John_Johnny
Long Timer
Nullabor roadhouse. Petrol price was $$$$$$!!!
Day 5. The long run, 1200k Ceduna to Norseman. We headed off at sunrise. First stop was Yatala but the bowsers were all padlocked, and there were people wandering around, some asleep beside the driveway. It was only another 100k to the Nullabor roadhouse, so I kept going. The weather was glorious. Blue sky with the occasional wispy cloud, but cold, in fact freezing. I had the handlegrip heaters on so my hands felt warm, but without gloves the palms of my hands felt warm while the back of my hands were freezing. By Cocklebiddy I realised it was frostbite. Back on with the gloves, but in the following days the skin came off. So far most of the landscape had been desert but I was conscious of scrub further on and the risk of kangaroos jumping into our path at sunset. We were on target to reach Norseman today, but I ramped the speed up to try and get us there before sunset. The bike was just purring along and it seemed to prefer the higher speed, and the music was great. Just as we got to the end of Stairway to Heaven I noticed flashing lights far away on the horizon. I immediately dropped back to the speed limit and after a while I could see a yellow highway patrol car parked across both lanes. Yep, he was waiting for me. He got me on the radar from 5k away! My excuse of being at the end of Stairway to Heaven didn't cut it. I got a stern talking too and an on the spot fine, provided I promised to check in at Belladonia which I greatfully agreed to. We hooked up with the Vietnam Veterans motorcycle club at the Belladonia roadhouse. They were doing a run from Perth to Alice/Darwin/Broome and back to Perth. It was fun listening to their stories, then we drifted off to sleep early. It's been a long day. We almost made it!