Saturday, October 16, 2010
Day15 - Saturday - 16/10/10 - Weather Clear Dry Windy 33
Broome lay day, sight see the Port and Wharf then out to Cable Beach check tyres make a few adjustments and shop walk around town have dinner at the Roey Pub. Easy day and recovery time.
Day14- Friday- 15/10/10 - Weather, Hot and Dry 37 Deg.
Leave Fitzroy Crossing 6.30am and avoided another mass ride which we feel are dangerous as most riders are not comfortable riding close together.
Head to Willare Bridge Roadhouse for fuel and Breakfast, interesting stop off the road as the entrance was chopped up and wet I went carefully through it but thought it could be fun, only to see Toasty run through at full throttle making all the noise with straight through pipes and his back wheel spraying mud everywhere.
Good look and riding on a 1700 Yamaha Cruiser, not made for these conditions.
Arrive at Bromme at about 11.30 and booked in to the 2 bedroom apartment next to the beach, what a hard life after a short run.
Total Klm's 6,499 to date.
Head to Willare Bridge Roadhouse for fuel and Breakfast, interesting stop off the road as the entrance was chopped up and wet I went carefully through it but thought it could be fun, only to see Toasty run through at full throttle making all the noise with straight through pipes and his back wheel spraying mud everywhere.
Good look and riding on a 1700 Yamaha Cruiser, not made for these conditions.
Arrive at Bromme at about 11.30 and booked in to the 2 bedroom apartment next to the beach, what a hard life after a short run.
Total Klm's 6,499 to date.
Day13 - Thursday 14/10/10 - Weather, Overcast with rain.
Left Kununurra at 6.30am and headed for Doon Doon roadhouse but we decided not to stop and went on to Turkey creek for Fuel and breakfast then Halls Creek for more fuel. I had to top right up here as the next stretch was 290 klms between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing, there was a roadside stop organised but again we were in front of the support vehicle that was going to set it up, so we pushed through to Fitzroy Crossing and got 17.5 litres into a 17 litre fuel tank, basically I was running on fumes but got there.
At this point we were told about Tony who stopped to stretch and remove his wet weather gear on the side of the road, his bike fell on him breaking both bones in the lower part of his leg. When the support vehicle got to him, Jack the paramedic on board went to work putting a splint on the leg and contacting the ambulance who took him to Fitzroy Crossing then moved him onto Darwin. What we think will happen from here is he will be flown to Perth for a specialist to set the leg and he might pick us up and complete the ride in a support van, all yet to be decided. His bike and gear is on the trailer behind one of the four support vehicles.
I had a huge moment myself when venturing onto the side of the road there was enough signage to say the sides were slippery but I thought the bike wasn't heavy enough to worry, wrong the bike sunk to the rim and slipped everywhere for about 10 meters then back on the road and never to venture there again.
Accommodation at Fitzroy Crossing is good at the Fitzroy River Lodge, interesting here they don't serve full strenght beer until after 4.00pm and then after 6.00pm thongs are not suitable in the bar???
Total Klm's 6,099
At this point we were told about Tony who stopped to stretch and remove his wet weather gear on the side of the road, his bike fell on him breaking both bones in the lower part of his leg. When the support vehicle got to him, Jack the paramedic on board went to work putting a splint on the leg and contacting the ambulance who took him to Fitzroy Crossing then moved him onto Darwin. What we think will happen from here is he will be flown to Perth for a specialist to set the leg and he might pick us up and complete the ride in a support van, all yet to be decided. His bike and gear is on the trailer behind one of the four support vehicles.
I had a huge moment myself when venturing onto the side of the road there was enough signage to say the sides were slippery but I thought the bike wasn't heavy enough to worry, wrong the bike sunk to the rim and slipped everywhere for about 10 meters then back on the road and never to venture there again.
Accommodation at Fitzroy Crossing is good at the Fitzroy River Lodge, interesting here they don't serve full strenght beer until after 4.00pm and then after 6.00pm thongs are not suitable in the bar???
Total Klm's 6,099
Day12 - Wednesday - 13/10/10 - Weather, Rain all day.
Left Katherine at 6.30am the rain was heavy, eventually found the road out of the place, first fuel and breakfast stop was at Victoria River then onto Timber Creek where we met a couple of Road Train drivers who warned us of deep water laying across the road in the causeways between here and Kununurra.
This proved to be good information and the roadside signage was a bit concerning as it showed the depth could get to 1.5 metres, when you look around and think for the water to get to that level it would have to cover a huge amount of ground because it is so flat around this area.
There was supposed to be a roadside stop manned by the support crew but everything was good at this point so we continued into Kununurra, arriving at about 1.00pm.
We found the room and sorted the wet gear out and had lunch, when we went back to the room to we found there were motorbikes in corridors alleyways and just about anywhere you could fit a bike so long as it was out of the rain. Management seemed very tolerant to us as a group and nothing fazed them, we walked around the town and that took about 1/2 and hour then back to the pub for dinner and the usual drinks with tales of the many kilometers travelled.
Total Klm's 5,435
This proved to be good information and the roadside signage was a bit concerning as it showed the depth could get to 1.5 metres, when you look around and think for the water to get to that level it would have to cover a huge amount of ground because it is so flat around this area.
There was supposed to be a roadside stop manned by the support crew but everything was good at this point so we continued into Kununurra, arriving at about 1.00pm.
We found the room and sorted the wet gear out and had lunch, when we went back to the room to we found there were motorbikes in corridors alleyways and just about anywhere you could fit a bike so long as it was out of the rain. Management seemed very tolerant to us as a group and nothing fazed them, we walked around the town and that took about 1/2 and hour then back to the pub for dinner and the usual drinks with tales of the many kilometers travelled.
Total Klm's 5,435
Day 11- Tuesday 12/10/10- Weather Clear and hot mid 30's
Left Mataranka and went on to Katherine where we met the riders interested in going to the Gorge, at Katherine we set up a group ride along the Gorge road for the camera crew who were following us in a helicopter, we still have not seen this footage but hope it will be on the final DVD.
When we asked about a boat ride into the Gorge at the visitors centre around 10.30am we were told the next one went at 1.30pm, so we opted for a helicopter ride over the first 3 Gorges at 12.00.
David Cooke decided to come with us on the flight even though he told us he wasn't a good flyer, Steve as usual did his best to give Dave cheery thoughts about the flight, as it turned out the helicopter was not much bigger than an egg cup and the pilot was still at school I thought. All in all we survived and decided this probably was the best way to see the Gorges.
The new accommodation at Katherine that we arranged was a 2 bedroom apartment really nicely setup and maintained, because we had moved to Katherine it took about 100 klm's off the next days ride.
Total Klm's 4,891 Klm's
When we asked about a boat ride into the Gorge at the visitors centre around 10.30am we were told the next one went at 1.30pm, so we opted for a helicopter ride over the first 3 Gorges at 12.00.
David Cooke decided to come with us on the flight even though he told us he wasn't a good flyer, Steve as usual did his best to give Dave cheery thoughts about the flight, as it turned out the helicopter was not much bigger than an egg cup and the pilot was still at school I thought. All in all we survived and decided this probably was the best way to see the Gorges.
The new accommodation at Katherine that we arranged was a 2 bedroom apartment really nicely setup and maintained, because we had moved to Katherine it took about 100 klm's off the next days ride.
Total Klm's 4,891 Klm's
Day10 - Monday 11/10/10 - Weather, Clear hot 34 degrees.
Left Tennant Creek at 5.30am because I did not set my clock to the new time zone, stopped for fuel and breakfast at Renner Springs.The outside of this stop looked like a lot of other roadhouses along the way but the inside showed it must come alive during the wet season when people get stuck at the stop. The bar was probably the most interesting I have seen in a long time and was certainly the focus point of the whole roadhouse, the rest of the decor could have come out of the 70's except for the demountable shower and toilet facilities.
Then onto Daly Waters which is just off the highway but well worth the stop as the photo's show, the service station was serving fuel which is run by the hotel and both look like the could fall down at any stage, the bar here is interesting as they have a big display of Bra's and Jock over the top of the main bar and currency from all around the world stuck to the walls, at least the drinks were cold and refreshing.
We looked at one of the WW2 air fields that are still usable if an emergency required it to be used, there are quite a few of these around this area.
Arrive into Mataranka Homestead at about 1.30pm, we had a good look at our accommodation and the bathroom facilities which was 1 shower and 1 toilet for more than 15 people, the room didn't have a window to the outside just onto the hall way and smelt the bed was just a dirty mattress on a wire frame and the aircon was non existant. We decided to look at the Territory Manner Caravan Park and Motel which a fellow had told us about at Daly Waters the day before, when we got there we asked to look at the room before taking it and was asked where we had been booked into before arriving at their door they just smiled and did not comment.
This new accommodation was excellent and the staff could not do more to help we left very happy with our stop.
Total distance travelled 4,731 Klm's
Then onto Daly Waters which is just off the highway but well worth the stop as the photo's show, the service station was serving fuel which is run by the hotel and both look like the could fall down at any stage, the bar here is interesting as they have a big display of Bra's and Jock over the top of the main bar and currency from all around the world stuck to the walls, at least the drinks were cold and refreshing.
We looked at one of the WW2 air fields that are still usable if an emergency required it to be used, there are quite a few of these around this area.
Arrive into Mataranka Homestead at about 1.30pm, we had a good look at our accommodation and the bathroom facilities which was 1 shower and 1 toilet for more than 15 people, the room didn't have a window to the outside just onto the hall way and smelt the bed was just a dirty mattress on a wire frame and the aircon was non existant. We decided to look at the Territory Manner Caravan Park and Motel which a fellow had told us about at Daly Waters the day before, when we got there we asked to look at the room before taking it and was asked where we had been booked into before arriving at their door they just smiled and did not comment.
This new accommodation was excellent and the staff could not do more to help we left very happy with our stop.
Total distance travelled 4,731 Klm's
Day 9- Sunday 10/10/10 - Weather, Rain then showers clearing to very hot.
As we were leaving Mt Isa at 6.30am we turned onto the highway and stopped to adjust the radios when we heard a loud bang followed by 2 more bangs, when we looked back we saw a road train had smashed the traffic lights we had just been parked at waiting for them to change.
We stopped at Camooweal for fuel and breakfast then onto an organised road side stop where we met the support crew for a fuel top up and stretch.
The next stop is Barkly Roadhouse where we had lunch and were told the road ahead was blocked by water in some causeways, form this point on the weather had cleared and was really hot for the rest of the day.
We arrived into Tennant Creek at about 3.00pm and noticed the bottle shop had bars over the windows and doors and were served out of a hole in the bars.
The accommodation for the night at the Bluestone Motor Inn was reasonable but old at least the air conditioning worked.
Total combined Klm's 4,129
We stopped at Camooweal for fuel and breakfast then onto an organised road side stop where we met the support crew for a fuel top up and stretch.
The next stop is Barkly Roadhouse where we had lunch and were told the road ahead was blocked by water in some causeways, form this point on the weather had cleared and was really hot for the rest of the day.
We arrived into Tennant Creek at about 3.00pm and noticed the bottle shop had bars over the windows and doors and were served out of a hole in the bars.
The accommodation for the night at the Bluestone Motor Inn was reasonable but old at least the air conditioning worked.
Total combined Klm's 4,129
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