Week Two Quorn(SA) to Busselton (WA)
Day 8 Anzac Day – Flinders Ranges(SA) day trip 350kms
The breakfast agreements are now toast! After agreeing that breakfast was to be at 8am, a text from Kevinn came in at 6.50am saying he was at breakfast. Again we need to talk about Kevinn. He has this thing about the one in one thousand year alignment of the planets. Apparently the moon is in the seventh house at the moment and Jupiter is aligned with mars and Venus, so he is up at 5am each morning to check it out. Russ has no interest in Aquarius (terrible song), or getting up that early.
Russ had maintenance to do . Aandy showed him how to check the oil and then top it up. Lucky Russ has brought the right formula. He then checked Russ’s tyre pressure. (Too low for intense touring). Aandy was heard to whisper “Grasshopper you have much to learn about the art of motor cycle maintenance”. Russ just Zenned out but was thankful that Aandy was on tour.
The Anzac day service was very moving and the whole town of Quorn was out for it (including I suspect a number of Boxy’s and Trudy’s relatives who dominate these parts). There were a number that arrived by horse and watched on horseback. Very cool. After our minutes silence Aandy and Russ mounted up; Kevinn had business to attend to today so said he would prepare some snacks for our return.
We rode up the Flinders along the road to Blinman. Surreal sky’s and landscape. We encountered our first emu. Aandy tried the first method of leaning on the horn, when that didn’t work he gave the poor creature the ”look” and then the finger and he scarpered. Many photo ops and then on to Blinman over some great roads for motorbike riding. We hit up the pub and ordered a pie and a ginger beer. This is where we encountered our second round of “Grey Nomads”. Russ reckons they fall into two categories; the have a chat or the have a crack. These guys were the latter and were giving us a hard time about riding in the for coming weather. “Hope you have plenty of wet weather gear..hahahahah” What does a fox say in this circumstance? So Russ just said “Good onya” ….they got the message.
Aandy lead the reverse trip at warp speed as the wind was now behind us. A quick fuel stop at Wilhelmina Pound (coz we were burning heaps) and a fantastic run back down into Quorn, where Kevinn had the cheese platter ready.
Lots of talk about the BOM severe weather warnings for tomorrow, but the boys reckon we’ve got it covered. Dinner at the same pub as last night. Strangely all the people serving us last night were customers tonight….its a country thing. Streaky Bay tomorrow.
Day 9 26/4/22 Quorn(SA) to Streaky Bay(SA) via Port Lincoln. 680kms
This is the biggest day on tour so far. There was much trepidation from the triumvirate, given the dire BOM forecasts. We were all packed by 7am and then proceeded to Emily’s Café for a quick breakfast and briefing. It seems the storm cell is still to pass us. In preparation we all got into our wet weather gear. Aandy needed a bit of help to get the plastic over his leathers, so our departure was delayed by 10 minutes. In the mean time Kevinn was doing a few hail Mary’s…..Russ didn’t even know he was religious let alone a Catholic. We took off in light rain and followed the rail line into Port Augusta. Seriously if you want to see a wind farm, come here…hundreds of windmills. I have often said that windmills wreck the aesthetics of towns, but in Port Augusta’s case it enhanced it (Mind you a McDonalds sign would enhance as well). The countryside is just dessert scrub with Windmills and powerlines . We were going to change out of our wets at Wyalla, but Aandy turned batteries to power and engines to speed and blew right past it. Two reasons. Firstly his wait loss regime was starting to work, now with plastic over his leather he was sweating better than a Sauna, secondly the place was dire…Steel works in the desert. You have to give it up to the people that live and work here.
We had decided to do two sides of a triangle and go via Port Lincoln as we are supposed to be going around Australia. At this point if Singo Boxy and Tony were on the trip they would have peeled off and saved themselves 300kms; but we pressed on. Passed over the Goyder line again and unbelievably the landscape changed from Mad Max to A Country Practice. Rode into Port Lincoln..what a great place. Had our pic taken with Matthew Flinders and his cat “Trip”. Took a few more pics to prove we were here, had lunch and then took to the road to Streaky Bay.
Aandy was feeling pleasantly numb after the plastic was removed and had set his cruise control to well……..the speed limit. Kevinn decided that this was his time to shine and show us what this Stay Upright stuff was about. He overtook the Gibster and lead us on a merry dance all the way to Streaky Bay.
Nice place but totally disorientating, The Bay faces north. To the uninitiated, you are at the bottom of the country so you think you are facing South; and why the hell is there a sunset in the east? Too much riding today.
Only place open is the pub. Again difficult to get the wine we wanted despite it being on the menu. We used the line…Don’t you know who we are…we know Boxy…but only got the shrug.
Nullarbor Tomorrow.
Day 10 27/4/22 Streaky Bay(SA) to Border Village(SA) 590kms
Beautiful morning in Streaky Bay, but we didn’t have too much time to appreciate it as we had the Nullabor to do. A quick complementary breakfast at Boxys Hotel and then we were off. The first order of business; our readers may remember the blog from day 2 when Kevinn produced a thermos and nescafe for our coffee break………he quickly learned that Foxes don’t do DIY coffee, so the thermos has not featured since. However he opened up his pannier with the DIY equipment today to discover the milk from 8 days ago was still in there ..ergo he was now relegated downwind at the back of the pack for the morning.
So we did the run out of Streaky down the Flinders way. Other Foxes will know that The Gibster (formally known as Aandy formally known as Gibbo), likes to do a slalom around the broken white lines, which is fine except when he does it for 95kms. Russ got motion sickness following him and took the lesser of two evils by dropping back behind the curd mobile.
We met the A1 (coz there is only one road) at Ceduna (a particularly nice tidy town). The wind was crazy, blowing from the North and pushing the temperature to around 34 degrees along with some bastard flies. This causes the hot winds from the desert to mix with the cooler sea breezes and creates a mad cloud pattern. The sky was a strange indigo blue with the strato nebulous clouds creating a closed in feeling. (Spooky eh).
Another fun fact is the northerly wind was hitting the passing road trains at the perpendicular causing a clockwise vortex as you passed the front and an anticlockwise vortex when you passed the rear. Long story short it created a “wobble”. This was counteracted by crouching, legs tight around the bike, tight grip on the handlebar and clenched bum cheeks. (bloody exhausting).
The scenery was great; we dropped in at the Head of the Bight which is a Whale nursery for the Southern Right Whale. No Whales but great scenery. Many pics and we moved on. Stopped at a number of look out points. I had no idea the road ran so close to the cliffs of the Bight.
We then got to the WA Border. What a cluster buck; they still require border passes blah blah blah so The Gibster and Kevin were arguing with the border police unaware that our accommodation was actually on the SA side of the border. When they got to our digs for the night they were saying that they gave them what for and got a form back to fill in.
We then went to dinner at the roadhouse and it was like going to the Star Wars Bar. We had our chops and mash and then The Gibster started applying for his border pass online……bloody ridiculous he said after the 3rd attempt. I’m just riding through tomorrow giving them the look and the finger!
Day 11 28/4/22 Border Village(SA) to Balladonia(WA) 520kms
Well we all got 1 ½ hours extra sleep due to the time change. That meant Kevinn got 13 hours sleep and The Gibster around 12. Russ was too busy writing blogs!
Breakfast in the road house; the boys that had the longest sleep needed the biggest feed. The Gibster ordered the all in breakfast. He was heard to say “the biggest rig needs the most fuel” ; Kevinn and Russ didn’t know whether the reference was in regard to the road trains or well The Gibster himself.
After a couple of pics with the big Kangaroo we were off. The North winds had stopped and the temperature had dropped to 20 and there was a big sky! Despite all our angst about the border they only wanted to check we didn’t have any honey. Lucky the Manuka honey from the cradle of NZ was buried well in the left panier. The road from the border was interesting; we had a ridge on the right and the ocean to the left for about 200kms. Russ was permitted to be in front for this bit as The Gibster was adamant that he only wanted to do about 110km/h as his head wobble at greater speeds was giving him discomfort. Russ was going well through the 150km mark (distance not speed) until he checked his mirrors. It was like he was being followed by Mad Max and the Terminator 2. The Gibster tends to dominate all the road behind with the bulking frame and the determination to use all the road space. Behind him was the Terminator T-1000, riding the straight line never varying and with the constant facial expression (Kevinn is a stay upright instruct btw). Russ had to relinquish the lead as he started thinking he was in a movie.
The Madura Pass was a highlight as we rode up a small hill with a commanding view to the coast and then we had lunch in Cocklebiddy…..well The Gibster opened a can of Salmon and the Terminator and myself had a toastie.
Then it was the 90 mile straight. An hour and a half of no turns! The Gibster had to run at 110km/h to preserve fuel, but the slalom action probably added 20kms. The weird thing at the end of it there was a curve, and the brain took a moment to register as did the muscles to turn the bike.
Rode into the Balladonia Roadhouse. For those old enough, this is where the NASA SkyLab crashed and there were preserved pieces all round. A very ordinary dinner and good conversation and we back to bed by 8pm. (Having said that dinner was 4 – 6.30; no nightlife in the desert!.
Fun Facts for today, we have hit the 5000km mark, at an average speed of 92kms and time in the saddle 53 hours with consumption at 18kms per litre.
Esperance Tomorrow.
Day 12 29/4/22 Balladonia(WA) to Esperance(WA) (including side trip to Cape le Grand) 520kms
A great night’s sleep. The prophecy of Road Trains roaring through all night did not eventuate. We have discovered that Kevinn does a lot of research in the night hours. At breakfast he gave us chapter and verse on the skylab crash and how Jimmy Carter phoned the proprietor of this very Roadhouse Motel to apologise for raining debris on them. We examined the piece they were allowed to keep and were amazed how flimsy it seemed given it was a space station. Russ bought a sticker to put on his top box coz he was getting FOMO from The Gibsters neon accoutrement attesting to him crossing the Nullabor which was now attached to his top box (It was like R66 all over again.)
Today it was more about the destination than the journey, coz the journey sucked. Same old same old; straight roads dessert scrub. Russ saw something vaguely interesting but kept riding as it couldn’t be that interesting. As it transpired Kevinn stopped and took a photo, so at least we have something. Came into Norseman which was clearly a town in the pre covid days, but only had two shops open, the IGA and one café (out of 4). Very depressing. However at least the carrot cake was great.
The desert scrub gradually turned into Malley and then in to pasture as we got towards Esperance. We rocked into what is a nice town with large bulk commodities ships in the harbour. We checked in and asked where is good for dinner. Apparently everywhere does snittys and palamys…..seriously that’s all we’ve had for 5 days! Then they said there was a place that did some exotic foods like Duck and Pork.
As it was only 1pm, we head off to Cape le Grand. BTW in 1792 the French lead and expedition to find La Perouse, The ship was the L’experance and the first officer was Le Grand. Spectacular scenery and amazing beaches. White sand and radiating white wash. Many photos as we didn’t have any others.
Back home for GandTs on the the Gibsters veranda which looked out on a tank (an army tank). Dinner at the Loosy Goose and the usual bed time of 830. (Hydro where are you!)
Albany tomorrow.
Day 13 30/4/22 Esperance(WA) to Albany(WA) 502kms
Another beautiful morning! The Gibster was however slightly delusional this morning, wandering around the motel carpark in his Pyjamas with his IPAD. “Russ I’ve found a place in Margaret River that will take us” . That’s great Gibster. “Can you book it Im sure Ill stuff it up”. OK no problems. Confusion continued to reign, The Gibster has breakfast at the motel while Kev and Russ went to the finest breakfast establishment in Esperance! Oh well there was a big breakfast and a large late that went to waste.
The Gibster then did another dash to the chemist to load up on anti-histamines coz his hay fever was driving him crazy. He proceeded to tell us about how he was going to medicate himself and Kev said…”Andrew nobody cares” . Serious respect points to Kev. This is a transition point, he could clearly be a fox! We then set off along the “Great Ocean Drive”. How good is it to rip off a Victorian Icon! However the 30 minute ride was probably better than anything you get on the Victorian version. Seriously these beaches are amazing! Rode quickly past the Pink Lake which wasn’t pink atm and then on the “only road” to Albany. The temperature was cool and the scenery was Mallee and pasture. We stopped at a few non descript towns, passed the Stirling Ranges (The Gibster was keen on riding through them, but Russ an Kev just said take a picture….which he did). The countryside changed to green pasture and forests and Albany is a very pretty and a very tidy town.
Dinner at our digs at the 6 degrees Boutique Hotel. Kev and Russ insisted that The Gibster take a Hay Fever test. He subsequently tested positive and Kev and Russ insisted he isolate on his bike. Russ didn’t care coz he has already had had Hay fever but Kevin kept sanitising and went to bed early. The Gibster agreed to wear his helmet at all times during his Hay Fever isolation. Margaret River tomorrow….what could possibly go wrong!
Day 14 1/5/22 Albany(WA) to Busseldon(WA) via Demark, Pemberton and Cape Leeuwin 520kms
Its another big day, so we were up for breakfast at 7.30 and on the road by 8, after another Hay Fever diagnosis on the Gibster. He assured us that isolating in his helmet was fine. We hadn’t seen much of Albany so went to check out the local attraction the Gap and the Natural Bridge. The viewing platform is concertinaed over the wildest surf in Australia. The Gibster with helmet on for iso couldn’t face the vertigo so waited at a good distance. Big Tick, we then went the back road to Denmark which is a great little surf town on the edge of the Southern Ocean, also very civilised with a bloody good flat white. (The desert was bereft of good flat whites).
The ride up to Pemberton was fantastic with many turns through the tall timbered forests (we hadn’t seen turns for days). The Gibster and the Terminator made short work of it while Russ took his time. (why rush, and my gear changing foot hurts). At Pemberton we met the first bike riders we had seen on the whole trip (excluding two dirt riders). Unfortunately they were really boring and we said “Gotta Run”.
We then hit up the road to Cape Leeuwin (the most south westerly point in the country, we were at the most south easterly point Mornington Peninsula only 11 days ago). Cape Leeuwin was named by Matthew Flinders in honour of the Dutch ship that explored the coast in 1644. The lighthouse now looks like Cape Canaveral so we couldn’t get the iconic photo….Oh well we saw the Indian Ocean for the first time.
Took off up the coast road to Busseldon (Caves Road). The strobe effect of the western sun through the tall trees was overpowering after 50kms so we reverted to freeway mode. Day off tomorrow so we rented a house for two days. Kevinn was assigned to go and buy some wines. We didn’t hear from him for an hour until he rang and asked what our address was…..delirium has set in!
Thai takeaway tonight and Russ was left the only one awake at 8.40.
Silver Foxes Motorcycle Club Australia 