Ride Dubbo to Fremantle 4,000 Kilometres

Welcome to Cobar

Cobar was a comfortable distance and our first camp along the way. Our eski, in the camp kitchen fridge, was raided overnight by a hungry person who only took bread, cheese and the remnants of a bar of chocolate.

Can you guess how far from Cobar?
and how far to Wilcannia?

The Barrier Highway, between Cobar and Broken Hill will be remembered as the "Ride of the Goats and the Emu That Got Away." The goats presented with good road sense and mostly moved away from the road verge as we approached. Word on the street says the farmers round up the wild goats and send them to market when the price is right. At the moment this isn't happening and there are thousands of goats.

Kinchega Woolshed

From Broken Hill we rode down to the Menindee Lakes for the day. A visit to the old shearing shed was well worth the dirt road. The best view we found of Menindee Lake was from the caravan park on the edge of town.

The goats thinned out but the emus kept us on our toes as we rode westward from Broken Hill through desert country. Unfortunately Steve's delight in riding Horrocks Pass again was taken away by a slow moving tin top.

First sign of home.

I was pleased to leave Port Augusta behind with the fort knox security and the camp kitchen locked until 7:30am. With the sun still low in the sky I had the joy of riding along with my own shadow for company. A chill wind made this early morning ride uncomfortable and we stopped before our schedule to drink tea and let our black jackets warm us through.

Pre-dawn at Eucla.
Just enough time for a photo before packing up the tent.

Ceduna has always been a staging post for us on our Nullarbor crossings. We stayed two nights so we could shop, do the washing and eat home cooked meals. It was 2°C when we rode out of town. We scheduled our first stop for Penong, only 70km away, and it was with some relief that we pulled into the rest area. We were blessed with a steady tail wind all the way to Eucla. We set up our little tent in our usual place, and dined in the restaurant for who knew when we would pass this way again.

Stop taking photos & lets ride.

We had Norseman in our sights the next day, 700km away. This ride was all about the discipline of long stints in the saddle and efficient rest stops. We made this distance easily but the fat lady hadn't started to sing yet and after refuelling in Norseman my bike wouldn't start. Steve pushed my bike the 650m to the caravan park. By now the sun was settling low in the sky and any diagnosis would have to wait till morning. That night at the Norseman Hotel, instead of congratulating ourselves on an enjoyable 700km ride, we spent our time speculating on "what could be wrong now."

Sunset & moonrise coincided at Esperance.

As soon as the sun was high enough we had the F650GS stripped down. Analysis showed a short on the negative battery terminal. After all battery connections were rigorously cleaned and the assembly well tightened, my bike was ready to go again. By 11am we were on the road to Esperance for a late afternoon stroll overlooking Esperance Bay and a ten out of ten serve of fish and chips on the foreshore in town.

We chose Lake Grace for our last camp. I can report that the caravan park is clean and friendly and the pub in town does a great lamb shank and mash.

Sunrise on our last day on the road.
Lake Grace

On Friday 24th May 2024, after fifty one days on the road we arrived in Fremantle town. 

Good to be home again, until next time...

Ride Summary

Distance:         11,250km

Camp sites: Twenty-five different sites - all nights under canvas.

Southern Cross, Balladonia, Eucla, Ceduna, Port Germain, Nuriootpa, Christies Beach (Adelaide), Mildura, Hay, Forbes, Wellington, Coonabarabran, Moree, Stanthorpe, Inverell, Tamworth, Dubbo, Cobar, Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Ceduna, Eucla, Norseman, Esperance, Lake Grace.

Took a detour on the way home along
The Tin Horse Highway.