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SUNDAY MAY 18
Port Headland to Fitzroy Crossing
936km / 582mi (total 9,202km / 5,714mi) |
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| The ride to Fitzroy Crossing took us through some
interesting countryside. We are now in the outback. Few
towns, few cars on the road, and some beautiful scenery. Most of
today's ride was just south of the Indian Ocean. Thus, even though
it was warm, we had a nice breeze for much of the ride. And in the
afternoon clouds moved in. We need to plan our gas stops very
carefully. The bikes have a range of just over 300 km, and some of
the road houses/gas stations are very close to 300km apart, This
means that some times we refuel before we are empty or low on fuel
so that we
have a range of 300km.
Walter and Bill had the pleasure of
meeting two Western Australian police officers. They were cruising
at about 130kph when a police car crested a hill and hit them with the
radar. Since Bill was in the lead, he was the one they pulled
over. Bill was given s stern warning, and sent on his way. This was the only
police car that has passed us since leaving Perth.
Tonight we are at the Fitzroy Crossing Lodge. When we checked
in we were told that there are two prices for rooms, with a $20
difference. Bill and I took the "cheap" room. It is not a
room. It is a very nice tent on a cement slab. The "room"
has bath room, refrigerator, and an evaporative cooler. Dinner in
their restaurant was a buffet with a nice carving station (lamb, beef
roast, turkey, and pork). After dinner the waiter came over to
clear the plates and Bob made a comment that he had really wanted kangaroo. We were told that we could order it. We
ordered one order, and split it four ways. We all enjoyed it, and
plan on having kangaroo again. |
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MONDAY MAY 19
Fitzroy Crossing to Kununarra
650km / 404mi (total 9,852km / 6,6118mi)
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| We all woke up this morning to the sound birds.
At 6:50am we pulled out of Fitzroy Crossing and headed to Kununarra.
Once again we had an easy and fun ride, riding through desert.
Some of today's ride was through hills and open range land. Cattle
ranching is a major industry in this part of Australia. And of
course we have to be on the lookout for oversized loads.
In Kununarra we are staying at the Kona Lakeside Tourist Park.
The owner, Grant Lodge is also the President of the Rotary Club of
Kununarra. Kununarra is a major tourist destination for fishing,
water sports, and a jumping off point for the outback. The tourist
season is just starting and will end in September. Kona consists
of camping areas, caravan (recreational vehicles) areas and some cabins.
We are in one of the cabins on the water. The is on the Ord River,
which has a dam just below the park.
We attended the Rotary Club of Kununarra this evening. Once
again, excellent food, and more importantly, wonderful fellowship with
Rotarians. The club is a small club, but it participates in the
Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) with both an inbound and outbound student.
They also participate in RYLA. We were the program this evening.
Bill, Jon and Walter each gave a 3 minute presentation about why they
were doing the Australia Ride, and then Bob gave a 15 minute PolioPlus
presentation.
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TUESDAY MAY 20
Kununarra to Darwin
840km / 522mi (total 10,692km / 6,640mi)
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| We left Kununarra at first light, 4:50am. Thirty
minutes later we were at the border of Western Australia and the
Northern Territory. And when we crossed the border (state line) we
had a time zone change -- seting our watches 90 minutes ahead. We
also entered the land of no rural speed limits. However, it was
decided to average between 115 to 120 kilometers per hour. As we
left Kununarra we felt the dry heat of the Australian northern outback.
And as we drove through the outback we saw many "table" mountains
jutting up from the outback. As we approached Darwin we could feel
the increase in humidity.
We arrived in Darwin about 4:30 and checked into the Darwin Holiday
Inn Esplanade (not to be confused with its next door neighbor, the
Holiday Inn Darwin), We were given complimentary rooms by the
hotel. (Thanks Holiday Inn Esplanade.)
After checking into the hotel, webmaster Jon plugged in his Sony
laptop and turned it on. Ten minutes into updating the Australia
Ride journal he received a low battery message. Even though it was plugged in, it was not taking
power from the wall socket. The power module
had died. Thus, no updating of the
website.
This evening we attended the Rotary Club of Darwin South. There
usual venue was not available so they were meeting at an outdoor
restaurant. It turned out to be a nice warm evening, good food,
and good Rotary fellowship. We were the program, and Jon, Bill,
and Walter gave a 3 minute presentation on why they were on the ride,
and then Bob gave a 15 minute presentation on the ride, and on the need
to finish the job of eradicating polio from the face of the earth.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 21
In Darwin
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| Today was a day of each of us heading out on our own.
Walter decided to go fishing. He met the fishing boat around
8:30am. It turned out that he was the only paying customer that
day. Walter had a very enjoyable day fishing, and relaxing.
Bill took his BMW to the BMW dealer in Darwin for an oil change. Jon
pick him up and they went to Tandy (Radio Shack), and two other
computer stores to try to get a replacement power module for Jon's
laptop.. All three computer stores said that none are
available in Darwin and that Jon needs to contact Sony Australia.
Since we will be back on the road tomorrow, it will have to wait until
Brisbane. Thus, there will be no updating of the web pages until
the power module problem is solved. So, instead of writing the
journal to the website, it is now being written on paper to be added to
the website at a later, unknown date.
Bill and Jon spent the rest of the day exploring downtown
Darwin. Darwin is a jumping off place for outback. There are
many youth hostels, and several outback provision stores (a cross
between the US army surplus store and the outdoor/camping store.
They also took the van to a car wash for a much needed bath.
Bob had an early radio interview, which went very well with 15
minutes of air time. He then took his BMW to a motorcycle tire
shop for a new tire for the side car.
In the evening we attended the joint meeting of the Rotary
Clubs of Darwin Nightcliff and Litchfield/Palmerston. This time we
met in one section of the restaurant of a casino. We were the
program this evening. The meeting took place in one section of the
casino restaurant. When we started talking, non-Rotarians eating
in the restaurant stopped talking, and started listening to our
presentation. This evening we talked to more than just Rotarians.
And once again, the small world of Rotary was apparent. One of the
Rotarians present mentioned that her son was a Rotary Youth Exchange
Student ten years ago in Quincy, California, which is in Jon's district
(D5190).
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THURSDAY MAY 22
Darwin to Barkly Homestead
1164km / 723mi (total 11,856km / 7,364mi)
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| We left Darwin at zero dark hundred, about 45 minutes
before sunrise. Since the Darwin area is urban sprawl , we rode about 50km before we left the Darwin metropolitan area,
by which time we had sunrise. The Darwin humidity started fading
about 100km out of Darwin. Darwin is in a semi-tropical climate
zone, and according to one Darwin Rotarian is the lightening capital of
the world. From Darwin to Katherine we had the most amount of
traffic since leaving Perth. This is because there is only one
highway in and out of Darwin. Katherine is the junction with the road to the
west, and at Three Corners (24km north of Tennant Creek) is the road to
the east. And continuing south on theDarwin - Katherine road
through Tennant Creek would take us to Alice Springs. We took the road to the east, the Barkly Highway, to Barkly Homestead, our resting spot for the evening. Barkly
Homestead is a typical outback rest stop. A motel with a gas
station, general store and restaurant, all in one.
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FRIDAY MAY 23
Barkly Homestead to Hughenden
977km / 607mi (total 12,833km / 7,971 mi)
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| Once again, up before first light for an
early start. Since we were now heading east, we were riding into the
rising sun. We had been warned about bad roads between Barkly
Homestead and the Northern Territory/Queensland border. We never found
them. In some places the road was one lane for both directions.
Thus, the road trains went down the middle of the road. (A road train is
truck pulling three or four trailers). When we saw one coming we pulled
off the road and stopped until it passed. However, as soon as we crossed
into the state of Queensland, we did find some bad roads, some of which
due to road construction, were dirt by-pass roads. We reached Mt. Isa at 1:30. Mt. Isa is a mining town
with several smelters sending smoke into the air. The area is much
like some of the mining towns in Nevada. As Bob pulled into Mt.
Isa he heard a sound from his transmission that made him think that he
was low on transmission oil. Bob purchased some, and when he went
to add it, found that he was not low on oil.
About 80 km (50 mi) Bob's transmission started making the noise of a
transmission that is about to die. Bob pulled over, and we attached a
tow rope from his motorcycle to Walter's motorcycle. With Jon
following, Walter towed Bob into Hughenden. Bill went ahead to
find a motel. 90 minutes later we pulled into the Rest Easi Motel
in Hughenden.
After we settled in our rooms last night Bob made several phone calls
to try to arrange for transporting his BMW to Townsville. However
he did not have any success. We also went to the roadhouse to try
to find a trucker with space for the motorcycle, but once again a no go.
At this point dinner and beer was in order. We had a relaxing
dinner at the only Chinese restaurant in town.
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SATURDAY MAY 24
Hughenden to Cairns
733km / 455mi (13,566km / 8,425mi)
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| After breakie (breakfast), Bob started
making phone calls again. He called BMW Australia Road Service and
requested a transport for the motorcycle on his BMW USA Road Service
membership. BMW said that they need to check and see if they could
honor Bob's American plan and would phone back. Twenty minutes
later they phoned with an approval for the transport, and informed us
that they would phone back with the transport arrangements. Thirty
minutes later BMW phoned to inform us that they were dispatching a
transport from Townsville, a 4 hour drive from Hughenden. At that
point, Walter and Bill left for Cairns, and Bob and Jon started
the waiting game. Meanwhile, Marilyn, the Rest Easi owner, introduced
us to two of her regular guests, Rotarian Tony Knox, the Townsville
branch manager for Hastings Deering, the Caterpillar Tractor dealer, and
Ross Jackson, sales representative for Hastings Deering. And once
again the world became smaller as Jon and Tony discovered that they both
know the Nevada factory representative for Caterpillar Elphinstone.
The transport truck (tilt tray in Australian) arrived at 3:10pm.
Geoff Pickering Motors has a contract with the Royal Automobile
Club Queensland (RACQ) to
provide vehicle tow/transport services. Pickering Motors is also the BMW
automobile and motorcycle dealer in Townsville. At 3:25 the
motorcycle was loaded on the transport and Bob hopped into the van with
Jon, and they headed east to Cairns, arriving at the Cairns Colonial
Club Resort at 12:20am, the longest night drive of the ride.
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