Gone, Again... ( Random Adventures in Oz ) - Page 28

ferals5 · 01-30-2013, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoneAgain

Oh here's UncleGra's video of Toby comin in on the first day..

.

Great read

Toby is signed up for the three Baja races this year

GoneAgain · 01-30-2013, 03:11 AM

so the three of us left our race camp eary arvo... followed the race track into town via the
now deserted pits areas.... and gunned it out the 120 odd km back out that
shitty sand covered road to Old Andado.. and then kept going north..

the track largely ran parallel to the dunes and was in generally pretty good shape...
after 54kms, we hit the turn-off heading out east to the rare stand of acacias...

and so stopped and re-grouped..

From memory, Aub gunned it out for a look, Gra and i continued north to get a few more km's on the board before dark..
and hopefully find a decent camp as there hadnt been much the last 50 km's...

after re-grouping again, it was definately time to sort a camp... Aub went off ahead, and Gra and i checked a few options
over the next few km's...

wasnt long and Aub returned..

reconed he'd found a pretty good spot... Gra and i had nothin nearby so we headed off another 10 or so km to our
home for the night...

far enough off the track and behind some scrub so not to be seen and nestled into a dune protecting us from the westerly winds

firewood was collected, tents set...

the seting sun started bringing out the rich reds..

i sat on the dune and watched the sun set..

and then headed back down to camp for a couple of beers, a good feed and a much mellower night of banter...

everyone was pretty buggered after the last few days, but i recon we still managed to stay up later than you'd think..

but in the end it was a bike shot and off to bed after another great day....

.

Sundowner · 01-30-2013, 03:34 AM

Flood this puppy with photo's, fella. I wish I'd done this next part as well. Love to see this area. Next time.

PS - the video link seems to be broken, as the player shows and runs okay but it says the video not found.

OceanMtnSea · 01-31-2013, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundowner

Flood this puppy with photo's

YUP! Me too!

GoneAgain · 02-03-2013, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundowner

Flood this puppy with photo's, fella. I wish I'd done this next part as well. Love to see this area. Next time.

Sorry Sundowner... you know how it is when your riding with otherws... ya just go... so didnt get a lot of pics... but yeah... well worth getting up there one day!!

oh i guess i should post the next chapeter... here goes...

(drumroll perhaps!

)

.

GoneAgain · 02-03-2013, 03:14 AM

next morning we were up early!

.

so were some 'friends'...

so there was no sittin around for hours today... up and packed....

the eagles knew we were about to leave and had started circling for scraps...

and then we were gone....again..

first part of the day was a fast track... we headed north, and regouped at
the start of some aboriginal land...

it was while we were stopped here that UncleGra realised his bike was stuffed.....

well not that stuffed.... but was leaking oil from the front sprocket....

anyway a bit of fidling, bashing, swearing, pointing and a wee, and all
was deemed well and we entered a prescribed area..

track started to wind around a bit from here, was still a fair track, but pretty
rocky in places, and a resonable dusting of sand in others...

oh and a few gates thrown in for good measure..

did i mention gates..?

we had another regroup at Santa Teresa..

we'd been loosly trying to work out where we'd camp tonight at each regroup..

but now we'd got so close to Alice Springs, Uncle Graham had made up our minds for us...

we were goin thru to Alice, getting a cabin in a caravaqn park, havin a hot shower and a mixed grill....!

Aub and i didnt take much convincing...

we waved goodby to Santa Teresa and fanged it the 80kms to Alice...

the road was supposedly better.. well a solid line on a map instead of dots... and there were 2wd vehicles on it....
but by gawd it was crap.... rocks pushed into clay sorta stuff...

anyhow, we got to Alice and regrouped again on the side of the Highway... Graham had a caravan park in mind,
but when we rolled up, they were booked out... ditto for the one over the road...

i pulled up a couple on the GPS and we headed to anotherone on the other side of town..

all good, $90-ish bucks.... sweet...

we rolled in to our home for the night, not really taking any notice of the big security
gate out front, more concerned with beers, hot water, steak, and the masses of Finke bikes
and buggies that were also staying in the park with us...

we were well overdue for a cold beer, and reception sold em... figured i'd get 6, Graham was up for 6 too, Aub wanted a dozen...
I organised some cash and went back for a beer run while the others started unpackin...

'Can i get a slab of beer please..?'

the reply came.. 'i can only sell you 6..'

wt...

then had it explained to me...kinda... the drinkin rules in the Northern Teritory..

so i asked for 6...

'got some i.d and your key..?'

huh?

can only sell it to you if you're stayin in the park...

so i pulled out the key, and my license.. the details of which she started writing down...

huh?

and was told 'theres a limit to how much you can buy in a day' (or was it a week..? cant remember..)

so i got 6 loose cans, no bag... and stumbled off to the cabin without droping any...

Aub looked mighty disapointed... told the lads they could only sell me 6...

Aub grabbed some cash back and headed for the shop...

'hang on mate...you'll need this' i said chuckin him the key....

huh?.....

so we unpacked, and showered....

how good is a hot shower after 10 days on the road!

so a few beers and a shower later, belly's started to let us know it was tea time...

we werent gonna ride into town... and none of us were very keen on walkin in... so a taxi was ordered..

funny, i wasnt expecting the same sort of taxi driver you'd get in melbourne or adelaide out here in Alice springs...

His engrish wasnt too bad... but didnt really know too much about town...

we told him to take us into town, to a reasonably popular pub where we could get a feed..

So we got dropped off at a 'themed' pub...and hit the beers...

grabbed the menu... yep, mixed grill on the menu... put the menu down... ordered another beer..

we ordered 3 mixed grills, and since it had crocodile and a few other things in it we figured we'd be civilised
and got a table..

the waiter rolled out with our tea... put the plates down on the table... and all out faces dropped....

smallest, lamest freakin mixed grill you've ever seen....

we contemplated ordering another... but decided to go get a pizza instead....

found a pizza place a few doors down and ordered... and got directions to a bottle shop...
walked a few blocks to find it closed.... walked a few more blocks and found another one... closed..

boody hell..

went back and picked up pizza.. and ducked back to our first pub... asked if we could get some take-away beers...nope....

bloody hell..

figured we might have 3 or 4 beers left back at the cabin, we piled into a taxi and headed back...

only to find that bloody big security gate shut... and locked... and since we were taxi-ing, we didnt have a key... whoops...

whos idea was it to come to Alice Springs anyway...!

so after contemplating, and ruling out climbing it, and waiting to see if anyone else
happened to rock up with a key, we discoved a buzzer...

a grumpy woman answered and said she'd be 10 mins....

eventually we got back to our cabin, and there was a couple of beers left... probably lucky we couldnt get more...cos we
would have drunk them...

anyway, after 10 days we were kinda buggered, i found me earplugs and we all bombed out for a night of luxury....

next morning was time to say our goodbyes...

Aub was first off, he was gonna gun it out the Great Central road, down to Kalgoorlie and then either
slab it back across the bite, or, depending on time, hit the railway track...

Great meeting and riding with you Aub...
(is this the worst pic i've ever taken!?)

UnclaGra wasnt in quite as much of a hurry, but was off shortly after Aub.. he was heading out east,
up cattlewater pass, then east into Queensland and down thru NSW home..

And another great bloke and riding partner hits the road..

never even met those 2 top blokes before this ride... but i'll be ridin with them again...

Thanks lads......!

.

.

GoneAgain · 02-03-2013, 12:38 PM

So i fluffed around for prob another hour... packin bike and smilin about the last 10 days
and where it had taken me and all the great blokes i'd met...

but, in the end it was time to hit the road...

i had a few erands to run around town and then i was gonna duck out into the East MacDonnell ranges for a few nights...
Hopefully get out to Ruby Gap..

The Sound of Cattlewater Pass was appealing too... could maybe head up that, them loops back into Alice from the north..

Wouldnt mind also heading out into the West Macdonnells as well...

then maybe follow Aubs tracks out to Kalgoorlie and back that way..
(he was gonna text me track conditions when he got thru... just in case)

hmmmm... original plan was to be home about now!

now i didnt really have a plan..

so i picked up a new camera memory card, had a flash breakfast and a coffee, updated Facebook that i was in alice springs
and hit the Ross Highway and headed east...

.

.

UncleGra · 02-04-2013, 03:21 AM

You know I did get my SmugMug video of Toby Price up and running on ADV...but it got canned by the mods promptly....reason...the vid has to be clickable to start ...reason...some dood may be slackin' up at work..open the vid and here something like ..Farkin Hell...really loud...and then get the sack.
Problem is I dont remember how I posted it and cant seem to get it to work again....

desert dog · 02-16-2013, 02:02 AM

The support crew's version of events

Gone Again just about to go again

Running out of fuel with a km to go

jhere comes a jerry can of generator fuel

Topping up

Gone again

Incoming..

Tow ins

Racin

Racin fans

Friendly riders

Very friendly riders

Sundowner's Gopro

Sundowner gone pro

Sundowner's skittled gopro

Dr Tony giving a helping hand

Day two

Buggies

Bears on bikes

Great days, great fun, great guys.

Cheers Matty

UncleGra · 02-16-2013, 02:33 AM

That was one helluva morning / arvo...awsome poses from the riders...great pics Matty...

pugsley · 02-17-2013, 12:19 AM

Luv it!

TonyRDR · 02-21-2013, 03:23 PM

Great pics mate thanks.

GoneAgain · 02-27-2013, 02:31 AM

yeah thanks Matty, nice work!

(i'm uploading the next lot of pictures as i type..

)

.

GoneAgain · 03-20-2013, 03:17 AM

It was nice to hit the open road again....

first stop was Emily Gap..

.

.

While i was here my phone told me i had a facebook message...

Old mate Robbie from Darwin... he'd moved to Alice Springs... lets catch up..tonight...

bugger i thought...

messaged him back that i'd headed out to the East Mac's already.... but would be back in a few days and we'd catch up then...

second stop was Jesse Gap...

.

.

Robbie messaged back with some hot tips on some places to go, camp etc...

Next it was on into Corroboree Rock (no pics), on over the Ross River, and turned off to the north up into Trephina Gorge..

first i ducked out to a spot Robbie had recomended... (john Hayes rock Hole) he said it was a pretty rough track..

i had a quick check of the small camp site, there was no-one there so i figured it would be tonights camp... i then scooted back towards Trephina gorge..

the gorge itself was a bit of a walk up the riverbed..

but worth the effort..

amazing where some trees will grow...

so after a late lunch there, had a bit more of a scoot around the area...

before deciding to set camp...

i headed back out the same rocky track, pitched tent and went got some fire wood...

it was only about 4pm, so i went for a bit of a hike up to the top of the gorge..

.

.

by time i got back down, it was dusk..

and there was still no other campers...

so i wacked a bit of tea on..

gazed at the stars starting to come out...

and set fire to all the wood i'd collected !

it was a pretty cool spot... which i'd never even heard of till Robbie text me about it..

.

Sundowner · 03-26-2013, 05:58 AM

I think we'd all given up on you ever continuing this trek report, judging by the lack of responses.

New job getting in the way? Pleased to see you've sorted through the photo's. The Eastern Macs have some real gems hidden away. Ndhala Gorge is a fascinating place if you didn't get a chance last time then it's definitely something to go back for next time.

01-30-2013, 03:11 AM	#407
GoneAgain ^OP Huh? Joined: Jul 2009 Location: South East South Oz Oddometer: 700	so the three of us left our race camp eary arvo... followed the race track into town via the now deserted pits areas.... and gunned it out the 120 odd km back out that shitty sand covered road to Old Andado.. and then kept going north.. the track largely ran parallel to the dunes and was in generally pretty good shape... after 54kms, we hit the turn-off heading out east to the rare stand of acacias... and so stopped and re-grouped.. From memory, Aub gunned it out for a look, Gra and i continued north to get a few more km's on the board before dark.. and hopefully find a decent camp as there hadnt been much the last 50 km's... after re-grouping again, it was definately time to sort a camp... Aub went off ahead, and Gra and i checked a few options over the next few km's... wasnt long and Aub returned.. reconed he'd found a pretty good spot... Gra and i had nothin nearby so we headed off another 10 or so km to our home for the night... far enough off the track and behind some scrub so not to be seen and nestled into a dune protecting us from the westerly winds firewood was collected, tents set... the seting sun started bringing out the rich reds.. i sat on the dune and watched the sun set.. and then headed back down to camp for a couple of beers, a good feed and a much mellower night of banter... everyone was pretty buggered after the last few days, but i recon we still managed to stay up later than you'd think.. but in the end it was a bike shot and off to bed after another great day.... . __________________ Ridin : http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=535859

01-30-2013, 03:34 AM	#408
Sundowner Bort Joined: Sep 2009 Location: Central Oz Oddometer: 2,916	Flood this puppy with photo's, fella. I wish I'd done this next part as well. Love to see this area. Next time. PS - the video link seems to be broken, as the player shows and runs okay but it says the video not found. __________________ RR's - Gold'n Sands Flinders Ranges 24 Hours in 4 Days Home - an amazing place.

02-03-2013, 03:14 AM	#411
GoneAgain ^OP Huh? Joined: Jul 2009 Location: South East South Oz Oddometer: 700	next morning we were up early! . so were some 'friends'... so there was no sittin around for hours today... up and packed.... the eagles knew we were about to leave and had started circling for scraps... and then we were gone....again.. first part of the day was a fast track... we headed north, and regouped at the start of some aboriginal land... it was while we were stopped here that UncleGra realised his bike was stuffed..... well not that stuffed.... but was leaking oil from the front sprocket.... anyway a bit of fidling, bashing, swearing, pointing and a wee, and all was deemed well and we entered a prescribed area.. track started to wind around a bit from here, was still a fair track, but pretty rocky in places, and a resonable dusting of sand in others... oh and a few gates thrown in for good measure.. did i mention gates..? we had another regroup at Santa Teresa.. we'd been loosly trying to work out where we'd camp tonight at each regroup.. but now we'd got so close to Alice Springs, Uncle Graham had made up our minds for us... we were goin thru to Alice, getting a cabin in a caravaqn park, havin a hot shower and a mixed grill....! Aub and i didnt take much convincing... we waved goodby to Santa Teresa and fanged it the 80kms to Alice... the road was supposedly better.. well a solid line on a map instead of dots... and there were 2wd vehicles on it.... but by gawd it was crap.... rocks pushed into clay sorta stuff... anyhow, we got to Alice and regrouped again on the side of the Highway... Graham had a caravan park in mind, but when we rolled up, they were booked out... ditto for the one over the road... i pulled up a couple on the GPS and we headed to anotherone on the other side of town.. all good, $90-ish bucks.... sweet... we rolled in to our home for the night, not really taking any notice of the big security gate out front, more concerned with beers, hot water, steak, and the masses of Finke bikes and buggies that were also staying in the park with us... we were well overdue for a cold beer, and reception sold em... figured i'd get 6, Graham was up for 6 too, Aub wanted a dozen... I organised some cash and went back for a beer run while the others started unpackin... 'Can i get a slab of beer please..?' the reply came.. 'i can only sell you 6..' wt... then had it explained to me...kinda... the drinkin rules in the Northern Teritory.. so i asked for 6... 'got some i.d and your key..?' huh? can only sell it to you if you're stayin in the park... so i pulled out the key, and my license.. the details of which she started writing down... huh? and was told 'theres a limit to how much you can buy in a day' (or was it a week..? cant remember..) so i got 6 loose cans, no bag... and stumbled off to the cabin without droping any... Aub looked mighty disapointed... told the lads they could only sell me 6... Aub grabbed some cash back and headed for the shop... 'hang on mate...you'll need this' i said chuckin him the key.... huh?..... so we unpacked, and showered.... how good is a hot shower after 10 days on the road! so a few beers and a shower later, belly's started to let us know it was tea time... we werent gonna ride into town... and none of us were very keen on walkin in... so a taxi was ordered.. funny, i wasnt expecting the same sort of taxi driver you'd get in melbourne or adelaide out here in Alice springs... His engrish wasnt too bad... but didnt really know too much about town... we told him to take us into town, to a reasonably popular pub where we could get a feed.. So we got dropped off at a 'themed' pub...and hit the beers... grabbed the menu... yep, mixed grill on the menu... put the menu down... ordered another beer.. we ordered 3 mixed grills, and since it had crocodile and a few other things in it we figured we'd be civilised and got a table.. the waiter rolled out with our tea... put the plates down on the table... and all out faces dropped.... smallest, lamest freakin mixed grill you've ever seen.... we contemplated ordering another... but decided to go get a pizza instead.... found a pizza place a few doors down and ordered... and got directions to a bottle shop... walked a few blocks to find it closed.... walked a few more blocks and found another one... closed.. boody hell.. went back and picked up pizza.. and ducked back to our first pub... asked if we could get some take-away beers...nope.... bloody hell.. figured we might have 3 or 4 beers left back at the cabin, we piled into a taxi and headed back... only to find that bloody big security gate shut... and locked... and since we were taxi-ing, we didnt have a key... whoops... whos idea was it to come to Alice Springs anyway...! so after contemplating, and ruling out climbing it, and waiting to see if anyone else happened to rock up with a key, we discoved a buzzer... a grumpy woman answered and said she'd be 10 mins.... eventually we got back to our cabin, and there was a couple of beers left... probably lucky we couldnt get more...cos we would have drunk them... anyway, after 10 days we were kinda buggered, i found me earplugs and we all bombed out for a night of luxury.... next morning was time to say our goodbyes... Aub was first off, he was gonna gun it out the Great Central road, down to Kalgoorlie and then either slab it back across the bite, or, depending on time, hit the railway track... Great meeting and riding with you Aub... (is this the worst pic i've ever taken!?) UnclaGra wasnt in quite as much of a hurry, but was off shortly after Aub.. he was heading out east, up cattlewater pass, then east into Queensland and down thru NSW home.. And another great bloke and riding partner hits the road.. never even met those 2 top blokes before this ride... but i'll be ridin with them again... Thanks lads......! . . __________________ Ridin : http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=535859

02-03-2013, 12:38 PM	#412
GoneAgain ^OP Huh? Joined: Jul 2009 Location: South East South Oz Oddometer: 700	So i fluffed around for prob another hour... packin bike and smilin about the last 10 days and where it had taken me and all the great blokes i'd met... but, in the end it was time to hit the road... i had a few erands to run around town and then i was gonna duck out into the East MacDonnell ranges for a few nights... Hopefully get out to Ruby Gap.. The Sound of Cattlewater Pass was appealing too... could maybe head up that, them loops back into Alice from the north.. Wouldnt mind also heading out into the West Macdonnells as well... then maybe follow Aubs tracks out to Kalgoorlie and back that way.. (he was gonna text me track conditions when he got thru... just in case) hmmmm... original plan was to be home about now! now i didnt really have a plan.. so i picked up a new camera memory card, had a flash breakfast and a coffee, updated Facebook that i was in alice springs and hit the Ross Highway and headed east... . . __________________ Ridin : http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=535859

02-04-2013, 03:21 AM	#413
UncleGra CRASHING BORE Joined: Jan 2008 Location: TWILIGHT ZONE Oddometer: 2,594	You know I did get my SmugMug video of Toby Price up and running on ADV...but it got canned by the mods promptly....reason...the vid has to be clickable to start ...reason...some dood may be slackin' up at work..open the vid and here something like ..Farkin Hell...really loud...and then get the sack. Problem is I dont remember how I posted it and cant seem to get it to work again.... __________________ .. I fixt it...my way....gjr

02-16-2013, 02:02 AM	#414
desert dog scrub basher Joined: Feb 2009 Location: port lincoln, south oz Oddometer: 979	Finke Desert Race The support crew's version of events Gone Again just about to go again Running out of fuel with a km to go jhere comes a jerry can of generator fuel Topping up Gone again Incoming.. Tow ins Racin Racin fans Friendly riders Very friendly riders Sundowner's Gopro Sundowner gone pro Sundowner's skittled gopro Dr Tony giving a helping hand Day two Buggies Bears on bikes Great days, great fun, great guys. Cheers Matty

02-16-2013, 02:33 AM	#415
UncleGra CRASHING BORE Joined: Jan 2008 Location: TWILIGHT ZONE Oddometer: 2,594	That was one helluva morning / arvo...awsome poses from the riders...great pics Matty... __________________ .. I fixt it...my way....gjr

02-17-2013, 12:19 AM	#416
pugsley Little Man Joined: Jun 2006 Location: wollongong South Coast NSW Australia Oddometer: 618	Luv it!

02-21-2013, 03:23 PM	#417
TonyRDR Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Aug 2004 Location: South Australia Oddometer: 192	Great pics mate thanks. __________________ Riding keeps me sane, but only just.

02-27-2013, 02:31 AM	#418
GoneAgain ^OP Huh? Joined: Jul 2009 Location: South East South Oz Oddometer: 700	yeah thanks Matty, nice work! (i'm uploading the next lot of pictures as i type.. ) . __________________ Ridin : http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=535859

03-20-2013, 03:17 AM	#419
GoneAgain ^OP Huh? Joined: Jul 2009 Location: South East South Oz Oddometer: 700	It was nice to hit the open road again.... first stop was Emily Gap.. . . While i was here my phone told me i had a facebook message... Old mate Robbie from Darwin... he'd moved to Alice Springs... lets catch up..tonight... bugger i thought... messaged him back that i'd headed out to the East Mac's already.... but would be back in a few days and we'd catch up then... second stop was Jesse Gap... . . Robbie messaged back with some hot tips on some places to go, camp etc... Next it was on into Corroboree Rock (no pics), on over the Ross River, and turned off to the north up into Trephina Gorge.. first i ducked out to a spot Robbie had recomended... (john Hayes rock Hole) he said it was a pretty rough track.. i had a quick check of the small camp site, there was no-one there so i figured it would be tonights camp... i then scooted back towards Trephina gorge.. the gorge itself was a bit of a walk up the riverbed.. but worth the effort.. amazing where some trees will grow... so after a late lunch there, had a bit more of a scoot around the area... before deciding to set camp... i headed back out the same rocky track, pitched tent and went got some fire wood... it was only about 4pm, so i went for a bit of a hike up to the top of the gorge.. . . . by time i got back down, it was dusk.. and there was still no other campers... so i wacked a bit of tea on.. gazed at the stars starting to come out... and set fire to all the wood i'd collected ! it was a pretty cool spot... which i'd never even heard of till Robbie text me about it.. . __________________ Ridin : http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=535859

03-26-2013, 05:58 AM	#420
Sundowner Bort Joined: Sep 2009 Location: Central Oz Oddometer: 2,916	I think we'd all given up on you ever continuing this trek report, judging by the lack of responses. New job getting in the way? Pleased to see you've sorted through the photo's. The Eastern Macs have some real gems hidden away. Ndhala Gorge is a fascinating place if you didn't get a chance last time then it's definitely something to go back for next time. __________________ RR's - Gold'n Sands Flinders Ranges 24 Hours in 4 Days Home - an amazing place.

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