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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long Ride 2016 -- Day 5

April 12, 2016

Ceduna, SA to Border Village, SA - 550km (2,520km)

Day 5, the day we would hit the vastness of the Nullarbor Plain, one of the worlds most flattest and treeless places, and a highway right through the middle of it.

 

It seems to be a common theme with me, I drink the tap water only to discover it's not meant to be consumed.  The last time this happened it felt like I was playing Russian Roulette every time I got on the bike, I hope it wouldn't happen again ... I hate squatting on the side of the road and we were approaching an area where there is just no place to hide, none at all.

 

The ride started with a short 70km blast along the Eyre Highway to Penong.  This small town is reasonably new compared to many others in the area, being established in 1915 after the railway went through. 

 

Penong has a population of just 215, I actually think it has more windmills than people, and it's something they have made a tourist attraction of.

 

After a refuel, bikes and bodies (you'll be happy to know I've stayed healthy - I had a iced coffee and Snickers bar) we were back on the road.

 

Around 50 kilometres further down the Eyre Highway we came to a sign that pointed to Fowler's Bay, ignoring it we continued on until nature called on one of the riders and e stopped roadside.  A quick discussion decided that this was the turn off to the Great Australia Bight, so a few of us decided to turn around and go back.

 

We took to the dirt, although the road was more like a super highway and after 20 or so kilometres we reached the beautiful seaside town.  No, it wasn't the road to the Great Australian Bight, it didn't matter the detour was well worth it.

Fowler's Bay ... one of the prettiest Australian coastal towns

It also turned out that Matthew Flinders had landed at Fowler's Bay in 1802, I think Flinders is one of the unsung heroes of Australian exploration however, it turns out that the Dutch had actually charted the coastline in 1627 - that's a piece of history most Australians wouldn't know.

 

After a coffee and a quick bite we continued on the dirt, through a number of tidal salt marshes to a small town called Coorabie.  This too was picturesque but didn't have the same appeal as Fowler's Bay, it's pretty clear that this town won't survive.

 

From here we were back on the Eyre Highway and the start of what is said to be flat, lifeless and generally boring.

The Nullarbor Plain starts somewhere around Yalata, and yes it is flat and treeless but I wouldn't call it boring at all, if you keep your eyes (and mind) open you will see plenty of things, although I do think the signs proclaiming there to be camels is a little optimistic.

The Nullarbor is the worlds largest single exposure of limestone and is roughly 1,100km from end to end - tell me about it.

About 70km from Yalata is the Head of the Bight whale watching area.  Although it isn't whale watching season this place is still well worth a visit.  The scenery of what is said to be the worlds largest oceanic bay is spectacular, in many ways it puts things like the shipwreck coast in Victoria to shame.

We spent around an hour looking at views and then a kite that was using the thermals to hover above the cliffs and look for prey.  It was amazing how this bird could stay in the one place for such a long time without even moving it's wings, but now it was time to move on.



Head of the Bight, a spectacular piece of Australian coastline

Back on the highway it was around 200 kilometres to our overnight stop on the border of Western Australia, Border Village.

This bit of the ride was a little boring, pretty much dead straight and without much life, still it was a great chance to catch up on thoughts and have a chat with myself.

Border Village isn't really a village just a roadhouse on the border.  Accommodation is pretty basic, but after a long day of almost 9 hours on the bike, I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

 

 

 

Long Ride 2016 - Day 4

April 11, 2016

Port Augusta, SA to Ceduna, SA - 628km (1,970km)

The day started with a run along the waterfront of Port Augusta, quite a pretty little 'city' at the northern end of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia.  Many of the buildings are of the traditional South Australian type, sandstone blocks provide thick walls and a unique look that is unmistakeably South Australian.

 

Once on the road the plan was to get something to eat in the town centre, it was here that we saw the best and worst in people.  The best came from an aboriginal man who approached and asked where we had come from, when we told him his response was classic, "Bullshit, that's far".

 

We laughed together and then he congratulated us and wished us safe travels, the whole time with the most beautiful of smiles.

 

The worst came from another aboriginal, this time a man in his early twenties.  He was loading balloons, adorned with a football teams logo, in his utility.  One of our group made a joke about supporting the football club.  The young man didn't take kindly to the joke, and although he was clearly agitated and quite angry, he told our group to stop being so "bloody disrespectful, like all white people."  It turns out the balloons were for a funeral.

 

It was such a shame he reacted the way he did, although, I do understand the emotions - it clearly demonstrated that a clash of cultures often goes very much both ways.

HMAS Whyalla

 

With this behind us our group broke in two as three of us had decided to add a few additional kilometres and head south towards Whyalla.  Not long after we had started the rain began to come down, it looked like it would be here for quite some time.  Under the watchful eye of the HMAS Whyalla we got into out wet-weather gear and then head off towards the road to Kimba.

 

By now we had been joined by a few other riders, it looked like a good day however, I hadn't even given another thought to the fact that the road would be turning to dirt quite soon.

 

Approaching the road it became clear that a number of the riders, on cruisers and sportsbikes, would not be willing to take to the dirt, despite it being a very well maintained country road.  For me anyone who refuses to challenge themselves a little on dirt is missing a whole new world of motorcycle discovery.

 

One of the grand buildings in Cowell

We now had to find another route and eventually settled on one that would add another 200 kilometres (3 hours) to the ride.

 

We headed towards a town called Cowell which would see us continue on down the coast towards the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula.  The ride was quite good, on quality bitumen roads with enough corners to keep things interesting.  We passed a number of open cut mines, the shear size of these things was impressive, but I kept wondering what happens to the land when the mine ceases operation?

 

Once in Cowell, the beauty of the little town  
was striking.  Again there were plenty of the unmistakable South Australian buildings, the community also seemed to have a sense of pride.  I needed to use the toilets and when I did I was surprised to see a handwritten sign proclaiming "Welcome To The Cowell Crap Art Gallery".  Great, did this mean someone has gone berserk and destroyed the toilets?

 



Crap Art

It was far from the case. The toilets were adorned with many paintings and drawings, all by local artists, and very cheaply priced.  I would loved to have bought one, but was a little concerned about what else  would come with the artwork.  I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

From Cowell we were off for Lock, where we pulled up next to a deli.  The town which, was just one street, was deserted.  We stretched and had a quick bite to eat when a lady, probably around 70, approached us and handed over $50 as a donation for the Long Ride 2016.  We still have no idea she knew what we were doing, as the route we were on, was nowhere near the official one.  It was a beautiful gesture, we have no idea what her story was, just the fact that she was extremely generous and seemed very pleased that we had stopped in her town. 

 

We continued on and picked up the main highway towards Ceduna, the Long Rides next overnight stop.

 

By now the light was starting to fade and in the Australian outback or bush this time of the day is always a very serious threat.  We spread out to give ourselves space to react should something step out in front of us, thankfully nothing did.  We pulled into Ceduna at around 7:30pm, just under 11 hours of being on the road.

 

I was knackered, not physically, just mentally.  This was quickly fixed with a cold beer and great roast dinner.  Once in bed sleep came quickly, I don't remember dreaming although, I am sure I would've dreamt of the next days riding, the Nullarbor Plain and the challenges it would bring ...

Long Ride 2016 - Day 3

April 10, 2016

Broken Hill, NSW to Port Augusta, SA - 418km (1,342km)

The road to Port Augusta is a well worn one, having done it a few times already I wasn't that keen to take it on again.  It's a fairly straight, flat road, through windswept plains, parched dry by relentless sun. 

 

The excitement comes from the wildlife, the native and the feral, and whether you will have to dodge the dead ones or be collected by a suicidal live one.

This ride down the Barrier Highway was a little different, yes the goats were out, as were the kangaroos and the odd emu however, it was the human interaction that made the ride different.

 

The first indication was what was to come at the town of Cockburn, which sits on the border of New South Wales and South Australia.  Ordinarily it's an unremarkable town, once a railway town servicing the line between the mines of Broken Hill & Silverton and the shipping towns of Port Augusta and Port Pirie.  Now it's like so many of the towns on this line, a dwindling ghost of it's former self.

 

Phil, do you really have to? 

Of course the obligatory photo opportunity on front of the border sign had to be taken and as I aligned myself to ensure the bike and the sign where perfectly framed I didn't notice a ghostly figure lurking in the background.

 

No, it was that of a former rail worker or a pioneering stockman, it was that of Phil (surname withheld to protect his identity - the photo won't), with his 'old boy' out, taking a leak on the South Australian side of the border.  What the hell was he thinking?  Any good Victorian knows that the South Australian side of the border is the better side.

 

After a laugh we moved on and headed towards the Olary / Manna Hill area where there's the famous Hills Hoist (clothesline) in the middle of nowhere.  As we approached Olary, a town now with just a population of three, it was clear that something special was happening.  A collection of bikes had gathered on the road outside of the Olary Hotel.  In my interview with Andrew Schmidt of ABC Radio Broken Hill a few weeks earlier, he had made a passing comment to someone called Sam at the Olary Hotel, saying he should get the BBQ out because the bikes were coming through.  I thought nothing of it.

 

The Olary Hotel, a place of great character and now a reason
to do the Barrier Highway.

Sam, it turned out, was the owner of the pub along with his wife Jan.  The crowd had gathered out the front of the pub as Sam and Jan had put on a BBQ breakfast, at their own cost with all proceeds going to the Long Ride 2016.  It was a beautiful gesture, they're both lovely, kind hearted people.  The Olary pub no gives me reason to redo the Barrier Highway and stay somewhere other than either end of it.

 

It was a great chance to catch up with other riders and learn some of the history of the region.  Chance meetings like this are what travelling are all about, the journey, not the destination.

 

On good spirit we continued on, the spirit was tarnished a little as I realised that the clothesline in the middle of nowhere was no longer there, just the lower half, the part with the winder on it.  A part of my felt great regret, seeing the clothes hoist was always something a little bit special, something that would make you laugh as you wondered why the hell it was there and who would create such a simple yet wonderful thing.  It was now gone, I'm glad I had seen it a few times.

 

We continued on, in a south westerly direction heading for the former railway hub of Peterborough, a favourite town with a lot of character, and great community spirit.  Getting closer to it we came across something I had never seen before, a quarantine stop at a town called Oodla Wirra.

 

The first time I've seen a quarantine crossing like this.

This was sort of like a border crossing between countries.  We weren't asked for passports or carnets but were asked to declare if we had any fruit, vegetables or grape vines.  Anyone who has travelled the south eastern area of Australia will know that often you pass into areas where they are trying to prevent fruitfly infestations, often these are just signs and roadside bins to dispose of the offending items, to see an actual checkpoint was something different.

 

We weren't going to dispose of our fruit so we stopped and started eating, banana after banana.  Once gone the skins were disposed of.  I'm sure the man posted to work at the station was having a good laugh, yet why waste good fruit?  We rode on.

 

That's a lot of wood.

The next stop was Peterborough.  I've told the story of this place twice before, with its rich history in both Australian railways and how it shaped mining and farming in both South Australia and New South Wales (see previous posts), so I won't go into it again.  It was however a great opportunity to see the motorcycle museum and grab a bite to eat before taking on the last 130km before hitting the overnight stop of Port Augusta.

 

This part of the days ride saw us head into the southern reaches of the Flinders Ranges, ironically a hundred kilometres or so before we had already reached the highest altitude we would pass for the day, in fact the highest of the ride so far.  This was close to the town of Orroroo, famous for having one of the largest (not tallest) trees in Australia.  With a trunk diameter of over 10 metres, and measured at over a metre above the ground, this thing is massive and well worth a look.

 

The ride through the lower reaches of the Flinders Ranges was great, there's a stretch of fantastic twisties that roller-coaster through the undulating hills.  The scenery is brilliant and as you come over the top and look at the higher reaches of the Spencer Gulf bordered by the mountains on the other side it takes your breath away.  As we headed towards the industrial outer area of Port Augusta I couldn't help but think, "what the hell created a landscape that looked like this?"

 

Port Augusta is an interesting city.  Although it is more about serving the state through electricity generation and has a rather industrial feel, it does have a rich history and is quite beautiful with many older and historic buildings.  It also seems that the communities has a strong commitment to bettering the area.  Sam Johnson, the mayor of Port Augusta, addressed the Long Ride members outlining what he sees as the city's future, as well as thanking the work that the Long Riders do.

 

After a few beers it's off to bed.  The motel, the Acacia Ridge, is quite nice although older styled but one thing that caught me out was the toilet roll dispenser - one of the those large industrial looking things.  Not good. They're designed for scrunchers, not a civilised folder like me. 

 

 

 

 

Long Ride 2016 - Day 2

April 9, 2016

Mildura, Victoria to Broken Hill, NSW - 389km (924km)

 

Day 2 of the Long Ride started with a great ride out of Mildura onto the Silver City Highway towards the sister town of Wentworth, across the border in New South Wales.  It's amazing how the Australian landscape changes in such a short distance and as soon as we cross the Murray River, Australia's largest river, the landscape became more scrubby and stunted.

 

Wentworth sits on the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers and at one stage was one of Australia's busiest ports - it's nowhere near the ocean.  It was a good starting point to head towards the dirt and this was 117km further up the road at Pooncarie.

 

Pooncarie is a tony hamlet on the Darling River, and although official figures suggest that the population is around 350, the town folk would have you believe it is only 98.  So who knows? 

 

For a place of such a small population and one that sits in the middle of a very dry area of Australia, it's quite an impressive town, mostly green parkland as well as a service station come café and a great old style pub - it went without saying that a beer had to be had.  Although the last time I had a beer before hitting unfamiliar dirt I spent a few days in hospital and wrote off a bike.

Peugeot 203 up a pole

 

A great thing about Pooncarie was a strange advertisement for the local mechanic, who is no longer in operation.  Just outside of town is a Peugeot 203 Utility (I didn't even know they made these things) up a pole.  If it's as rare as I would suggest it is I'm surprised it hasn't been stolen yet.

 

Just out of town the dirt started, the road to Menindee.  I'd read on a few forums, and mind you 4x4 sites, that it was a track not for the faint hearted, it was said to be extremely rough, a track that would destroy vehicles.  A lady at the Mildura information centre earlier that morning had said not to tackle it as it was extremely rough.  With this in mind we said "bugger it we are doing it".  It has to be much better than taking on the Silver City Highway, one of the worlds most boring roads.

 

At around 120 kilometres long, with a short stretch of bitumen in the middle, we were up for the challenge.  Not long into it we were to discover that it wasn't rough at all, in fact was quite good, except for odd patch of quite deep sand.  Sand shits me to tears, I hate the feeling of the bike moving around the way it does, but hey, you just get on with it and power through.

 

This proved quite tricky for a few of the riders with us, and for the sake of their loved ones nerves, I won't mention names.  The first was quite spectacular, I came around a bend to see an almighty tank slapper and then the bike ploughing violently up and through the sand berm on the side of the road.  The rider kept it upright but soon discovered that the bike was bogged, he was able to eventually get it out and keep it going.

 

The deep and caught a few riders out

The second was said to be even more spectacular as the rider had a similar incident although this time he was sort of spat off the bike and into the sand, we are just hoping the GoPro caught it all.  The bike suffered some minor damage in this incident, but nothing to stop it from continuing.

 

The third was again a similar incident with the bike ending up on its side in the thick sand at the side of the track.

 

In all incidents the riders weren't hurt but by this stage I was sick of picking up Vstroms, perhaps the mid capacity Suzuki's really aren't suited to this sort of stuff, or the riders need to learn not to fight the bike and let it do what it needs to do in sand.

 

Apart from the sand the next thing that was taking it's toll were the emu's.  These things really are dumb and when scared just run in all directions, we were constantly having to keep an eye out for the giant birds to make sure they didn't run in our direction.

 

After a few hours we were off the dirt and in Menindee.  With a population of just around 450 it's a town in serious decline, sad considering it's the oldest town in western NSW.  This marked the end of the first real day of adventure as we headed towards the second days rest at Broken Hill. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Long Ride 2016 - Day 1

April 8, 2016

Melbourne, Victoria to Mildura, Victoria - 535km

There's always a little apprehension as a Long Ride starts and today, day one of the 2016 edition was no exception as we all made our way to the starting point at Calder Park, a former home of the Australian Grand Prix.

 

Leaving a little later than expected the plan was still to head to the gold mining city of Bendigo to meet a few sponsors, so we headed off up the Calder Freeway - it was a prelude to what was to come, today's ride would more or less be a 'transport' stage.

 

Bendigo is an amazing city, full of history, culture and the most amazing heritage buildings.  The locals are extremely proud of what they have and keen to share it with the world.  One such couple is Chris and Mick from the Bendigo Homestead Motor Inn & Apartments, a proud supporter of the Long Ride and men's health in general.

 

Chris and Mick gave us some guidance as to what we should see in Bendigo including a number of exhibits that the Bendigo Trust have.  These include the Central Deborah Gold Mine, the Heritage Tramway and the Chinese Joss House.  The Bendigo Trust are also supporters of the Long Ride so it was great that these two were supporting each other.

 

It was brilliant being able to thank Chris and Mick personally for their support but we had to push on, getting to Mildura before dark was always going to be a tough task.

Kara Kara Estate Cafe

 

The next stop was St Arnaud where we were to have lunch at Kara Kara Estate Restaurant Café.  The place is brilliant, as was the food.  The staff understanding what the Long Ride is about kindly made a donation, as did a number of patrons.  Can't thank them enough.

 

Heading in a north westerly direction we made our made to a newly created magical place, in an insignificant little town that's clinging to survival.  The magic is provided by the very thing that will help this town cling to survival.

 

Four gigantic paintings, so detailed that they look like a photograph, and adorn the side of the largest of farming structures, grain silos.

 

The paintings, of four locals from the area, were created by renowned large scale artist, Guido van Helten.  The art was commissioned to get attention to Brim, which sits right on the middle of an area that has been drought stricken for many, many years.  So bad is the drought that many towns are simply closing down.  Brim had no intention of doing so, and so the 100 strong population of Brim set about reusing a structure that no longer had a use.

 

Some of the most impressive street art I have ever seen..

As you approach the silo from the south, it looks just like any other, a 10 or 12 story high concrete structure that towers above the landscape. Then subtly the images appear, but who are they?  It doesn't really matter.  They represent the community and the region, that's what matters. 

 

It's been said that these images will be Australia's version of Mount Rushmore, well I'm not sure that they are on that scale or significance, yet they are something that needs to be visited.

 

From Brim it was time to follow the Henty Highway in a northerly direction until reaching the town of Lascelles, then on to the Sunraysia Highway which in turns become the Calder Highway.  Where we had started was were we would finish, the Calder Highway.

 

Following the Calder it was starting to get dark as we got into Mildura, the Big 4 holiday park, our accommodation for the night was already closed so we made our way to the cabins.  A workers donga was being the cabin.  It was tidy, if not a little rundown, that doesn't bother me at all, but at $90 a night ... I don't think so!

 

So after three beers and pizza, it's off to bed.  The real ride begins tomorrow ...