June 29 Dural (NSW) to Winton (Queensland)

OZ Travel Log for 6.29.2007 Dural(NSW) to Winton(Queensland)

Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllll,
Aren't we just having fun. Left Dural with over cast skies and a bit of rain. Continued through the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where it was snow, fog, rain, and black ice and was I ever glad to get to lower altitudes.

So it was Dural, Windsor, Richmond, Lithgow, Bathhurst, Cowa and a stop for the night at West Wyalong.

West Wyalong-Rankins Springs-Hillston-Ivanhoe
The next day it was off to Rankins Springs going dirt up to Hillston and dirt again to Ivanhoe. Roads were not too bad as the grader had been through a week before.

Ivanhoe-Cobar-Burke
The next morning in Ivanhoe, ice on the bike but with a cuppa it was back on the dirt road to Cobar and sealed to Burke (borrrring). Did meet a biker coming down the Cobar road on a 650 Suzuki with a modified fuel tank of 41 liters. He had crossed the Simpson Desert in his earlier travels. That has become one of the biggest problems with the 17 liter fuel tank on my bike as it does limit you as to where you can go on the dirt roads.

Burke-Hungerford-Eulo-Yowah
From Burke is was dirt to Hungerford, getting to Hungerford was a bit of a charm as you come to the border between NSW and Queensland, stop the bike, open a gate, over the border and there is Hungerford. It consists of a pub, fuel, and assorted buildings. Town population was 2 at the time, the publican and a lad of questionable age with a total of 3 teeth, reminded me of a lady working the Saigon red light district( but that's another story). Any how the road to Hungerford was in decent shape but the dirt road to Eulo was a bloody nightmare. The road had not been graded in the past 2 years and it was ribbed to the max. The adjustment to my hemorrhoids is now complete. Continuing on to Yowah for the night.


Yowah-Quilpie-Jundah
Left the next morning for Quilpie, stopped for a bit of cuppa before pushing onto Jundah. The road from Quilpie to Jundah was road kill to the max for roo's. It got to the point that I just quit counting after the first 100. And another lesson you learn as you travel is do not argue with a road train.......they own the road!


Jundah-Longreach-Winton
First stop of the day was Longreach for lunch. The roads are flat, straight and boring. Live stock in open ranges with no fencing but in this type of environment who cares?
Winton for the night. Will start pointing the bike north-east tomorrow and eventually Cook Town. Winton, the town famous for the song, “Waltzing Matilda”.

June 12-23 Stuck in Sydney

OZ Travel Log for 6.12.2007

Mother Nature must have had a right bloody case of the ass....Sydney and the outback just got inundated with a mega storm that killed 9 people, flooded thousands of homes, and ran ships up on the beach. I sit here with bike still in Customs in Sydney and they won't get to it until latter part of this coming week. Spent the bulk of my time up north at Dural, caravan site, just sitting out the storm and counting the flies crossing the ceiling......talk about excitement!
The Sydney suburbs are just never ending and talk about stop lights, christ I must of gone through 1000 the other day going south for a bit of sight seeing.

The next question is what road is open going north that is not flooded or closed off.
Now as the day continues we find that paperwork is another hurdle that is being ............

I am really having my doubts about this trip altogether when you figure that I left Hawaii on 1 June. Get into Auckland on the 3rd and find out that it is the Queen's birthday on the 4th. Next get the bike sorted out for shipment and get nothing but delays. Fly into OZ on a Thursday, the seventh, find out the bike is still sitting in NZ. Finally get word that the bike made it to OZ over the weekend and of course Monday is the Queen's birthday in OZ.

So with the grace of the almighty, maybe, just maybe the bike will get through customs and quarantine this coming week which means I’ll have it by the 15th .

OZ Travel Log for 6.18.2007

Still don't have the bike.....heavy rains over the weekend and to make matters worse I came down with a case of shingles...

The bike was finally looked at by Australian quarantine and found dust on the bike frame. Lets run through this one time, the bike has been sitting in a warehouse since the end of May. Flew over to Sidney on the 9th of June, Quarantine looks at the bike today......are we having a problem with this....! The bike now has to be taken over to a place that will steam clean the bike (minimum of $250.00AUS) and if the timing is right it will be another 2 more days before I finally get on the bike.

And to add more flavor is the full case of shingles that is going to be a right bloody bear as it covers my groin, back and chest. Just putting on a shirt and shorts is not a pleasant experience and the best of all is trying to sleep at night.

The freight forwarder that I've used both in NZ and OZ has been terrible, just terrible. They should not even be in business, its like dealing with a bunch of amateurs......it is just screw-up after screw-up.....

OZ Travel Log for 6.23.2007

If I thought that New Zealand's Custom's and Quarantine was bad getting the bike through the red tape, the land of OZ has been a right bloody eye opener! Two weeks to finally get clearance and their attitude was, "We will get to it when we feel like it!" The freight forwarder was a big of a bottle neck as ever. I would never use these people again but I don't have much of a choice for getting the bike back to Hawaii. The better of choices would have been buying a second hand bike and selling it when you leave. But again you must have someone here in OZ or whatever to walk you through this.

I am off to Broken Hill from Dural for the first go before heading north up to Queensland for warmer temps and a bit of sunshine.......

This trip has just got to get better from here on out. Or if it doesn't look for me to take up a cabin in some aboriginal town ship some where.

New South Wales (NSW) Dural Caravan Site
Stayed here from June 8 through the 23rd.

Honolulu - New Zealand – Australia Travel Log for 6.4.2007

Was out of the chute for the 9 hour flight to Auckland from Honolulu. Temperature wise, Honolulu 24 degrees and sunny Auckland 11 degrees. A bit of a change but that was nothing considering that after getting the rental car it took me just over an hour to find my way out of the airport and heading in the right direction.

Given that the NZ maps give you the route numbers, the highway signs are a bit remiss in not providing the route numbers at all. Thank the lucky stars that it was a Sunday and still early in the morning and no one caught on that there could be a possible terrorist in a small red rental going around in circles swearing and gesturing wilding.

And being that it is the Queen's birthday, Monday is a holiday here in NZ, so getting my motorcycle kit together before shipment to OZ is a priority.