September 5<SUP>th</SUP> 22<SUP>nd</SUP> 2011 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> 2 Transalps, eighteen days and 5,500k's.<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" oreferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><vath o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></vath><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><o></o> Easy enough for the competent, however, here we have two capable bikes that just need equally good riders. OK, we will settle with what we have. Me, Peter, on my 2009 Transalp, and Tim on his 2006 Transalp. Both bikes kitted out with Black Wolf Mantis II tents, self inflating mattresses and whatever small packing sleeping bags were sitting in the wardrobe. Additionally, both set up with tank bags, engine bars, Wolfman panniers and Wolfman Tank panniers. Sounds good so far, but we just keep on adding to the setup. Both are set with motorbike specific GPS as well as extra SD cards loaded with off road mapping and suitable program to run. For communication, both riders have the Scala rider G4 headsets as well as yours truly with an 80 channel GME TX3100. Each bike is equipped with 16 litres of additional fuel carrying capacity as well as 10 litres of drinking water. We see out Fathers Day at home where my two beautiful girls have thought ahead and present me with a voucher for a 30 minute massage. So on September 5th, my mate Tim and I set off on a 3 week adventure. The aim is to head to Birdsville via as many NSW National Parks as we can, then down the Birdsville Track to Maree. At Marree, we will take a flight out over Lake Eyre and view the lake with water. Something that happens once, and maybe twice in a generation. The final destination of our journey is the Flinders Ranges. All going well, we will have a couple of days to set up a base camp to tour around the park naked. That is, the bikes without all the panniers, fuel and water. We may even be able to ride them well by then and throwing the naked bikes around will feel pretty good?! <o></o> Monday 5<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 1. We take off just after 8am and head pretty well north from our houses in Croydon. Up to Yea, across to Seymour, through to Heathcote, Kerang across to NSW at Barham left at Moulamein and on to....cough, cough splutter, splutter.... Out of fuel on Tims bike after only 240k's. I throw in the 1 litre of fuel we are actually carrying and quietly limp into a little place with only a pub called Kyalite. The publican can only help us with beers so we call RACV and are grateful for the Total Care package each of us have with them. 90 minutes later fuel arrives that will enable us to get through to Balranald. So off we go with a few lite beers under our belts, on dusk, in kangaroo territory. Just prior to Balranald we see a sign for Yanga National Park. In we go to find the best facilities ever at a NP. No fee for camping either. Dinner cooked, eaten and cleaned, we set about fixing another problem we discovered today. In all my research for carrying fuel and water, no one warned me about putting fuel bladders and water bladders into the same pannier could result in water tasting like petrol. We drained the water, soaked the water bladders in strident overnight and then hit the hay. The strident didnt fix the problem. <o></o> Tuesday 6<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 2 The day begins well and while packing up a group of 3 vehicles with campers in toe stop for a chat. They are heading to Mungo NP as too are we. <o></o> After a fuel stop and coffee stop in Balranald, we head north for 16k's before veering off the black stuff onto the dirt. A great ride of mixed surfaces from gravel, shallow sand and clay. We start slowly, that being 50-60 kph before riding into the conditions and up to 70+kph. We arrive at Mungo and meet up with the people we saw in the Yanga NP. They invite us to join them at their fire if we decide to stay. Although we were hoping to get further along the road, we are bribed to stay with the offer of beer! <o></o> With overnight temperatures hitting sub zero, we both froze for the second night in a row. Even with long johns on and the blankets we had. <o></o> Wednesday 7<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 3 As we departed Mungo on day 3 we turned left out of the Main Camp and started on our way. Intended destination, Menindee via Pooncarie. After riding for a while we both couldn't fathom why our gps units were increasing the kilometres to our destination. Writing off the units, we pushed on until an intersection gave us the hint we had headed the wrong direction from the outset! Realising that we were not that far from Mildura, we decided to source new sleeping bags there, as well as sort some more fuel carrying methods. So we pulled into my brothers factory and set about sorting the bikes a little more and purchased our new -5 sleeping bags. Back to my brothers for the night and a feed. We also tried more things to erase the smell and taste of fuel in the water. The final resolution was to carry fuel in one pannier and water in the other side pannier. However, the panniers themselves still smelled of fuel so tainted water from the panniers was endured throughout the trip.<o></o> With other water vessels on board, I was able to keep some good drinking water separate. The tainted water was used for cooking. It didnt taste as bad in a curry but my black cups of tea tasted like tish. <o></o> Thursday 8<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 4 After a semi reasonable sleep, we head off on day 4. Our intended destination today being Menindee. We double back to the intersection that brought our point of realisation yesterday and head back onto the dirt and start to make our way to Pooncarrie (take 2!). We stop at Pooncarie for a cuppa and meet up with the fruit fly guy who advise us to take the more scenic and adventurist route along the western side of the Darling River and call in at the homestead known as Bindara. We heed his advice and find we have a great afternoons ride along tracks that offered great diversity yet again. We arrived at Bindara and decide to stay. We set up camp and then enjoyed a nice rump steak and veges cooked up by hosts Bob and Julie. We enjoyed a great night around the fire with the other guests too. <o></o> Friday 9<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 5 Day dawned and we set Silverton as our days destination. Out the driveway of Bindara and straight into some reasonably deep sand. Crikey, no time to ride ourselves into it today. This day presented some challenges, light rain and deeper sand. Both throwing me out of my comfort zone big time. Push on though we did. Tim leading and initially making the call on line and condition. As the day went on and the sand thickened, we just rode. We cut up through Kinchega NP and emerged just north of Menindee. Surprisingly we both put in 17 litres of fuel after 333 ks and determine the reason for the fuel run out on day 1 was due to pushing the fully loaded, wind resisting bikes too hard. We are back on track for our planned trip in regard to fuel usage. Just north of Menindee, the Ulysses Club are holding their annual Ghost Rally. We called by Copi Hollow but not much action was going on there so we kept moving. We got through to Broken Hill where we attempted to get some idea on road conditions from the information centre, Parks NSW and the NSW Road Corp. They all were able to tell us the roads were opened but could not advise if the road was sand and whether it was deep or not. We decided to head out to the Living Sculptures and then on to Silverton. We called into the pub to try to get a room but found they no longer provide accommodation. The publican guided us back to the caravan park. Here we got the last shack in the place and set about doing a little bit of laundry, map and distance revision and this blog. What we discovered was the guy in the room next to us was part of the crew working the roads out of Silverton. At last someone who could give us the info we wanted. And he was spot on. <o></o> Saturday 10<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 6 Silverton to Packsaddle was our task for the day. Not a long run, heck, non of our days have been more than 250 k's or there abouts, and this one was to be no different. We started the day with a visit to the Silverton Hotel where we took photos of Mad Max's car. Here we met fellow ADV inmate Thommo, along with his wife Lyn and a mate Rainer. It was great to chat over a coffee before we made our way out to Day Dream Mine and did the underground tour. Here we met up with a couple, Brian and Janet, who also stayed at Bindara with us. After the tour we headed back through Silverton and on up to the Mindi Mindi lookout. Awesome view too. Finally our riding day got underway at around 1pm. We headed out on UR4 to McDougells Well, onto UR5 to Teilta and turned left and headed back to the Silver City Hwy via Mt Westwood and Floods Ck. On the highway we headed north to Packsaddle where we fuelled up and had a beer with Paul. Who is Paul? Last Easter when Tim and I did our shake down trip, we stopped at Heathcote and had a cuppa. Here we started chatting to a local who also rides. This is Paul. He was staying the night at Packsaddle on his return trip after riding his new DRZ650 to Cameron Corner and around the neighbourhood. Paul shared his trip with us and other news before we pushed off a few more k's toward Tibooburra and set up camp in an old gravel pit. Lesson, do not do again as tapping your tent pegs in is quite difficult! <o></o> Sunday 11<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 7 Phew, what a day. We are really into it now. From our camp just out of Packsaddle, we headed up the Silver City Hwy to Tibooburra stopping for a look see at Milparinka. Some very pleasant history to observe here. At Tibooburra, we fuelled up, oiled chains and picked up a few supplies. At the servo/supermarket, we were able to buy some internet time and update friends and family watching our trip on Face Book and monitoring our location with the Spot Tracker. Ready to leave we drove through town to see the outdoor cinema and the painting on the Family Hotel wall. Not very family orientated at all! We threw in a few bucks to the RFDS tin, took a photo, had a beer and departed Tib after around 1 1/2 hours.<o></o> We made pretty good time heading out to Cameron Corner. Sitting between 70-80. At Cameron Corner we had a pie and a beer as an early dinner with the plans to give the Outback Country Cuisine dessert a go at camp tonight. Strawberries and ice cream. <o></o> So off from Cameron Corner and what a ride. After checking at Bollards Lagoon homestead on the condition of the Bore Tk, we elected the lesser of the two evils. We were not misled by a fellow traveller at Cameron Corner who advised on the road conditions to Merty Merty. We have done 47 k's of the 119 and it has been incredible. If I had started the trip here I would have ended it immediately. We are crossing sand dunes now and the sand is deep with big sandpits on the climb and on the descent. Twice I have had the back of the bike kick me in the bum as it is thrown into the air on impact with the hard walls of the sand holes. No time to think, just ride and keep riding. I know I have been told speed is your friend in sand but the nerves have kept me slow in the past. Now we are riding these things between 60-80. We are trying to keep it around 70 but sometimes things get away from us. With so much more still to do and dusk descending upon us, we made the call to set up camp. Bed early tonight and praying for a safe day tomorrow. I dont deny anxiety levels are high. <o></o> Monday 12<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 8 To start with, let me tell you last nights Strawberries and Ice cream was fantastic. A little decadent but heck, who cares. So after a great nights sleep (little wonder after the workout we got yesterday afternoon) we were up at 6:30. We had a leisurely start, as usual, and were on the bikes around 9:15. Psyched for a big day of sand dunes and tough riding we made our way the few short k's to the Yellow Bus. This bus was originally placed there by the owners of Bollard Lagoon Station as accommodation for the musterers. Sadly, the brainless have proved they can hit a target from 3 feet with a shotgun, smashed all the windows, ripped out seats and beds, and written all the tasteless crap that demonstrates they have no skills, literacy, and class. Moving off from the bus, we discover that the worst is behind us. We were only a few dunes from the end of the horrific dunes but had called it a night yesterday rather than riding into an accident. We made our way past Merty Merty and Moomba, on to and through to Innamincka. We went through to Wills grave, well attempted to. The final few k's in is over deep sand dunes that took me down. I hate deep sand. The stuff we rode through yesterday was deep but predominately straight line stuff or reasonably fast corners. This stuff was short runs with sharp corners and deep scalloped wheel ruts. Felt like I was back on the Border Tk. I called it and had Tim return to assist in the bike pickup. Crunched the same ankle as I did on the Border Tk at Easter and spat the dummy. Needless to say, we didn't get to pay our respects to Mr Wills. So back to Innamincka where we fuelled up bikes and our 40 litres of spare fuel. Topped up water supplies to 15 litres. Played a bit with the bikes then headed to the pub for a beer and pie. Mine was ginger! <o></o> Off we went to The Dig Tree. We passed by the turn off to Mr Burkes grave as I was too scared of the sand. We turned into The Dig Tree and paid our respects there. Time was marching and after a chat with a lovely couple we kicked on to get a few more k's on the clock. We pulled into camp on a siding used for the road crew. Lovely view of some rolling hills, crickets and cicadas chirping and on dark a bat flying over head. Dinner and an early night again. We are hoping to get to Beetota tomorrow night, some 350k's. <o></o> Tuesday 13<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 9 Morning has broken... Well the serenity of the outback isolation anyway. 4:15am and I wake to the ever increasing sound of a road train approaching. It then departs followed shortly by another. Where we were camped amongst the beautiful rolling hills, the trucks meandered through in low gears with exhaust brakes doing their thing. It wasn't that bad but it did wake me. We started the day proper after 7. Did the normal routine of breakfast, break camp and were on the road by 8:30ish. Our primary aim was to get to Haddon Cnr. This we did just after midday. The morning went well with the exception of us noticing a change in the surface in front of us but too busy talking to actually slow up and pay the change the due attention it deserved. We were riding side by side at this stage due to the track being so good. Suddenly Tim is in a rut full of bull dust and I am in the complete opposite, a rut of approximately 30cm in depth with ridges running through it that threw me to the right resulting in the belly pan scraping the side of the rut as well as the brake pedal. This resulted in me being tossed to the left. Fortunately I remained upright and apart from the scare, the only damage for either of us was a bent brake pedal for me. We pay a lot more attention to the track surface! We got to Haddon Corner and elected to walk the last 3k's rather than try riding the deep rutted sand dunes. Wimpy I know but that is us! Nothing serious here as we walked in, did the photo thing and walk out to the bikes. Following a cuppa and cake, we pushed on. Our intention was to camp somewhere near Betoota, but since we made such good time, we pushed on through to Birdsville. Here we set up camp on what looks like the only bit of grass in town at the caravan park. We showered, shaved, did a load of laundry and went to the pub for a nice steak. All good, bellies full, we called it a night. <o></o> Wednesday 14<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 10 Our day starts with a walk to the Birdsville Bakery for eggs, bacon and tomato on toast. We meet an interesting character who calls himself Wizard. After brekky we head over to the museum for a gander. Lots of old interesting stuff the owner has collected and now makes a living out of showing it to people. He is trying to sell it but I guess unless he finds a like minded person, the asking price will not even be considered. After the museum visit we head back to the caravan park and break camp. Finally just before midday we fuel up, top up a few supplies and ride out to the race course. Finally at 12:30 we are mobile. We start down the Birdsville Tk. Through Sturt Rocky Desert we deal with exactly that. Rocks and plenty of corrugations. Nothing worse than anywhere else, just more of it. Regardless, we again make good time and pull into Mungerannie, fuel up, have a light and push on for another 30k's. We pulled into Ooroowilanie ruins and set up camp on the side of a dune. Scouting around I note a few large holes in the side of the dunes. Hopefully Tim will get to see a dingo. Before bed, the only wildlife I have noticed is a little field mouse! <o></o> Thursday 15<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 11 After a great nights sleep we woke nice and fresh. Had to move a rat on that was playing in my boot last night. I bought the boots and socks into the tent after that, fell back to sleep and knew nothing till morn. After breaking camp and having breakfast, we did something different and went for a ride! Ok so nothing new. Heading south on the Birdsville Tk we came across the diversion as the Cooper Creek has crossed the road and the diversion takes us through to the ferry. 14 k's of solid deep sand riding certainly got our attention and upon arrival at the ferry a nice rest was had. After the ferry ride over Cooper Creek we took off for Marree arriving at midday. We had a cold drink at the pub and booked a 2 hour flight over Lake Eyre. We set up tents and walked to the road house for a hamburger lunch before chilling for a couple of hours before the flight.<o></o> Flight time. I get the co pilots seat and Tim in behind me. We share the small plane with a lovely couple from Sydney. Up, up, and away. We fly to Cooper Creek and view the ferry we crossed on some 6 hours earlier. From there we follow the Cooper Creek to where it flows into Lake Eyre. We too see the Warburton Groove which is the inflow channel from the Warburton River. Out over the lake it is impressive. The sheer size of it. Then we complete the triangular flight back to Marree passing over Lake Eyre South and the dog fence. The flight was not without incident. I manage to make use of a spew bag! Felt a heap better after! The day finished with dinner. <o></o> Friday 16<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 12 What a day. Nothing tough, just a day. A few gremlins crept in. you know how you do all the prep so you can do things, use things? Then when you want to do just that, capow, something doesn't work as you intended. Today we had problems with camera mounts, the headsets and me. Yep, me. My back is sore midway, and I am just feeling a bit shagged. We have ridden everyday for 12 days straight. The shortest was yesterday of only 200k's and today we did 260k's. The distance isn't big and particularly today the riding hasn't been hard. Quite the opposite today if anything. I think I am just tired. I certainly am tired of the dust. I am dropping back further now so I get less and in turn that means the headsets cut out. Enough whinging. Today we left Marree and travelled south to Leigh Creek where we had some lunch. Leigh Creek is a delightful, tidy, and we found, friendly town. At the coal mine lookout, we met up with Steve. A guy on his VStrom who had stayed at Marree last night too but we didn't see him there. Steve had gone down the Oodnadatta Tk after cutting across from Coober Pedy. He even rode that shocking 69 k's from just south of William Ck to Halligans Bay on Lake Eyre.<o></o> From Leigh Creek we back tracked to get onto the road to Arkaroola. The start of the Strezlecki Way. We followed through to Ark where we set up camp, showered, shaved and went up to the village for dinner. Riding through the Flinders Ranges is beautiful. I hope I am in a better frame of mind tomorrow to enjoy. <o></o> Saturday 17<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 13 After a very enjoyable night at Arkaroola we moved on at 8:45am for Flinders Ranges South. We back tracked the 30k's from Arkaroola before doing a right then quick left following the signs to Blinman. The roads were reasonable with a grader doing some work. We turned off the Blinman road and headed into Mt Chambers Gorge. We had a cuppa part way in then proceeded to the gorge proper where we chatted with campers before heading the 9k's back to the main road. Just prior to Blinman we turned north and went on a 4wd track through to ruins and continued on along diverse tracks including a number of creek beds. We made our way ultimately to Blinman where we sat in the dining room of the local, had a quite one, watched some of the touring cars circulating at Phillip Is and very nearly fell asleep in the couches. Dragging ourselves away from the idiot box and, more to the point, the comfy couches, we started south past Wilpena to Rawnsley Homestead. Enroute, Tim had a very close encounter with a 1 metre roo who decided to cross the road. Had the roo not deviated, contact would have been made. From my vantage point some 10 or so metres back, I would estimate a miss of well less than a metre. Upon arrival at Rawnsley, we set up camp, had dinner, freshened up with a shower and called it a night. <o></o> Sunday 18<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 14 What a great day we had today. Supposedly a 'rest' day! We stripped all the gear off the bikes and rode around the Flinders Ranges. We rode through 2 gorges in the morn rocking into Parachilna pub for lunch. The ride combined with the stripping of the gear revealed a number of lose nuts and bolts as well as identifying one bolt holding my Givi top box bracket on had sheared off. Some drilling required when we get home. The corrugations too took their toll on the uhf aerial with that snapping on the mornings jaunt. A kind neighbour at Rawnsley had a spare aerial he gave me. Thanks Col. After lunch we rode through to Blinman where we had ginger beer and left over cake from a tour bus group, all while watching some of the touring car race from Phillip Is. We then rode through to the Sacred Canyon. What a beautiful place. Even though we shy away from walks whilst in our riding boots, we made our way along the canyon observing the aboriginal paintings as well as soaking in the tremendous aura of the place. From there we made our way back to camp. A little later than usual. Since we had a big lunch for dinner tonight we just had an apricot crumble. We also did a load of washing. Bed is a bit later too as a result with time now about to hit 10pm. <o></o> Monday 19<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 15 We woke this morn following an extremely windy night. I got up at 2am to bring in the washing as we had no pegs and I didn't want my stuff to blow away. I thought I better bring Tim's stuff in too!! Again up an hour later as one of our plastic bottles started rattling down the road. Finally just after 6:30 we got up to a sensational sunrise. With the strong winds, the red dust was suspended in the sky giving the sun an airy red glow. We broke camp and headed off into Hawker. Here we met some ADV riders on their Beemers. Their journey was just beginning. We went to the Panorama Gallery. Now for $7.50 that is great value. Finally we hit the road after midday and took the back roads to Yunta. Today the roads were not the trying issue, rather the extremely strong winds. Along the way we met more Beemer riders as they were making their way to a rally. After Yunta we headed toward the Danggali Conservation Park. At 5:30, after a day of battling nigh on gale force winds, we found a semi protected spot and set up camp. <o></o> Tuesday 20<SUP>th</SUP> September 2011 Day 16 Danggali Conservation area to Mildura. After yesterdays wind, we were pleased to only have a light breeze throughout the day. We are nearing the end of our journey and particularly the tether in regard to dust, sand and the tough riding we have endured. I personally feel I have come a long way in my riding. I am quite comfortable riding in deeper sand sitting between 60-80k/h. Our slow riding over rutted terrain and the like has also improved. So as we push on toward my brothers place at Mildura, we tackle a closed section of road to find holes across the whole track and a thin line to follow on the edge. A range of sand depths tested us as we were really switching off to this sort of riding. Finally we exited and travelled an atrocious road leading into Renmark. After a hot chocolate and coffee scroll we went to an engineering place, Dix and Sons, where I replaced a missing bolt which they gave me along with some locktite. Back on the road we travelled the last of our planned dirt, The Old Mail Route. This runs from near Renmark to Merbein for 118k's. Once clear of that, we called into the Honda dealer to check wheel bearings on my bike before enjoying a cold beer with my brother and one of his mates, Browny at work. We then headed out to Redcliffs for dinner with good friends Hayden and Kirsty along with their two beautiful daughters Chloe and Isabella. After a great night we headed back to my brothers where we spent the late hours of the evening with Anthony, Ruth AJ and Ruth's parents who were visiting <o></o> Wednesday 21<SUP>st</SUP> September 2011 Day 17 Second last day of our adventure. After a very slow start we headed into Red Cliffs, fuelled up, aired up and travelled on the black stuff to Swan Hill for a late lunch then on to Torrumbarry. We set up camp on the banks of the mighty Murray, toasted a great trip and planned our final days route. In phone reception here so I got to talk to my eldest for the first time since leaving. I have resolved I hate leaving my family. I miss them terribly. <o></o> Thursday 22<SUP>nd</SUP> September 2011 Day 18 Woke this morning with a few mixed emotions. Keen to get home but all the adventure seems to be almost dream like. I find it difficult to comprehend the riding we have done. Most, tougher than I thought and certainly well above what I believed I could do. Regardless, home we must go. We break camp and head through to Heathcote where we went to the bakery where Paul, the guy we met at Easter and bumped into at Packsaddle, wife works. She was not there but her daughter was. I left my name and number with her and after the mandatory hot beverage and accompanying snack, we departed. We decided to cut through to Seymour then onto Yea. We rang ahead to one of our keen watchers, Terry and advised him of our eta at Yarra Glen. True to his degree of support, Terry met us there on his GS and after a 15 minute chat, rode with us into Lilydale. Finally Tim and I said our goodbyes and thanks to one another for being part of the trip. Home was well received. I spent the afternoon stripping the bike, washing it and all the stuff that hung off it for the past 18 days and did my clothes washing. Ahead of me lays the maintenance issues that have presented. Broken uhf aerial, uhf speaker not working, sheared bolts to be drilled, tapped and replaced, others that have gone missing in action to be replaced and repainting the rubbed up grab handles. Finally a service, new air and oil filters, fresh oil and whatever else reveals itself as I do the aforementioned things. Tyres, Mitas Adventure Dakar front and rear were put on just prior to the trip and still have life in them. I may swap them out for the tourances but that is not a priority. Next trip is to MotoGP at Phillip Is.<o></o> <o></o> Reality hits. Emails need attending, clients to call, appointments to set up.<o></o> Life goes on. At least I managed to escape it for 18 days. Played the explorer and challenged myself beyond what I believed the challenge would be. Although I missed my girls so much, I know I will again step up to be challenged again. In what, I do not know. Stay tuned. <o></o> <o></o> Fuel usage and cost Fuel bladders are counted when filled and noted in usage when used.<o></o> Kilometres travelled/Tims usage/ My usage $total cost of both bike fills.<o></o> <o></o> Elmore 228/14/15.4 $42<o></o> Kyalite 0/10/4 $20 Provided by the NRMA following Tim running out of fuel<o></o> Balranald 310/6/16 4x4+1x1 $57.37<o></o> Mildura 296/11.2 plus 4l bladder/15.6 $38.50<o></o> Menindee 333/17.25/17.1 $51.49<o></o> Broken Hill 147/7.5/6.74 $19.88<o></o> Packsaddle 322/16.7/16 $57.50<o></o> Tibooburra 162/6.3/6.7 $21.91<o></o> Cameron Corner 141/7.5/7.2 $32.30<o></o> Innamincka 321/18.1/16.3 4x3.8 3x4 to top up bladders $128.58<o></o> Birdsville 566/29.1/26.1 $41.30<o></o> Mungerannie Roadhouse 317/16.4/14.9 $61.00<o></o> Marree 231/12.2/11.7 $46.51<o></o> Arkaroola 259/12/11.5 $42.21<o></o> Rawnsley Village 300/16.6/13.9 $46.70<o></o> Rawnsley Village253/12/12.2 $37.04<o></o> Yunta 232/10.5/10 $29.81strong tail wind<o></o> Renmark 320/16.8/15.5 $45.60<o></o> Redcliff 187/9.1/8.1 $24.01<o></o> Swan Hill 214/11.4/10.1 $30.50<o></o> Heathcote 265/14.2/12.3 $37.00<o></o> Croydon 167/<o></o> <o></o> <o></o>
I have been attempting to load more photos. On the original post it advises I have already loaded the maximum number of photos. When I try to load more photos to a reply it is coming up with an error report. Again, I have only been able to add a single photo. Is there a way to load a number of photos ir do I just add one at a time? Anyway, here we are at an obvious spot!!!
Then flew over the ferry, along cooper Creek, over Lake Eyre and then back to Maree via Lake Eyre South.
Well done boys, it is always great when you are going somewhere new. ( Especially out west into that sort of country.) The pictures were interesting. especially the one on the way to Wills grave. ( sitting in the sand ) I did that road about 17 days after you. ( I had trouble with mud) It's not easy to pick up a full loaded bike . Might see you on the road one day.
Hey Peter & Tim.....sounds like quite a trip.....we (Rainer/Lynne & I) went on to Flinders Ranges..camped the night..and then had to turn around and head back. By the time I got home (to Blue Mtns ..3 days there/3 days back) I'm thinking trailer the bikes to Flinders Ranges and play around there for 10 days would be the way to go. Very interesting to read your ride report...but doesn't sound like a walk in the park! Thommo.....
