We bid a sad farewell to my lovely friend Sarah and her newborn gorgeous gal Esther and rode out of Alice Springs with the bike cruising along as it should, on the ground and not on a tow truck..
Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Olgas and Kings Canyon are three of Australia's tourist destinations that you hear the most about - we were pretty keen to head there and see whether they lived up to expectations or not. We can gladly report that they did - Uluru was first at sunset which was just beautiful - the red of the earth, deep red to then purple of the rock, yellow of the spinifex grasses and blue hues of the sky paints the most perfect picture. We walked AROUND the rock and gave daggers at those climbing it - can't believe people still do it!
The next day we headed out to the Olgas which were also spectacular, day after was Kings Canyon where you climb up a rock face to start and then walk around the rim - it really is just incredible country out here. The colours, the diversity - it is all just amazing - expectations exceeded!
The long road south to SA then beckoned - and it was long, very straight and had VERY little to look at! We stopped in at Coober Pedy where 80% of the population live in dug out houses underground due to the extreme heat in the summer. This is where mad max was fimed and it is a very crazy looking place! We rode an evening trip around the dog fence (5600km fence to keep dingos out of sheep country), the castle (white and yellow rock seen in the film Priscilla Queen of the Desert) and then the Breakaways which were just incredible. After 10 500km (yes, that's right - 10 5000km on our asses) around Australia and seeing so many great things, the Breakaways were instantly tille's favourite thing..
The plan was to head straight towards the west coast of SA where I grew up but whilst in Woomera (place they used to test rockets) we saw a sign for a rodeo in Roxby Downs and decided to head on over - and it was yeeeeeehaaaaaa..
We are now in Port Augusta and tomorrow will head west towards the town of Haslam where I spent 5 years of my childhood. There was nothing but a few houses and an old tennis court when we left in 1988 so it will be intersting to see what is there now.. After that we will head to the Flinders Ranges to meet my parents - marking the end of our trip and my 30th birthday. Clearly once I am 30 I will be all grown up and stop gallavanting around the world :)
Hope everyone is well xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sunday 25 May 2008
Tuesday 13 May 2008
Plenty Highway = dust, adrenalin, flies, pure crazy...
Hello from the centre of Australia - what an adventure to get here! We had planned every detail of the trip from Mt Isa to Alice Springs, rang every cattle station and road house we would pass to get updates on the road conditions, carried extra fuel, water and food and thought we were all set to go... But to anyone reading this considering going on the Plenty Highway - it is bloody difficult and SOOO much harder and remote than you could ever imagine!
We started out from Mt Isa and went to a place called Urandangi where we were welcomed by the locals, drank a few beers with them, watched 'deal or no deal' on tv and gained some advice from two guys that had just travelled our road. This town itself was pretty crazy, it is a long way from anywhere with nothing for the locals to do except drink...
Next morning we headed out towards the Plenty Highway - a few less slips than the day before as Tille mastered picking which was harder or softer and thus slippery ground and working out how to ride in sand with a bike, girlfriend and gear that in total weight 440kg. This is where the 5kg limit on my clothes and toiletries really came into play!
This day was a tough day riding, but we started to relax into it a little and as the day neared an end we started to look for a place to camp off this side of the road. On one hand it is beautiful scenary with absolute silence that you can enjoy, but at the same time it is very scary being so ar from anything! Just as we calmed ourselves about sleeping off the road, our petrol light came on - about 100km early! We spent that night (our 2 year anniversay mind you!) stressing about not being able to get to the next cattle station where we would camp for night 2... Moral here is that when working that hard, motoribikes can use double their normal fuel consumption!
Thankfully we had hired a satellite phone and on calling the station in the morning a lovely lady called sarah announced that 'shit happens' and started driving to meet us. Not only did she bring 15 litres of petrol, but cold cans of coke and homebaked apple muffins - the land is harsh but the locals are definitely not! She assured us it wasn't far to their station and we said our goodbye..
We continued on our way - Tille now really becoming a pro in the sand, corrugations and bull dust fields (these are hideous - large holes in the ground full of slippery fine, red sand - sometimes as about 50m long and the width of the whole road) when the bike decided to stop all together! Keeping calm we checked out the fuses and battery and then a man came along who had gear to check the battery and announced it was flat, tried to jump start us but she was really dead... So - thanks to the sat phone again we rang the RAA who organised for someone to get us. The woman on the phone had huge trouble getting her head around the fact that we were 380km out of Alice Springs and that there was no closer town... Should add that the fact someone came along to help was a miracle, sometimes it is a day between cars on this road!
Some 6 hours later we were watching down a dark road, commenting on how nice the moon was and trying not to fear the sound of cattle hooves in the dark all around us when finally the tow truck appeared over the hill like something from a crazy film... SO thankful that Micheal had come to save us from the peace and serenity of the outback, we loaded the bike on the back of the truck (this took some time, hard to tie a bike onto a flat backed truck!) and jumped in.
Little did we know the adventure was just beginning - Micheal had been driving for 12 hours when he got to us and was a little tired, he spent the trip back nodding off and leaving us to yell to keep him awake and keep talking to him in an effort to keep us on the road. I could write for hours about this man, smoking over an open diesel fuel tank, his days of youth and drinking in hindley street, driving at 80km/hr on a bonkers road, swerving to miss kangaroos and then 130km on the bitumen home... but all I should say is just imagine the type of person that drives tow trucks on hideous roads for a living, thinking nothing of a nearly 800km round trip!
At 3.30am we rolled (flew) into Alice and were left with our dead bike at a hotel (thank you RAA premium) where we drank a beer and had the best shower ever..
The bike is now fixed, she had a dead battery because the mechanics in Adelaide put some crappy battery in her that she should never have had, nice...
Tomorrow we head south - the adrenalin, adventure and cost of getting towed and then fixing the bike has done us in and Western Australia will just have to wait for next time.. Must say, it will be nice to see the SA border once we've been to Kings Canyon and Uluru...
Do we regret it? .................................Not for a second...
We started out from Mt Isa and went to a place called Urandangi where we were welcomed by the locals, drank a few beers with them, watched 'deal or no deal' on tv and gained some advice from two guys that had just travelled our road. This town itself was pretty crazy, it is a long way from anywhere with nothing for the locals to do except drink...
Next morning we headed out towards the Plenty Highway - a few less slips than the day before as Tille mastered picking which was harder or softer and thus slippery ground and working out how to ride in sand with a bike, girlfriend and gear that in total weight 440kg. This is where the 5kg limit on my clothes and toiletries really came into play!
This day was a tough day riding, but we started to relax into it a little and as the day neared an end we started to look for a place to camp off this side of the road. On one hand it is beautiful scenary with absolute silence that you can enjoy, but at the same time it is very scary being so ar from anything! Just as we calmed ourselves about sleeping off the road, our petrol light came on - about 100km early! We spent that night (our 2 year anniversay mind you!) stressing about not being able to get to the next cattle station where we would camp for night 2... Moral here is that when working that hard, motoribikes can use double their normal fuel consumption!
Thankfully we had hired a satellite phone and on calling the station in the morning a lovely lady called sarah announced that 'shit happens' and started driving to meet us. Not only did she bring 15 litres of petrol, but cold cans of coke and homebaked apple muffins - the land is harsh but the locals are definitely not! She assured us it wasn't far to their station and we said our goodbye..
We continued on our way - Tille now really becoming a pro in the sand, corrugations and bull dust fields (these are hideous - large holes in the ground full of slippery fine, red sand - sometimes as about 50m long and the width of the whole road) when the bike decided to stop all together! Keeping calm we checked out the fuses and battery and then a man came along who had gear to check the battery and announced it was flat, tried to jump start us but she was really dead... So - thanks to the sat phone again we rang the RAA who organised for someone to get us. The woman on the phone had huge trouble getting her head around the fact that we were 380km out of Alice Springs and that there was no closer town... Should add that the fact someone came along to help was a miracle, sometimes it is a day between cars on this road!
Some 6 hours later we were watching down a dark road, commenting on how nice the moon was and trying not to fear the sound of cattle hooves in the dark all around us when finally the tow truck appeared over the hill like something from a crazy film... SO thankful that Micheal had come to save us from the peace and serenity of the outback, we loaded the bike on the back of the truck (this took some time, hard to tie a bike onto a flat backed truck!) and jumped in.
Little did we know the adventure was just beginning - Micheal had been driving for 12 hours when he got to us and was a little tired, he spent the trip back nodding off and leaving us to yell to keep him awake and keep talking to him in an effort to keep us on the road. I could write for hours about this man, smoking over an open diesel fuel tank, his days of youth and drinking in hindley street, driving at 80km/hr on a bonkers road, swerving to miss kangaroos and then 130km on the bitumen home... but all I should say is just imagine the type of person that drives tow trucks on hideous roads for a living, thinking nothing of a nearly 800km round trip!
At 3.30am we rolled (flew) into Alice and were left with our dead bike at a hotel (thank you RAA premium) where we drank a beer and had the best shower ever..
The bike is now fixed, she had a dead battery because the mechanics in Adelaide put some crappy battery in her that she should never have had, nice...
Tomorrow we head south - the adrenalin, adventure and cost of getting towed and then fixing the bike has done us in and Western Australia will just have to wait for next time.. Must say, it will be nice to see the SA border once we've been to Kings Canyon and Uluru...
Do we regret it? .................................Not for a second...
Tuesday 6 May 2008
PS
Meant to say - photos to come but it is hard to find an internet cafe or library that will let you plug your camera in to upload them! Trust me - it'll all be worth the wait :)
Bad, bad, bad bloggers
Hello - turns our we're not so good at this blog thing. Clearly it is because we are out busy adventuring and have no time for computers!
Since last time..... We said a not so sorry goodbye to Mackay and continued up the coast through Townsville, through Mission Beach which was just gorgeous, possible the most laid back place in the world and on up to Cairns. There may have been some other stops in there but it is all a bit fuzzy...
Cairns was time for the bike service (she passed with nearly all flying colours hoorah!), a beautiful sky rail up to Karunda and scenic train back and then the day out on the Great Barrier Reef. We went out on a boat and started the morning with a bit of snorkelling over the reef and then tried our hand at diving. They run introductory dives so after a 30 minute lesson you go under water for a few tests and then you are off, four newbies to one trained diver, and it was AWESOME! The feeling of being able to breathe under water and float around is just incredible - we even got to swim around with a turtle. The reef is amazing, we went for two dives and got to swim through a gap in the reef into what they call the blue lagoon on the second dive which was just great. Tille was pretty much a natural whilst I proved the theory that if you are unco-ordinated out of the water the same applies underneath it!
After Cairns we drove along the coast highway up to Cape Tribulation where the rainforest literally meats the sea - the scenary is incredible and we camped right next to the beach. The highlight being the sighting of not just one, but two cassawarry (these are nearly extinct massive birds that look a bit like an emu - only 1200 left in the world), we were big nature buffs that day!
From there it was time to head inland - we had reached our most northern point and then after enjoying the lush green of the Atherton tablelands we did some hard days on the bum of riding westward to Mt Isa where we are now. The scenary has changed dramatically and we are now surrounded by red dirt, rock, hardy looking plants and dust - the rainforest is well and truly gone! The locals think it is too cold to swim in the pool here - it is 30 degrees!
The real challenge for us lies ahead - tomorrow we head to Urandangi (population 50) where we can camp next to the pub, get fuel and then we are on to the Plenty Highway in Northern Territory which is about 750km of dirt and rock before we get to Alice Springs.... Let the fun begin!!!
Jetz ich werde deutsch sprechen!!! Unsere urlaub ist sehr gut - die motorard ist auch seht gut! Das ost Australien Kuste wa sehr shon and wir geschwimmen viele. Wir campen jeder Tag in Campplatz oder im 'National Parks' so manchmal da sind Wasser und Duschen und manchmal da ist keine! Jetz wir fahren fur Alice Springs was ist im Zentrale Australien - viele Rote Schmutz. Ok - Ich hoffe konnen Sie mein Deutsch verstehen, nachste mal Tille werdt schrieben. Tschus!
Since last time..... We said a not so sorry goodbye to Mackay and continued up the coast through Townsville, through Mission Beach which was just gorgeous, possible the most laid back place in the world and on up to Cairns. There may have been some other stops in there but it is all a bit fuzzy...
Cairns was time for the bike service (she passed with nearly all flying colours hoorah!), a beautiful sky rail up to Karunda and scenic train back and then the day out on the Great Barrier Reef. We went out on a boat and started the morning with a bit of snorkelling over the reef and then tried our hand at diving. They run introductory dives so after a 30 minute lesson you go under water for a few tests and then you are off, four newbies to one trained diver, and it was AWESOME! The feeling of being able to breathe under water and float around is just incredible - we even got to swim around with a turtle. The reef is amazing, we went for two dives and got to swim through a gap in the reef into what they call the blue lagoon on the second dive which was just great. Tille was pretty much a natural whilst I proved the theory that if you are unco-ordinated out of the water the same applies underneath it!
After Cairns we drove along the coast highway up to Cape Tribulation where the rainforest literally meats the sea - the scenary is incredible and we camped right next to the beach. The highlight being the sighting of not just one, but two cassawarry (these are nearly extinct massive birds that look a bit like an emu - only 1200 left in the world), we were big nature buffs that day!
From there it was time to head inland - we had reached our most northern point and then after enjoying the lush green of the Atherton tablelands we did some hard days on the bum of riding westward to Mt Isa where we are now. The scenary has changed dramatically and we are now surrounded by red dirt, rock, hardy looking plants and dust - the rainforest is well and truly gone! The locals think it is too cold to swim in the pool here - it is 30 degrees!
The real challenge for us lies ahead - tomorrow we head to Urandangi (population 50) where we can camp next to the pub, get fuel and then we are on to the Plenty Highway in Northern Territory which is about 750km of dirt and rock before we get to Alice Springs.... Let the fun begin!!!
Jetz ich werde deutsch sprechen!!! Unsere urlaub ist sehr gut - die motorard ist auch seht gut! Das ost Australien Kuste wa sehr shon and wir geschwimmen viele. Wir campen jeder Tag in Campplatz oder im 'National Parks' so manchmal da sind Wasser und Duschen und manchmal da ist keine! Jetz wir fahren fur Alice Springs was ist im Zentrale Australien - viele Rote Schmutz. Ok - Ich hoffe konnen Sie mein Deutsch verstehen, nachste mal Tille werdt schrieben. Tschus!
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