Friends
Got a call from forum member Wade Wilson about 3 weeks ago suggesting a ride up north. Afters some negotiation as to route and days away we headed off Thursday a week ago.
I met Wade (not his real name) (he's a dentist so I cant show you his face) on his beautiful Burgundy M8 Ultra at the Bolivar Caltex and we headed to Port Wakefield where we caught up the third member of the crew, Steve on his Triumph Tophy.
From there a short trip to our first nights destination Wallaroo on the Yorke Peninsula. We dropped off our bags and did a quick trip down the coast to Port Hughes where a brew was enjoyed overlooking the jetty and calm sea.
A great country pub meal was had at the attached hotel in Wallaroo and we headed off early Friday morning for our days destination, Woomera.
We had a slow meandering 5 hour trip up the coast taking in Port Broughton, Fishermans Bay, Port Pirie, a roadside diner specialising in pickled seafood and on to Port Augusta where we had lunch.
From there we covered the remaining 180kms in a little under 2 hours as the roads were long flat empty and no towns of note to visit along the way except for a brilliant lookout overlooking a huge lake with a hat like island in the middle. The scenery otherwise was spectacular, green but desolate. Boy, did I enjoy the Ultra on the open roads with cruise control and tunes piped into the helmet
We continued past our turn off at Pimba on to Lake Hart where the boys walked some distance to the salt lake (now covered with water) after the rains.
Back to our accommodation at Woomera, a comfortable 3 bedroom unit in the dorm blocks of the old Woomera military base.
Dinner on the balcony at the Eldo Hotel. Wade had organised for a visit to the Woomera Observatory and volunteers made their way from home to show us the facilities. It was a shame that it was completely overcast and raining so we didn’t get to use the telescope however we organised to catch up with them again in Opal mining town Andamooka.
Saturday we headed to Andamooka, the weather was threatening to rain. The skies were black, country flat and roads straight. It looked like that last scene out of Terminator where heroine Sarah Connor heads off into the unknown. Andamooka was like nothing I’ve ever seen, with hundreds of mine shaft dotting the ground. We met our volunteer friends, watched opals being cut and polished, went on a tour of the town (three burly blokes jammed into the back seat of a Toyota 4wd. I was scared to cough)
We visited a local stonemason, interestingly known as “Cal the Stoner” who is building a brilliant stone mosaic striped tiger. We got to do some noodling in a huge open pit and got a lesson in distinguishing opal from stones.
We had a look at the Post office and Opal Museum. Most of the opal and jewellery items were outside my price point (even as much as I do like my wife).
We left Andamooka late. Had dinner again at the Eldo. The road seemed shorter somehow on the way home and I tried out Steve’s Trophy for a hundy or so K’s. Damn those Triumph 3 cylinder engines are turbine smooth and the ride was actually better than the Ultra with its electronic windscreen.
Sunday involved a quick trip back to Port Augusta where I said goodbye to the fellas. They continued back inland for another couple nights and I came home.
South Australia is a great place to live in at the moment. It was nice to be able to get away for a couple days. Thanks for organising Wade.

Some more pics

Some more pics

Thanks Chester. The tiger was very Cool. The stripes and patches are actually made out of different multi coloured stone. Nothing painted. Has taken him 2 years so far.

good story cheers for sharing

looks to have been a great trip steelo.thanks for sharing

Thank’s Steelo !!

Great story and pics steelo, it sounds like you all had a good time.

You're a hard marker FC, first our photography skills (or lack thereof) and now poor old Cal's ability to make a quid from his stone tigers is under question. You never know, he just might have a multi millionaire in India patiently waiting for it to be finished and Cal will never have to work another day again :).

Looks like a good ride Steelo. Great write up and photos, thanks.

Ditto on that and thanks for sharing 

Great story Steelo. Thanks for posting.....you got rid of your chaps?

Some more random photos of the trip