time got away

Unfortunately while on the road,
We often found that we didn't have reliable, if any, internet connections and decided to leave the blog till we got back to Australia.
Apologies to those who were waiting for an update...

I found that experiencing the journey was better time spent than documenting it!

Entering Iceland

10 June:  a quiet day. Visited by Dennis, Claudia and Phil. After prepping the bikes, we had dinner  together, überbackene pasta. Was yummy!

Excited with anticipation for the ride the next day. Bed by 2230. Plan to get up early the next am and take the ferry over the Elbe, near Hamburg, to avoid the roadworks on the autobahns. 

Did a last load of washing, ready for takeoff. 

11 June: left Michi’s about 0800 and rode north over the “landstrassen” to go around both Bremen & Hamburg. Took the ferry Glückstadt and then onto the autobahn into Denmark. Scott had a close call when two autobahns were merging, I had a word with the other driver. All good. 

We arrived at Øssur’s around 1500, were greeted by Ann and an open garage. The bikes were immediately stowed, we had coffee & Øssur showed us around. 

Upon inspecting my tyres, we discovered mine looked less than perfect, with around 2mm tread on the front one. I decided to order some new ones and have them delivered to Øssur’s and have them fitted upon our return journey. I feel confident they will survive Iceland & the Färöer, but not much more. This will put us in an excellent position for the GN-72. 

We ate together, more coffee, cake, then bed around 2200. 

12 June: up around 0400. We left Øssur’s place around 0515, refuelled around the corner and then hit the road. Taking the E45-E39 north. We arrived in Hirtshals around 0730, plenty of time. (ca. 248 km). We refuelled and joined the queue for the ferry. Waiting in the sun, with no cover, was very hot. A couple of hours passed & we then boarded. Bikes went first, the riders are responsible for securing their own bikes, the ferry supplies the straps. It’s hard & hot work & always a bit of commotion. I assisted Scott & secured his first then Mine. Once that was done, we offered the others help & assisted Iñigo & an older German guy. That completed, we stowed our gear in our couchette and explored the ship a little and started to meet people. We ended up making plans with Iñigo to meet and perhaps ride together in iceland.

Planning, talking, drinking. That eve, we migrated into the bar with live music when an announcement came over the tannoy calling for a Doctor around 0015, or so. 3 times this occurred so I thought I’d better see if I could help. 

On arrival, I found a 65+ y.o. Faroese male being attended to by the crew. He was collapsed between 2 bunks, an injury to his forehead and CPR was underway. As no-one seemed to be in charge, I took command of the situation. As I was the most senior trained person. I shan’t go into details today but needless to say, our efforts were futile. After about an hour, I asked the dr present if it were reasonable to discontinue, he wanted to continue for a short while, but eventually agreed & the man was pronounced dead. 

After removing the body to a safe place, the crew took me back to the lounge where I grabbed a beer and some water, went outside for a ciggie. I needed to collect my thoughts as I was quite upset, despite giving it my all in difficult circumstances. I got talking to Christian, a young Faroese man. 

13 June: Up late ~1100 or so, lunch onboard in the afternoon we docked at the Faroes. Spoke with Herman, the German dr who attended the code with me ant was under the impression we would speak with a Faroese Dr when we arrived. In fact, it was the police. We needed to both make statements, usual practice under the circumstances. Also, a danish dr would be flown out in a few days to perform an autopsy, also normal. 

After lunch, we sat outside for a few beers, might enquire re: cause of death on our return. Sat out on the deck with the guys, Iñigo (es), Ollie (de), Costa (cy) and Karsten (de) till the evening. We headed down to the around 1900, saw the guys down there, I had a sore back from CPR. And spent time between the hot tub and the sauna. Spent some time chatting with the pool attendant, a Faroese girl who had heard about the events of the previous night. An announcement came over the tannoy, asking me to contact the reception, I asked the pool

attendant if she could call them for me and find out why...

Upgrade motha fukka!

A cabin with a window. 

After our swim, we organised the cabin, bought some duty-free beers and moved in. Front deck 2-7. Two bunk (4), private, tv, own ensuite, sheets, pillow & doona. 

In the evening we sat out with the others chatting, bed around midnight. 

14 June: about 0730, we got a knock on the door. I thought they were asking us to vacate, it was one of the crew from the CPR. But he was there to inform us that the chief mate (?) had invited us to breakie as a thank you. Whoop! Cooked breakie for two. 

Then we packed up & vacated by 0730. The car deck opened at 0910 and everybody wanted out. 

We disembarked with no real problems, Scott stalled his bike but was easily rectified. 

Then off to the cafe at the local petrol station, we were 8 guys, 7 bikers, one cyclist & one car driver. We exchanged phone numbers in case of emergency and went our separate ways. 

Ollie (de, car), Iñigo (es 2014 GS) and we two decided to travel together for a bit. We headed out of Seythisfjörthur to Egilsstathir together  we checked into the phone shop and were informed our German sim-cards should work. From there we rode north on the 94, partly gravel road, to Dyrfjöll then Borgarfjörthur and walked up an elk(?) home. Then we returned to Egilsstathir, fuelled up, had some sandwiches, made plans to meet the following day. Iñigo and Ollie headed south to their accommodation at the southern end of Largarfljót, we headed along the one and onto a plateau to our camp. Cold, windy and rainy, eventually arriving at Möthrudalur, campsite and restaurant. We had another gravel road for about 5kms. The campsite is in a “valley”, this was no valley, the land was flat, the wind ferocious, we had a coffee/tea and set-up camp, also hanging our wet gear out to dry. There were very few places sheltered from the wind, but we found one & I was happy with the camp. 

Today, we discovered that Scott’s waterproof liners aren’t, but his new suit is. 

On the first ride we all got a little wet & cold. Hope to dry out a bit tonight & sleep well. 

We grabbed a bowl of soup from the cafe Fjalla Kaffi. Good lamb soup, tasty and warmed us up. We will probably get an early and get up early. 

Plenty of gravel roads today and we reduced the tyre pressures to 2.0 (f) and 2.2 ® 

We will see.

Week two

7th June: We went swimming in Freibad, Barenburg. After finalising monies with Michi. 

We loved the outdoor-heated pool. Complete with slide and springboards. Also grabbed a hamburger from the kiosk for lunch.  A couple of hours and we had cooled off enough to jump on the bikes for a run. We took the Bundesstraßen to the rehab clinic near Hildeshelm to visit Heino who had recently had a knee replacement. He seemed to be doing pretty good, walking around without crutches & enjoyed the visit from us three. He even remembered me, don’t know why?

Then we came back on the autobahns and got up to tour speeds 150-170 kmh. 

It’s reasonable to expect that this is the sort of speed we will need once we are attempting the GN-72. 

We rode approximately 350 km and are averaging around 5-6 l/100km. Not too shabby. 

It was a good test. Unfortunately, I lost the spark plug cover from the rhs of my bike. I’d only replaced it the day before. I may have to “find” one on my trip. 

In the evening Michi set up the BBQ and the whole family ate together. Then we sat around drinking & chatting till about 23:00. 

8th June: we headed into sulingen and had breakie at the cafe where Michi usually gets our bread rolls for breakfast. Then food shopping for our trip, the beginning anyway. We also got a couple of bottles of the hard stuff, Laphroaig and some Bismarck. Beer is too heavy to carry with and takes up too much space. 

After we popped into Heike’s work to show her boss Scott’s Apple Watch. He was super interested but the staff at the store couldn’t answer his questions. It seems we are a fountain of worldly knowledge. 

In the afternoon, we once again headed to be pool. The weather has been pretty hot and humid, once we spent a couple of hours there & cooleddown we all felt refreshed. 

Friday evenings are reserved for “Clubabend” where the members of Samhain MC get together and have a few beers and hang out & chat. It’s awesome how they accept and involve us in their day-to-day. There were around 12 of us, after that we headed ack to Michi’s and kept on drinking/chatting till about 0130. 

9th June:  in the morning we headed into Sulingen and had a stroll around the stadtsee. A place Michi used to hang around when he and Heike were younger. It was quite overgrown and not as nice as he’d remembered. But still, it was nice to get outside and stretch the legs for a bit. After that we popped into Lloyds, the biggest employer in the region. They are a well known shoe brand “with the red stripe” under the heel. Attached to the factory is an outlet shop and people come from all over to but the “discounted” shoes. Bloody expensive it you ask me. 

On the way back we visited Heinrich (club member) to borrow a stool for Scott and have a beer & catch up. He & Tina, I remember fondly. 

After that we got our stuff and headed to the freibad to cool off, it was about 35 degrees or so. 

I had a riesencurrywurst. It was big and covered in curry sauce, I was happy. 

At the pool, the lifeguard came up to me and announced that : ich will nicht pingelig sein aber du solltest Badehosen an haben. I don’t want to be picky, but you should really have swimmers on. I told him that I did, he didn’t believe me and asked to feel them. I offered, He did, then everything was ok ;-)

In the evening we joined many bikes to ride in convoy to Hahn Auf Hoya, motorcycle club party. Just under 100 bikes. Some of the way they stopped the traffic so we could ride through. We did about 30-40 km in convoy. And upon arrival we were once again greeted by a biker bearing schnapps. 

This evening we met another Australian, nickname Ozzy. Appropriate!

And his real name Bruce!  Cracked us up!

We left the after a few hours, 6 bikes. 

Back home we stood around talking till around 0130, Dennis, Maulwurf, the Drohn’s and us. 

It was a good send off. 

10th June:  bit of a sleep-in. Breakie together, clothes washing, packed the bikes, unpacked the bikes, re-packed the bikes, relaxed, planned the route for tomorrow. 

Everything is “ready for take-off”

Tomorrow morning we shall leave Germany and head up to northern Denmark and meet up with Øssur. 

Week one

We arrived at Amsterdam airport without any hiccups.
Customs and immigration took over an hour for me, there had been weather delays and all e planes landed at once. Annoying but not the end of the world.
But from Amsterdam to Bremen proved to be not as smooth as we expected.
Scott’s flight was delayed, I’d expected him to arrive In Bremen and be waiting for me at the train station. I, on the other hand took the train, but my connection from Osnabrück was also delayed by 45 mins and changed to the regio-barn. Also arriving later than expected. Upon arrival, I quickly found Michi & tried calling Scott to find out where he was. We quickly discovered that our Australian phones had no connection. Luckily Scott had WiFi connection and was able to email michi and we eventually picked him up, better late than never.

The train ride from Amsterdam into Germany was when I actually felt that I’d arrived in Europe, everything was so green. Fields, farmlands, autobahns. I was happy.

After picking us up we headed for Schwaförden and it just happened to be Denis’ birthday. A quick introduction for Scott to German culture & beer. Then it off to bed.

Day two: we got to meet the bikes, woo-hoo. Both exceeded my expectations. We had a bit of a test then it was off to a couple of biker-parties. First, rolling wheels. Lots of new friends, new people, new places. Scott’s first time riding in a small group, we were around 8 bikes, Or so (plus one car)
Then off to another party where the flavour of the day was burnouts,  Germans being German had a fenced off area where they took their bikes for their burnouts, just across from the beer tent.  Safety first. Then home for a well earned sleep.

Day three, 2nd June: a bit of work on the bikes then in the afternoon met again at the clubhouse and headed off to the Abominogs MC. This time, camping. We were 15 bikes + car.

The ride took about 2 hours, a quick stop for fischbrötchen. Scots first real taste of German fast-food.
Around the club the land was all moors, soft, springy, easy for bikes to sink into and fall over, left or right. We all came armed with planks of wood to place under the stand. No bikes fell over. As we were new, we rode up the front of the group. But upon arrival to the club, fell to the back. We were greeted at the gate by a hairy biker with a smile, handshake and a shot. Scott asked if it were obligatory, I advised not to offend, he partook. Then we set up tents, and went to the party.
As were a group, the prospects were sent to get the Bons and were responsible for keeping us supplied with beer. There was also food and live band, AC/DC cover band from Berlin. It was a great night.
Next day we packed up & rode home to Schwaförden.
Before we left for the Abominogs MC party, Scott managed to drop his bike at the petrol station, I eventually wanted to teach him how to pick up the bike but this was neither the place nor time for lessons. Jonah and I righted the bike, the engine bars had already paid for themselves.

4th June: late start, breakfast together, then off to Bremen. We visited both polo & Louis, Scott needed a tank bag, rain suit, kidney belt and gel pad for his seat. I got a new visor for my helmet which had a couple of scratches. We also ordered our cooking gas. In the evening we had dinner together, spaghetti Bol. In the evening I spoke with Øssur in Denmark about popping in for a visit on the way to the ferry, this way we get to sample danish hospitality and break up the ride to the ferry

5th June: late start again, after fruhstuck we fitted the usb charging points to the bikes, a power switch to my gps, the cable fitted was direct to the battery, fit the seat cushions, and grip puppies. Later that day, we rode with Mucke to inspect an R1100RT, unfortunately the ABS was malfunctioning. So, no bike for Mucke, then a beer at Dümmersee. Was a lovely, all be it shallow, lake.

6th June: after fruhstuck we headed to Samhain MC and practiced picking up the bike if/when dropped. Both sides. Also a bit of slow riding around the field, tested hard breaking with ABS, without ABS and rear. We then finalised all the paperwork for the bikes. In the afternoon Scott & I headed out to pick up a part for my bike and did a bit of sightseeing, checked out the massive wind generators which stand all around this area.

Tomorrow, more of the same

In the beginning!

Departure day is upon us.

I everything is packed, weighed and I've (hopefully) attended to all that I need.

I guess it's just a matter of waiting to fly and leaving all the little things in the hands of the gods.

Less than 5 hours till wheels up and I'm just sitting here waiting to head off. 

It's always the same, the last moments seem to drag. 

Onward and upward...Awesomeness awaits!



















You should be able to follow our progress here:




https://spotwalla.com/request.php?ck=1c19532198849b71f

testie, aren't we?

So, here we are.

Less than 2 weeks before setting off and Michi offered to take the bikes for a test-run for their weekend away (Pentecost)

On a positive note - It would appear that the newer of the two bikes had no problem.  

The other bike (who has yet to be named) started misfiring.  The problem only got worse as the weekend wore on.

Shame for their weekend

good that we discovered this problem now, not on a camp site in the west Fjords of Iceland.

The bike had to be brought back on a trailer and Michi has begun the task of dismantling, problem solving and replacing parts.

I hope that It won't be too much of a drama to rectify. 

But hey, Them's the breaks.

Vorbereitung (preparation)

Almost there, (Bald ist es soweit)

Yesterday, Scott and I met to discuss the trip; timings, stops, sights, places of interest, people, countries, gear, tools, to IBA or not to IBA and any number of related and unrelated topics.
Scott is now writing up a rough itinerary that'll cover roughly where and when we will be travelling.
For my sins, I calculated all the distances between points of interest, rest stops, bars etc.

I feel that we are now better prepared for what lies ahead of us.
Awesomeness of epic proportions.
With less than 3 weeks to go, we are well on track.

The last of the Deliveries are to come in, but I am confident that all will arrive before we jet off.

It's amazing how short 3 months actually is when you break it down.
Although the majority of the first month will be spent on preparation and then Iceland.
Iceland and The Faeroes will take almost 3 weeks.

Smyril Line contacted me last week enquiring about rego numbers of the bikes (Icelandic Ferry Co.)
Last I'd heard was that the bikes were being prepared for Summer but not actually registered.
This morning I received an email from Michi regarding TÜV (road-worthy), registration and the general state of things.

It appears that we now have two freshly registered bikes.
all there is to do now is get ourselves over to Europe, name the bikes and hit the road.

Bald geht's Los, Mädels!

After all this time, the trip is almost upon us.

It's moments like this that I am reminded of something I learnt in the Army - namely the 7 P's

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance

I can only hope that our planning has indeed been Proper and thorough enough.

Oh, I am sure there will be hiccups along the way, hurdles, challenges. Indeed, the whole thing would be a little boring if it all went smoothly, wouldn't it?

Michi and the guys of Samhain have retrieved the bikes from their winter sleep, Serviced the girls, Mounted the Engine bars and GPS cradles. All that needs to be completed is redo and test rides.

They will be given a good test ride into Harz mountains next weekend.

I'm super excited to hear how they performed.

I have yet to name the Mädels, yes they are both girls.

But girls with attitude and beauty.

In preparation for our time away, I borrowed a Paris-Dakar (Predecessor to the GS)  from Les and we set off for a couple of tours around SE QLD. Taking in the roads of Mount Nebo, Mount Glorious, Around Lake Wivenhoe, Fernvale, Beaudesert onto Canungra and back to Brisvegas.

Day two saw us heading for the border ranges, Beechmont, Numinbah, Murwillumbah, Currrumbin Valley and on to Yatala. 

The second day, being a Saturday, We came across plenty of Po-lice as part of  Operation Grenadine. I didn't get given any cordial, but they did jab a breathalyzer in my face and gave me a chamois for my support of their cause. I guess this infers that we could all "polish" our sixth sense, or some such thing. The bloke on the no-plated R1 that didn't stop may have gotten more than he counted on, but no more than he probably deserved.  I just hope he didn't meet with a tree or drop off a cliff.  Needless to say, He didn't get a commemorative Chamois.

Looking back at the rides - we did around 700 km, Awesome range roads, good and windy, no miss-haps, Scott brushed up on his skills, and we visited a load of places with silly names.  How Australian.

As time marches on and we finalise our gear and plans I feel confident that we are ready for this.  

What-ever this turns out to be, it'll be Epic.

Scott's ride in the German Sun.

The cockpit - new addition GPS mount

Same here

Engine protection in place

Sweet, sweet Ride

Test Ride - to The hoes of Wiven

Has spring Sprung?

Indeed, the days here in Australia are getting shorter, the nights longer.

I'm told that winter has ended in Europe and Spring has begun (na endlich!)

But how warm is it in Iceland at the moment? A quick check revealed temperatures of -2 to +7

Of course with a little snow thrown in.

I'm confident that it will continue to warm up over the next 10 weeks or so. 

Either that or We'll be out buying some of that well-known Icelandic knitwear.

Hell, we might just buy some anyway. 

Our plans are well afoot for our excursion to the nordic lands and beyond.  

Scott has finally purchased a helm with built in communication. I'm pretty excited to see if we can get the two units talking (literally & figuratively).  This means that we will have the ability to communicate without relying on the interpretation of wild hand gestures.  Also, we could potentially get out for a ride together and see how long it takes Scott to get his Bike legs back.  From what I understand, it's been a while since he last rode. 

But hey, what could go wrong?

Riding a bike is like,well...riding a bike.

in any case, it is what it is.

I believe we have everything in the way of gear 

including parts for servicing and readying the bikes for such an adventure.

I don't intend to use the word expedition as I believe that's reserved for groups with plenty of dosh, Extensive planning, back-up crew and contingencies written in stone.  

Sure, some sections have been planned, well planned. But for the most part, we're gonna wing it.

The rough plan has already formed in my mind, but like a weed it continues to grow, evolve, change. There will be moments of inspiration and great change followed by long periods of stagnation.  Much like the journey ahead of us.

In my research I have discovered many places of interest that I would love to visit or re-visit, Only time will tell which way this journey takes.  Places such as Finland (The country where I want to be?), Guédelon Castle, Portovenere, Greece, and many others.

Who knew there was so much to see & do in Europe.

For now I am content in the knowledge that the bikes have survived the winter, look just good as before and time continues to march on.

Euro-extravaganza

I miss Europe.

Having lived there for the majority of the past 2 decades I have gotten used to their ways and means.

I truly feel like a fish-out-of-water here in Australia
I need to get out and ride Europe

My Trans-Australis ride was just a warm up.

I'm planning on something more...something bigger

To give you a bit of background: in 2010, I rode out of the Middle-east, into Europe and kept riding for approximately 16 months. What a trip!

In 2015, I once again had the opportunity to take an extended trip around Europe (3 months this time) and I managed to travel to Iceland. 

What an amazing place to ride.
I just wish I could do that again
oops...and that's where it all begins

But how do you plan a riding adventure for a country on the other side of the world?
To tell you the truth, I'm never sure how I do much of anything.
But, I eventually get there and get it done.

As luck would have it, In 2010 I was lucky enough to be mooching around a caravan park, near Patras in Greece, taking photos of the Harleys of Europe that had turned out for the annual meet. When I happened across the president of Samhain MC, in N. Germany. Finished taking photos of their bikes (I was about to move onto the Dutch and their crazy "easy-rider-choppers") Michi offered me a beer. He wanted to know how an Australian came to speak German and be staying at the same campground not far from Olympus, Greece.  So our friendship began. The binding power of poor language skills and german beer.

So Naturally, when it came to planning a trip back to Europe, Michi was my man.
I really wanted an F800GS. but it was a bit out of my price range
So after a barrage of emails back and forth, we settled on an R1150GS.
Two, in fact. 2001 and 2002.

2017 Trans-australis

Sebastian Wale

18 September 2017

From the Right-to the left and back

I never actually had a desire to ride across Australia.

In fact, now that I think about it, riding across an entire continent in under 3 days…complete madness.  I guess that’s why I love it.

I had planned to leave on the Monday, but as is often the case, plans change.  Recently, I’d been having a few issues with the charging system and the Friday before I was to leave, it decided to die. Now, with any normal bike the alternator is accessible and an easily replaceable item. With the advent of the new R1200GS design (ca. 2013) BMW made the brave (some would say stupid) decision to place the stator at the rear of the motor, just in-front of the gearbox. Supposed to last a long time… In real terms, this means that changing out a defective unit and replacing it is a BIG job, time consuming and When you’re paying for a mechanic, that means a huge bill.  Now my Mechanic did everything he could to get my bike, Melinda, back on the road as quickly as possible and I got her back Wednesday arvo.  

I managed to Hit the road Thursday morning, taking my time with 750 - 1300 km days.  My immediate goal was to make it from Brisbane to the S.A./W.A. border by Saturday evening. No mean feat and not a ride most would consider sensible by any means, Even better.

The ride to the border (S.A./W.A.) was relatively uneventful.  I rode, I re-fuelled, I repeated.  The first day was a test of the bike & we only covered around 800kms. Next day, 1000 and third day 1200.  Plenty of wildlife along my route - kangaroos, emus, goats.  But the only thing that crossed my path & posed a potential risk was an eagle.  Maybe he was a little deaf. Eventually I arrived, Border Village, at around 1800 on the Saturday night.  Perfect timing for dinner and a couple of bevvies.  Of course, most of the other Long distance riders had arrived there the previous night. But they hadn’t had their bike rebuilt earlier in the week. The rider who'd ridden the furthest to arrive here had done over 7000 kms.  

It was good to achieve something and have a rest.  I considered staying two nights, as the next day it was drizzling and miserable. But around mid-morning the skies cleared and I decided that there was not enough here to keep my interest. So, I packed my moist tent and headed over the border and on to Norseman.  Leaving so late, I didn’t arrive at Norseman till around 1800. I was quite mindful that the wildlife would be on the move and riding could become dangerous. I wanted to get to the caravan park and put up my tent. Unfortunately, the office was closed and I had to settle for the pub. Shame that, pizza and beer for dinner.

With only my next goal in mind (Denham, Shark Bay) and a look at wave rock, I decided to get up early the next day. 0400 found me warming up Melinda and her heated grips, it was a fresh 5 degrees, but that was soon to change and it got down to an exceedingly stupid -0.5.

The difference between 5 and -0.5 is enormous.  It was brass-Monkey cold, it couldn’t have been colder if it had snowed.  Now that I think about it, it would have warmed up had it snowed.  I was constantly being “reminded” by Melinda to beware of ICE!

Wave rock added another 300-500 km to my trip, but what’s a few hundred compared to 10k?  As for the rock…I saw it, I stood on it, it was shaped like a wave.

After wave rock, it was onward and upward. Heading toward Denham, Shark bay, The most westerly point on the Australian Mainland (depending upon your reference).  6 days and 5000+ km  I arrived at my destination.

An area shrouded in some dark Australian history; pearl harvesting, fishing, dolphin feeding and of course the migration of the Grey Nomad.  I settled into the caravan park, spitting distance from the beach and set up camp.  5 days I was to rest and prepare myself for my next challenge, the return journey.  

I love long distance riding, I love non-stop riding, I love doing things others shy away from, I just love it.

The plan was to ride from the most westerly point (namely Denham) to the most easterly point (Byron Bay) in 3 days or less.  Easy-peasy, I hear you say. The ride ended up being around (exactly) 5120.9 km and I achieved it in 68.5 hours.  Well-under my 72 hour goal.  Now some will ask “so, how fast (speed) did you cross the Nulabor?”  But my whole approach to long distance/endurance riding is: managing fatigue, speed, rest, nutrition and unseen events.  I didn’t have to speed.  Although for a country so insanely massive our speed limits are way too low. I mean seriously, if we had a national speed limit on highways/motorways of 130 km/h I could have saved 10 hours. That is not an insignificant amount of time.  For most, that’s more than a day’s drive. (an argument for another time)

Anyway, I stayed within the speed limit of each state (even more of a challenge to achieve my goal). I rested well, even slept a few times, I ate properly, and had time to attend to a spotlight repair.  

The ride itself was just like any other ride.  I was not entirely familiar with the different rest-stops we have in Australia, but now I believe I am a little wiser. I found places to rest, places to pitch my tent and sleep, places to eat.  I was impressed with how good I felt after a few hours off the bike, resting against a tree or in my tent and with a little food in my belly.  

Somewhere, in the early part of the ride (2nd day) I noticed in the distance along the Nulabor, a  gigantic piece of machinery was approaching.  Escorts, flashing lights, making painfully slow progress. I wasn’t at all sure if what I saw coming my way was indeed real.  It seemed to be wider than the actual road. Now mind, this is the major road that connects the East-Coast of Australia with the West-Coast. Could this be a thing? I slowed to 100, then 80, then 60. It was then that I realised it was indeed that big and covered the entire paved surface. I was tempted to duck and continue (bit silly really). The approaching Behemoth did recognise that I was there and it attempted to make room for myself, I wasn’t at all convinced that there was enough room and decided that the verge was probably the safest place for me to pass.  This is the same verge that I had been eyeing earlier with suspicion. It sloped away from the asphalt road, looked to be covered in a loose, coarse, soft, slippery, dangerous for motorcycles, gravel.  Once I left the relative safety of the paved surface for the verge, I discovered that it was indeed covered in a loose, coarse, soft, slippery, dangerous for motorcycles, gravel.  Oh, and I was still at speed.  I suppose it’s moments like this that people say “their life flashed before their eyes” what a load of rubbish. It’s moments like this that I wish I were a better rider. Despite every fibre in my body screaming BRAKE AND SLOW DOWN, I quickly realised that that was not what I needed to do. Washing speed off caused the bike to become unsteady and wobble. My only other option was to give a bit ‘o gas, power through this and re-mount the tarmac.  The whole time thinking that I would go down, bite the dirt and become laughing stock of the transports’ escorts.  I actually managed to power through this, I mounted the road, I looked around and with an air of “I do my own stunts” and I powered off along the Nulabor. I’m quite sure that the escorts and others had been looking-on and thinking that I was going to go down like a fat kid on a see-saw (or lead balloon).  To tell the truth, when I stopped about ten minutes later for a “rest” and reflected, so did I.

Just before the NSW border I fuelled up in Yunta, SA. Here I got chatting with a member of the constabulary, on escort duty.  His normal service vehicle was a BMW R1200RT but today he had the relative comfort of a marked Ford Territory. We chatted about bikes, how he could never afford the service costs associated with the BMW on his wage, and other bike stuff. They were accompanying another massive piece of mining machinery  that was heading to Broken Hill.  From Yunta, Broken Hill was about a 2 hour ride or so. The friendly policeman indicated that if I were to get stuck behind them then I would be unable to pass. That would mean that my times would be totally thrown out.  I had to hurry, Instead of having a 5 minute break and coffee, I quickly finished refuelling, paid and got back on my trusty steed. The trucks were warming up and the flashing lights were flashing. I don’t know if they waited for me to get underway, but I have a sneaky feeling that said policeman delayed their departure somewhat. 

Just over the SA border is a flat expanse, broken only by the rest stop Little Topar. This place often experiences strong winds and today was no exception. With an awesomely, powerful Northerly attempting to blow me off the plain and temperatures in excess of 34 degrees, it was not my most pleasant day on a bike.   Starting out my ride the previous day at Denham, I still had on my thermals and was quickly overheating.  Dehydration is a major enemy of concentration and endurance.  I quickly got changed, but had lost way too much water.  But it could have been worse, and I was still hanging out for a proper coffee.  All that was on offer in Little Topar was an urn of boiling water and a tin of what someone had called “instant” coffee.  I grabbed a quick mug, chugged it down and was on my way.  Another mug of this drink was unnecessary. 

In preparation for this type of ride, as Australia seems to have the stupidest animals who are hell-bend on committing suicide by traffic, I contacted Clearwater (CA) and purchased a hybrid kit of one Erica and one Sevina.  The amount of light generated by this combination is equivalent to that of several small suns jammed into a couple of Vegemite jars.  In other-words, very, very, very, very bright.  Bright enough to raise the eye-brows of more than a few truckers’.  I have the ability to identify lane markings, cats-eyes, road-markers etc approximately 1-2 kms away.  Unfortunately, on my last evening, just around dusk, my lights began to flicker, then they would spontaneously strobe (not groovy), finally they completely failed.  Now, I’m not afraid of the dark, but the only time I saw and roos on my journey was after the lights failed.  As I was travelling through rural areas, plenty of road-kill, I decided to drop my speed by 10-15 km/h, not good when the clock is ticking.   My next fuel and food stop just happened to be at a large roadhouse (Gilandra), perfect for a bit of road-side repair work.  Having re-fuelled, had a good feed, something to drink and feeling rested, I attacked the lights.  Beginning with all the connections, the CAN-buster and finally the fuse.  The Fuse! Why did I not start here?  Once I discovered where the problem lay, I spoke with the station attendant and asked if she had one of these - holding up said fuse. Fully expecting to be charged an arm & a leg for a replacement, she replied with “I’m sure I’ve seen a few of those lying around here somewhere” After a bit of rummaging through several draws, she managed to produce 3 fine specimens, all of which she gave me and wouldn’t let me pay.  Having installed the fuse, I discovered that the Sevina had completely failed but the Erica still came on (searing my retinas in the process).  I guess one small sun will have to do the job.  Off I rode, into the darkness of Central New south Wales.

Around this time I had a bit of a glance at my rear tyre. Now, my tyres were renewed not long before I left for the trip. The front was sweet as, at least half it’s life remaining, but the rear…well, I was a little worried that I would have to stop and source new rubber.  Upon closer inspection, I did have tread, just enough to keep going, although it was no longer round.  I guess the combination of heat, cold, poor roads, rough roads, long straights with minimal curves took their toll on my rubber.

Not long after this point I decided that I was sick of sticking to the major roads and wanted something a bit more biker friendly and fun.  I ended up riding through the Gibraltar Ranges.  I had never heard of the place and to say that I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. Slightly west of Grafton, absolutely amazing and definitely the highlight of my 10k + km ride across Australia and back.  I would even go as far as to say that it could be one of my favourite roads in the world. Maybe the time of day had something to do with it, but this was near the end of a 3 day marathon, early hours of the morning, just before day-break, I had the roads through these ranges to myself.  I did note that there was plenty of roadworks underway and am sure that during the day the road would have been down to one lane for many kilometres, controlled by traffic lights. But by beating the commuters it was absolutely amazing.  Along this road there is a camp site/caravan park, Jackadgery where I re-fuelled, maybe a destination for my next ride?

From here I headed onward to Byron and my destination.  I arrived at 0759, taking timezones into account, I had definitely done it in less than 3 days.  What a relief, what a blast! 

What have I taken away from this experience?  Australia is so stupidly, enormously massive.  But three days is more than enough time to cover this distance.  There is more to Australia than meets the eye.  I’m very surprised (and glad) that I didn’t come across more wildlife. 

Saying all this, I’ve made some serious decisions about my next adventure.  Just this past week I purchased a 2001, R1150GS, in Germany.  I plan, amongst other rides, to circumnavigate Iceland in one day, ride Nordkapp, Norway - Gibraltar in under 3 days (5,500 kms) and maybe even ride the FHB in under 48 hours, again.