Week 4 Karratha(WA) to Katherine(NT)
Day 22 9/5/22 Karatha(WA) to Pardoo(WA) 420kms
The Big Guy was all of a dither this morning because all the service lights on his dash kept flashing. That’s what happens when you go 10,000kms apparently. Russ wasn’t too concerned coz his had been flashing since he left Sydney and nothing had gone wrong yet, but the Big Guy was adamant something had to be done. So he rang ahead to Broome and they said they had no staff so couldn’t help him and the only way to stop the lights flashing is to plug a diagnostics computer in. Well the Big Guy rang his dealer in Sydney and told them to do it remotely coz the flashing was doing his head in. They said “suck it up and wait until you get home”. After that initial Kerfuffle we were on our way….just down the road for breakfast.
We left Kuratha at about 9 and proceed to run through the rest of the Pilbara to the Kimberlies. Seriously there was road train after road train, until an extra special road train came down that took up the whole road with an iron bar at head level. The Big Guy took immediate evasive action and road on the edge of the tar and missed the bar by 30cm. Russ didn’t have the 40 years of riding experience so he went off the verge to prevent being clobbered and proceeded along a patch of red ball bearings. Our composure gathered we thought, well that was close and pressed on to Port Headland. This is a town that is Mad Max on steroids. Trains, Road Trains, Bulk Ships, Power Poles, Massive Port and lots of White Utes everywhere. Its like where Earth finishes and Hell begins. But we proceeded in anyway and had lunch. You can see why this is another fly in fly out sort of town. The locals were telling us you have to wash your clothes every 3 days to get rid of the red dust.
Back on the bikes and off to the Pardoo Road House… a non descript place with a few sheds behind the petrol station for accommodation. Russ took a 12km ride down to the beach, which was fantastic. He couldn’t understand why the campervans were parked here when they could be there. Anyhoo, went to dinner and had a hamburger and salad and a bottle of their finest ($7.50). The Captain set a record and retired at 6.30.
Day 23 10/5/22 – Pardoo(WA) to Cable Beach/Broome(WA) 460kms
Well the boys emerged from the plastic Dongas at approx. 7am, The Big Guy stopped snoring at 6.20 so Russ and the Captain knew it was reveille. We proceeded to breakfast at the Roadhouse, The nice lady with no teeth looked after Russ with a fantastic flatwhite and a B&E Roll, but the big guy got the big hippy who upsold him to the same but with a hash brown…..the Big Guy was not happy and left half of it and was happy to tell anyone around that it was crap. The Captain didn’t care.
The girl with the dragon tattoo made an appearance (did not explain this yesterday) and took off in her Suburu. As did a South African guy and his wife on a BMW 1300 something or other, who wanted to talk bike shit, I said talk to the big guy, which he did for a long time…yawn. Then we took off for the most boring ride of the trip…..same old same old, straight road red dirt, scrub for 400kms. Most exciting thing was a large Goanna blocking our path at 140 km/h. The Big Guy gave him the Blue Steel and he moved.
This was a ride by attrition. The Pilbara was interesting coz of its interesting formations like Death Valley, but this stretch of the Kimberlie’s was just relentless. Sandfire Roadhouse was the only relief and the girl with the dragon tattoo was there when we arrived (she is everywhere). Arrived into Broome and onto our magnificent 4 bedroom house in Cable Beach. Russ went off to the beach and checked out the sunset while the other guys took their machines in for service.
The big guy cooked a great meal tonight, the captained cleaned up and Russ did nothing….Oh well.
Day 24 11/5/22 Broome Rest Day (Thank God)
Russ was up early 6am to get on the Martin Rogers recommended Cygnet Bay Flight. It was as exhilarating as it was exhausting. After struggling with the coffee machine Russ extracted a couple of beans worth and was on his way. Straight into the co pilots seat we made of way to the Horizontal Falls (The tide changes 15metres so the water flow through the island is like a horizontal waterfall, We were there in a neap tide so it was running as fast but still spectacular. Landed on a dirt runway in an indigenous community. Unbelievably they were doing early voting, so they kindly got me sorted with my vote….very nice people. Took off again for 5 minutes and landed and got onto a high speed boat and sped through the Buccaneer Archipelago. All a blur but a lot of fun. Lunch of Cone Bay Barramundi, and then back on the plane home again. What a blast, I just cant remember much. The Captain and the Big Guy meanwhile had got the motorcycles back and had had a day in Broome. The Captain had run into the girl with the dragon tattoo (I knew we would) in town. The Big guy cooked a great BBQ and we settled into some TV tonight (its hard on the road).
Day 25 12/5/22 – Broome Rest Day 2
Russ woke up to find the Big Guy pouring over maps and scribbling furiously. The Captain and Russ are abandoning the Big Guy at Atherton for the run home, but the Big Guy doesn’t want the journey to end. We suspect he might do a Crazy Ivan and go back around in an anticlockwise fashion.
Russ just hung around Cable Beach today with a couple of cocktails a banana lounge and an umbrella, while The Captain and The Big Guy checked out a Pearl Farm. Sunset Dinner at the Beach and talk of the trek across the Kimberlies tomorrow.
Day 26 13/5/22 – Broome(WA) to Fitzroy Crossing(WA) 390kms
There is the saying vote early and vote often. The Big Guy has taken this to heart and went of early to the Broome Exhibition Hall to exercise his democratic right. “Where are the bloody snags, I haven’t had breakfast yet”. There will be other opportunities at Fitzroy Crossing, Wyndham and Kathrine when you vote again Russ said.
This ride is classed as short. The classification now is <450kms =short, >450 < 600 =average, >600 =long. A bit of a change from the start of this trip when the riding instructions were nothing over 450kms. Not sure how Boxy, Singo and Tony would be going at this point. As a result we did some reccy work on the NT. The Big Guy and the Captain are set up for the Top End now when Russ takes a hiatus for 4 days.
Fitzroy Crossing is a bit of an eye opener. It is almost 100% indigenous, except for us, the Covid nurses and the extra police who are all staying at the Crossing Inn. It is a dry town except for the bar in our hotel which was full when we arrived, but shut at 4 and then opens again at 8. They only serve Emu lager and the locals were friendly.
We had G and Ts on the balcony and got a briefing from the nurses about the town, where to eat and where to park the bikes. Took off down the dirt track to the Fitzroy Crossing Lodge for dinner. Surprisingly the Big Guy nearly dropped his bike in the sand, when Russ pointed this out, he said its alright for you your bike was made for this shit. Russ said that was the nicest thing he had said about his bike all tour. An Excellent dinner. Although short staffed the backpackers were back. Our servers were Argentinian, Albanian and French, all in the country only a month.
Early start tomorrow, we have a loooong day 700kms.
Day 27 14/5/22 Fitzroy Crossing(WA) to Wyndham(WA) 680kms
An early start today. the boys were trying not to wake the nurses or the police officers who were in the Dongas next door. The Big Guy was especially respectful by letting the engine run for 10 minutes to make sure the grit had burnt through the carburetor. We had distance to cover, but we couldn’t find a coffee any where, we had to wait until Halls Creek (aka Hells Creek by some in WA), which was 280kms away. The Big Guy had to hold to close to the speed limit in order to complete the distance (Why is the BMW tank only 17 litres). Russ and the Captain just laughed in his general direction and pushed on to Halls Creek at Warp Speed. A refuel and a Coles Express Coffee and a pie coz there was nothing else open in town at Halls Creek and then a fantastic run next to the Bungle Bungle Range, Unfortunately the photos wont do justice to the magnificence of these Kimberlies Ranges, but it was a little like the run into Sante Fe…Pink Floyd dark side of the Moon playing (or in Russ’s case St Germain, coz he couldn’t change the stream mid flight.
Rolled into Wyndham after a stop at the “Grotto” and found a quite pleasant cabin at the caravan park. The Big Guy has done it again. Not wanting to ride 6kms for dinner to the Wyndham Rec Club which didnt look that great anyway, we decided to buy pies from the bakery for dinner and get a couple of sav blancs so we could stay put. (Our machines needed a break!).
At this point we should talk about Bird Strike. The birds here are slower (either birds of prey who are heavier or the small birds that travel in mass). Russ got belted by a small bird in the helmet and the Big Guy nearly took out and Eagle. They dont teach you this in riding school the Captain said.
The Big Guy got into trouble with the locals by saying the bakery is closed but there is a party in there so they said they would sell us pies. He was corrected by a local who said it wasn’t a party it was a wake. The Big Guy unperturbed said “Whatever, they’ll sell us pies”. Then off to the Liquor store….same old WA stuff licence, bottle restriction etc. We knew the drill. Russ had the prees but decided to go and look at the lookout which delayed the Captain and the Big Guy from the pleasure of that first drink for 30 minutes. Russ wasn’t popular as detailed in some texts which wont be repeated here.
Another Big Day tomorrow as we roll into Kathrine and lose 90 minutes in time zone
Day 28 15/5/22 Wyndham(WA) to Kathrine (NT) via Argyle Lake 685 kms
Today was the longest (and hottest) ride to date. We had the tripple….it was a long way, it was hot, and we lost 90 mins in time changes. We were up early and left our salubrious accommodation at 6.30 sharp (6.23 actually, we are always early). Lining up for petrol coz we had to compete with the guys in the big fishing comp in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf ($3,000 first prize), one of the ladies said “youse guys have to stop in at Lake Argyle on the way” The Big Guy, conscious of the already long ride, time change etc, wasn’t too sure about that, but Russ and The Captain said they were going and he was welcome to join should he wish. So we took a quick pick of the Big Crocodile and headed to Kunanurra for breakfast. Its a very nice town green from the Ord River Scheme. Over breakfast the Big Guy want to check in with Russ and the Captain as it was now a month on the road. He asked if we were OK….we said mind your own business and asked him if he was OK for asking us if we were OK. Off to lake Argyle which was a really nice ride, winding roads through nice landscape and onto the pearl of the Ord River Scheme. Russ had to channel his year 10 geography lessons. This is the biggest man made lake in Australia he pronounced but couldn’t remember anything else. Spent about an hour taking pics and waiting for the Big Guy to get his hair right.
Driving back out we had two bird strikes. Russ got a hit in the leg by a large black bird and The Big Guy copped one on his windscreen followed by a standoff with a bull, which was resolved when Andy stood aside and let a Road Train deal with it. On top of that the temp was now 38 and we still had to cover 500kms. It was OK though coz we crossed into the NT and the speed limit was now 130km/h, but the roads were probably only rated for 100km/h. Regardless we stuck to the new speed limit and arrived at Kathrine at 4.30. Refreshments and then dinner at the Country Club. A couple of rest days coming up
Silver Foxes Motorcycle Club Australia 