On The Road Again

Paddle steamer Rothbury,
Murray River

River Camp #1 Mildura
Murray Darling Confluence

The desert does not share it’s warmth between day and night. But there is hope in the desert sun as the day warms up quickly. While we are riding along at 110km per hour, we have the sure knowledge that, by the end of the 1^st hour of riding, we'll be standing in the sun and the frosty morning will no longer seem like a possibility.

 

South Hay Hotel

The vastness of the Hay Plains, the flattest plain in the Southern Hemisphere, took my breath away and reminded me of The Nullarbor Plain far away. Hay is home to a Shearers Hall of Fame, and a pub, with a resident bearded dragon, to entertain visitors and locals alike.

 

River Camp #2 Hay
Murrumbidgee River

We continued eastwards along the plains where we came across a large herd of cattle who had been set free and were grazing on the Mid Western Highway road verge. We approached with hazard lights on and reduced speed, still one young steer decided to cross the road as I was approaching.

 

River Camp #3 Forbes
Lachlan River

Eventually the Hay Plains slipped away in our rear view mirrors and made way for a range of hills that were made for enjoyable riding. We stopped for awhile to enjoy the utes, in various guises, at Condoblin and then we were on our way to set up camp on the banks of the Lachlan River in Forbes, as far east as we were going to ride.

 

Forbes Town Hall

We stayed in Forbes awhile, wandering amongst the historic buildings in town and entertaining ourselves at The CSIRO Observatory. The observatory played a key role in the communication with the Apollo 11 Astronauts and the live TV coverage of the first moon landing in 1969.  The Australian movie, The Dish, about the observatory's role in the moon landing was the top grossing Australian movie in 2000.  Anyone considering building a “big thing” needs to visit the observatory before starting the engineering.

 

The Dish

Our ride northwards from Coonabarabran was a non starter. Only thirty kilometers down the road, in Parkes, my ABS warning light came on, then all the instruments went blank. I pulled over, stopped the bike; there was not enough battery to start the bike again.  Roadside assistance (NRMA) to the rescue. NRMA, and Rocky, a knowledgeable local, thought it was a faulty battery. NRMA found a new battery for us at a bike shop in Parkes, jump started my bike and sent us on our way.

 

River Camp #4 Wellington
Macquarie River

Steve installed the new battery, we rescheduled our overnight stop to Wellington, and rode out of town in the early afternoon. We were encouraged by a couple of motorcycle racing dudes who were also camped on the banks of the Macquarie River that night.

 

River Camp #5 Coonabarabran 
Castlereagh River

Steve navigated a scenic route from Wellington, through Gulgong, to Coonabarabran. As the miles ticked away we became more confident that my new battery had fixed the problem.

Warrumbungle National Park

Warrumbungle National Park

The beautiful Warrumbungle National Park took our minds away from motorcycle troubles for a day. Then we were back on the road again, Queensland in our sights at the end of the day.

River Camp #6 Moree
Mehi River

Unfortunately the new battery hadn't fixed my bike. In Narribri we were broken down again; same problem. Narribri, a town of 12,700 People, had no motorcycle mechanic to look at my bike.  Roadside assistance loaded my bike on a tilt tray and took her 100km up the road to Thomas Lee Motorcycles in Moree, where she awaits a new stator (part of bike's charging system) to be shipped from Western Australia and fitted; watch this space.

Very sad