Wou net sê ek is veilig terug by die huis, geen moeilikheid gehad nie elke oomblik geniet. Net mooi 7700km oor 11dae waarvan 3 dae rondkyk en kuier was met min kms.
Van breedte graad (latitude) 38S tot 15S en terug
. Tussen lengte grade (longitude) 145E tot 153E. Voorreg gewees om dit alles te kon sien en te beleef.
Ek het hierdie bakkie by Gympie, Sentraal Queensland teegekom. Die ou was besig om die bakkie vol te maak toe ek by die pomp agter hom stop.
Dis 'n 1975 Nissan Pathfinder met meer as 1 miljoen km wat die letterlik 4 x keer rondom Australia (een keer is 25000km) was. Hy het al die 4de of 5de enjin en , ratkaste is ook verander. Hy het tans 'n 3L reguit ses silinder wat op gas (LNG) en petrol kan loop.
LNG word heel normaal by meeste petrol garages in Australia verkoop. Baie voertuie gebruik dit. Baie maklik en kos amper niks om om te skakel want regering subsidieer.
As iemand met gas volmaak en jy weet dit nie sal jy dink hy gooi gewone brandstof in. Dis helfte van petrol se prys per liter en gee amper selfde kms per liter, maar nie oral beskikbaar veral in die vêr afgeleë plekke as mens reg om Australia wil ry maar daarvoor dan petrol om hom te kry tot daar weer gas is
.
Die man se naam is Garry. Hy bedryf 'n skoonmaak en instandhoudings besigheid in daai omgewing. Hy lyk vir my na 'n rakker - groot sport op onskuldige maniere . Al daai ligte tel op tot rondom 1000 watt - let op die twee op die dak wat so gelerig lyk. Hulle is baie sterk ligte en belig die kante van die pad vorentoe. Al die ligte is om die roos van die pad af te brand :-). Die rego sê alles.
Ek het gedag julle sal will weet ��
A friend responded to the question as to why we do things like this. Jacques, I agree and you are right on the money.
Somehow it is like the song says it: "The answer is in the wind my friend" thing.
No, I won't mention a lovely big old dog, flappy ears and all with his head poked through the open window of a car on the highway, big open mouth smile, tongue flying in the wind
. He is just always happily going somewhere, not a care in life and couldn't care less about the destination - as long as he can be face in the wind :-).
Difficult one to explain to non-bikers, and then it doesn't need to be explained to bikers whow knows and appreciates all about it.
As it were this time, that wind was sometimes wet with heavy rain and occasionally very hot and dry but mostly in the temperate zone of 20 - 36C.
The ultra high humidty in the tropical far north, to me was no problem at all when moving at respectable speed. When at a standstill, sweat just streamed and everthing remained wet but at speed it always felt pleasantly cool Not to be confused with slower rate of dehydration. Dehydration remains as high if not higher than at standstill - it just feels much cooler.
So relaxing and rejuvenating, wonderful great priviledge for me to have been able to do and what I can say is this: What a great country this Australia is!
.
Another friend asked about the experience of the set of K60 Heidenaus I fitted specially for the trip.
Cecil, baie lekker gery. Nie heeltemal dieselfde as racing slicks op teerpad nie maar oor die bande het ek gou-gou groot rustigheid gekry. Tawwe bande wat die longhaul, warm pad, harde reën, rowwe teer oppervlakte, skêrp draaie, lang ente reguit highway, heeltyd rustig en kalm hanteer. Elke keer as ek gewonder het of hulle nou kommentaar sal hê na spesifieke bietjie hammering en nader bekyk het, het hulle ast ware terug gekyk en verveeld gevra: "...en verder...? Die band druk blyk verbasend konstant, waarskynlik meer so as ander bande voorheen. Op grondpad ? Wel, net een woord: Amazing! Selfs teen hundred and plenty % (ja ek weet dis hoogs onverantwoordelik, en mens moet dit nooit doen nie) geen aanduiding dat hulle dit verloor nie.
Die slytasie van die agter band is so te sê op die limiet en die agter kant het oor laaste 800km op so baie lig begin rond trap, veral op 60/80kph deur dorpe
. Ek dink hulle gee kennis - die dik rubber elastisiteit is weg geslyt.
Yet one more friend congratulated me on completing the ride and I decided to pen a summary of the entire ride.
Alan, thank you. Great to hear it from the likes of you but actually not really unlike what you and Wilna have been up to ever so stately across South Africa, Namibia and Botswana recently. A ball of a time it must have been, you and her, two up on the GS me-and-er-ing.
In Australia, the long haul doesn't run through different neighbouring countries, just through different states and territories. On this ride the states of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and ACT.
And the traffic rules differ from state to state. In Victoria the rule says a motorcycle may be parked anywhere as long as it does not cause an obstruction. Not so in Nsw and Act. In Victoria the rules says U-turns are permitted anywhere unless prohibited by signs. Not so in Nsw.
I never had any problem with cops. They seemed to all but ignore me. On the return trip south in NSW near Sydney there was a road block. The cops got sight of me as I rounded a bend in the road some 500m+ up from the road block. A couple of cars stood in the queue already pulled over. I saw a cop standing next to the armco barrier on the left lifting his clip board and start to walk from the side of the dual carriage way into the lane in which I would pass, evidently to pull me over for breath analyser test and who knows what. He was looking at me as he walked and as I came closer I think he was able to see Draadkameel behind the running lights. The two led auxiliaries and normal running light forms a equal 600mm sided triangle and are quite bright even by day. I saw him hesitating, lowering the hand with the clipboard to his waist, then turn away from me and signalled me to pass. He would have made my day. I could have used a nice social conversation at that time and he looked like such a nice, sober, neatly dressed, clean shaven person, good posture and attitude and quite evidently a local from the area in NSW.
Spoiled for choice we are yes since it covers just about every climatic zone in the world.
Going north from Melbourne I followed a route a few hundred km's inland from the coast all the way to Rockhampton i.e. 700km north of Brisbane. From there along the coast to Mossman across the mountain to Mt Molloy and to Cooktown. On the night before I left Cooktown the host at the accommodation told me that he thought the monsoon rain was setting in and that I might not be able to get out the next morning. He reassured me that my room was reserved for me and I could stay as long as I liked. It rained heavily for most of the night and so when morning came well before sunrise and still raining with soddy clothes and helmet I ran the gauntlet with the roos. It is a very small type of roo, probably a Wallaby, light in color, up there with many around. One close call I had with a joey running flat out from the right to the left apparently determined to cross paths with Draadkameel in the middle of the road. I was probably still going 60kph at the time having slowed from 80kph when he came into view. I was bracing to cross this obstacle like trained to do, courtesy BMW Rider School, when at the very last second the joey hit the brakes, his long neck extended in front of his body, all but flat on the road and he pulled his head backwards Draadkameel's wheels passed no more than 300mm or so in-front of his nose. I saw many more of the same Wallabies but all were easily avoided. So yes it is true the roos are very active around dawn and can be a menace to road users.
On the road between Mt Molloy pass Lakeland to Cooktown there are several places with no fences next to the road. Cattle in poor condition with long horns roams freely everywhere along and across the road. Not at all advisable to travel this road at night and if so even by day, very carefully
I joined the coastal route again 400km further south at Innisfail about 90km south of Cairns. I continued to Airlie Beech where a stayed one night and had my motor cycle jacket and pants washed. The pong caused by days of excessive sweat, drenching with rain and drying several times a day reached olympic standard.
From Airlie Beach I made it to Miriam Vale 170km south of Rockhampton where I stayed the night. I then popped in at the Brisbane friends and stayed one night on passing through Brisbane going south the next day. I told my friend that I found him to be quite truthful in telling about the cyclones, humidity, heat and roads up into far north tropical Queensland, however he omitted to
tell me how much fun it was ��. He just grimaced and shook his head.
From Brisbane I then stuck to the coastal route all along the Pacific Highway. I would like to be on record for saying of it that it is the most frustrating road I ever traveled, 13 hours on the bike for 900km. I stopped and stayed over at Gosford.
The next day I passed through Sydney and briefly looked up a friend in Wollongong then continued along the coast to Nowra 160km south from Sydney where I left the coastal plain turning inland to the ACT and stayed overnight in Canberra.
On the last day of the ride I left Canberra passing below the Snowy Mountains and over the Great Dividing Range at a maximum altitude of 1170m before dropping back to the coastal plain and joined the Princes Highway at Cann River for the last 450km to Melbourne.
Through the ACT high country I saw the coldest temperatures of the trip. At mid day it came to just 17C in serene beautiful scenery reminding of the Eastern Freestate in the old country.
You may recall that my GSA was using oil since new. BMW would never entertain me when I complained about it back then and even suggested that the oil consumption was normal and may eventually go away. Back in ZAF at the time, I often, and probably mostly, had to content with 93 octane instead of the minimum of 95 as recommended by BMW. In Australia the base is 91 (not 93) and 95, 98, 100 and even 107 are freely available almost everywhere. I am not sure if it can make a difference to oil consumption but I basically now always use 98 and only sometimes 95. 98 is obviously more expensive but the fuel consumption happen to be significantly better with higher octane. Before leaving for Cape York, I fitted a old set of Heidenaus K60 Scouts, 6 years old but basically new as far as treadwear concerned and serviced the bike and made sure the oil was correctly topped up. I use 10W40 Full Synthetic. I packed a liter of the same for just in case. I monitored the oil level but never had to top up. On return and after 8000km the oil was still visible in the check glass. I serviced the bike, replaced the engine and gearbox oils, filter and spark plugs and carefully estimated the oil consumption. I think it was no more than 375ml on 8000km. The bike still look like new and is purring just like new, no end in sight.
So that's it for now and so long Weipa, until next time. Round Australia is now on the serious bucket list and so is to find a sponsor.
The home run from Cooktown to Melbourne
Saturday, January 02, 2016
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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2025-02-06