Just a few Notes:
KiwiRoss, who I had met back in Collingwood, New Zealand, another biker from Canada, has been diagnosed with a terminal brain cancer. He is with his wife and may god let him die in peace. Another time, another place I hope I can buy him a proper pint.
Webster dictionary: defines the word flat as traveling the OZ outback. If flat and riding a road in a straight line for hours on end then OZ is the place.
Bull Dust: See if you can visualize riding over a road that has a dust layer to it but doesn't have any form or substance. Think of the same material wet and it is like driving over black ice. And you and the bike are going down regardless.
Body Weight loss: 5.5 kilo's at this point.
Petrol stations and Cadbury Chocolate: does eating a 7 lb Cadbury chocolate bar have anything to do with my weight loss?
Getting back to the basics.
Mount Isa-Camooweal-Barkly Homestead (NT)
Out of Mount Isa to Barkly Homestead for the first segment into the Northern Territories (NT). As soon as you hit the NT, the first 50km is pot hole heaven. I was following a road train (truck with 4 trailers) weaving through the pot holes and knowing the driver was painting the air blue. Some of the pot holes were large enough to swallow the bike…..just image hitting these at night!
Now Barkly is just what appears. Fuel, food, caravan site and nothing for 100’s of km in all directions.
Barkly Homestead-Three Ways-Renner Springs-Newcastle Waters-Daly Waters
Once you reach Three Ways, its Stuart Highway north to Darwin.
Barkly Homestead to Daley Waters: Pretty much as the day before, straight roads and a long time in the saddle. Having a small bike, 650cc, in the last couple of days just gets old fast. You just want a bike with 1200cc’s under the bonnet and just put the needle on 250km/ph and leave it there. It has been just so bleak out there with nothing on the horizon to break it up.
Daly Waters to Katherine: Short day and a stay in the big city of Katherine. Nothing happening here.
Katherine to Darwin: Into the big city of NT. One road in and out of the city. Caravan park tent site was like the low income housing project in the major cities. The bike was in to BMW for replacing the front fork seals.
While in Darwin did travel to Litchfield National Park. Being the adventurous lad that I am, it was the dirt road into the back of the NP. Here I was traveling along at 70km over this bit of dirt, come over the crest and before me was the biggest track of bull dust I've seen. Couldn't get around it so through the middle I went, the bike and I were one on this bit of travel and at times the only part of my body attached to the bike was the death grip I had on the handle bar. What really amazed me was that both I and the bike ended up right......does the phase, "oh shit!!" mean anything?
Doesn’t this map just make everything soooooo simple when you are traveling!
Darwin-Annaburroo-Jim Jim Road-Jabiru
Darwin to Jabiru: As soon as the bike was fixed I was on the road. Decided that I had a few hours on my side that I would take the Old Jim Jim Road (dirt) through the Kakadu NP. The road was in good nick up to the 30km mark as the road graders were re-shaping the road surface. I should have know better to continue on but being that it was only another 70km of road left.........we are getting the picture! Yes sir, bull dust and corrugations all of the way.
And to make life a bit more exciting we will throw in a series of water crossings. Before each water crossing we have a very large sign stating that there is crocodiles in these waters and no swimming is allowed!
Ask me if I wasted my time going across the water crossings. The last water crossing was a bit of a pill. It was mud leading up to it and on the other side was soft deep sand. Being the expert that I am with 2 1/2 years of travel under my belt with the beamer. It was through the creek and into the sand, the bike went one way and I the other. After spending a bit of time wondering what went wrong, brushing the sand off me and helmet, had a few choice words about a certain grey nomad bike driver....! Dug the bike out and it was down the road to Jabiru.
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