Back down to Katherine today and the right hand turn on to the Victoria Hwy which will take me in to the west to my planned over night stop at Kununarra. Timber Creek was my first fuel, about 285k’s.

I was about 200k’s into it, cruising in perfect conditions, just doing my thing when out of no-where from the right came 2 Emu’s. They were big striding, big fluffy balls of idiot. They were running at a slight angle but it appeared that when they saw me, they straightened and came straight toward me.

I had no real time to react. We were on collision course. Many scenarios flashed through my mind as I tucked in and braced. I could see the lead emu’s face, smiling with it’s big eyes and long eyelashes. It was just there about to hit me. It crossed less than a metre in front and the other one the same distance behind. I’d gone right in between them.

I arrived at Timber Creek and sat for a while, thinking what could have been. It was a huge moment and it put me back into the now. I had probably become a bit complacent with how everything was going, so a bit of an epiphany moment.

I reached Kununarra and found the camp ground. Out came the tent for the first time. After a feed I was back to the tent where I lay on my self inflating mattress, which didn’t self inflate. I blew it up but in the night it went flat. All I could replace it with the next day was a normal lilo. Heavy and lots of puffing to blow it up.

That next night, the pub next to the camping ground had the NRL State of Origin advertised and were making a big deal out of it. Free BBQ and more. Rather than risk missing the game, I stayed that day in Kununarra. Go the Blues!

The run from Katherine to Darwin’s outer suburbs is only 3 hrs. It wasn’t what I would call busy, but there was always traffic in sight front or back, compared to nothing as previously. It was fun riding at around the legal speed limit of 130kph, gathering up and sliding past everything in front. Most vehicles were travelling on around 100kph so there was plenty of overtaking to be had today.

I reached Darwin and had racked up 5000k’s. The bike had been faultless. It was absolutely in it’s element out here. This trip is all about the bike and at this point I was just so relieved. I said a few words of encouragement to my Italian beauty and patted the tank. As I rolled in to the suburbs it was 32 degrees and I thought quickly about how nice the weather had been so far, cloudless every day, great temperatures. I was feeling a bit chuffed that I had made it here, and was already thinking about the next stage of the trip into the west. That’s where the camping would start. That’s where I will be travelling into a real unknown of roads, lands and places.

I stayed in Darwin at Ernie’s, a long time mate from school days. It was nice to slow down for a while.

I found the water front and wharf area’s good to wander around. It felt nice to walk. You can see displays and memorabilia from Cyclone Tracy as well as the WW2 Japanese bombings of Darwin. The Mindil Beach Sunset Markets are a nice place to look and sit and watch. Sunset is a (very) popular time to be there. I ate from The Road Kill Cafe which sells any type of food that one might find on the side of the road including lizard’s and croc’s.

Another sunny, crisp morning. I was off the Barkly Hwy and on the Stuart Hwy heading due north. Today had a bit of a planned destination which was to reach Daly Waters for a stop and maybe stay there. It’s about 270k’s up the road and 5 or so k’s off to the left. I remember it from last visit as a quiet little place with very few permanent residents to speak of but an interesting pub, a quiet camping ground and some accommodation rooms and cabins. There is a bit more traffic on this road, including the road trains. They seemed aware of me being around and acknowledged me when coming up to them and overtaking. I was probably all over their radios like the previous truckie said at 3 ways.

There are few tourist attractions here in Daly Waters which I believe fit in the category of ‘different’.

I turned off the Stuart Hwy and came up to a traffic jam. I had to manoeuvre my way past a 500mtr long line of caravans and Winnebago’s trying to get in. School holiday’s apparently. The place was packed. The camping ground was humming with the sound of generators. It was a long wait for my meal, which was a a really nice Barra, and the pub was not at all a cosy place. Lots of character but just too busy. I decided after eating that I would continue to Katherine to stay the night.

It was a nearly 700k day. The temperature in the day had increased by about 10 degrees from yesterday at 3 Ways, and I really knew that I was in the Northern Territory. The thermometer on my bike said it was 32 degrees here. It was 19 when I left Sydney and low 20’s every day since. I reached Katherine just after mid afternoon and did the sus’ out blockie. The pubs didn’t seem to have any inviting accommodation signs and I asked the guy in the servo for any recommendations. He wasn’t too talkative but mumbled in few words that I should look for a motel. The Katherine Motel was my pick. Seemed quite secure with coded security gates. My impression of the area was that these gates as well as high secure fencing were probably a good idea. It was $155 which is a bit more than other places I had stayed at but bike security and sleep are always worth the extra cost.

I had a quick wander around, worked out that there wasn’t much here in Katherine to see, found a noodle bar for a feed and then back to the Motel for what I was hoping to be a quiet sleepy night. A bit of telly and I was on my way to la la land … THEN … bloody builders in the 3 rooms next door started getting louder and were on the piss ’till 4 am !!! at one point punching on, yes, outside my room. Made for one cranky bike rider the next morning. Although they weren’t around, they were nice enough though, to avail me of a shirt from the back of one of their trucks, to wipe down my bike.

This day has the longest stretch on the whole trip without a fuel pump, 296k’s. The first run is 195k’s to Camooweal. I had a full tank and a fuel light which when it comes on, I know for sure does 30k’s.  I thought, as the conditions were so clear, no traffic, excellent vision to the sides and straight ahead with a perfect road surface, that I would see how things go with a bit more momentum..

As I believe it to be a bit naughty, I will not confirm or deny that I did 160kph for 190 kilometres and that my fuel light came on after 185k’s. I now knew I can do 120kph for 300k’s and about 140kph for 240k’s before the fuel light comes on. Unfortunately the legal speed limits do not permit me to do any of those numbers.

Being out here at Camooweal is the beginning of the real outback. From Mount Isa to here, the land changed. It is red soil, lots of brown grass and thin on trees, quiet, no wind and clear. I had a break, fuelled up to the brim and took off on a possible 3hr run at 120kph most of the way. I stopped once at a rest stop and sat there on my own in absolute solitude. I lay and listened.  The sound of nothing was perfect.

I crossed into the NT and reached Barkly Homestead. I stayed there with my Daughter in 2009 in a cabin. I recommend it as a place to stay. Lunch and a stretch, I was heading to 3 Ways. I had already decided I was going to stay there. I found the music took my mind off the job, so I gave up on that.

I was in Road Train territory now. These things are 3 or 4 trailers long and push a lot of wind. When coming head on, I slow right down to sometimes 80kph as it is quite turbulent when we pass, and over taking can be pretty wild at times as well. Coming up behind them I can feel the turbulence from nearly 1 klm back. And then it’s best to just get passed all those wheels as quick as possible and hold tight when you punch out through the ‘bow wave’.

I saw an Emu off in the distance doing a little jog.   Note to self  ‘Be aware of Emu’s’. They can be very unpredictable.  I also noticed the road kill types and numbers had increased. It’s not just wallabies any more but big grey and red kangaroo’s and goats and cows as well as buffalo. The buffalo, although dead, can be a bit of an issue if your concentration gets a bit relaxed as they are the same colour of the road, so can be a bit hard to notice. An easy 190k’s and I was at 3 Ways. Just about all service station stops are roadhouses out here and this one is busy. Fuel, food, grog and accommodation. I grabbed a Donga to sleep in. A good night in the bar talking to a truckie on his regular run from Darwin to Port Augusta as well the Skandy couple living and working here for the last year. The truckie said one of his mates told him I was out there on the road and he wondered if he would see me. He also warned me to keep an eye on my gear as I headed north as the ‘local opportunists’ will pounce on anything not secured.

And in the NT the speed limit is great. If I turn left here at 3 Ways, I would get to the only section of road in Australia which has no speed limit, a 276 klm stretch down closer to Alice Springs.

A relaxing start to the day, fully fed and fuelled, I was on to Mount Isa, maybe. The road is straight with long rises and falls. The scenery is changing from orange to more of a red and the vegetation is thinning out, moving further away from the road edge and giving good clear vision. Maps says Longreach is 2hrs 40 mins away. With a time to beat, I got there in 2hrs 10mins. Just a quick fuel stop and straight out the other end on to the Landsborough Hwy. On the right is the airport, where the old Qantas Jumbo named Longreach, is a permanent fixture set up for tourists.

Another stop in Winton for a feed and fuel and I thought I should make Cloncurry which was about 350k’s. It was along here that I remembered that I had an iPad so I tried riding with music, which I had never done before. With one fuel stop, I reached Cloncurry in around 3hrs. It was just after 3pm. I knew I was heading into the sun and kangaroo time. Not much to see or happening in Cloncurry so thought too push on to Mount Isa which was 125k’s. I was now on the Barkly Hwy and I knew this to be the road to the Northern Territory. The traffic started to pick up as I rolled closer to Mount Isa, so backed it off a bit and went into ‘traffic mode’ from about 20k’s out of town.

It’s a big town based around a copper mine. Bloody ugly thing with smoke stacks puffing away.

It had been a long day in the end, around 900k’s in under 8.0hrs including stops. Into the servo, then a couple of blockies to sus’ the town out and the first place I decided to have a look at was the Ibis Hotel. Modern motel style room in a big pub with breakfast included, $90. Once in the room and settled, I thought that it was good to know I can get through a long day like that and more if I needed. I was feeling pretty good physically. I would have liked to have finished earlier as the sun in the face time of day can really hinder the vision and takes the relaxed out of it.

It was busy at the Ibis. The menu here seemed a bit pricey compared to other pubs I’d eaten at so I did a bit of a walk and ended up with a Domino’s pizza. In bed by 9, a good night sleep and brekky was buffet style with as much as I could eat. Another sunny crisp morning and I was back on the road and into it.

A good night sleep, no hurry to leave, breakfast, sunshine and crisp air, a bit of a bike check and shuffling luggage, I was on the road at about at about 10am. It was 100k’s north to Biloela and a fuel top up.

I took the local tip I was told at Monto last night and rather than keep going north to the T intersection at the Capricorn Hwy just out from Rockhampton, I turned left at Biloela to Banana on the Dawson Hwy. The guy in the servo where I just filled up said to watch out for the police going into Banana but after that I should be right. The road started to flatten and there was certainly less traffic along here. It was only a short 50k’s and just into the 80k zone into Banana, on the right was a highway patrol. Gotta love those local tips.

Once through Banana, the landscape and roads started to open up. It was time to get into 6th gear. I reached Springsure which is about 290k’s and my fuel light had not come on. It was another maybe 50k’s to the next fuel. Knowing I get around 40k’s with the fuel light on, I thought it to be a good chance to confirm a 300k fuel range. I could always turn around if I got worried this side of 1/2 way. The fuel light came on at 320k’s. I’m led to believe that I should get 40k’s out of it. I reached a Caltex servo just out of Emerald at 340k’s on one tank. I know the longest stretch on the whole trip is 296k’s without a service station, so I was pretty happy with that result.

After food and fuel I headed west on the Capricorn Hwy. Next fuel was at Alpha. I went to the only service station in town. When I turned to walk out after paying, the bloke said “watch out for the ‘roos up the road”. It was mid arvo and riding straight into the sun. With that tip, this was my stop for the night. I had the choice of the one pub in Alpha, the Gascoyne Hotel.

The guy behind the counter seemed a bit frazzled. I sorted out a room, $50, and put the bike in the barn out the back. Before I left he asked me if I was eating there. I said I would and he took a deep breath, wiped his brow and said “rito, I’ll go and turn on the kitchen.” I went for a quick walk up and down the only street. I saw some Murals on the sides of a brick garage and a train yard shed which to me, kind of looked out of place. I went back ‘home’ and into the public bar. It was only the frazzled barman and myself in there.

I had a beer and a bit of a chat. During this chat he said “We don’t normally get people comin’ here at this time so I wasn’t expecting ya”. I asked him about the murals. He said there were 22 of them around town and I should go check ’em out. He cooked up a good hardy rump and vegies for me and said he would stay open for as long as I was drinking. He stayed open for 2 more schooners. I would have only had 1 but he was a champion bloke to chat with.

Up in the morning at 8.30 and I went hunting for some food and sure enough there was a bakery. There are only 2 other shops and a little community hall in Alpha so scoring this made a good start to the day. I wandered around and there were murals scattered all around on any wall. A bit unusual to see this, let alone in a town that didn’t really seem to have a reason for being there and had  less than 40 permanent residents. An elderly lady had set up a little stall with handcrafted goods for sale, outside of the little hall. She invited me to sit and eat my pie.

She was keen to chat and as she was putting jam on my scones that she had just sold me with the fresh brewed coffee, she said that someone came up with the idea and local artist painted murals. Now they have coaches stopping and tourists buying what she had just sold me, and more. The town used to be a bit of a logging area and a stop for timber pick up by rail, but those days were long gone.

Leaving this morning I felt that this was the real start for me, with Darwin being my next major stop. My old school mate Ernie was getting a visit. It was the first time I had to make a decision of planing a route, stick to the coast, mountains or inland. The coast is busy and boring. I have done the Warrego Hwy out through Roma before and it’s straight flat road country. Although about 100k’s further, I chose to stick to the mountains. I went down the other side of Mt Glorious and hooked up with The D’Aguilar Hwy heading north through Esk. At Nanango it changes to the Burnett Hwy. I was running parallel with the coast road, but doing it in the hills.

It was a great day riding and definitely the right choice. At about 3.30 and 6hrs of being on the bike, I arrived in Monto and called it a day. Although I had camping gear with me, I had decided not to use it until I got to the North West coast where it would be warmer. I knew there was always a town with pub with a room in the outback otherwise all the servo’s are Road Houses and they have rooms and food so accommodation was never an issue, anywhere.

I rode around the main block a couple of times, casing the town out and found The Albert Hotel. A room for $55 with brekky. I sat in the main bar and chatting with a local mentioned I was heading out through Emerald on the Capricorn Hwy to go to Mount Isa. He said that the best way for me to go tomorrow was to turn left at Biloela and go out through Banana. Reason being that it’s a less traveled road and I could probably average a higher speed.

This region of NSW has great roads in all directions and worth a look if you have the time. From my home town of Lismore, with my mate Graeme coming along for a part of today’s ride on his Ducati 800 sport, it was north over the Burringbar Range and lunch at The Mount Warning Hotel. From there we went through Murwillumbah to Chillingham and into nice twisty valley and mountain roads. The Numinbah Valley and over Hinze Dam to Nerang is a great road with some good surface and can be tempting. Being just over the hill from the Gold Coast, it is popular with both bike and police. We reached Nerang where Graeme turned back and I was onto the M1 to Brisbane. North West of the city is Mount Nebo Road to Mount Glorious. It’s a very smooth and twisty rainforest road and Brisbane’s busiest bike road. At the top is a coffee shop which is a nice stop after that fun you probably just had. It’s also where my daughter lives where I stayed a couple of nights.

A week after leaving Sydney and meandering up the coast on familiar roads in familiar areas, doing visits and sleep-overs, making sure I was happy with the bike and all things to do with it, I was ready to rip in.

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From Wingham I headed north on the Comboyne Rd which included 40 k’s of forest mountain dirt. The road wasn’t too bad for dirt but with a few pot holes and loose gravel sections, I was slowed to an average speed of around 40 kph. But it was fresh mountain air, sunny and crisp and I had the mountain to myself.

This road ended at the bottom of The Oxley Hwy, arguably Australia’s best Motorbike road. A quick stop at Long Flat and then up The Oxley to Walcha, then into Uralla on the New England Hwy to Tenterfield. Here I turned back in towards the coast on the Bruxner Hwy to Lismore with a stop at the bike friendly Lunatic Hotel at Drake. This section of the Bruxner from Tenterfield to Drake is a nice mountain road with plenty of bends and generally nice surface. When in Drake make sure you drop in to the bike friendly Lunatic Hotel.

Starting in Sydney on the 23rd of June 2018, with the bike fully serviced, new tyres, full tank of fuel and loaded up with 2 panniers for riding gear, tools, clothing for all seasons (over packed of course), a gear sack with camping gear sitting on the seat and tank bag with a few daily essentials, I hit the road. It was a glorious 19 degrees sunny day. The feeling when I jumped on and took off was one of relief or probably more disbelief that the day had arrived. I have ridden out of my street many times but this time it really did feel different. The anticipation of the unknown road before me.

I started from Newport on Sydney’s Northern Beaches . On to the M1 and it was north I went. Up past Newcastle and a left onto The Bucketts Way into Gloucester and then towards Taree. I stopped short of Taree, at Wingham where I had a bed at a mate’s for my first stop on my first day. A real cruisy, ride day ending on a farm with dogs that bite and horses at the bedroom window. I was on the road and in the country. 300 k’s done and maybe 18000 k’s and 39 days to go.