Our fellow inmate unco aka Graham has been traveling this great land for 5 months with his better half Linda......you may have seen him as he usually looks like this....... But when he's riding he usually looks like this...... or this........ he also likes to park his bike and go foraging in the bush... ......anyways I received word that they were leaving Carnarvon Gorge and heading to Lake Murphy just north of Taroom. Hmmmmm I thought a good ride to be had there so with only a few days to prepare I mentioned it to a couple of inmates and all of a sudden we were on our way with a foggy start from Kilcoy..... It was about 5 C and I had all my thermals on and my wet weather gear to keep warm as we headed west towards the Blackbutt range where we slipped into the Benarkin Forest to avoid the stop/go lights on the range. If you don't know it you just turn left before you get to the lights and then follow your nose west to come out up the top. It was in there that my luggage needed some attention and right where we stopped there was a "Bora Ring" in the bush. Very nice find I thought and I know someone has a shot of it. Sticking to a route that I knew saw us going to Yarraman then turning off the New England onto Yarraman/Tarong Rd which when the tar ends take the left and go through this......Yarraman S/F Just about now the lads who were on this ride are thinking.... hey that's not us and they're right BUT it is the same track I don't think many pics were taken because we all knew Graham had 2 cartons waiting for us and we had to keep pushing on to get there by beer o'clock Nice riding out through Maidenwell towards the Bunyas then right on Glencliff Rd to Kumbia. Good mix of everything on these roads with fantastic views thrown in if you have the time to look. Anyone get any pics ? Kumbia has food/fuel/pub etc but we pushed onto Durong taking in the sights of Ironpot Rd and Chahpingah. It was 12ish and we'd done 200k's from Kilcoy on a variety of surfaces so a burger was consumed and fuel was topped up. I like the old Durong store as it sells beer as well Up north towards Allies Ck we slinked off to the left (right is Allies Ck) at the BIG T intersection and headed west for 11k's before veering right onto Ormode Rd to "Auburn" where the country changes to wide open red dirt super highways. I think it was all fast gravel to Auburn Rd which has a bit of tar in the 56k's we did of it heading north and then left at the Taroom sign bought us out here at the Red Range/Deearne Rd Intersection. As you can see conditions were perfect although even at around 24 C I had kept my thermals on all day.......soft eh ! Left here and then a K or so right on Cockatoo Rd then left at Cracow Rd brings us into Taroom about 4pm (beer o'clock) and 450k's from Kilcoy done. Quick grab of supplies and 25k's later = Lake Murphy & Graham.... Did the usual stuff you do.......drink, talk about stuff, drink, eat, drink, watch the sunset......... Oh and Rob was looking forward to spending his first night together with his Tranny Couldn't have had a better day for a trip out there Thanks Paul, Brent, Greg, Brian and Rob for joining in on very short notice Lake Murphy was a great little spot to camp with self registration/toilets/benches/etc. Hope you guys can add a few pics of Day 1 ? I'll add day 2 in a couple of days which was a different route back to Kilcoy. Cheers.
I got a call from Dusty asking if I wanted to join him and some others on a ride out to Taroom for the weekend. I thought it would be a good chance to take the (new to me) Tranny for a run. Some pics from me. Dusty surveying the Bora Ring and looking for the rest of the crew. I can see where they've been...:eek1 The rest of the crew wandering aimlessly looking for their leader Durong Store for fuel and lunch Random roadside stop and anothery Lake Murphy campsite The lurve shak Great ride... just over 1100km for the weekend Thanks Dusty for the late invite... Thanks to Paul, Brent, Brian & Greg for the company Thanks to Graham and Linda for the beers and hospitality.
Yes it would have suited your Super Tenere but in all the rush I even forgot to ask the previous owner who knows Graham well..... sorry Hodgo . See ya out there soon Derek. I think you should and that's why I've detailed the route so you can Cheers. ps. thanks for the pics Rob.
Always smooth sailing riding out with the 'Koy Boys check out Unco, how could he get any more relaxed!
Thanks to all you blokes for comeing up to the lake,had a great time well done dusty ,relaxed and at one with nature there paul ,i did have a twing in the ADV part of my brain as you all rode away in the morning ,was very quite again ,had to head to Theodore and hang with the grey nomads at the free camping spot on the river. See yas all soon PS hey Dusty how is it that you have the only two times i have come off in pics ........ not ..... damn sand :eek1 much easier in my other suzuki.!!
Hey Guys, Glad to see your well rested Graham. Say Hi to Linda too. Next time Dusty, An after thought is better than no thought. Looks like you guys had a nice pleasurable adventure. How was the Honda Rob, smoooth as silk .... Knowing the turns and roads helps when your looking at a planned ride soon. Thanks for sharing dust man.
Finally found bit of time to read this. :eek1 Sorry no pics from me been a slack ass in that department lately Was a great weekend thanks guys. Been busy getting ready for Flinders trip next week as Graham it's looking great down there but bit cool Till next time :fyyffShitballs
Your now second on the list.........just after me Ps. good to hear from you Rumbo. I know what you mean about taking pics I'm taking less and less every ride. Cheers.
I always seem to be the person who takes the most time to set up camp and to decamp.........why is that My 8am start was a half hour late so instead of going up towards Theodore and turning right into Isla Delusion Rd to Cracow beach we backtracked (I hate doing that) to Taroom and took the Cracow Rd to.........Cracow. More info on Cracow Beach can be found here..... http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=576722 Cracow Road starts off as a tar road and all of a sudden turns into a sweet little gravel/dirt/sandy track that runs through some great country with a lot of this growing everywhere........ The wattle was in full bloom and seeing as yellow is my favorite colour I was loving it. That's not gay is it :ymca Somewhere along the road it changes it's name to Nathan Gorge Road. A quick wee stop at Cracow as once again I was aiming at getting back to Kilcoy by beer o'clock. Heading east on the road to Eidsvold for about 60k's we went right down Cheltenham Rd (dirt) for about 9k then left at the Coonambula sign which is another good dirt road with little bit of tar as you get into Mundubbera. That's about 230k for the morning so Fuel at the BP and just down on the main road a nice little cafe was found. Traveling south over the river we took the Boondooma Rd to the left then left again at Gayndah/Mundubbera Rd which still has a road closed sign on it but we didn't see it.....apparently . To bypass Gayndah we turned right on Back Woodmillar Rd which runs straight into Wigton/Hivesville Rd for a blast down to Hivesville/Murgon then of course Kilcoy/Murgon Road to home (255k from Mundy) and yep made it just on beer o'clock (4pm) A very enjoyable ride with top blokes and a large variety of surfaces and countryside so if ya thinkin' of heading out there for a weekend you now have a good easy route Have a good one and if anyone does this route can you please take some photos and submit a ride report so I can borrow them. Dusty ps. Great to catch up with G & L and enjoy the rest of your gap year