Fun times in the sand and sun

Day 10 Tibooburra to Cameron Corner

A “parcel”for Australia Post. One the guys decided to send his tent and mattress as well!

  

First casualty –Gerhards water bottle

Arriving at the 3 borders - South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.

  

Cameron Corner

  

Camping for the night at Cameron Corner (not 5 * Andre style) Remember the tent and mattress that was sent to Perth. Now what? One of the tents had to accommodate 2!

  

The ceiling of the bar has many $5 notes pinned to it in aid of the R.F.D.S. A special trick is used to place notes on the ceiling. The person doing the pinning must keep both feet on the ground while pinning onto ceiling. You will have to go to the pub at Cameron Corner to discover the secret.

   

This was a very challenging day due to very strong winds, bulldust holes and dust.

   

Day 11 Cameron Corner to Montecollina Bore (via Bollards Lagoon, Merty Merty & Strzelecki Crossing - Strzelecki Desert

We got going early to avoid the wind.

  

How did the bus get here?

  

 A bulldust hole. (The sand is like powder)

  

In the “spa” at Monte - Unbelievable.

 Only one of the guys erected a tent. The other two are tough – until the dingos arrived sometime during the night!

Dingo tracks the next morning. One of us slept through all of this.

Sunset at the bore.

  

This is where the guy who sent his tent and mattress home, ended up sleeping. Very comfortable – not

Day 12 Montecollina Bore to Arkaroola Village (Flinders Ranges) via Balcanoona including Vulktahuna - Gammon Ranges National Park

One of the guys hit a massive bulldust hole. Broke the back of the bike!

  

   

Repairing the bike. Note the fly net. What do the flies eat out here?

  

No kids and it’s impossible to do more than 10km/h – Why the road sign?

  

Trevor recovering from his run-in with an Emu.

  

Day 13 Arkaroola Village to Leigh Creek

It rained all night. Can you believe it? The creeks are flowing and the road is as slippery as glass.

  

Almost through….

 Tomorrow we go onto Coward Springs

Trouble on the dirt...

Day 8 Broken Hill to Packsaddle

We decided to take a leisurely ride of some 170km to a place called Packsaddle instead of staying the extra day in Broken Hill.

The bikes loaded up.

Bought supplies. Where must we pack the stuff?

Taking a short break. 

Arriving at Packsaddle. We have just driven through another 170 km’s of wind!

One of the many Packsaddle Motel cats.

Sunset at Packsaddle. The sand is still trying to settle.

Running repair on a very sore bursa!

Day 9 Packsaddle to Tibooburra (rendezvous point with the guys from Newcastle)

Packsaddle different before the wind starts.

We got going early to beat the wind. Good move.

Only one of the guys arrived. Unfortunately Puffy had a split second lapse of concentration, which diminished his driving skills by 95 % as a result of which he hit sand, 95 Km’s out of Bourke at a speed of 95 Km/h on the road to Wanaaring. The upshot of this was that his helmet hit the sand with a 95 Kg projectile propelling it at 95 Km/hr with his head still inside his helmet. This naturally caused an indented cheekbone, cracked eye socket and 5 broken ribs with a leak into his sinuous cavity. Sadly for us all, his trip is over!

Puffy’s bike loaded onto a passing UTE.

Puffy was flown to Broken Hill hospital. The Medical system is absolutely superb.

Gerhard with a bottle of Klippies! We will have a couple on you Puffy!

Tomorrow we leave for Cameron Corner.

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The journey continues....

Day 5 - Ceduna rest day.

This is such a neat, organised village with many retired people.

At this stage of the trip I started feeling like an AGED PEDESTRIAN!

Note the cat on the roof. Low maintenance pet. Just a bit of paint every now and then….

Check out the bay. This is a must for sailing.

 Clean and service. The tyres are nearing the end of their life.

Day 6 Ceduna to Wilmington via Port Augusta

Halfway across Australia…

Met up with some interesting people making their way to a motorcycle rally at Broken Hill. They even tow trailers behind their bikes….. 

One of the punters shipped a DR650 over to Anchorage and then drove around Alaska for a couple of weeks!

                                 




One massive granite monument to the Australia Farmer.




  Only 21 Km to go before we can rest for the day.

Then we spotted a spider on the signboard. Look how big this thing is!@$#!@$!@$#@$%

The Beautiful Valley Caravan Park at Wilmington.

The Wilmington Toy Museum. Check out the Landy’s, (Duncan)

Wilmington Hotel. What fantastic service and very good food.

Day 7 Wilmington to Broken Hill

This was an epic trip.

Stopped at Peterborough for breakfast, a short stroll around the town centre and then a tour of the motorcycle museum. Saw many of the bikes that were around when we were kids – Itom, Geralli, Benelli, Puch, Laverda and many more.

                        Town Hall clock.

Andre wanted to buy the suitcase because his clothes are creased and the suitcase in view allows for clothes to hang while in transit!

Thank goodness for mobile phones.

Then the fun started
.

How bad is the wind and dust? Can’t get any worse.

You bet.

The visibility was down to 800m for the entire 400km we travelled.

We made it into Broken Hill in time for the motorcycle shop to fit new tyre.

We have had communications with the rest of the crew who are heading our way from Newcastle to rendezvous with us at Tibooburra on Sunday. We have a leisurely 335km to do till then. No worries mate!