and as I was lecturing them, they hung around looking at me, 1 mtr away, giving me whoop whoop sounds. I knew they were listening.

Close up of Ostrich. The male ostrich loved hats and used his height to reach over the barrier and grab tourists hats.  He never got mine :)

Do you want to try croc meat? Click on to enlarge and see the prices.  Reasonable I think.

They have pens with fresh and saltwater crocs. 498 salties in the one huge swimming pool. With so many crocs in the pool, the smell was unique, strong and off putting.

These crocs would be allowed to grow for 5 years and are then killed for meat, leather etc.