A few short notes by the traveling Grey Nomad:
Wellllllll, does getting up in the morning in single digit weather just not warm the cockles of your heart! My days of riding just with tee shirt and shorts under my motorcycle gear are over until I get back to Hawaii. I am now into my southern side of OZ travel and the weather will be a "Bit Fresh".
Exmouth "Clothes Optional Beach". Picture a gentleman of undetermined age with naval hanging around his knee caps walking along the beach. His thong swim suit is smaller then dental floss and his wife.....she had more nips and tucks; I am just surprised that she didn't have advertising for Dow Chemical on her back. And my camera was on the blink.
Tom Price, Hamersley Gorge on 8.1.2007. I was there taking pictures and another couple had just left. As I was leaving I noticed a camera on the road so I pick it up and took it back to the caravan site office in Tom Price. Move forward to Hamelin Pool 8.13.2007 where I was staying for a few days. Down on a wooden walkway taking pictures when this couple recognized me from Tom Price. Come to find out it was the couple at the gorge when I was there back 8.1.07. and they mentioned that they had lost their camera. Welllllllll, needless to say they were so excited that I had found it and believe it or not the Tom Price caravan site still had the camera.
Found a riding companion. She is 95 yrs old, shaves her head, smokes a black tar substance (opium) in a pipe and speaks pidgin indo-pacific dialect. It cost me 2 bags of flour and a carton of cigarettes.....
Carnarvon-Wooramel Roadhouse-Overlander Roadhouse-Hamelin Pool
A caravan site just as you turn in for the road to Denham. Use to be a telegraph site but other then that just another stop for us lads out there traveling the lonely road. The big news of course was that beer was only $3.00 a can and the sunsets where excellent. Another draw for Hamelin Pool has stromatolites which are millions of years old.
The Hamelin Pool Groupies gathering for the sunset
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Hamelin Pool sunset
Travel up to Denham the next day but pretty much going the way most of the small towns along the west coast that have an appeal to the nomads from the south of OZ....tourist, caravan sites and more tourist.
Hamelin Pool-Overlander Roadhouse-Billabong Roadhouse-Kalbarri-Port Gregory
Had to pass trough Kalbarri, at one time only access was via sea. Again the grey nomads were there and new housing going up as fast as possible. Continued onto Port Gregory for the night. The road through Kalbarri and Port Gregory was a real pleasure to ride as it was like traveling New Zealand’s South Island all over again, just incredible beautiful scenery. If you are ever in this area do not, and I repeat do not pass this ride up.
Kalbarri
Port Gregory with a smile
Port Gregory-Northhampton-Geraldton-Mullewa-Morawa
Into Geraldton for a change of bike tyres. The Mitas tyres had just over 20,000km. They were first installed in NZ and I was some what surprised that they lasted this long. After looking at the tyres once removed, I should have probably changed out 2000km back, question is where as there are just no bike shops north until Darwin. Did buy another motorcycle jacket and a bacalvar.
From Geraldton going east looking for the wild flowers. Do to a late rain or none at all and overcast days, the blooming of the wild flowers were about a month behind. Finally ended up at Morawa, wheat country, for the night. The bakery opens at 0530 and has great food plus the caravan park was 5 minutes away. Met 4 young ladies (I was the youngest of the group), from south of Perth and they provided laughs and entertainment for the night. I have never heard four women lie so much and did they enjoy their scotch.
This area of West Australia is all wheat country and do to the drought for the past 5 years, this years crop is bad again.
Morawa-Buntine-Moora-Badgingarra-Cliff Head-Jurien Bay
Jurien Bay is great this time of the year as the grey nomads are gone north for the warmer latitudes and the wild flowers are just getting out there. While in Jurien Bay, the first stop is the Pinnacles. Once you are there is seems if you are on a movie set from Star Wars, the Pinnacles are just so surreal.
Pinnacles
Pinnacles
Next we travel to the Lesueur National Park for its wild flowers. First off we meet a Bobtail Skink out for a stroll.
Any guesses…………!??
Next week is Perth at the BMW dealer for repairs to the bike. I will walk through the front door with both credit cards held high!
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