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Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Day 3 - Port Augusta to WA
We are camped in the most amazing spot, literally 10 metres from the edge of the cliffs in the great Australian bight. We are about 70 Kms from the WA border. We just turned down a narrow bush track heading towards the water and we came out at the cliff edge. It's the most amazing spot. We drove for over 9 hours today and covered 950 Kms. We have now put 400 litres of fuel through the car since Bathurst. The car is absolutely amazing, 110kms everywhere. You wouldn't know you we're towing anything. Ash drove another stint today and was much more relaxed. The driving is very gladiatorial with the trucks openly hostile to the caravaners. It's a blood sport. I think we have 1500 Kms to go to Perth with 2.5 days till Lisa and Alexandra arrive. EASY
Eyes on ceduna
Ash at the wheel. Looking more comfortable than day 1.
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Location:Eyre Highway,Kimba,Australia
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Photos from Day 2
Renmark SA - shopping
Camp dinner
The master at work
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Day 2 - Mildura to Port Augusta
700kms , 7.5 hours, 1x subway, 2 x fuels stops, no arguments
The day started in heavy fog and 3 degrees. It was a very hard introduction to camper packups for ash. We finally got away from Euston at a little after 8.30. The fog hung around until nearly midday. It made travelling pretty challenging as it was very difficult to overtake. Some of the grey nomads need a bullet. Traveling at 85 Kim's per hour in 110 km roads and absolutely no curtesy for the other drivers. I don't know how the truckies cope.
We stopped at Renmark to recover from our border crossing ordeal after a fruit inspector went right through the car and camper confiscating all the fruit and veg Lisa had given us. We found a great shopping centre and bought enough food for a couple of days as well as some household and hardware items for the camper.
We travelled through both the Barossa and Clare valley wine regions and eventually hit Spenser gulf where we headed north for port Augusta. We are camping in a van park so we can have a shower as the next 2 nights will be in the bush.
Car and camper are awesome. Although we have used 255 ltrs of diesel to get to this point.
The day started in heavy fog and 3 degrees. It was a very hard introduction to camper packups for ash. We finally got away from Euston at a little after 8.30. The fog hung around until nearly midday. It made travelling pretty challenging as it was very difficult to overtake. Some of the grey nomads need a bullet. Traveling at 85 Kim's per hour in 110 km roads and absolutely no curtesy for the other drivers. I don't know how the truckies cope.
We stopped at Renmark to recover from our border crossing ordeal after a fruit inspector went right through the car and camper confiscating all the fruit and veg Lisa had given us. We found a great shopping centre and bought enough food for a couple of days as well as some household and hardware items for the camper.
We travelled through both the Barossa and Clare valley wine regions and eventually hit Spenser gulf where we headed north for port Augusta. We are camping in a van park so we can have a shower as the next 2 nights will be in the bush.
Car and camper are awesome. Although we have used 255 ltrs of diesel to get to this point.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Day 1 - let's get this thing started
Well it's been months of preparation and planning. All that hard work just made Ash and I all the more nervous as the reality of what we are going to do settled on us. It was great to finally drive out of the street. We drove till we hit the Murray river at Euston. 800 kms in 8.5 hours. We found a camp by the river and settled in. First camper setup for Ash ( another induction ) and then off to the local for dinner.
Tomorrow we are heading for port Augusta where we will stock up for 2 nights of bush camping.
All the gear is fantastic. No surprise there I guess.
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Tomorrow we are heading for port Augusta where we will stock up for 2 nights of bush camping.
All the gear is fantastic. No surprise there I guess.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Photos from day 1
Day 1 induction ( took 3 hours)
Happy travelers
Driving test ( pass )
Camped at the Murray river
Mighty Murray river
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The BIG adventure begins
We couldn't avoid it any longer. It was time to swallow the butterflies and head off for WA. 1 day late and 5.5 days to make Perth. Coldest morning of the winter in Bathurst.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Mighty Murray River
Not all bad. Alex and I camped by the Murray river last night and had a BBQ & JD.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Alexandra
I would just like to mention how much I appreciate the help Alexandra his given me this weekend. She is a tower of strength. Really! Always on the job. Never stops.
Pit bunny extraordinaire
Pit bunny extraordinaire
Friday, March 29, 2013
Disaster strikes
You won’t beleive it. The engine failed again on the MGS01 during practice for the first round of the National Bears. Same problem as last time. Case hardening failure on a Cam follower. I’m devastated. We travelled 1300kms to get here.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
On the road for South Australia
Off to SA this weekend
We are headed to Mount Gambier this weekend for the first round of the National Bears Series. Lets hope we can kick some Ducati Arse. Ill try to updte the racing blog reguarly this year.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Greg breaks his leg in NZ Day 6
When greg twisted his leg late on day 6 of the ride we all pretty much just laughted it off. He had fallen off so much we pretty much thought he was indestructible. It turns out he is not. Greg wrote:
"Turns out my "ankle sprain" is in fact a broken leg (fibula near knee) and a ripped apart ankle (Maisonneuve fracture), from my boot hitting at speed, the bastard grass hidden rock adjacent to the rut I was in, late on the last day,
Love those NZ ruts and rocks.
Rolled up to the hospital this morning, now have a plaster cast and crutches and going back for a multiple titanium screw insertion operation tomorrow.
Woooh Hooo.
Looking forward to 8 weeks on crutches-not.
But at least I got the auxiliary bandaged lambie, though it's not as cool as the real, trail worn, one eyed, roll-in-the-grass lambie."
Monday, March 25, 2013
NZ Ride - The Riders in Focus
Robbie ( Cricket) , Always busy working. Rides like someone stuck a bunger up his arse and he's trying to blow it out by riding fast. Sometimes the results are pretty spectacular. Always serious unless he has told a joke at which time he proceeds to crack himself up. He is the only point rider that I have ever seen who appears to be trying to lose the rest of the group. It was a bit like greyhound racing where robbie was the rabbit.
In all seriousness, he ran an incredibly well organised ride. He has an amazing sense of direction. I suspect he may have a GPS hardwired to his brain.
In all seriousness, he ran an incredibly well organised ride. He has an amazing sense of direction. I suspect he may have a GPS hardwired to his brain.
Steve ( Sweep ), Never falls off. Always ready to help out. Loves a bit of a race with the back markers. Clearly likes a bit of young lamb on the side.
Dave (ADD), Camera man extraordinaire. Rides like the music is about to stop and he hasn't found a chair yet. Saves himself from near disaster more often than Bear Grills. If enthusiasm was the only thing you need to ride a bike then Dave would be a world champion. His constant high energy state can encourage any rider to have a race with him, not that any of us had much of a chance of keeping up with the slippery prick.
Says he put on 8 kilo's on his last trip and cant understand why. Incidentally in every photo I have of him he was eating something.
Fred (Jerry can ), the support vehicle driver. Knows much more about Australia than the Australians. A fountain of knowledge on any subject. Always ready to help out everyone. One of the worlds true gentlemen.
Stuart ( tony's other half), At 6'3" made his poxy hire bike look like a child's toy. He could get it going though, and was always in the mix if there was a race on. Deserves a medal for sleeping with Tony the snore miller for 6 nights.
Tony ( the snore miller ), Snores so loud you would swear he was making furniture in his room. Says he has been married 43 years. His wife obviously lives in another house. At 63 years old the crusty old bugger rides like he is 20. He never seems to run out of puff and is always up for a bit of a race. He has a penchant for speech making and he is pretty good at it too. I think he might be the CEO of KTM. He was very interested in Rob's KTM underwear?
Steve ( racer boy ), Spent the whole trip riding around egging on anyone and everyone for a race. It was a 6 day special test for steve. His specialty was buzzing around Robbie's back wheel until he made hime fall off. He pulled it off many times each day. Ridiculously fast on open fire trail. His pox bucket hire bike will never be the same again. If I were robbie I would move it on real quick.
Steve ( BIG Steve ), A gentle giant who for my money was the most talented rider on the trip. He rode the big XR like he was sitting in an arm chair. He made everything look easy and effortless. He was seen sitting on top of one mountain pass watching a youtube movie of the very ride he was on while waiting for everyone to catch up with him.
Clearly needs bluetooth hands free fitted to his bike so he can take care of business while he is riding
Grant ( BIG unit ), larger then life, this man kept us all entertained through the trip. Has an amazing ability to use endless combinations of "F" and "C" bombs in a sentence but still sound eloquent and intelligent. The Aussies all wanted to take him home with them to run as the next prime minister. He could peddle his KTM 520 to devastating effect, although he only had narrow windows of speed before he needed to take a break and sit down for a rest.
He had the best crash of the trip. It probably would have put a mere mortal in hospital, but Grant just brushed himself off and kept riding. And holy shit he can ride.
Rob (pretty boy), He rides like he dresses. Very neat and tidy.
Has every item of kit the KTM makes worldwide and carries or wears it all when riding. Right down to the KTM underwear which Tony says you cant buy in Australiasia. Tony was caught taking photos of his arse crack. Im not sure what that was about.
Rob could have copped a lot of criticism for pulling out of the ride with an unconfirmed injury, however when he kept following us in his magnificent Toyota LX40, all was forgiven. This guy is a gear freak, and has very good toys. Its fair to say we all want his life.
Clive ( Fastest farmer in NZ ), this guy was a constant barrel of laughs. Never stopped smiling and smacking the closest person on the back. Always in the mix on the KTM 350. Every item of clothing was scavenged from his kids cast offs.
We were all horrified when his bike wouldn't start late on the 6th day. It looked like his ride was over with Robbie on the phone calling in the tow truck. Im pretty sure we all would have stayed with him in protest. Luckily a couple of the boys got the KTM going again. It just wouldn't have been right to finish without him. What a funny bastard and a top bloke.
Greg ( crash test dummy), how the hell did he survive the trip. The obstinate bugger just kept on getting up again and again and again. It was the gutsiest ride I have ever seen. What he clearly lacked in talent or ability, he more than made up for in true grit.
Not satisfied with being the slowest rider, he made sure he was the slowest at everything he did. In fact that was his real skill. Incredibly capable at fucking around constantly. The funny thing was, you couldn't actually get cranky with him. It was a great laugh.
I nearly ran him over twice. I fairly sure I would have torn his head off once if he hadn't been wearing a neck brace. I would like to make it clear that I didn't do it on purpose.
On day 6 when Robbie invited a bunch of cockheads to ride with us for the day, everyone was pissed off except greg. He was finally faster then someone.
Mike ( Lamb Hunter ), as a dirt bike rider I make a good Dairy farmer. 5 flat tyres and numerous crashes ( nearly all on flat ground ). Hated the hire bike with a passion but I didnt let it spoil the ride for me. I was pretty shocked at how technically difficult and relentless the riding was. If I hadnt spent the last 3 months riding my berg I would have been up shit creek.
What I enjoyed the most was the great company. You could not ask for a better bunch of blokes to spend a week with. They made the trip. I would definitely come and do it all again. Next time I would bring my own bike. The Kiwi's were definitely more at home on their own rides. The Aussies gave them a run for their money though.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Photos from Day 6
Brothers in Arms
The Famous Cadrona Hotel
Lake departure ( bye Fred)
The boys line up
Fossil Fuels Rule
Not me this time
Me this time
Me again
XR Destruction
NZ Bike trip Wrap up
Here is a photo of the boys at the end of the ride. I think you can see how trashed we are.
There is something about off road bike riding that attracts a certain type of person. I like them
Nz Bike Trip Day 6
256kms, 6 Hrs riding
Wow what a ridiculously hard day. The afternoon was a bit like a death from 1000 cuts. We didnt get back to Alex intil after 7pm. The day started at Cadrona and headed over the crown range. We made out way to Queenstown where we loaded the bikes on a barge and crossed the lake. We then embarked on a loop ride that was like something out of a horror movie. Unfortunately we had 5 extra riders that robbie had invited along to help defray the cost of the barge. After 6 days of close riding together its fair to say that the group didnt take very kindly to the intrusion. We all know each other so well that we can pass each other with confidence that we know what the other guy is going to do. With the new boys that all went out the window. It mad the last day, when we were very tired, pretty unmanageable.
Anyway we got it done. Lots of steep climbs, deep river crossings and tricky rocks.
With then ride finally over we washed our gear and headed to the motel for a final meal together and a debreif. Tony was awarded the Lamb for the final day on account of his spectacular crashes. I was given the honourary Lamb for the amount of punctures I got (5). And greg got a lamb for his effort over the ride.
What a great bunch of guys. We really have turned into a very tight group over the 6 days.
Wow what a ridiculously hard day. The afternoon was a bit like a death from 1000 cuts. We didnt get back to Alex intil after 7pm. The day started at Cadrona and headed over the crown range. We made out way to Queenstown where we loaded the bikes on a barge and crossed the lake. We then embarked on a loop ride that was like something out of a horror movie. Unfortunately we had 5 extra riders that robbie had invited along to help defray the cost of the barge. After 6 days of close riding together its fair to say that the group didnt take very kindly to the intrusion. We all know each other so well that we can pass each other with confidence that we know what the other guy is going to do. With the new boys that all went out the window. It mad the last day, when we were very tired, pretty unmanageable.
Anyway we got it done. Lots of steep climbs, deep river crossings and tricky rocks.
With then ride finally over we washed our gear and headed to the motel for a final meal together and a debreif. Tony was awarded the Lamb for the final day on account of his spectacular crashes. I was given the honourary Lamb for the amount of punctures I got (5). And greg got a lamb for his effort over the ride.
What a great bunch of guys. We really have turned into a very tight group over the 6 days.
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