Still D4. This was a 790km day.
The Nullarbor Highway.
From Eucla, it was 184km to the Nullabor Roadhouse, then 225km to our next stop at Penong. We gassed up there, then tootled into Ceduna for the greasiest f'n c's ever at the jetty. Grease galore...but the seagulls loved it.
Then we were off to Kimba for the night where we stayed in an excellent pub, had a good feed and slept well in a cosy very warmly heated room. The riding was uneventful, generally sitting 120-130kph. Roadkill still minimal. Bikes were purring.
D5.
Some retracing of steps but we did our best to cover new ground.
An excellent continental breakfast in the pub then another early start just after the sunrise. To remind those that are less aware, the wildlife are most dangerous at sunrise and sunset. They seem to get mobile then, but are less obvious in the light of day. It's prudent to time the ride accordingly and to be vigilant. The difficulty today was we were riding into the rising sun again. Sunglasses and tinted visors with tape over the top inch or two all helps but the glistening and glare reflected from the road surface makes it difficult to feel good about riding too quickly. Nonetheless, we made reasonable time into Port Augusta (known locally as Port Augutta for some reason) for our first fuel and coffee stop. Then it was off via Horrocks Pass and then the backroads towards Burra.
We loved the scenery. This time of year it's green and the pastures and paddocks are lush and expansive.
We headed to Oororoo and Petersborough which wasn't the most direct route. It was more towards the edge of the lush areas, bordering on the more arid edges of the beginnings of the outback. Entering Oororoo we saw a sign that suggested there was a big tree to look at, so we did.
This snip from Google maps shows the partial route today, highlighting the colour of the country. There were instances between Oororoo and Peterborough where the soil changed from red to white. There wasn't too much growing in the white areas. However, it was still seasonally greener along our route than the map displays.
Whilst continuing a solid 120+kph it was easy to miss a few things. I was tootling along about a 10 count behind Grant and Brett. I could see they were looking to their left at the changing landscape. About the same time I saw movement to the right from a herd of ~ 2 dozen camels. They appeared paddocked, not free range but I couldn't be sure. A google search shows Oororoo to have some involvement in camel racing and there is a camel trekking industry around the Flinders Ranges which are close by.
Further down the road Grant stopped to contemplate a sneaky trespass into a paddock for a photo of some ruins. Whilst there, he took this pic at my request to compare the headlights as mine had been replaced earlier. Two 1981 R100RS's with a combined ~ 460K kms looking good in b&w.
Grant chose not to trespass and we continued on our way. We stopped at this old place, you might recognise it from an album cover. Can you name the band and the album?
Here's a netsteal from a drier season.
We stopped in Burra for gas and lunch then continued on towards Mildura for our last night. On this stretch of the ride we started to see a lot more roadkill, mostly 'roos. Emu's were also now prominent on the north side of the highway but luckily they were all heading away from us. Grant and I had 'roo whistles on our bikes and I was wondering if they could hear them? There were plenty of noisy trucks hurtling along that road too though. We arrived at our destination moments before dusk.
D5, evening.
Today was Brett's 48th birthday.
For our last night out, I booked accommodation at a place a little more up market compared to the others places we'd stayed at. The Hotel Grand in Mildura. Mildura is a regional town in the NW of Victoria set on the Murray River, amongst citrus groves and vineyards. It's a major centre on the edge of the inland deserts of Australia. In summer it gets hot, often into the mid 40'sC and very dry, with cold nights. It was a clear night tonight so we were expecting another cool start to our ride home tomorrow.
Our room was very nice and had a balcony looking towards the river. As it was night, that was a little wasted on us. Oh well We decided on take away Chinese and found the one where the locals go. Our mate Doug from night one joined us too. Doug was trialling his new caravan and found a few electrical issues that needed sorting.
The only downside to this accom was the lack of secure parking. We found a spot with CCTV on the street and unloaded our gear. Then showers, a big feed, a couple of drinks then we hit the cot for an early start.
D6.
It was a predicted chilly morning after a clear night and the airheads are often reluctant to start. Brett had bought a small jump starter and it got some use this morning. Worked a treat. Grant & Brett needed to ride around/thru Melbourne and were very keen to avoid the traffic peak so we needed to be on the outskirts by 1400 or so. It stayed on the cool side for 200kms until the sun got some elevation, then towards Melbourne it clouded over. Usually Melbourne greets you with a welcoming shower or two but happily it stayed dry for a change.
This was the shortest day for me at 570ish kms, the others around 700km to get home. The speed limit is 110kph out there but about half way home today it drops to 100kph until we reach the freeways heading into the city. Victoria, our home state, is known colloquially as the police state. We reminded each other to take it carefully after the town where speed drops as there always seems to be a LEO working hard there. Today he was driving a BMW M3 pursuit car but luckily he had someone else pulled over. Time to increase the road speed a tad whilst he was otherwise occupied!
The last bit was entirely uneventful, just head down, steady riding with home as the goal. Achieved that ok, so now we just need to wait for any performance awards that we're unaware of to arrive in the mail.
We had a great ride, a great time together. We struck it lucky with the weather despite some cool mornings. The week after the ride has been bitterly cold, windy with record snow drops in the local hills. It snowed just 20 minutes from my place on the outskirts of Melbourne.
Petrol cost me $530 to go 4300kms. Grant was getting a tad better economy than me, Brett much better than both of us.
We didn't have many shots of the three of us together unfortunately. But Grant did get this one...a fitting picture to finish with.
L->R Grant 1981 R100RS, Steve 1981 R100RS, Brett 2017 F800gs.
Last edited by SteveD on Tue Aug 13, 2019 4:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
We decided on take away Chinese and found the one where the locals go. Our mate Doug from night one joined us too. Doug was trialling his new caravan and found a few electrical issues that needed sorting.
