Anyway, next morning was the run down to Kal. Early start and breakfast on the road.
The weather was still hot and windy but the first 150km out to Liencster was the easiest of the whole trip. Another pie for breakfast . . ;D
Stopped in a leonora and Menzies - Menzies for a fuel and a cool drink.
From there we stopped in to see an old mate who is caretaking a mothballed minesite. Lonely old job that one but he is making the most of it and finding the odd nugget " border="0" />
Then through to Broadarrow for lunch. Served by a tidy barmaid who managed to keep the bar going whilst knocking out 8 burgers in short time - great work !
Then in to Kal to set up camp.
I Kal we were joined by Burt and Scooter. Burt had a GP appt on Friday following a shoulder reco. Given the all clear - him and scooter set off the 900kms or so from Margaret River to meet up with us. Long story short, making good time, Scooter started to suffer electrical problems in Corrigin and limped into Bruce Rock. All was lost and a trailer from Margaret River despatched. Burt left him to it and headed off solo. About an hour later, quite by accident, the problem was discovered (faulty battery lead that tested fine) rectified and Scooter too headed off to Kal solo. Great effort by them both !
Burt's camp set up :
Scooter arriving an hour or so later :
Settled in and partied into the night.
Overnight, some neighbours moved in and dropped the tone of the park a bit. Cheap Hussies ;D
(and before anyone asks - that's Burt's handlebars I was taking a photo of and I just got my "depth of field" a little wrong).
The next morning, we headed into a "mate of a mate's" workshop so Gerry could try to track the source of a primary "rattle".
Suspecting a tensioner problem, we were all quite surprised to find the chain itself fucked after 20,000km.
Must be rare cos there are exactly Zero primary chains available in Australia to suit at this point in time. Bolt her back together, fresh oil and hope for the best.
Johnno's mate also picked up a tidy new toy for his 50th (what a wife !) :
The next day we were headed for Esperance. Cold wet and windy as we left. We stopped to see Mulies brother in law at some roadworks just south of Widgiemooltha. Quick chat and as the traffic turned our way, we bolted out of the roadworks, only to see a cop car stuck in line waiting to come through in the other direction. 10 bikes all travelling "a little" over the posted 60kmh. He would have been spewing ! Chalk one up to us ;D
By Norseman it was cold, wet and unpleasant. A real chill had set in and it was chalk and cheese to the high 30's we had been having for the past 4 days or so.
Salmon Gums was slightly better but with the first rains for some time, the roads were slippery and the bikes had collected a fair amount of red dirt and grime.
Thankfully, after a few more Km's the rain cleared and while the chill didn't, it was certainly more pleasant. Those triple trailer grain trucks are a cunt to get past when they are spewing shit everywhere.
Stopped in at the hotel for a couple of quieties before heading out to the ranch to set up camp.
A wash and freshen up was in order the next day.
Dirty moles - the lot of them !
Thursday was a layday with cleaning the bikes and a counter meal on the agenda. Big roast in the Webber with lots of Veggies was the order of the day for tea. Mmmmm - Vegetables !.
Friday saw us packed up and ready to go bright and early, expecting bleak conditions. Our destination was Walpole however two of the boys had run out of rubber and booked in for tyres in Albany. We also arranged to meet Link at the Harley Shop at 2.00 to join us for the last night.
Thankfully, the weather was not too bad (still windy but no rain). Pie for breakfast at Ravensthorpe.
Arrived in Albany to fairly warm conditions. Spent some time at Great Southern MC and they were fairly accommodating (although the boys did fling a bit of cash at them). As we were stopping for lunch in town, I jettisoned the wet weather gear before we headed in from the Harley shop. After lunch was a short hop 50km to Denmark then another 70 or so to Walpole. That leg turned to shit with all the boys getting split up and going different routes (who knew there were so many ways to go from Albany to Denmark) :o. Consequently, not knowing if we were in front or behind, we stopped at a servo for a few minutes. That was a blessing in disguise as the last 5km in had rained - first for that leg of the trip ! I met up with a few crew riding old Dukes & Guzzi's that we had bumped into last year.
Anyway, sensing we were behind, not in front we headed out to Nornalup and the designated camp.
Once again, partied long and hard (some more than others " border="0" /> )
All too quickly, we were on the last leg. In no hurry for it to end, Johnno and I did a little sightseeing.
Walpole for Breakfast (I rattled off an order for tomato sandwich on grainy bread, pepper but no salt when they said they had no fresh bread, another pie for breakfast ! " border="0" /> ).
Headed through Northcliffe for fuel
From there it was off towards pemberton, across Stuart Rd to Brockman H'way then down to Karridale and Margaret River. At that point the southerners dropped off along the route up through busselton, gelorup and Bunbury with the three from Perth heading straight through. It pissed down from Busso and by the time I hit Bunbury I was wet through. I chucked a lap up the main street of Bunbury, bought a lotto then dropped a note as I left ;D
One off the wood at the local before heading home to the girls (who were very understanding and gave me a big hug given that my last shower was some 3 days and 1600kms ago :" border="0" />
All up - 8 nights, 9 days, 3200km, run out of fuel, blown headlight, loose footpeg, lost bolt from the lower bely guard and
used about 500ml oil (? - halfway to the fill mark). Wouldn't be dead for quids!
Cheers
Philthy " />
Anyway, next morning was the run down to Kal. Early start and breakfast on the road.
The weather was still hot and windy but the first 150km out to Liencster was the easiest of the whole trip. Another pie for breakfast . . ;D
Stopped in a leonora and Menzies - Menzies for a fuel and a cool drink.
From there we stopped in to see an old mate who is caretaking a mothballed minesite. Lonely old job that one but he is making the most of it and finding the odd nugget " border="0" />
Then through to Broadarrow for lunch. Served by a tidy barmaid who managed to keep the bar going whilst knocking out 8 burgers in short time - great work !
Then in to Kal to set up camp.
I Kal we were joined by Burt and Scooter. Burt had a GP appt on Friday following a shoulder reco. Given the all clear - him and scooter set off the 900kms or so from Margaret River to meet up with us. Long story short, making good time, Scooter started to suffer electrical problems in Corrigin and limped into Bruce Rock. All was lost and a trailer from Margaret River despatched. Burt left him to it and headed off solo. About an hour later, quite by accident, the problem was discovered (faulty battery lead that tested fine) rectified and Scooter too headed off to Kal solo. Great effort by them both !
Burt's camp set up :
Scooter arriving an hour or so later :
Settled in and partied into the night.
Overnight, some neighbours moved in and dropped the tone of the park a bit. Cheap Hussies ;D
(and before anyone asks - that's Burt's handlebars I was taking a photo of and I just got my "depth of field" a little wrong).
The next morning, we headed into a "mate of a mate's" workshop so Gerry could try to track the source of a primary "rattle".
Suspecting a tensioner problem, we were all quite surprised to find the chain itself fucked after 20,000km.
Must be rare cos there are exactly Zero primary chains available in Australia to suit at this point in time. Bolt her back together, fresh oil and hope for the best.
Johnno's mate also picked up a tidy new toy for his 50th (what a wife !) :
The next day we were headed for Esperance. Cold wet and windy as we left. We stopped to see Mulies brother in law at some roadworks just south of Widgiemooltha. Quick chat and as the traffic turned our way, we bolted out of the roadworks, only to see a cop car stuck in line waiting to come through in the other direction. 10 bikes all travelling "a little" over the posted 60kmh. He would have been spewing ! Chalk one up to us ;D
By Norseman it was cold, wet and unpleasant. A real chill had set in and it was chalk and cheese to the high 30's we had been having for the past 4 days or so.
Salmon Gums was slightly better but with the first rains for some time, the roads were slippery and the bikes had collected a fair amount of red dirt and grime.
Thankfully, after a few more Km's the rain cleared and while the chill didn't, it was certainly more pleasant. Those triple trailer grain trucks are a cunt to get past when they are spewing shit everywhere.
Stopped in at the hotel for a couple of quieties before heading out to the ranch to set up camp.
A wash and freshen up was in order the next day.
Dirty moles - the lot of them !
Thursday was a layday with cleaning the bikes and a counter meal on the agenda. Big roast in the Webber with lots of Veggies was the order of the day for tea. Mmmmm - Vegetables !.
Friday saw us packed up and ready to go bright and early, expecting bleak conditions. Our destination was Walpole however two of the boys had run out of rubber and booked in for tyres in Albany. We also arranged to meet Link at the Harley Shop at 2.00 to join us for the last night.
Thankfully, the weather was not too bad (still windy but no rain). Pie for breakfast at Ravensthorpe.
Arrived in Albany to fairly warm conditions. Spent some time at Great Southern MC and they were fairly accommodating (although the boys did fling a bit of cash at them). As we were stopping for lunch in town, I jettisoned the wet weather gear before we headed in from the Harley shop. After lunch was a short hop 50km to Denmark then another 70 or so to Walpole. That leg turned to shit with all the boys getting split up and going different routes (who knew there were so many ways to go from Albany to Denmark) :o. Consequently, not knowing if we were in front or behind, we stopped at a servo for a few minutes. That was a blessing in disguise as the last 5km in had rained - first for that leg of the trip ! I met up with a few crew riding old Dukes & Guzzi's that we had bumped into last year.
Anyway, sensing we were behind, not in front we headed out to Nornalup and the designated camp.
Once again, partied long and hard (some more than others " border="0" /> )
All too quickly, we were on the last leg. In no hurry for it to end, Johnno and I did a little sightseeing.
Walpole for Breakfast (I rattled off an order for tomato sandwich on grainy bread, pepper but no salt when they said they had no fresh bread, another pie for breakfast ! " border="0" /> ).
Headed through Northcliffe for fuel
From there it was off towards pemberton, across Stuart Rd to Brockman H'way then down to Karridale and Margaret River. At that point the southerners dropped off along the route up through busselton, gelorup and Bunbury with the three from Perth heading straight through. It pissed down from Busso and by the time I hit Bunbury I was wet through. I chucked a lap up the main street of Bunbury, bought a lotto then dropped a note as I left ;D
One off the wood at the local before heading home to the girls (who were very understanding and gave me a big hug given that my last shower was some 3 days and 1600kms ago :" border="0" />
All up - 8 nights, 9 days, 3200km, run out of fuel, blown headlight, loose footpeg, lost bolt from the lower bely guard and
used about 500ml oil (? - halfway to the fill mark). Wouldn't be dead for quids!
Cheers
Philthy " />
