Long Ride 2016 - Day 13

April 20, 2016

Kalgoorlie, WA to Lake Ballard, WA - 201km (5,318km / 383km dirt)

If one thing never ceases to amaze me it's the impact that we humans have had, and continue to have, on the environment.  If you want to see this first hand, in very dramatic ways, visit the goldfields area of Western Australia, starting with Kalgoorlie.

 

With a day of only 200 kilometres planned we spent the morning looking around the famous 'wild west' town.  Truth is, it is nothing like what I expected.

 

Kalgoorlie, for me, always had a reputation of being a town of brawling miners and prostitutes.  It really is nothing like that.  Yes, there's miners and no doubt prostitutes, there's plenty of 'scimpy' bars which, I guess is one of the attractions of the town. 

 

I found Kalgoorlie to be quite safe, it's certainly one of the cleanest towns / cities I have ever been to, so much so that first thing in the morning the council were pressure washing the footpaths, collecting rubbish, and mustering shopping trolleys.  It's an approach that I think every other council in Australia could learn from.

 

Breakfast on The Palace Hotel balcony

Eating a takeaway breakfast from Relish Kalgoorlie on the balcony of The Palace Hotel was a perfect start to the day.  The sun was rising and it was great watching Kalgoorlie come to life.

 

The Palace Hotel is right in the middle Kalgoorlie, and although the room rates were a little high, the service and standard was fantastic, a great way to spend the last night of 'civiliation' for a while.

 

Entrance to The Palace Hotel ... impressive

In it's day The Palace was the epitome of the gold rush in Western Australia.  Built in 1897 it was built from stone quarried in the area, was the first building to have electricity using it's own generator, and also the first to have running fresh water piped to all of its bathrooms.  To this day it has a special presence and even has a link to America's past, as former president Herbert Hoover resided there when he was working in the Australian goldfields.

 

This one building is the prime example of the architecture you see everywhere in this town, if you're into Australia's history through buildings it is a must visit place.  As far as towns go I would put it right up there with Broken Hill and Cooper Pedy as being some of my favourite towns.  No matter where you look there's something interesting in Kalgoorlie and the people seem to take pride in it, I know it's had its problems and probably still does but it looks like it is doing something to overcome these issues and start tapping into a market (tourism) that will sustain it well beyond the mining.

 

Another example of the architecture in Kalgoorlie

The next stop was what they call the 'Super Pit' the first indication as to the affect that humans are having on the landscape around here.

 

The 'Super Pit' is a hole, a very big hole and it is actually quite impressive to look at.  I found myself wanting to watch the goings on for hours, it was like watching an automated toy belonging to a giant child.  At the same time I kept thinking, "what the hell are they going to do with it once it's spent and can no longer provide the gold that comes from it".

 

The Super Pit and Kalgoorlie itself, for that matter, sits on what is known as the Golden Mile, one of the richest gold deposits in the world. 

 

Super Pit ... one hell of a big hole

Originally the Super Pit was a collection of smaller ones until they were combined in the late 1980's under the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines company was formed and turned the smaller pits into one gigantic one.

 

They tell you mind blowing facts about what comes out of the pit each year, 800,000 ounces of gold from a total of 8.8million ounces.  It sounds impressive until you hear that they only take 2 grams of gold from every tonne of rock dug from the ground.  I can't get my head around the fact that despite the value of gold it just doesn't really seem economically sound ... maybe I'm just a bit thick.

Words can't explain how big these trucks are ...

 

It's said that the mine will only remain operating for another 13 years, and quite possibly close up much sooner, and when it does close it will be 3.5 kilometres long, 1.5 kilometres wide and almost 1 kilometre deep.  That really is a big hole, but what happens after that?

 

Besides the size of the hole and the machines that work the mine the other thing that really amazed me was the holes in the walls of the pit.  These are old mines when the miners worked in the traditional way, tunnelling.  In fact they say there's over 3,500 kilometres of tunnels underneath Kalgoorlie.

 

... the thing that fills the trucks

This then led us to the Kalgoorlie Mining Museum where it gave a great idea to the life that the early miners in the area had.  In many ways it was the same as what you'd expect in Ballarat or Bendigo, a bloody hard life for very little reward.

 

The museum contained an interesting history of aboriginal life in the area too, as well as prehistoric fauna and flora including some of remains of Australia's mega-fauna, but a section dedicated to adoption is what struck me.

 

It wasn't really adoption, more abduction, as many children were removed from their mothers at birth for the most ridiculous of reasons.  It tied in with National Sorry Day, and the treatment of Aboriginals during the stolen generations however, this also included white children.  The stolen generations did happen, but not only to Australia's indigenous people, it was happening to all Australians.

 

Probably one of Australia's narrowest pubs

Reading the stories of mothers who never knew their children for no reason of their own made me tear up a little, it still does.  Not that long ago we were a pretty barbaric people.

 

It was now time to leave Kalgoorlie and start heading in a northerly direction towards the start of the Great Central Road.

 

The 150 kilometres or so to the small town of Menzies was a pretty uninspiring one.  The occasional open cut mine blotted the landscape, mining all sorts of things from gold to nickel and tin, there's even a uranium mine out here.  In some place there was evidence that nature was starting to reclaim what man had taken from it by way of the outer

Menzies' tribute to the war dead

walls of the mines being covered with the plants that grow in this harsh environment.  It was sort of an encouraging site.

 

Reaching Menzies, I was surprised to see just how small the town is, in fact only 150 people live here, yet like Kalgoorlie, they seem to have a great pride in the town.  A small team of workers, including stonemasons, were busy readying a memorial for ANZAC day.  The mural adorning the wall of the town hall was a perfect tribute to the mateship and bravery of the men from the region who volunteered to fight a war they knew nothing about.  The town hall itself was a tribute to the former wealth in towns like this, it's a shame that many of the buildings no longer exist.

 

Menzies waited 100 years to get a town hall clock

Menzies, in its heyday, was as important as Kalgoorlie and had a population of over 10,000 people, staggering when you consider what remains of it.

 

An amazing story is that the town hall didn''t have a clock fitted until 100 years after it was constructed.  The building was finished in 1901 however, the ship carrying the clock (in 1905) sank leaving the building without its centrepiece.  This brought an air of bad luck to the town and almost immediately the population started to dwindle.  To commemorate the significance of this, the towns people had a clock fitted in 2000.

 

Walking around Menzies you get a feel for the significance of the place as well as the pride that the current population has in it.  In many ways it reminds me of the town of Steiglitz on the outskirts of Geelong, it too boomed for a very short period due to gold fever.

 

These day Menzies is becoming famous for another reason, and another example of how man is changing the environment, and this time for the better.

 

A road at the edge of town takes you to an unremarkable dirt road.  The road leads into nowhere, past a few old mines and grazing land.  Fifty three kilometres later you reach a turn off to a place called Lake Ballard.

 

Like so many of the 'lakes' out this way, it isn't a lake that contains water like a normal lake, it's a salt flat.  Having said that, the area had received significant rain in recent weeks and there was some surface water in places towards the middle of the huge expanse of salt.

 

Inside Australia ... Lake Ballard

Like the road leading to this place, the lake itself is quite unremarkable until you look closer.  There's people out there, many, many people.  Amazingly, there's 51 people out on the salt pan and although they are all stationary, they seem to have life, movement, energy.

 

These are the work of renowned British artist Antony Gormley and were installed in 2003.  They were set to only be there for a short period of time however, thankfully, they have been left in place and now

It's not just the art, that's the art

form an important tourist attraction to the area.

 

Scattered amongst 10 square kilometres, the 'people' represent the local indigenous community and although they have an alien like appearance, they offer something magical.  I ended up walking amongst many of them until nightfall.  There's no doubt that there's something magical about this place, and although I would hate to see it destroyed by hoards of tourists, I think everyone should see it.

 

That night, as we sat around the fire and discussed the stark beauty of Lake Ballard, a strange thing happened.  In the quiet a whistle sound buzzed above our heads, as if something had flown past at high speed.  It was a sound much like an aircraft or racing machine flying past without the sound of the engine, just the wind noise.  Three of us heard it, but what was it?  We had no idea, but I'd like to think it was part of the mystery of Lake Ballard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long Ride 2016 - Days 11 & 12

April 18 & 19, 2016

Perth, WA to Kalgoorlie, WA - 637km (5,117km)

Day 11 of the Long Ride was essentially a lay day, a chance to go over the bikes and ensure they were ready for the next stage of the journey.

 

Chains were checked and lubricated, tensions adjusted.  Brakes were checked, as were tyres for wear and condition.  Spokes checked and rims too, one was found to have three flat spots in it, probably due to hitting rocks a little too hard - not much can be done it will have to do.

 

Filters and fluids were also checked, in all the BMW F800GS's were holding up well.  With the piece of mind of the bikes being in good condition, the contingencies for the next stage were planned, especially of the rain would keep up the way it was at the moment.

 

Checking the bike over on the rest day

Two nights staying with Ali, Brian and kids was a great way to recuperate and very much appreciated, but it was soon time to get back on the bike and start heading east.

 

Day 12 started with a very definite threat of rain, so the wet weather gear was on, and would stay on for the entire day ... I sweat so much I think I lost a few kilograms.

 

The route would see a direct path to Kalgoorlie, along the Great Eastern Highway, it's pretty much the only way to the gold mining town from Perth.

 

The first stop was at Cunderdin around 160km away from Perth.  At first it didn't look much more than a roadhouse, but a pretty good roadhouse it was.  Fuel was reasonably priced and the food was good, great coffee and the biggest grapes I have ever seen, they tasted great.

 

Dougie's Roadhouse

The place was called Dougie's, and while we were the only customers, they were very obliging.  The young guy operating the register was from India and had a joke that his family were all over Australia, we just had to find them.  Lovely bloke.

 

The bike were refuelled so it was time to get going again, we had a lot of distance to cover and hopefully before the rains arrived, they'd been threatening even more in the past half hour or so.

 

Leaving Dougie's Roadhouse we thought we had seen the entire town however, around the next bend was a whole town and quite an impressive one, especially when we saw an Ettamogah Pub.  This is the third one that opened after Albury and the Sunshine Coast.  It was quite a funny thing to see in the middle of nowhere although, unlike that cartoon it wasn't just in the middle of a paddock.  I wish we'd had enough time to stop and have a look at it.

 

We rode on for another 100km before stopping at Merredin and another roadhouse to fuel a few of the other bikes and stretch the legs.  We'd been following the path of a giant water pipe for the entire distance from Perth and it was at Merredin that we realised that it was to provide water to Kalgoorlie and the Goldfields. 

 

Merredin is said to be named after something the local Aborigines in the 1800's were saying, but to this day no-one really knows for sure what it refers to.  The town was essentially established during the Western Australian gold rush of the 1890, and in many ways still survives because of that.

 

While this whole area is where it is because of the goldfields the landscape itself was nothing like what I thought it would be.  It was primarily wheat growing fields, not the scrubby semi arid bush that I thought it would be, we just seemed to be continuing through farmland after farmland.

 

The Palace, Southern Cross, selling for less than a fifth of its
value.

Southern Cross, sounded like to was some made up name for a place that was created as a roadhouse and nothing else, it couldn't be further from the truth, it was a place with a lot of history and some magnificent old buildings, especially the pub (The Palace Hotel) where we stopped to have lunch.

 

It was a grand old lady, and obviously had had a lot of time and effort spent on it.  The place was actually for sale and we were told that the land and building had been valued at $6.9million yet it was for sale for just $1.5million.  it seemed like a bargain, but I couldn't see there being too much patronage, Southern Cross is actually quite small and the passing traffic would mostly be that, just passing.

 

While refuelling at Southern Cross, tensions started to boil over a little, for no apparent

reason they just did, perhaps we were all spending too much time together.

 

We got on the road and were soon followed by four Australian Defence Force riders on large capacity adventure bikes, no doubt none of these had ever seen any dirt and probably never would.  They caught up to us doing around 1300kph and quickly passed, only to slow down to just below the speed we were doing.  What the hell were thee dickheads doing?  Not long after they pulled off the road, it was all a little dangerous.

 

They soon caught us again and then did exactly the same thing,, pulled in front of us and then slowed.  I was starting to get a little angry and when I relate this to something that I had had confirmed during the Long Ride proper, it just pissed me off even more.

 

I'd been told that the ADF personnel and civilians that support them are able to do the Long Ride at the expense of the tax payer.  The ride is considered to be adventure training.  WTF?  None of them do anything adventurous except ride theirs bikes while the rest of us have to pay for it themselves.  And this is at the same time that the Australian government is considering increasing taxes.  I wouldn't mind so much of these guys donated their time and a little effort to raising awareness of men's health but to them it's a paid holiday at the tax payers expense.

 

By now I was stewing on this knowledge and a little shitty but what happened next was the trigger for me to let loose.

 

Memorial to the Boorabbin bushfire

We'd stopped at a roadside stop, near the Boorabbin National Park, here was a small memorial to three truck drivers who had died in a bushfire in 2007.  All three had been caught in their trucks and had perished.  I walked off into the scrub to find the memorial and reflect on a friend of mine who had died in the Linton (Victoria) bushfire in 1998, almost 8 years to the day earlier than these three truckies.

 

While sitting there I heard the sound of a bike approaching, the only way it could be coming was down the walkway towards the memorial, it was one of our riders and I was furious.  How could someone be so insensitive and selfish?  I asked that very question and was told that it wasn't important, it wasn't like it was a grave.  Red rag to a bull comes to mind.

 

It's fare to say that I lost my shit and told the rider to fuck off before I fucked him off.  Words were exchanged and for a while it looked like friendships would be lost, thankfully it blew over very quickly and all was repaired, but I do still standby my reason for being furious.

 

View from the best pub accommodation I have ever seen.

Ninety minutes later we were at Kalgoorlie and checking into one of the best pubs I have ever stayed at, The Palace Hotel, yes another one.

 

Across the road was one of Kalgoorlie's famous 'scimpy' bars, and after a few ice cold pints the days stresses were soon forgotten.  Tomorrow we'd have a good look around this gold mining town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long Ride 2016 - Day 10

April 17, 2016

Margaret River, WA to Perth, WA - 280km (4,480km)

Waking with a killer hangover is never good, but a night of beer, wine and bourbon will do that to you.  The knowledge that day 10 of the Long Ride 2016, and the new challenges it will bring, was only a short one of 280 kilometres was some comfort.

 

The Quality Inn Margaret River put on a great breakfast for us and the day dawned with spectacular sunshine.  It looked like it would be a great day, and the hangover was just a small inconvenience.

 

There has to be a point when I'l return to Margaret River and spend more time with Justin and his team at the Quality Inn, the place is brilliant and offers some of the best service I've ever seen.

 

After saying our goodbyes to many of the friends made over a number of Long Rides, we set off for the capital city of Western Australia, Perth.

 

The support from the Quality Inn Margaret River was just amazing

The first destination was to be the town of Busselton.  The first town we came to threw up a surprise.  There were statues of cows all over the town, some just grazing on grass in parks, others waiting to cross the streets, and some even walking into shops.  It was street art at it's best, and it didn't occur to me until we had passed through the town that the place was called 'Cowaramup', yep another 'up' name, and this one with a very clever play on the name.

 

As we came into Busselton it was clear that the weather was turning, dark clouds were forming quite rapidly, there was no doubt it was going to rain at some point.

 

We passed through Busselton and then on to Bunbury when the heavens did open.  The rain started as a fine drizzle but soon became heavy rain that persisted on and off for the next few hours.  By the time we stopped to put on wet weather gear I was already soaked to the bone so there was little point, the temperature was actually still quite warm so at least it wasn't too unpleasant riding in the rain.

 

Reaching Perth it was great to get out of the wet clothing and just relax as the next day would be a rest day before taking on stage two of the Long Ride ....

Long Ride 2016 - Day 9

April 16, 2016

Albany, WA to Margaret River, WA - 394km (4,200km)

Day 9 of the Long Ride 2016 was essentially the last day of the official ride, it turned out to be the most different day of the ride so far.

 

The last day is the only day that has a time that we must try to be at the destination by, this is to ensure that all riders can grouped and ride into the final locations as one, a massive undertaking when there's more than 400 riders.

 

We left Albany at around 9:30am after a breakfast at Kate's Place cafe.  If you're ever in Albany you have to have a meal at this place, the food is sensational and the service even better.

 

Once on the road it was an indication of what was to come.  The roads were brilliant, wide and open with just enough curves to keep things interesting. 

 

We headed west on the South Coast Highway through picturesque farm land, some of the prettiest landscape of its kind in the entire country.  The town of Denmark came up pretty quickly, just 54 kilometres away from Albany.

 

Denmark, with just a population of around 2,000 people, was first sighted by the Dutchman, Francois Thijssen, in 1627, well before Captain James Cook, claimed Australia for the British.  In fact Thijssen sailed as far east along the south of Australia to Ceduna.

 

The town gets it's name from the Denmark River named after British naval surgeon Alexander Denmark.  It's a great looking town but unfortunately time meant we couldn't spend too much time there.

 

We pressed on and the road just got better, plenty of twists to keep it interesting, our next stop would be to refuel in the town of Walpole, 66km further along the South Coast Highway.  It was here that we caught a number of other riders, and the fun began as a snake of bikes had to contend with the numerous caravans, for some reason these things love to travel at around 30kph below the speed limit, regardless of what the limit is, it's bloody dangerous in many ways.

 

The next town was Manjimup, and here is where a 'problem' began.  Some how we missed the turn we were supposed to take, to be honest there's so many names around here that end with 'up' that's it's easy to miss a turn.  If you don't believe me check out how many towns in the south west of Western Australia are called Manjimup, Callcup, Beedelup or Perup, there's so many it's hard to keep track of it all.

 

Missing the turn we ended up at Bridgetown, not a drastic mistake but one that might of meant we missed the start of the ride into Margaret River.

 

We took to the Nannup tourist road, one of the best bike roads I have ever been on, the scenery was stunning, the road fast and flow with a few tightish corners thrown in to keep things interesting.  The road itself eventually joined the direct road to Margaret River which, straightened out but did undulate throw hard wood and pine plantations, this in itself was quite spectacular.

After an hour or so on this road we eventually came to the muster point at Margaret River and met with all of the other riders.  After a a quick debrief we were on the road again and rider en mass through the town to the Quality Inn Margaret River where we greeted by staff, family and friends.

The Long Ride 2016 ended with presentations, a dinner and plenty of drinks.  It was announced that so far the ride had raised over $340,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, and much more in awareness of men's health issues.

It was a great night that ended with me slipping boozily into bed ...

 

 

 

Long Ride 2016 - Day 8

April 15, 2016

Esperance, WA to Albany, WA - 484km (3,806km)

We were told that we had to do the Great Ocean Drive tourist loop while in Esperance, so the first thing on the agenda was a ride around the 40km loop.

 

The morning dawned beautiful, it was already warm in the sun, there was no breeze, a few small clouds were forming in an otherwise clear sky.  A perfect day for riding. 

 

The first stop along the route offered the most amazing sites, I was now starting to see the attraction of Esperance.

 

Wherever you looked there seemed to be islands poking through the water.  The water was a beautiful clear blue contrasting against the whitest of sand.

 

It would've been quite easy to site here for hours just watching the world drift by, we couldn't, we had to move on as we needed to travel 480km to Albany today.

 

We couldn't resist stopping again to take in the magnificent sights, the coast line was stunning, now accented by ominous looking clouds that had formed from the light fluffy ones from just 30 minutes earlier.  They were quickly building to appear threatening, there was no doubt they contain a lot of water.  Rain was surely in its way.

 

We pushed on to the next look out, the Pink Lake, only to find that it was no longer pink.  When pink, and in full bloom, the lake takes on its colour from the algae that lives in the extremely salty water, apparently this lake is more buoyant than the Dead Sea.  Unfortunately run off from the many farms in the area is killing the algae and the lake is now just a plain white and quite unremarkable.

While here, we had another accident.  One of our group, who will remain nameless to protect his identity, dropped his bike while trying to put down the stand.  For some reason, only known to him, tried parking the bike on a hill without it being in gear, of course it rolled forward and off the stand and over she went.  After laughing, yes at his expense, we lifted the bike off his leg.  He tried to park the bike again, and yes, again without it being in gear.  Oh, for f*ck sake.

 

Protected identity ... not any more.

Having completed the loop we now needed press on towards Albany and the next stop of Ravensthorpe, the sky was now threatening rain, so the sooner we were moving the better.

 

At 188km towards the west, Ravensthorpe was away from the coast and would see us climbing through what I guess Western Australia must call mountains, the land was certainly starting to gain altitude as we passed through many fields belonging to farms.  This area looked perfect for farming, it was green and lush.  The ride itself wasn't too inspiring despite having a few decent twists and undulating road but at least the rain was holding off.

 

Pulling into Ravensthorpe it was clear the town was overwhelmed by all of the bikes.  Then lady manning the register at the service station said this was the biggest group she had ever seen, and probably the biggest day that the business would've ever had.

 

It was a similar story just a little further up the road.  There was quite a line for café, perhaps the towns only one.  The owners had only been notified the day before that we were coming through so did a great job to accommodate everyone. The pie and yoyo I had were delicious.  If you are ever in the area check out Ravy's Café, great service and food.

 

Great roads around Esperance

While having a bite to eat the clouds let go of what they were containing and the rain started, it looked as though it might be on and off, I took a chance and didn't put the water proof linings in my jacket or pants ... idiot!

 

The remaining 300km took us through some amazing country, farms mixed with stunning forests, it reminded so much of the east coast that I thought I was back in Victoria.  There was no doubt a lot more to look at but given that I was now soaked to the bone and freezing cold I couldn't be bothered and pushed on as hard as I could to get to the days overnight stop.

 

Pulling in Albany, I was just glad to have found the hotel immediately and was able to check in without problems, a hot shower soon thawed things out.

 

The day ended with a brilliant feed at Albany's Indian Tandoori Restaurant.  This has to be one of the best Indian restaurants I have ever been to, the food was fantastic and the service just as good.  The perfect way to end the day.

 

 

 

 

Long Ride 2016 - Day 7

April 14, 2016

Balladonio, WA to Esperance, WA - 268km (3,322km)

Today was set to be the shortest day of the Long Ride, with less than 270km to be completed.  The route was a complete unknown, taking to a track that many said should not be taken.  Thanks for the challenge.

 

'Tom Cruise' met us at the Balladonia Roadhouse stating that he wouldn't be doing the dirt with us, apparently his bike isn't setup for dirt.  Hmm, I couldn't work that comment out.

 

We had a delicious breakfast at the roadhouse, refuelled the bikes and set off in the opposite direction to the other riders.

 

I can't recommend the Balladonia Roadhouse enough, the staff are extremely friendly and are willing to help in any way possible.  Yes, the place is expensive, but you have to remember that it's in the middle of nowhere.

 

Part of the reason Balladonia Roadhouse is a little expensive

Our ride to Esperance was on the Balladonia Road, people had told us that it could be extremely rough, the top section, belonging to the Dundas Shire (Norseman), was said to be terrible and gets very little maintenance while the lower section was possibly a well maintained road, almost akin to being a bitumen road.

 

We set off, the 'passable to 4wd only' sign gave an indication as to what we could expect.  The track started as a one lane, rocky road with the occasional washout.  It looked as of it would be totally inpassable with any rain at all.

 

Those of us out front where able to keep up a good pace while the riders at the back slowed to a pace they were comfortable with.

 

Back on the dirt.  Start of the Balladonia Road

The track continued on alternating between heavily rocky areas, good fast smooth fast sections, and the occasional washout.  It was the washout that were proving to be the most tricky, after cruising at 80km they would suddenly appear give us just enough time to find a way around or through them, often the holes were quite deep.

 

The track continued on this way for around 35km when we reached a gate.  It was adorned with many items of clothing, as usual in the Australian outback, people just seem to want to leave their clothes on any structure where it seems fit.  It was a good place to have a rest and assess the riding so far, it had taken us over an hour.

 

As we chatted a 4wd came down the track from the direction we had come.  Two young guys were heading to our destination, we spoke about what we had done so far and what we were expecting, they seemed a little apprehensive and concerned the track would be too rough.  Perhaps they were a little soft.

 

The things people leave behind in the outback

We had a laugh about some of the clothing on the gate, some of it had been there for quite some time.  I love this sort of stuff, people leaving some of their personal history for other to see.

 

The road continued on, just as rough, but nothing too challenging, especially on a bike like a GS which is made for this sort of stuff.  They are akin to being like a Landrover, not the prettiest, not overly fast, and simple however, they are strong and very capable in most conditions.

 

The landscape around here was beautiful, it was a type of bush I had never seen before, the trees weren't huge but looked like they certainly weren't struggling for existence.  It was thick and green, yet still gave the appeal of being dry and almost desert like, the contradictions were astounding.

 

We also noticed animal droppings on the track but not like anything I had seen before.  It didn't look like anything native, and was too small to be cow and too large to be sheep poo.  With no idea what we were trying to keep an eye out for we simply get going.

 

When you're 75, and nature comes calling, you have to go, no
matter where you are.

The next stop was another gate, this time a little more 'impressive' than the first one.  It too was covered with clothing however, those courageous enough to take on the track had also left other items.  There was a bourbon bottle that the former owners had written a message on, two girls from Germany had stated they were having a hell of a road trip.  There were car parts, obviously shaken loose by the rough track.  Even a child's car seat was here.  The funniest thing was a seat from a portable toilet.

 

Again we had a laugh and made light of the 'rubbish' left behind, it was also a chance to take on some water, the temperature was quickly starting to climb, and under these conditions it's easy to become dehydrated and then the risk of fatigue and error becomes very real.

We rode on determined to reach the Esperance Shire section of the road and hopefully something a little smoother.  We eventually reached the changing point, the style of the signs gave away that it was now a different shire, the road didn't, it remained very rocky and when there were smoother sections they were littered with the washouts we had been experiencing.  Eventually the road did start to improve, becoming wider and somewhat better maintained.  In some places it was actually divided into three separate running lanes, and it was hard too choose which one to take.

The lanes eventually merged into one and became very smooth.  This was a road now used by the road trains that service the cattle farms.  It was so smooth we were able to cruise along at 100 kilometres per hour.

This continued on until the road merged with the bitumen leading on to the coastal town of Esperance. 

I'd heard a lot about this place.  Many had said it was the most beautiful town in Australia with extremely nice beaches, I must admit I kept thinking about the number of shark attacks that occur around here.

Esperance itself wasn't quite what I expected.  I had imagined it to be quite remote, almost what Fowlers Bay had been a few days earlier.  In reality, it was what I remember Torquay, in Victoria, being when I was a kid.  It has a laidback, beachy, surfer sort of feel to it, and like Torquay you can see that it's laidback feel is being gradually eroded by tourism and development.

The day ended with a bike show and fundraising event at the Esperance Yacht Club, put on by a number of community groups in the region.  It was great to see the community come out and support the Long Ride.  The day ended with a pizza and few beers (Fat Yak) at the Pier Hotel, a great pub on the waterfront.  There was more fundraising for the Long Ride here and I can away with a Jameson Whisky T-shirt.  Got to be happy with that.

 

 

 

 

 

Long Ride 2016 - Day 6

April 13, 2016

Border Village, SA to Balladonia, WA - 534km (3,054km)

Running 4 kilometres out onto the Nullarbor Plain and back was one of the most surreal experiences I have ever had.  It was just me and the occasional road train at 5:30 in the morning.  The road was pretty much dead straight, birds were chirping in the nearby scrub, while the occasional scurrying of little feet could also be heard.

 

The wind was chilly but not biting, the run itself was enjoyable and got me thinking about this landscape that many say is desolate.  It couldn't be further from the truth.

 

This was how I started day 6 of the Long Ride, while others were packing bikes, I was running on an isolated piece of highway.

 

Back at the Border Village motel I had a breakfast of granola and coffee while packing my own bike for the days ride.  It would immediately start with a border crossing and probably the most strict in the entire country, in fact many European border crossings aren't so bad.

 

Border crossing, Western Australia

They check to see if you have a multitude of foodstuffs that must be disposed of before making the crossing.  For me it was an easy enough process however, the Western Australians in front of me had al sorts of items that couldn't be taken and the lady wasn't to concerned about the line of vehicles quickly forming behind her.

 

Once on the road it was a quick pass through Eucla and then onto Madura for a breakfast that the local roadhouse was putting on for Long Riders.  This was 193km and quite a straight ride on the Eyre Highway.

 

Madura, is really nothing more than a roadhouse, pulling in the young bloke running the pumps was extremely efficient and quickly guided everyone to the bowser they were after.  It was an impressive operation dealing with the 300 plus bikes. 

 

The last not to pay for fuel at Madura

The breakfast put on wasn't quite so efficient but was well worth the wait, perhaps except for the coffee.  I'm obviously spoilt by Melbourne's coffee culture.

 

While waiting for the bacon and egg roll I met a guy riding a KTM 990, a bike very much made for the conditions we were riding in.  He was British and station with the military in Canberra (Australia's capital city) at the moment.  Through the conversation I asked if he wanted to come and do some dirt with us the next day, he seemed keen although was quick to point out that he had $30,000 worth of camera equipment on his bike and it was weighing him down.  I mentioned I had similar gear, along with tools and spares.  He dismissed this but did take my number.

 

It was reminiscent of another adventure buke rider we had met the day before.  He too was working with the military out of Canberra however, he was on a BMW 1200GS.  His gear was all BMW.  Every time he got on or off the bike we would spend at least 15 minutes making sure he looked right, even the aviator sunglasses were meticulously placed on his head.  He quickly became dubbed Tom Cruise.

 

While preparing to leave Madura the pump attendant was asking riders if they hadn't paid for fuel apparently someone had filled their bike without paying.  It looked likely that he was going to get the money so without hesitation I did a quick whip around and raised the $20 to cover the bill, it was here I discovered that the same thing had happened the day before so helping this small business out was well worth it.  The young guy was very appreciative.

 

Cocklebiddy's rescued wedge tailed eagles

The next stop was Cocklebiddy, around 90km further along the Eyre Highway.  This is a pretty unassuming roadhouse but does have one claim to fame, two magnificent Wedge Tailed Eagles.  These birds, Australia's largest birds of prey, were rescued after being hit by vehicles on the highway.  While they are caged (in quite a large one) it does seem sad they have to live their lives this way however, the alternative would surely be death in the wild.

 

The eagles are magnificent creatures and to see them this close is very special, it was actually a little humbling to be so close to them.

 

From here on to Caiguna, around 65 kilometres down the road.  It's just a road house village, unremarkable by all accounts except for the fact it's the start of Australia's longest straight stretch of road.  This might be the case, although I'm sure there's longer stretches of dirt road.

 

Of course we stopped for the touristy type photo at he sign, here it was just funny watching the many cruisers struggle on the soft shoulder of the road.  Hey ho!

 

90 Mile Straight ... it really is straight

The 90 mile straight (146km) was a ball breaker, it really was boring.  It didn't matter how fast you went, whether you weaved or zigged and zagged, it was bloody boring.

 

Stopping at the halfway point for a pitstop brought some amusement when I found some bones, they didn't look like they belonged to some misfortunate cow or native animal, and so the stories of a crazy man stalking a couple of young travellers in a van began.  I continued telling myself the story for around 50 kilometres, convinced it would make a great movie ... oh wait, it's been done before ...

 

One thing that does standout on this section of the road are the numerous runways that are built into it.  These service the Royal Flying Doctor Service, they often need to land when there's an emergency and based on the number of violent skid marks that are visible it looks

like they might be needed often.  Some of these landing strips and nothing more than a section of road with the threshold stripes at either end while others also have huge wide sections along the runway, it's actually quite impressive.

 

For a while I marvelled at how the RFDS pilots land with so much traffic on the road, I then realised that they must buzz the road to give some sort of indication that they need the roadway, this must be quite a sight.

 

With this thought we pushed on and eventually came to the end of the straight.  I was expecting, well at least hopeful that there would be some great hairpin bend, requiring a changing down of gears and perhaps hard braking.  It wasn't to be, in fact the bend that came up was barely noticeable, a slight left hand kink.  Oh well, at least the bike was able to be leaned over a little.

 

This lead us on to Balladonia, another stop that is nothing more than a roadhouse.  This time it proved to be one of the best places we have stayed overnight, so far.

 

It started with unpacking the bike.  Sat on the step out the front of the rooms was a man, in his 60's, looking absolutely exhausted.  He and his wife are riding a tandom pushbike from Perth to Melbourne, today they had covered 100km and said that this was their best day so far.  I asked how long it would take to get to Melbourne, they said, "as long as it takes".  Got to love that.

 

Later in the evening we got a chance to speak to the staff at the roadhouse, two girls from the UK, one from Belgium and another from Japan.  All had great stories of why they are working in such a remote place and where they had been in Australia.  All loved the outback and were hopeful of making a life out there.  Got to love that.

 

After a few drinks and a great chat it was time for bed, tomorrow we are back on the dirt.