Slow Road to the Dig Tree (aka Road of Broken Bones)

dougman1

Part of the furniture
DAY 2 -

After some Panadol & a chicken burger, .

Onya Mate, what a cracking trip... and you got back on the horse that bit you!
Bloody marvellous...:clap:

Nothing like a tank slapper on a loaded bike to get the eyeballs out past the front mudguard eh...:woot:
 

twowheeler

two wheels are best
DAY 5 –

Another night in the Abu Ghraib tent.


Today was the big day. 70km into Innamincka to fuel everything up to the brim, then another 460km down the Strzelecki Track before branching south to Arkaroola for the next fuel.

This was my personal lowpoint of the trip. You travel a few kms on the Strzelecki Track proper just before Innamincka. My mojo was completely missing-in-action and the Track’s loose stony surface, combined with an absolutely howling & freezing westerly wind, played with my head. 460km of this ? I was screwed.

Pulled in last to Innamincka to be greeted by this sight –




Seemed appropriate to the mood –




Shivering, we struggled to keep windblown sand out of our tanks & pods, before buying lukewarm stale pies and paying the sullen proprietors :upyrs: . Couldn’t wait to get out of this shithole despite being, frankly, scared about what was ahead.

The first 10 kms or so were a nightmare as the cross wind made a mockery of attempts to keep in firm wheel tracks, constantly blowing me off the camber into the loose rocks. I couldn’t relax or get any proper technique going, and it was exhausting.
Then the loose surface stopped. Firm surface started, the wind dropped a touch, mojo whispered in my ear, and we were away :woot: .

The only mechanical of the trip. Mick’s TR650 had a wire work loose causing all his warning lights to flash. With all-knowing Viktor with us, it was an easy fix :thumbs:




A short stop at Moomba gas fields –




Then on and on down the Strzelecki.

We had a couple of sections of roadworks where a water truck had just passed. The first had an inviting smooth grey surface which was later described by John as “an icerink with motor oil poured on it”. Bikes instantly went in every direction much to the amusement of the water truck driver :lol: , nothing major happened though as we were doing the posted 40kph. My own was fully crossed up in the blink of an eye and I was actually happy it headed for sand :eek:.


We eventually got to the Arkaroola track turnoff at Mt Hopeless and were glad to get onto it. By now the Strzelecki had deteriorated into 4 wheel channels amongst deep loose gravel. However we were now also sharing the road with a few trucks. There’s nothing like the feeling of doing 70kph-ish down a narrow tyre track with a road-train filling your mirror :shock::shock: -




Mt Hopeless was the destination of Burke & Wills’ (& King’s) final fatal walk, through desolate wastelands. What a place to spend your last hours.

The Arkaroola track was stunning with the North Flinders Ranges tantalizingly on the horizon. Everything was also suddenly red –






It was now that we realised the fuel situation was not good. The constant head winds down the Strzelecki had screwed with everyone’s consumption predictions. Quick mental maths had only Casey & I getting to Arkaroola. Others were going to variously either run out well before or perhaps just make it. On the upside, this brought everybody back to my more modest & economical speed :whistle: (although in my defence I was stopping a lot for photos :) ) -




The light was fading through this beautiful stark country and soon it was roo o’clock. But not before I dropped the bike again in a stony-creek bed. This pissed me off :mad: – wasn’t I learning anything ?

Came across Paralana Creek at dusk and called it quits. A great spot with lots of firewood –




A 6’7” tiger was spotted (RHS of pic) -




Evening came, overlooked by Venus –




Then the moon -




More .....
 
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twowheeler

two wheels are best
DAY 6 –

Early morning campfire and proper expresso coffee, before a sunny day's motorcycling on new roads in stunning scenery. Does life get any better ? :so -




We still had 70kms before Arkaroola, so we arranged / siphoned ourselves so that we wouldn’t ALL run out of fuel. If necessary, whoever had enough fuel would take jerry cans on the final kms then ferry them back.

More beautiful scenes on the less-visited eastern flank of the Flinders Ranges –






We came across Wooltana Station. While some of us waited .... -




.... a couple of others went in to see if the owners would sell us fuel. A friendly chat with Sharna, a pat of her 22-yo farm dog, a few $$ (although she initially refused it) & we were away with 15 litres of juice. Awesome Sharna ! -





When asked how much land she was on, Sharna answered “2500”. I said I thought you’d need more than 2500 hectares to make a living out here. She answered, “no, 2500 square kilometers” :glu -



Then we rode some more. Like I said, someone's got to do it :wink: -




Back onto the tourist route, albeit still gravel, and into Arkaroola -




Filled with fuel and hamburgers, we split up. Mick had to get home for a Sat arvo wedding & Matt was going with him. They were going to follow our original planned route, which was south through not much to Yunta, then back track into Victoria & slab it home. The rest of us decided to break early for the slab by heading west to Leigh Creek.


Mick & Matt eventually made it home only about 6 hours before us after making good time through epic & deserted scenery, like this abandoned limestone kiln near Lake Frome (Mick's pic) -



then getting lost in the maze of tracks between Yunta and Morgan.


Meanwhile, we rode along the entertaining and fast gravel road through the Flinders Ranges. –





DeLewis had added entertainment when an emu tried to share his space on earth :wow:.


Emerging near Leigh Creek .... -




.... we went straight into its pub for a counter lunch and a refreshing beer. Then headed south down the sealed road to Hawker -






Soon it was roo o’clock and time for Hawker’s pub (and a proper bed :) ) for the night.


More soon .....
 
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Paul n Dixie

Part of the furniture
:clap::gluAmazing pics! :photo: The pic of the sandy road just before you made camp, shows hoof prints! camels?

The pic of the moon is a cracker (just grateful we didnt see Uranus):wink:

Fantastic RR :D:watch::chug:
 

twowheeler

two wheels are best
:clap::gluAmazing pics! :photo: The pic of the sandy road just before you made camp, shows hoof prints! camels?

Thanks - pretty happy with how some of the pics turned out. Dunno about the hoof prints. We didn't see any camels - more likely they were horses (we were in unfenced farmland here) or more dreaded emus.
 

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
:clap::gluAmazing pics! :photo: The pic of the sandy road just before you made camp, shows hoof prints! camels?

The pic of the moon is a cracker (just grateful we didn't see Uranus):wink:

Fantastic RR :D:watch::chug:

Bit of Camel Toe and Uranus, this one's got it all!

Great Pics, Pete. I'm amazed at how you soldiered on with the pain. Wind and sand combined with aches and pains and tiredness, a marvelous effort! :so
 

twowheeler

two wheels are best

twowheeler

two wheels are best
DAY 7 –

A proper bed provided a bit of sleep :) . Aches & pains were mostly subsiding except in my shoulder & chest, which still caned.

Rode through some rain to start, which soon lifted -





First stop Carrieton and its old-school general store, which is a mix of petrol station, Post Office, milk bar, supermarket & hardware stores –





Like most South Australian towns, it's not short of handsome old sandstone buildings (well, at least I like them :wink: )-






It’s gotten cold again. Into Orroroo & its hints of the recent past -














Then into Peterborough to thaw over an early lunch in a wacky cafe –








An original Peterborough taxi, apparently -




You've gotta be jokin' :shock: -




Thawed & filled, we went around the corner to visit its most excellent motorcycle museum :thumbs:, enjoyment enhanced by its attractive (& knowledgable) proprietress –









A Maserati :drool: -



Epic fail discovered here, as I went to swap my now-full DSLR memory card with its fresh replacement, to find I'd bought the wrong size :doh: . Sony DSLRs require a special card which can't be bought outside big camera stores or fleabay. iPhone 6 pics from now on (which turn out to be bloody good).


On through bright afternoon light -




Soon we were back to the Murray River at Morgan, where we came across a large and spread-out group of numbered BMW GS riders & their sag-wagons, clearly on the GS Safari. Perhaps all these guys are also Harley riders, and we were a scraggly-looking lot, but not a single one of them raised a designer-jacketed arm in response to our waves :upyrs: .


Short detour to Cadell's quieter ferry, which I last did in the opposite direction –







Along through a mix of orange groves and busier open roads. By late afternoon & nearing roo o’clock, we came into Renmark. Stocking up on wine for that night’s camp, we asked a couple of chatty locals if they could direct us to a nice spot on the Murray. Bugger that, they actually escorted us to the correct turnoff – awesome :clap: - which led to Lindsay Point -




Lindsay Point is just over the border inside Victoria. For map nerds like me, it's also (almost) the most northerly point in the state. Camping spot for kings, yet again :so , looking over this –




And this -



And this -




Feasted tonight around a huge fire, getting rid of excess food and what alcohol had made it this far, as the plan was to get home tomorrow.


More to come .....
 
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