CHASING THE HORIZON

LA NINA IS A BITCH

In fact so is her sister El Nino..... I've never liked either of them.

After months of planning, packing and  getting the 640 ready to go, the weather has closed in and it is looking more and more likely that we will not make it across the Simpson Desert as planned.

See the big thick bit of cloud over the Simpson desert.? That's where we were going.

All roads in the area are cut and closed and there is more rain on the way. I just heard on the radio that the famous Birdsville races (see Birdsville post from last year) which are on tomorrow are in danger of being cancelled with reports ofthe track being a quagmire. 

We are having a crisis meeting on Sunday night at Buzz's to determine what we do. Either way we are going to WA one way or the other. Sams flights are booked and Thommo is on standby in Sth Australia awaiting our decision on which way we are going. He is holed up in the clare valley and probablyshit faced on the local wine ,while he waits for the rain to pass.

It may even be that we take the Stroms instead, but my preferred option at this stage is to take the 640 and reverse the route hoping that the bitch pisses off and the place is allowed to dry out a bit.

Stay tuned for updates next week. And if you see that Nino bitch give her a slap from me.

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO !

After weeks of planning and pouring over maps, getting the bike ready, studying weather charts and packing etc, our much anticipated double trancontinental safari is set to go.

The weather has been creating havoc and we are still not entirely sure which way we are going, but tomorrow morning at Sunrise Buzz & i will set off....Destination Esperance. Western Australia.

Our oringinal plan had six of us heading across the Simpson, where Chris JB & Wayne would peel off and loop around back to brisbane, while Buzz, Thommo and myself continue on to Kalgoorlie to follow the Australian safari (http://www.australiansafari.com.au)  before heading back.

As mentioned the weather has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works with unseasonal rain flooding the desert and closing many roads in the area, with more rain forecast for the next few days.

Thommo is on standby somewhere in Sth Australia and we will meet up with him somewhere as soon as we work out which way we are going.

Unfortunatly Chris has had to pull out due to work commitments, so JB & Wayne have postponed by a week and we will meet them at Ayres Rock on the way back.

Spot tracking will be available here from tomorow morning.

http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1e944c7cac8d21870 and I will be updating blog daily (subject to access)

Hope you enjoy following our trip and if you could all do a naked sun dance that would be great. (dont forget to send pics)

WHO NEEDS A BIKE ANYWAY

15 Speed roadranger with splitter, front leaves with airbags,locking diff with power divider, air seat and a remote wireless, this is adventure trucking at its best. You thought that this was going to some sort of epic bike ride didn't ya? Don't be stupid havnt ya seen the weather report? We don't wanna get wet. Instead Buzz has scored us a sweet ride complete with its own JCB. At least if the roads are closed we can make our own........or dig a big hole to bury ourselves in.
The other thing about being truckies for the day is that we get to hang out in truckers lounges in our Jackie Howe singlets and say fuckalot.

So anyway we got a 19 second lesson in how to drive a JCB and can now confirm that Buzz is a crap backhoe driver. I am not kidding I was shitting myself watching my pride and joy lifted like a rag doll and dumped on the back of the truck. Currently pissing down. Lucky we in the fucking adventure truck eh?

Bikes fall over unless there going fast

Got the first crash out of the way early. Both bikes fall over on back of truck due to broken tie down. One DR windscreen gone

 

At least the weather is looking better......not.

 

 

Buzz was in high sprits though.

 

BUZZ TAKES A DUMP

We rolled into Eromanga where Trevor had arranged for us to stay in a donga.

 
We got a few hours sleep and had breaky then continued our adventure trucking through a massive locust plague. They were even flying into the cab of the truck. (whoever said they taste like chicken is full of shit) to Windorah,where it was another heart in mouth moment while we unloaded the bikes.

 

 

We went to the info centre to get the road report and while there found out that the French line had possibly just reopened. This gives us a small window of opportunity to get across, so after thinking it through for about 4 seconds,we have decided to make a run for it. It was a high speed dash to Bedourie for fuel then down to Birdsville. It was a little wet in places but the sunset on the way was brilliant.

 
Had an exciting moment when Buzz went down in a deeper than expected water crossing and got trapped under the bike. While he was slowly drowning, I fumbled for a camera  Luckily he didn't drown and together we able to drag the bike out. Amazingly it started and Buzz was able to roost me completely as pay back for not getting to him sooner.

Dinner at the famous Birdsville pub was very enjoyable. Good think I was wearing my sunday best.

Dryest desert in the world .......bullshit it is

We awoke to blue sunny skies. The mission was on. We got dressed quickly Got the obligritory pic at the pub then fueled up the bikes,then had an awesome brekky at the bakery. Got some last minute tips from Dusty then It was a gentle run out to the desert proper.

 
The amount of water that has fallen Is amazing. We needed to divert around many of the clay pans with the diversion to Big red about 30klms long. This is of concern as we only have a limited amount of fuel.

If anyone finds the pocket shifter tool sitting on my seat in the next pic. Could you please send it to me. Buzz hates me cus i lost it. It will be right next to the sign.

 
There are huge lakes between the dunes. The sand riding was pretty easy to start with but the clay pans were like ice. We both had a few crashes but no damage done.

 
  

I think this was dune number 38 of 1100. Its relentless and as you crest one dune there are hundreds more before you. You seem to expect that thre will be something different over the next dune but its just more of the same....... for 400 klms.

 

 Eyre creek was one of the obstacles we had heard about as being impassable, but it was piss easy.

 

 

More pics from day 1 in the Simpson

 

Poepels Corner was a welcome break.

 

It was a tough day. Not just the riding but the mind games the desert plays is hard work. We were glad to get about 50 kays west of Peopplels corner and set up camp. Just after we got set up it started to rain.......perfect. We jumped on the sat phone to sam & wayne to try and get weather updates, It wasnt looking good.
 

An epic day in the desert

So as I said previously the rain started just as we set up camp. I drifted off to sleep with the sound of rain gently falling on the tarp overhead and Buzz farting. The rain was pretty steady until about midnight, but we awoke to beautiful sunny skies and the wildflowers In full bloom. I must admit I was feeling a little deflated wondering what the day would bring ;-)

 
We got away early and made it about 300 metres from camp before I went over in a deep rut and sprained my ankle. It would be the first of many for us both. The rain had made the sand riding brilliant but it had also made the clay pans treacherous. We both got stuck several times and had to skull drag each other out.

The only way through was to paddle in the ruts. If you got off to the side you just sank in the swampy ground. Tough going especially when the panniers drag along the ground and there was no where to put your feet.

The sand dunes were great fun though.
 
  

And the carpet of wildflowers was amazing. Its very rare for the desert to look like this.

 
 
 
We were exhausted by the time we got to Purnie bore and my foot was throbbing, so we had a break before pushing on to Dalhouse springs, getting bogged several more times on the way.

 
 

 

 

More pics from epic day

The water laying around near Purni Bore went on forever

 

The springs were a welcome relief and any nearby campers would cop an eyeful of us and the 12 naked swedish backpackers (dreaming) if they happened to turn up. No one did though.

 

But we did meet some travellers who very kindly made us a cup of tea and gave us some fuel as we had used more than expected due to all the diversions around the claypans. It was only 60 kays to Mt Dare and we thought we would make a run for it. Hindsight is a beatuful thing apparently. It took us over 4 hours to travel the 60 kays. The rain overnight had turned the whole area into a lake. We spent ages dragging our bikes through the quagmire and Buzz ended up running out of fuel just 4 kays from Mt Dare. I was going to make him walk, but decided to give him some just cause he helped me pick my bike up about 124 times. It was 9:30 when we finally got to mt dare and they felt so sorry for us they opened the bar and gave us some pies to eat. That beer was the best I have had in months. An epic day 562 hard kilometres and 14 hours. We are trashed.

 

 

 

 

TANKSLAPPING OUR WAY ACROSS AUSTRALIA

The day dawned bright and sunny and after a huge cook up breakfast we thought the worst of it was behind us.......WRONG. right at the exit of the Mt Dare hotel the track looked more like a lake and it went on for miles and miles.

 
We were extremely pleased to reach the border as we new it would only get better from here. Having said that I had one of the biggest moments of the ride when i hit a wet clay patch at around 70klm/h. A massive tank slapper ensued and my sphicter is still fluttering as I type. Buzz saw it all from behind and he cant belive I didt get a free helicopter ride for my efforts.

After that it was a high speed blast into Kulgera where we met our great mate Thommo or the Ranga as I prfer to call the scrawny little runt. The Has been on a picnic shelter tour of the Southern states and will be with us for the next couple of weeks before he peels off and continues his hobo lifestyle to the Moto GP

 

we cruisesed into Curtain springs where we had a great night having a few drinks and a great meal. I was getting sick of prepackaged food.

 

Someone had placed a previous pic of me on the wall in the pub.

BUZZ'S BUTT

Have had lots of complaints from all the girls that you didn't get to see Buzz's ass at Dalhousie so here's a pic just for them. Enjoy ladies and some of you blokes

You spreak Engrish iriot?

Pissed down rain all night and the Swamp monsta Ranga frighten crap out of us when he surfaced from under the sheets.

Was a soggy trip out to Yula....Uluu......rooloo...fuckingAyresRock. Buzz discovered a new way to warm up.
We checked into the backpackers and went and did a lap of the rock which was pretty impressive with waterfalls cascading down all the way round.
The rest of the day was spent doing some much needed washing and Buzz changed his shagged rear tyre.....note to self Dunlop 603's are crap. 700klms and it was trashed. Some more air in it may have helped though.
Played spot the Aussie at the bistro,had a few drinks,then hit the sack. Still raining,so if any of you have any contacts, see what you can do eh? Thanks.

Buzz Congo dances, scores a date and more ass pics.

He,s not very fussy.

 
We had a great night singing and dancing along to the guy on stage. They even very thoughtfully provided free places to park our bikes. Oh and to those requesting full frontal pics of Buzz nude, its only a phone camera ok. No zoom.

Buzz mate lots of new friends

Another day stuck in paradise

Dancing around like an idiot last night did wonders for my foot.....not. I was up at the local lookout at sunrise to check out the rock, but as you can see in the pic, cloud was still hovering around. We spent the morning studying the weather maps and trying to find out when the road might open. We spoke to several different people hoping to get answer we might like, but it was not good news.

Decisions decsions

After lunch we decided to head out to the start of the Great Central Road to check out the conditions for ourselves. As you can see it is quite wet but if it was up to me we would have a crack, but the $1000 per wheel fine is a little off putting. If I could wheelie the thousand kays it mighten be so bad. Ranga reckoned he could hear if there was traffic on the road which of course is crap he is deaf as a doorknob. We headed off to the Olgas for some inspiration and a team meeting. Didn't decide much but I did have a pretty little Japanese girl sit on my lap but I got so excited I forgot to get a pic for myself.

 

 

Fuel? No one told me I needed fuel

While the other two clowns played silly buggers in the twisties, I decided to have a snooze. Then it was back to base camp, but not before some moron ran out of fuel. Luckily I had staff on hand to sort it out for me. Tomorrow is decision day. Should we stay or should we go? If we stay there could be trouble. If we go it could be double. The indecisions killing me. We might have a plan. Stay tuned for updates......and watch the spot tracker.

Closed road ? What closed road?

There was no way we were going to sit around wasting another day. The bikes generated lots of interest particularly with one young girl who lives near Dakar in Africa. She loved the bikes and was wrapped when I told her to climb on.She didnt know I wasnt talking about the bike but.

 
Our plan was to check the road conditions and if the road was still closed we would go to plan x. Plan x involved being airlifted out via helicopter with the bikes slung underneath to Docker River. I am not kidding we really were going to do this despite it going to cost $2500, however when we spoke to the local copper he suggested that we have a crack at the road. He assured us that we wouldn't be fined, so in the end it was an easy call. Sorta bummed that we didn't do the airlift though.
We headed back out to the start of the road and conditions could not have been worse. Deep slippery mud and pouring rain. To top it off the temp was hovering around 10 degrees. Perfect riding conditions.

Great Central Road or River?

It took us 4 hours to do the 230 kays to Docker River. Amazingly no one crashed but there were some very close calls and several huge tankslappers. We had a break and got fuel at the general store then continued on down the Great Central River..... I mean road.

  

 Just out of town we were stopped by the local copper wanting know what the hell we were doing on the closed road. It was only some fast talking by me and the mention of the Yulara copper that stopped us from getting in some deep shit. Fuck he was cranky.  In the end they were cool about it and sent us on our way.

 
 

 The rain stopped for a few minutes but the temp continued to drop. It was bloody cold. The road was saturated and as darkness fell it started to rain again. This is getting silly now. We were wet and freezing our assess off while sliding around like drunk sailors. (whatever that looks like) hypothermia was a real possibility and I was getting quite worried about Thommo who was becoming very fatigued.

 
In the darkness off the side of the road I spotted a camp fire belonging to a family camping for the night. They kindly let us warm up by the fire before we pushed on the final 40 kays into Warbuton, where have camped for the night. We are all absolutely stuffed and as I type Buzz and the little Ranga are snoring their heads off. Tomorrow promises to be another big day as we try to get to Kalgoorlie to meet Sam and her sister Sue. Not sure if we will make it or not.

Skimpies and Ninjas and man is not a Camel

We met a bunch of good old boys at the camp who were doing an outback safari in their 1940's Willy's jeeps. They were having as much fun as us. Good on em.

Note the sign saying no Photo's and the caged fuel pumps at Warbuton roadhouse. They obvioulsy dont want people to see what they get up to. It was quite entertaining watchimg the locals run around in their shit box cars.

 

Lunch was at the roadhouse with the unpronoucable name.

We have discovered why my bike is using so much fuel. The problem was traced to the lifting sticker on the front guard which was causing excessive drag.May also have been the anti petrol sniffing opel fuel....not sure.

 
We also discovered how to get the Ranga to lift his pace by mentioning that there may be skimpie barmaids at the Laverton hotel......I have never seen him move so fast. He was off Like a rocket and we didn't see him till Laverton. Unfortunately the skimpies were off today, so we told him that they would be on for sure in Leanora and he was off again like a rocket.

In the meantume Buzz and I leisurely took in some of the attractions on the way. Buzz also found this sweet car that he reckons with a bit of poilsh will come up a treat as young Lauchie's first car. 

The Ranga spotted this thing wandering around aimlessly.

 

Also found this secret Ninja cave complete with very realistic looking Ninja and authentic ninja art on the cave wall. Very rare to see this is the wild apparently.

Some freaky shit goes on out these parts eh? Have no idea what this is all about.

Buzz was so freaked out he crashed.

 

Fortunatly there was a trailer and even an airstrip not far away, so we were able to evacuated him asap.

I think he needs a good evacuation he smells a bit odd.

 

It was an 900klm day today. No wonder I ran out of fuel. luckily I had staff on hand.

 Had Dinner at the pub in Leonora, where the Ranga has spotted his first Skimpy, then a freezing ride in the dark to Kalgoorlie, where we met up with the gorgeous twins Sammy & Sue (aka Angalina Jolie)

Kruising in Kal part 1

Was a tourist day today. We all piled into Angalina's car and cruised around checking out the local sights. We had brekky then headed for the superpit which never ceases to amaze me every time I see it.

Angie dressed up as a muslim so as to not be recognised. I was shitting my self due to all the explosives around.

 

Earthquake aftermath and two up

Boulder was the next stop and the damage to the old stone buildings from the earthquake a few months ago was still very evident.
We headed out to the old two up ring and busted Buzz peering over the top of the ladies toilets.

Not another museum.

I was busting to go to the toilet, so the museum was next on the tour.

 
I shot off an email and we spent an hour or so checking out the displays of early life In Kal.

Was pretty interesting.

No I have no idea what the Lion is about.

Buzz did a bit of shopping.

Sad bearing stories and happy endings.

We really wanted to do a tour of the brothels, but Ranga decided that for $35 it had better include a happy ending so the tour was canned.

 

The menu was enticing though. Charlotte is such a harlot.

We decided that we should do some maintenance on the bikes and when we got back to our luxurious digs we discovered that Buzz had a flat tyre and also that the steering head bearings on both mine and Buzz bikes were stuffed. Mine were replaced just before this trip, so it can only be due to the amount of water and crap we have ridden through. Hopefully the local bearing shops will have the bits we need in the morning and we can get under way again.

The ranga couldnt work out why he had no rear brake.......since Victoria...Dumpenkoff

 

Buzz is thinkning that we havnt seen the last of the rain has had a waterproof suit airfrieghted in. I think he just has no self respect.

 

We headed out to dinner,then had a drink at one of the skimpy bars (no pics sorry they don't like that) then headed back to the digs to see if we could find the moto gp telecast on TV

A brilliant day on the Holland track.

It was 11 am before we got away. We tried in vain to get some bearings,but the useless KTM / SUZUKI dealer didn't have any in stock, but the fact that the dupenkoff had also lost Thommo's tyre which he had pre ordered took the cake. Moron.

We have ordered some bearings in Perth and the girls will pick them up tomorrow, in the mean time we have cleaned and repacked the bearings and resembled the bikes. Buzz also made a very cool windscreen out of an old Ampol oil drum. We may patent them and put them into production.

I had a crash at queen Victoria rocks and Buzz being the caring sharing type had one in sympathy.

We headed for Coolgardie where I had the worlds best Omelette at the roadhouse. Then we hit the Holland track. If there is a better track in Australia then I will swim naked in the Indian ocean tomorrow. (just might anyway ) 200 kays of the most funnest riding you will ever have. It had it all. Fast flowing sandy one minute. Tight technical the next. It was brilliant. I had so much fun I boiled my rear brake fluid and had several excursions off into the trees. Buzz couldn't wipe the stupid grin from his face despite a stick going thru his boot. (luckily no injury).

And even more Holland track pics

Even the ranga was hooking in.

 
At the end of the track Buzz somehow produced 2 cold beers and we had an impromptu bench racing session. Not sure where he got the beers from, but I suspect the cleaner with the big grin coming out of his room this morning had something to do with it.

 
We cruised into Wave Rock right on sunset and cooked up a great dinner of microwave rice and veg for me and big and chunky vomit in a can for Buzz. The Ranga whipped up a pasta something or rather. Overall a beaut day.<br/>

Wave rock & cranky janitors.

Woke up early this morning and a quick inspection revealed some minor damage to the bikes from the slappie trees on the side of the track yesterday. Nothing serious, a broken mirror and a few new scratches. I was very pleased to have the barkbusters I stole off Tassie Dan"s 1200 GS when we were in tassie last year.

We packed up camp and went to check out the local attractions. I upset the local janitor by riding my bike up to wave rock. He hit the rev limiter when I told him I didn't see any signs saying no motorcycles....oh well at least I got a pic..

 
From there it was a cruise into Perth as both Buzz and Thommo need some bits and it also gave me a chance to have lunch with Sam before she heads home.
We called into McCulloch Suzuki and met the owner Andrew , who was a really nice bloke and genuinely interested in what we were up to. Makes a nice change from what we are used to at home. I also got cornered by one of the regulars at the pub next door, who wanted to buy me a beer but we had to get going.
We are staying at Angalina Jolie's house in Perth which is close to the beach. Sam Buzz and I had a beautiful lunch on the Esplenade and toasted reaching the half way point.

Living it up in the west

Sam, Buzz and I had an Awesome lunch at a beachside cafe

Romantic sunset

Sam had to leave for the airport soon after lunch. Buzz and I went back to Angalina's and watched the moto gp replay.

We headed down to the beach just In time to watch the sunset. Was pretty spectacular and would have been very romantic except that Buzz was sitting next to me. Oh well.

Terminology 101

I have had some questions from non bike riders about some of terminology we use. C. Boorman of Mongolia has written asking what a tankslapper is.
Well Charlie, a tankslapper usually occurs at high speeds on slippery surfaces. The rear wheel, tired of always following the front wheel attempts to pass the front, buy trying to slide around it. It then decides that it wants to go around the other side. This results in huge uncontrollable oscillations of the handlebars. More than 4 of these oscillations is known as a fucking huge tankslapper. Tankslappers are always followed by an involuntary bowel movement and the words.....fark me did you see that.

If any of you have any others questions, shoot them to us and me and Aunt Buzz will answer them for you.

Time to head home.

One of these days we are going to finish the day in daylight. Day started at Freemantle where we met b ack up with The ranga who had spent the night at a friends place. Also met Scott who joined us for the day on the leg to Albany on his TL1000. (new top secret recon model)
The plan was for an easy 400 Kay cruise down the highway, but of course that didn't happen.

 

Got a quick pic of the Bon Scott memorial and headed off.

 

Had our first taste of the famous WA buckshot pea gravel roads. Spchincter fluttering stuff that. .

 

Scott went brilliantly on the TL1000 RECON

 

Buzz as usual was out of control and overshot this corner.

A WHEELIE GOOD DAY

We had a great time exploring the forest which is full of magnifcently tall jarra and karri trees. Very spectacular. I was the only one being sensible sensible.

Lunch was at the Bridgetown hotel which boasted the states best steak sandwich. Not sure about that but they did have a brilliant table. Built in situ from a single log.

 
We then headed to Windy harbour which is as far away from home as we could be on this trip. From here on in we can only get closer to home.

I was the only one being sensible.

 

Wherethephucareweup

Went threw some wierd places.....Dwellingup, Nannup, tieyerdogup,ringherup, and of course the very popular phucitup.

Time to start for home.

 
Was once again well after dark when we pulled into Pax and Caroline's place where they plied us with pizza and beer. Just brilliant and a warm fire to boot. Thanks heaps guys.

A cooks tour and brilliant BBQ'S

It was a bit of a late start this morning. Apparently some stayed up till about 2 am. Not me but. Breakfast was Bacon eggs & beer , and while the Ranga replaced some wheel bearings I had my staff tend to the massive dent in my front rim. Great job Pax it worked a treat.

 

 

I snuck off for a shower. Pax wasnt happy. Get that prick out of my shower revered through out the suburb

Then it was off to the local KTM dealer to buy a new air filter. This was a huge mistake as not only did I get the required filter, but I also found this awesome KTM mini BBQ complete with Rotissori. It's brilliant, but Sammy don't worry about the cost as this will actually pay for itself by allowing us to cook up roadkill we can collect from the side of the road. I told you it was brilliant.

 

Pax then took us on a cooks tour of Albany, which is very pretty, but not sure, I would like to be here when the weather gets nasty.

Dumpelkoff of the day

After our little tour Pax pointed us in the direction of the Stirling Ranges and shortly after Scott won the Dumpelkoff of the day award when he committed the cardinal roadbike sin of allow the rubber bits to refrain from pointing down. The old look mum I cant touch the ground trick, that I know all too well. Fortunately no damage to the TL RECON.

Crapping in the Canola fields

This region is famous for its Canola plantations. I discovered that you cant take a crap in a Canola field with out a camera appearing and Thommo tiptoed through the fields like they were tulips.

 
This area feels very European.Last night we came through a town called Denmark and this morning this huge windmill in the field. I reckon I saw a couple of dykes in Albany this morning as well.

Get a room you two

As we had the recon with us we decided to slab it down the highway, but by the time we'd had lunch at Ravensthorpe,we'd had enough,so we decided to try for a short cut to Salmon ponds where we had hoped to meet up with the safari which is travelling south. The road at first was brilliant but soon turned to a sandy rutted track which was a bit too much for the big recon, so we made the call to head hack to the highway and cruise down the bitchy to Esperance where we booked a motel room for the bikes so they can spend a bit of quality time together in relative luxury.

Tomorrow we will defineatly meet up with the safari. For those interested our boys Tankboy and Lard are having a tough time. Tankboy put a stick through his radiator and Lard put a stick through his face. He is ok though and running 21st. Tankboy spent today repairing the bike and I think will restart tomorrow. More details tomorrow night.

Safari at last

We finally caught up with the safari today. We left early for the 100 Kay dash up to Salmon Gums. Had the opportunity to try out the TL recon on the way. Nice bike, but my back couldn't take anymore than about 20 kays.

 
We found the service point but unfortunately our timing was a little off and we missed the top runners. We did get to see Lard and Tankboy in action though.

 
We also lined up to have a crack at the baggage class.

More safari

After watching quite a few go through we headed back to Esperance along the way stopping at the Grass patch hotel for a drink.

 

 
We did the spectacular ocean drive then headed to the parc ferme to watch the competitors getting their vehicles ready for tomorrow's final stages.

 
Also fitted some tyres to our bikes as well.

Parc ferme bike pics

Parc ferme car pics

More tomorrow from the final.stages.

Spectacular Esperance

Esperance would have to be one of the most beautiful towns in Australia. The beaches are just spectacular. We camped at the showgrounds then spent a brilliant half hour sitting in the sun and having a coffee.

 

Just like Ducati riders we were.

 
After that we headed to stake out our sitting area for the final stages of the Safari.

 

Simply amazing place to stage a safari stage

 

Spectacular safari

The stage we watched started at what they call Bandy Creek. We had a ball watching the competitors blasting onto the beach. Scott was despatched back into town to buy some beer and they went down great.

 

Craig Lowndes was brilliant in his first safari winning y 18 minutes.

 

Our great mate and living legend Bruce Garland got third.

 

 

And the winners are

Well us of course. Ranga and I first in  baggage class.

The flouro vests got a bit cranky about this, so we went and stole some  stickers off some officials & media cars. Woohoo instant access all areas.

No sure who Ranga's special friend is.

Dan would say the Wokka Wokka pilot was brilliant. Very talented.

Podium Pandimonium.

Sadly we lost Scott today who had to get back home to Bunbury. He was last seen heading off on the TL recon mumbling something about buying a KTM adventure bike and writing a wish list of all the bits to put on it.

Scott, it was an absolute pleasure to have you along for a few days. I am going to take you up on that diving trip, next time I come over. Cheers mate and I still owe you for the beers today.
We headed back into town to watch the ceremonial finish. Lard and Tankboy did an awesome job. Congratulations boys.

 We also met Robbo who lives on a 20000 hectare sheep and Canola farm and he very kindly invited us to stay at his place for the night. I put him straight to work repairing my phone charger and I believe we are going adventure tractoring in the morning. Can't wait.

Adventure Tractoring

We stayed at robs place ast night and Rob decided that he could come some of the way with us today but first he took us to check the massive machinery they use on the farm. We was like kids in a lolly shop.

Missy the recon dog was keen to come to.

This thing would make an awesome recon machine.

 

 

Israelites Bay

The tractors were huge but Isralite bay was our destination. The soft sandy track was a bit of a challenge, but we had a great time crashing our way through. And laughing at the Ranga and Rob in the soft sand.

Oops we broke another one.

Rob was struggling in the sand, but battled on like a real trooper, until he had one crash too many and cracked the radiator on his bike. He battled on but his day was soon to end.

 Isralite bay is magnificent.

 

The scenery is unreal and there were a couple of whales frolocking just off the beach. Oh and yes the water was very cold. After my swim Ranga was singing the blink 182 song " all the small things" but I have no idea why.

Big skids and Double Dumpelkoff awards

It's a double Dumpelkoff award today to both the Ranga and Buzz for missing the photo sequence of me crashing even when I told them it was highly likely that I would. Some moron was doing big skids, jumps and wheeling on the beach.

 

 

^ No its not real, but it looks good eh?

 

The inevitable result of being an idiot !

 

 

 

Old telegraph stations and big scenery

We spent and some time exploring the old telegraph station ruins and it was at this point that rob decided to call it quits and hitched a ride home in a ute with some guys who just happened to be heading his way. Thanks for putting us up Rob and showing us around. If your ever over our way, you know what to do.

And then there were 3 again.

We three then took off up the aptly named Mt Ragged track. Rough as guts it was with lots rocks and slappy trees that reefed the bars out of my hands on several occasions. It was impossible to ride fast and awkward to ride slow, so it was quite uncomfortable.

Luckily it was only 280 kays via the undies gate to Balladonia roadhouse where we set up camp at sunset and set about removing a massive dent I put in my front wheel.

As I type we are being seranaded by a grey nomad coughing up a lung and throwing up at the same time.........talk about serenity, but Bruce Graland ha just pulled in and the bar is open....This might get ugly