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| New Years Eve - breakfast at Madura Pass |
Our ride east really began when we pulled out of the Esperance Motor Hotel at 7am on Sunday 30th December. We thought we had found the two day break in the heat wave to make it to Nullarbor Road House. Wrong! 10kms after turning right at Norseman it was over 35deg. By noon we were eating our packed lunch in the shade at Balladonia. It was now 40deg. We took refuge in the friendly cafe for a while. It was still only 40deg when we were ready to leave so we were back on the road to Caiguna, with the promise of a good feed, as when we passed this way early in 2007 it was full of road trains. We were glad to take a motel room, peel off our draggin jeans, and sink a couple of coldies. It was still 43deg at 6pm. It certainly doesn't start cooling down until the sun dips below the horizon.
Up and away at 6am on New Years Eve, determined to catch an hour on the sun. We rode in pleasant conditions all the way to Madura where the temperature was only 29deg at 8:30am. Then it got hot again. Within half an hour of leaving Madura we were riding in unpleasant conditions. It was with some relief when we were holed up in the air conditioned cafe at Border Village, eating lunch and talking to a fellow biker, who was also hiding from the heat, and the police! He was travelling in company with a German tourist on another bike. They got separated going in and out of the lookouts over the Great Aussie Bight and his mate had returned to Nullarbor Road House and called the cops thinking he was lost for dead. Now there is the reason for corner markers!
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| Last sunset of 2007 |
I was worried about leaving Border Village - Nullarbor two hours away and too far without stopping for water. Then while I was idly gazing out of the window I noticed the windmill that had been facing NE, stop, and swing to the SW. A change had come through. We rushed outside and sure enough the temperature had dropped at least 5deg. From our experience, these weather changes tend to be moving at 40 - 60kms per hour. So we thought, if we stayed another hour, we wouldn't catch up with the "front" for a good part of the way to Nullarbor. Wrong! 40kms down the road we were breathing hot air into our lungs again. 80kms from Border Village Steve found a lay-by with a little shelter, just big enough for our bikes. We drank another gallon, and with my T-shirt dripping wet once more, we saddled up and were back on the road - Nullarbor still one hour away. I had ditched my draggin jeans at Border Village in favour of a pair of light cotton pants. It is all a calculated risk. There seemed much more chance of expiring from heat exhaustion than having a motorcycle accident.
It took every ounce of concentration to keep the bikes on the road. Just when we thought it couldn't get any hotter, the guy standing next to the thermostat cranked it up a couple more notches. WOW. The only way out is to keep going. No point stopping. No trees - not even one! Heaven help anyone who breaks down when the weather is like this. One by one the kilometres ticked by. When we pulled into Nullarbor Road House I nearly hopped over the counter and kissed the guy taking vast amounts of money for fuel and lodgings. We were very grateful to arrive. It was 5pm, the temperature 47deg. Out on the road it was at least 50.
There was something magic about watching the sunset on the last day in 2007 at Nullarbor. One of the most beautiful sunsets we have ever seen. The sky so red and the plain stretching as far as the eye could see. All was forgiven, but not forgotten. We had survived the ride.
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| Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008 |
