06-18-2014, 08:00 AM
Day 1: To Narribri
704 kms [url=https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?msid=201247423130042081552.0004fbf16308e3f1bc3a1&msa=0&ll=-28.343065,151.380615&spn=4.273126,8.453979]Map
Diligent readers of the Seat Time thread may already be onto the reason I found myself in Narribri in northern New South Wales and 700 kms from home on the evening of 4 June 2014. If not, there are clues in [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3144]this thread.
If you can’t be naffed reading it, the short story is that I was invited on a ride. My wife says—with some truth, I fear—that I'm a glass half empty kinda guy so I had lots of reasons not to be able to accept the invitation. I had some chores under way; it was very short notice; I hadn't ever done such a long ride; I didn't have the gear I needed; I'd have to be on the road by the end of the next day or early in the morning of the day after that; my wife and I looked like having a rare and welcome weekend alone together. So I resolved not to go and got back to the chores.
As it happened, my wife was away and I didn't get the chance to speak to her until mid-way through the following morning—the day on which I should have been heading out. She told me I was crazy and should go. Bugger it, I thought, she’s right. So I finished the chore I was in the middle of and set out to organise the necessary gear. A trip to the coast for a waterproof bag and a new, compact tent (because one of the chores I hadn't done was to fix a leak in the fly of the other one); another trip down the road for 4 litres of oil for a quick oil change and I was ready to light out early the next morning, Wednesday 4 June.
And so I piled a load of gear onto the back of my CB1100 and set out. My journey took me south down the main eastern highway before I turned off and headed through a lovely set of twisties towards Toowoomba, a large regional city atop the Great Dividing Range in south east Queensland. It was a good ride there, some straights, some long curves, and some decent twisty bits as well. After a fuel stop in Toowoomba, I was headed south west across a plain—flat and quick but not all that interesting. They were the riding conditions for the rest of the day and I made good time, which was lucky as I had 700 kilometers to travel and wanted to arrive before dusk when the kangaroos are said to make life interesting for motorcyclists.
Sadly, there aren't many photos. I'm an exponent of the Ferret method of one-handed photography, but I've discovered, to my irritation, that I can make it work only while wearing light weight summer gloves. I can press the shutter release with the thick ones on, but I can't turn the wretched thing on. Leaving it on results in rapid battery degradation. Indeed, on the final day of the ride when I really wanted to take a photo or two the camera was to tell me "the battery is exhausted". By then I knew how it felt.
First fuel stop southbound. I was waylaid for a time by a South African bloke who wanted to talk about the bike.
On the plain north of Narribri looking west
On the plain north of Narribri looking east
A few minutes later I arrived at the Crossroads Hotel to be greeted by the sight of a glorious red Honda CB1100, complete with Dart flyscreen and Staintune muffler. And, of course, Pterodactyl, forum member from Sydney who had not only invited me to go on a ride with him, but also literally gone out of his way to meet me a day early. He can tell the story of how he got there, and why he added a day and at least 350 kms to his trip. I reckon it was because he'd been off the bike for 3 months and couldn't wait to get in some more seat time.
Last Blast on the way north to Narribri
Anyway, here were two Aussie blokes with CB1100s (rare as rocking horse cuss in this country) in the same place, again by virtue of an Internet forum run out of the US. Go figure. Just as well we discovered a mutual enjoyment of beer and red wine to add to our delight in CB1100s.
Day 2: Narribri to West Wyalong
603 kms [url=https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?msid=201247423130042081552.0004fbf1668187574f629&msa=0]Map
Although I grew up and lived much of my life in Tasmania, Australia's southern most island state, I've lived in Queensland for the past 14 or so years and I have largely forgotten about cold. I made some preparations, but, when you come from a warm climate, they are never enough.
So I was a bit unprepared for the cold of the next morning and was very pleased I’d packed some thermals.
But it was a glorious day and I managed well enough on an uneventful trip along the Newell Highway to West Wyalong.
Pterodactyl and I were west of the Great Dividing Range, a mountain range just to the west of Australia's east coast. None of it is very high by the standards of mountains in other parts of the world, but it does divide coastal Australia from the vast inland, much of which is desert. The Newell runs through the eastern part of the interior and, while it is mostly flat and largely straight, there are some patches where long, sweeping corners are a pleasure to ride. It's a major truck route, but is still relatively traffic free; when there is traffic, it's easy to overtake. Ideal for fast cruising. Much of the land has been cleared for farming—cattle and sheep mostly—and there are some remnants of the bush that must have once grown abundantly.
The 2 CB1100s head south—Pterodactyl checks his load
The route took us through Parkes where there's a large radio telescope which was the setting for a lovely Australian comedy movie called The Dish. I noticed as we rode past that the observatory has been renamed The Dish.
We found ourself in West Wyalong by around 4.30. The hotel we thought looked promising turned out to have recently been restored as a restaurant with the accommodation still to come, but we found a motel close by so we could walk back to the restaurant for dinner. It was friendly, tastefully appointed and had a good selection of beer and wine, but the food was just OK, and a bit pricey.
Day 3: West Wyalong to Mildura
550 kms [url=https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?msid=201247423130042081552.0004fbf16bf10c265cdc2&msa=0]Map
Day 3 dawned foggy. And cold, of course. But we had 500+ kms ahead of us and needed to get moving.
Given the small range of the CB1100, the infrequency of petrol stops in this part of Australia and the difficulty of finding reliable information about whether there will or will not be fuel available, we had done some fairly careful planning about where we would get fuel so we didn't end up shivering in the middle of nowhere wondering whether we could persuade a passing kangaroo to get us a few litres of juice. The plan was to get fuel on the outskirts of West Wyalong at a station Pterodactyl assured me we'd pass. Of course we never saw it because we were out of West Wyalong before reaching third gear, but we were (or pretended to be) reasonably confident of being able to refuel at a tiny town called Weethalle a mere 57 kms away.
It was not a particularly pleasant ride: gently downhill, and still cold and foggy so I had no idea whether it was interesting or not. I sat behind Pterodactyl hoping like hell Weethalle would have a petrol station. It did. But it wasn't open when we arrived. Fortunately action was not far away. With the odometer showing 200 kms (I reckon the CB will get around 230 on a good run) and the next place where petrol was certain being 198 kms away we filled up and rode on into the fog.
Refuelling in the fog
Eventually it cleared and we found ourself on the Hay Plain—flat as far as the eye can see with a view interrupted only by the odd tree. We stopped somewhere in the middle of it because I was so cold I had to get off and warm up. Amazingly we met a couple of kangaroos which can be made out in the background of these photos. These were the only live specimens I saw till the final morning of the trip.
The blobs behind and to the right are kangaroos on the Hay Plain
You can see the roos again just at the back of the bike
CBs on the Hay Plain
Cormanus warms up in the sun on the Hay plain
The Pterodactyl
Breakfast at Hay, more flat stuff before we crossed the Murray River and arrived at the Mildura Motorcycle Club the very place to which we had come for a weekend rally and some speedway action. There was beer and wine and an indifferent steak sandwich and a not so comfortable camping ground where we set up our tents.
Did I mention it was cold?
704 kms [url=https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?msid=201247423130042081552.0004fbf16308e3f1bc3a1&msa=0&ll=-28.343065,151.380615&spn=4.273126,8.453979]Map
Diligent readers of the Seat Time thread may already be onto the reason I found myself in Narribri in northern New South Wales and 700 kms from home on the evening of 4 June 2014. If not, there are clues in [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3144]this thread.
If you can’t be naffed reading it, the short story is that I was invited on a ride. My wife says—with some truth, I fear—that I'm a glass half empty kinda guy so I had lots of reasons not to be able to accept the invitation. I had some chores under way; it was very short notice; I hadn't ever done such a long ride; I didn't have the gear I needed; I'd have to be on the road by the end of the next day or early in the morning of the day after that; my wife and I looked like having a rare and welcome weekend alone together. So I resolved not to go and got back to the chores.
As it happened, my wife was away and I didn't get the chance to speak to her until mid-way through the following morning—the day on which I should have been heading out. She told me I was crazy and should go. Bugger it, I thought, she’s right. So I finished the chore I was in the middle of and set out to organise the necessary gear. A trip to the coast for a waterproof bag and a new, compact tent (because one of the chores I hadn't done was to fix a leak in the fly of the other one); another trip down the road for 4 litres of oil for a quick oil change and I was ready to light out early the next morning, Wednesday 4 June.
And so I piled a load of gear onto the back of my CB1100 and set out. My journey took me south down the main eastern highway before I turned off and headed through a lovely set of twisties towards Toowoomba, a large regional city atop the Great Dividing Range in south east Queensland. It was a good ride there, some straights, some long curves, and some decent twisty bits as well. After a fuel stop in Toowoomba, I was headed south west across a plain—flat and quick but not all that interesting. They were the riding conditions for the rest of the day and I made good time, which was lucky as I had 700 kilometers to travel and wanted to arrive before dusk when the kangaroos are said to make life interesting for motorcyclists.
Sadly, there aren't many photos. I'm an exponent of the Ferret method of one-handed photography, but I've discovered, to my irritation, that I can make it work only while wearing light weight summer gloves. I can press the shutter release with the thick ones on, but I can't turn the wretched thing on. Leaving it on results in rapid battery degradation. Indeed, on the final day of the ride when I really wanted to take a photo or two the camera was to tell me "the battery is exhausted". By then I knew how it felt.
First fuel stop southbound. I was waylaid for a time by a South African bloke who wanted to talk about the bike.
On the plain north of Narribri looking west
On the plain north of Narribri looking east
A few minutes later I arrived at the Crossroads Hotel to be greeted by the sight of a glorious red Honda CB1100, complete with Dart flyscreen and Staintune muffler. And, of course, Pterodactyl, forum member from Sydney who had not only invited me to go on a ride with him, but also literally gone out of his way to meet me a day early. He can tell the story of how he got there, and why he added a day and at least 350 kms to his trip. I reckon it was because he'd been off the bike for 3 months and couldn't wait to get in some more seat time.
Last Blast on the way north to Narribri
Anyway, here were two Aussie blokes with CB1100s (rare as rocking horse cuss in this country) in the same place, again by virtue of an Internet forum run out of the US. Go figure. Just as well we discovered a mutual enjoyment of beer and red wine to add to our delight in CB1100s.
Day 2: Narribri to West Wyalong
603 kms [url=https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?msid=201247423130042081552.0004fbf1668187574f629&msa=0]Map
Although I grew up and lived much of my life in Tasmania, Australia's southern most island state, I've lived in Queensland for the past 14 or so years and I have largely forgotten about cold. I made some preparations, but, when you come from a warm climate, they are never enough.
So I was a bit unprepared for the cold of the next morning and was very pleased I’d packed some thermals.
But it was a glorious day and I managed well enough on an uneventful trip along the Newell Highway to West Wyalong.
Pterodactyl and I were west of the Great Dividing Range, a mountain range just to the west of Australia's east coast. None of it is very high by the standards of mountains in other parts of the world, but it does divide coastal Australia from the vast inland, much of which is desert. The Newell runs through the eastern part of the interior and, while it is mostly flat and largely straight, there are some patches where long, sweeping corners are a pleasure to ride. It's a major truck route, but is still relatively traffic free; when there is traffic, it's easy to overtake. Ideal for fast cruising. Much of the land has been cleared for farming—cattle and sheep mostly—and there are some remnants of the bush that must have once grown abundantly.
The 2 CB1100s head south—Pterodactyl checks his load
The route took us through Parkes where there's a large radio telescope which was the setting for a lovely Australian comedy movie called The Dish. I noticed as we rode past that the observatory has been renamed The Dish.
We found ourself in West Wyalong by around 4.30. The hotel we thought looked promising turned out to have recently been restored as a restaurant with the accommodation still to come, but we found a motel close by so we could walk back to the restaurant for dinner. It was friendly, tastefully appointed and had a good selection of beer and wine, but the food was just OK, and a bit pricey.
Day 3: West Wyalong to Mildura
550 kms [url=https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?msid=201247423130042081552.0004fbf16bf10c265cdc2&msa=0]Map
Day 3 dawned foggy. And cold, of course. But we had 500+ kms ahead of us and needed to get moving.
Given the small range of the CB1100, the infrequency of petrol stops in this part of Australia and the difficulty of finding reliable information about whether there will or will not be fuel available, we had done some fairly careful planning about where we would get fuel so we didn't end up shivering in the middle of nowhere wondering whether we could persuade a passing kangaroo to get us a few litres of juice. The plan was to get fuel on the outskirts of West Wyalong at a station Pterodactyl assured me we'd pass. Of course we never saw it because we were out of West Wyalong before reaching third gear, but we were (or pretended to be) reasonably confident of being able to refuel at a tiny town called Weethalle a mere 57 kms away.
It was not a particularly pleasant ride: gently downhill, and still cold and foggy so I had no idea whether it was interesting or not. I sat behind Pterodactyl hoping like hell Weethalle would have a petrol station. It did. But it wasn't open when we arrived. Fortunately action was not far away. With the odometer showing 200 kms (I reckon the CB will get around 230 on a good run) and the next place where petrol was certain being 198 kms away we filled up and rode on into the fog.
Refuelling in the fog
Eventually it cleared and we found ourself on the Hay Plain—flat as far as the eye can see with a view interrupted only by the odd tree. We stopped somewhere in the middle of it because I was so cold I had to get off and warm up. Amazingly we met a couple of kangaroos which can be made out in the background of these photos. These were the only live specimens I saw till the final morning of the trip.
The blobs behind and to the right are kangaroos on the Hay Plain
You can see the roos again just at the back of the bike
CBs on the Hay Plain
Cormanus warms up in the sun on the Hay plain
The Pterodactyl
Breakfast at Hay, more flat stuff before we crossed the Murray River and arrived at the Mildura Motorcycle Club the very place to which we had come for a weekend rally and some speedway action. There was beer and wine and an indifferent steak sandwich and a not so comfortable camping ground where we set up our tents.
Did I mention it was cold?
