Ballina to Home

Days 86 to 98
28.4.2009 to 10.5.2009

This period flew and unfortunately, we don't have many photos.

On day 86, we travelled from Nerang to Ballina. We stopped and had ice cream at a great macadamia nut place. When I pulled up and got off my bike, I found 1 panier had fallen off. Fortunately, Chris had seen it fall off and picked it up for me. We eventually worked out the problem, but couldn't fix it until we arrived home. The nut place was great but expensive.

Day 87
We rode/drove from Ballina to Coffs Harbour where we stayed with Bev and Don. Our GPS didn't have the right directions to get to their place, so Bev found us and led us to their home. We had a lovely time and appreciated their hospitality and catching up again. Also caught up with Wayne and his family which was lovely.

Day 88 & 89
We moved to Stoney Park at Telegraph Point. This was a great little place with man made lakes and hardly anyone around. It was quiet and peaceful and I really enjoyed it. We stayed 2 nights here - a lovely break.

Day 90
We arrived at Raymond Terrace but I can't remember anything about it.

Day 91
This was a big day. I didn't have a good start - my driving lights weren't working and when I tried to find the problem, burnt the sleeve of my riding jacket on my muffler. I rode from Raymond Terrace to somewhere near Gosford - Tuggerah. We tried to find a caravan park, but they were all closed on a Sunday. We decided to put my bike on the trailer and just go straight around to see Nigel Woods and his family. We had a great time at Nige's, who also graciously took us out for lunch. After Nige, we took a motorway which bypassed most of Sydney and ended up in Kiama. This was by far the largest caravan park we had laid eyes on. The people were also very lovely and helpful.

Day 92
We travelled from Kiama to Narooma today. On the way, we passed through Ulladulla and dropped in on Aunty Joan and Uncle Charlie. Unfortunately, they were away at the time which was very disappointing.
I really enjoyed this ride. I loved the farmlands and bends in the road etc. It was great for me but not much fun for Chris.

We stayed at a very posh motel for a change - Whale Motor Inn.

Day 93 & 94
We travelled to Bega and stayed for 2 nights. Once again, the riding was wonderful - lots of bends and country side but the driving, slow and not much fun. At Bega, we saw the cheese museum/ shop. We had some morning tea/lunch there and looked around. I was hoping to see the cheese being made but the closest we got to that, was a video playing in the cafe area. Still, it was a nice change. I wasn't very well at Bega and very depressed about going home so soon.

Day 95
We arrived at Orbost today. A really great little town. I had a lovely look around and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a spot where geese just cross the road whenever they feel like it which made it even more special.





Day 96
We put the bike back on the trailer at Orbost as we weren't sure what was ahead. We drove to Moe and stayed in another motel. The motel was quite nice and our last night on the trip.

Day 97
We drove to Melbourne. I caught the plane home and Chris took the boat.

Day 98
Chris arrived home.

Trip finished.

Nerang - Mum & Dad

Day 81 - 85
23 April, 2009 to 27 April, 2009

For the next 5 days, we stayed with Mum & Dad at Nerang. We met up with Lee and Don & families, went shopping, visited numerous motorbike shops just around the corner from Mum & Dad, saw Outback Spectacular and visited the Q1. Everyone was great and it was terrific to catch up with all.

Australia Zoo, Glasshouse Mountains

Day 80
22 April, 2009

Today we travelled from Mooloolaba to Australia Zoo. We enjoyed the zoo and I particularly enjoyed the elephants, the large tortoises and the lizards wandering around.








We stayed at a caravan park at Glasshouse Mountains. It was ok but sounded better than it was.

Clearview to Mooloolaba

Day 76
18 April, 2009

Geez, if you want a job done, do it yourself!!!! Chris was supposed to get this blog up to date more than a week ago. I am not impressed.

We travelled from Clearview to The Caves, not far from Rockhampton and went on a tour of the caves. They were lovely and I really enjoyed them. We stayed the night in the caravan park there which started out really nice and peaceful, but sometime during the night, a bunch of touring footballers who won their game came back. We heard them until at least 4 a.m.


Day 77
19 April, 2009

We received a refund from the caravan park who were very embarassed and apologetic about the footballers. We then moved to a caravan park in Rockhampton. I rode into Rockhampton to have a look and ended up at the river which was nice and peaceful.

Day 78
20 April, 2009

We travelled from Rockhampton to Bundaberg. Unfortunately, the gps took us to a dead end at a river crossing with no way of getting across. It was a bit of an adventure and we finally made our way back to another caravan park which was very central and great. I went for a walk into town and had a nice time looking around. It's like a big country town.

Day 79
21 April, 2009

Before leaving Bundaberg, I went to Bundaberg Gingerbeer factory which was terrific, and then Bundaberg Rum. Both places were really interesting but Chris didn't want to see either.
First picture was from Bundaberg Gingerbeer.




From Bundaberg, we travelled to Mooloolaba. This was the absolute worst part of the trip for me so far. After passing through Gympie, I developed a migraine - I get the sort where my vision has problems but not so much pain. The traffic was horrendous and I couldn't see well enough to pull over safely. When we finally pulled up at the caravan park, we found the office was supposed to be a couple of kms away and there were all sorts of problems. Chris finally sorted it all out and got us safely to another caravan park for the night. The shock of so much traffic and people everywhere was very horrible. Neither of us enjoyed this area at all.

Townsville to Bowen

Day 75


Townville waterfront is full of construction activity and development.

The climate is cooler now that we have arrived on the east coast and Kim was itching to ride her motorcycle again. She re-started riding from Townsville.

Our first day with the motorcycle again was a fairly easy one from Townsville to Bowen through the sugarcane fields - a bit over 200 klms. We arrived in Bowen late morning and headed out for a snorkel and swim at one of the more remote beaches nearby.



Bowen was a lovely spot which featured fairly strongly in the recent Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman film "Australia". We only stayed 2 days but could have spent alot longer exploring the beaches and sorrounding area.

Alice Springs to Townsville

Day 73
Wednesday 15 April 2009

We left Alice Springs on day 65 and travelled about 500 klms to Tennant Creek for the night stopping along the way at Aileron, Barrow Creek and Wycliffe Wells. Another 500 klms the following day brought us to Mount Isa. As soon as we crossed the border from Northern Territory into Queensland we noticed the roads deteriorated and travelling became less comfortable. If you look closely at the photo below you will see the uneven road surface that started as soon as you crossed the border.



Mount Isa is a hub of activity being the single largest producers of silver, lead, copper and zinc in the world. Signs of mining activity is evident even in the centre of town with huge chimney towers that dominate the landscape.



Day 68 -70

We travelled from Mt Isa to Townsville (another 500 odd klms) and stayed for the easter weekend. We found a caravan park as close to the city centre as possible and commuted back and forth to the centre of townsville several times. Unfortunately, we felt a bit out of place in the caravan park which was a bit upmarket, very busy, very noisy and (I must be getting old) with too many children.

Day 71

We drove north to a rainforest and mountainous area called Paloona. Fortunately, we left the trailer behind as the roads were extremely windy with little clearance. We enjoyed the forest and waterfalls and had lunch at a cafe in Paloona. On the way back to Townsville we had a few annoying incidents -I brushed the camper against a roadside sign on the way down the mountain and then a rock was thrown up and seriosly cracked the windscreen. The following day we left from Townsville for the trip south.

Alice Springs

Day 64
6.4.09

Today we visited the Desert Park. I'd been here previously when I visited Schulzie about 5 years ago. Although it was good, I was a little disappointed as it didn't have any aboriginals talking about their food and medicine etc. like they did previously. The highlight, however, was the birds of prey. A ranger talked about them, and as she did, the various types would fly in and be fed by her. It was great. One of my favourites was a buzzard who wandered off to pick up a stone so it could break an emu egg. In the pic you can see the stone in it's mouth and then on the ground next to the egg.





In the afternoon, we caught up on some shopping, washing and ironing etc.

That night, we had dinner with Schulzie and her 2 sons. It was really nice catching up with lots of laughter.



Day 65
7.4.09

Today, we were supposed to head back towards Tennant Creek but Chris was a bit on the tired side so we're staying in Alice for another night. I went into town to have a proper look around which was really nice. From about 6:30 a.m. until roughly 11:00 a.m. though, all communications in Alice were down. No landlines, no mobiles, no internet, no ATM and no EFTPOS. Most banks were closed because of it and shops could only accept cash. I was really worried about Kieran because he hasn't been well and it was awful not being able to ring him. Fortunately, everything seems to be back to normal now.

Tennant Creek to Alice Springs

Day 63
5.4.09

Today was Palm Sunday.

A little over 100 kms south of Tennant Creek was Devils Marbles. They were really interesting. I don't understand how they were formed but they are great. This was the first time we've really seen many tourists around.



As we travelled further south, we passed areas where UFO sightings have been made, Peter Falconio was killed and a pub where his dad and brother left a $5 note (signed) so Peter could buy a drink if he turned up. Really very sad. I'm hoping to take photos on the way back. I did, however, take a pic of one of the walls in the pub which is covered in money from all over the world.



Booked into a caravan park at Alice and it really wasn't that hot for an incredible change.

Katherine to Tennant Creek

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Day 62
4.4.09

Today we drove from Katherine to Tennant Creek. It seemed like a very long way. One of the most interesting places we stopped was called 'Fran's' at Larrimah which was a little homemade place to stop for a cuppa, lunch, break etc. We had a Devonshire Tea each which cost $24. A little expensive but worth it for the experience. Fran, herself was a real character and we had our tea under the small shed's awning with 2 other couples. One was from Holland and they were riding a Harley around. Fran had bullock and camel pies and snags. I was going to buy some bullock snags but after getting stung for the Devonshire Teas, completely forgot.



Once at Tennant Creek, we stayed in another caravan park on the outskirts of town.

Kakadu

Day 60
2.4.09

Today we headed for Kakadu. We arrived in Jabaru and had a look at the caravan parks but they were quite expensive and not much chop so we kept moving. I loved Kakadu but didn't like Jabaru at all. We headed for the info centre and art gallery. The info centre was a total waste of time but the Art Gallery was lovely. We ended up a free camp spot heading south and although still hot, it was great. There were signs up about crocs again so I didn't particularly want to get to close to the river.



Day 61
3.4.09

I really enjoyed parts of today. We say some great aboriginal rock art and just beautiful vegetation.



We passed through lovely areas of wetlands but unfortunately, almost all the roads were closed. I also saw the Cultural Centre which I really enjoyed.

We travelled to Katherine for the night where I rang a friend who lives in Alice Springs, Schulzie, and organised to have dinner with her family on Monday night.

Katherine to Darwin

Day 57
30.3.09

Today was Chris' 50th birthday and Dad's 75th birthday. Chris didn't want to celebrate in any way, shape or form until he got home, so this day was pretty much a non event, which I found extremely disappointing. Dad seemed to have a much nicer birthday.

We drove to Darwin and booked into a caravan park only about 7 kms outside Darwin. Darwin seemed to be lush and beautifully kept. We had a look at a motorbike shop down the road and ended up buying Chinese take-away for dinner.

Day 58
31.3.09

We had the truck booked in for a service, so we left pretty early to get it in by 7:30 a.m. A lovely man then drove us into town to have a look around. We walked around but it was hot so we spent more time trying to find cool places. We eventually caught a taxi back and picked up the truck. We drove around the wharf area which was quite interesting. Frequently as you drive around Darwin you see signs, monuments and airstrips all relating to WWII.

By late morning we were back at the caravan park. I had really wanted to see a place called Crocodylus Cove so after lunch I jumped on a bus and went back into Darwin to see it. It was wonderful. They had a huge croc in there called Bert who was the star croc in Crocodile Dundee. He's now 80 years old. I also saw a pignosed turtle and tried to get over my fear of snakes by holding a small python. It was well worth the visit.






Day 59
1.4.09

Today we went out to Casurina Shopping Square. It was massive and had a cinema so we had a good look around and saw a movie. This took up quite a lot of the day and was a nice change.

Kununurra to Katherine

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Day 56
29.3.09

Time is running away so these next few posts will probably be quite brief as I want to catch up.

We travelled 512 kms from Kununurra to Katherine. We moved into the Northern Territory which was exciting but very undramatic.



The roads changed and weren't as good as W.A. I loved the Kimberlys - very beautiful and lush. We pulled in for fuel at Timber Creek but were told we'd have to wait an hour as they were fixing the electricity down the road, so we had a cuppa and then kept moving. We finally made it to Katherine and booked into a caravan park. As usual, it was still very hot.

One thing we had a good laugh about was the speed limits - as soon as we entered N.T. there was a large sign saying the speed limit in N.T. was 110 km unless posted differently. Just a few meters behind it was a posted sign of 130 kms. All through the N.T. it seemed to be 130.

Broome to Camp 594 (Camps 4)

Day 54
27.3.09

Today we left Broome and travelled to Camp 594, Spring Creek, 107 km NE of Halls Creek still in W.A. It was a lovely camp spot even though we had to be wary of crocs. If you want the picture larger so you can read it, just click on it.



There were beautiful boab trees quite often. We saw young ones and old ones. I'd love to find out more about them.



On our way, we passed through Fitzroy Crossing - it was the scariest place I have ever been! Chris got out at a roadhouse to fill up and that was bad enough being left in the car by myself, but it was even worse when he went into pay and I was totally alone with aborigines walking all around the place checking me and the rig out. I felt like I was just waiting to be badly beaten up.

Halls Creek was a little better, but when we pulled over for tea, aborigines were staggering out of the bush as drunk as skunks, or high as kites, wandering all over the road.

After Halls Creek, the drive was quite lovely. We saw heaps of cows. When we finally pulled in for the night, we even had cows greeting us there. It was a lovely, peaceful, but hot camp spot.



We also passed the turnoff to Wolfe Creek, so this pic is for you Kier :)



Day 55
28.3.09

From Spring Creek we travelled to Kununurra. Once again we saw heaps of cows. I loved them. Every now and then we would go through a small patch of grasshoppers which would fly all over the place. Chris was not interested in doing/seeing anything because of the heat. He spends his time just trying to stay cool which is very difficult unless we're driving.

Broome

Days 50 to 53

Monday, 23.3.09

We travelled to Broome which was ok but still very hot. Booked into a caravan park and I organised for a new headset for my bike helmet. I can't remember much else about that day.

Day 51
Tuesday, 24.3.09

Today we took in a spring from the camper which needed fixing and left it with a crash repair guy. We did some grocery shopping and just general looking around. Chris bought a fan which is making a difference to the heat.

The temperatures are supposed to get worse as we go further north which is going to make riding very slow and unsafe. I've decided to put the bike on the trailer so we can get through the heat a lot quicker until we get to the East Coast. I think around Townsville I'll get it off again and keep riding. The decision is very disappointing but I think it's the only safe way of travelling at the moment.

Day 52
Wednesday, 25.3. 09

This was a good day. We picked up the spring which was fixed beautifully, did some running around, put the bike on the trailer (emotionally hard), put the camper back on the truck, saw Malcolm Douglas Croc Farm, had tea at Maccas and saw a movie.

The croc farm was terrific! I really loved it and learnt more about crocs. We both got to hold small crocs with their mouths tied as they can still bite your fingers off.


Tea at MacDonalds was a real treat as it was in airconditioned premises as was the movie. We didn't get home until after dark and the temperature was starting to drop a little.

Exmouth to Broome

Day 46 to 49
19 March to 22 March 2009

We headed down the peninsula and did some snorkelling while enjoying the scenic coastline along the way. We passed some wild emus, kangaroos and a swagman walking with all his possessions on his back.

Kim - the snorkelling was lovely at the first place but when we went to the second, which was supposed to be the best area, I didn't have any flippers and couldn't get out because of the strong current. Very disappointing.

We headed back to Exmouth where I went for a swim in the pool and Chris just sweltered in the camper.

The following day, was a big one and we headed off to Karratha. The heat, as usual, was unbearable. We did 575 kms over 8 hours which is not a good way to travel on a bike in the heat. It's not going to happen again. As I was riding, I was pretty down because of the heat and I looked over and saw 2 emus which helped lift my spirits a bit. A bit later as I was looking at the ant hills I noticed a couple of dirty, creamy looking small boulders on the side of the road, I was checking them out and as I got closer, they jumped up and ran away. They were sheep curled up asleep and scared the daylights out of me but it was fun to see them. Then, futher down the track, I saw a burst tyre. As I got closer, it ran across the road. It was a lizard about a meter long. Not long after that, a grasshopper jumped onto my helmet visa and stayed there for about 50 km. When I eventually stopped, he was still very much alive and wasn't fussed on getting off. It was a nice change to having insects splat on me.

Karratha wasn't much fun so the next day we headed to Port Hedland. The heat was still atrocious so we tried to find a portable air conditioner for the camper, but without success. There was no shelter for us at the caravan park so I went for a swim. Port Hedland would have been interesting to stay at for a while except for the heat. We saw trains that were at least a couple of kilometres long. They looked like theyd never stop. We also BHP ore piles which were enormous, and what looked like a salt farm.

After Port Hedland, we travelled to 80 Mile Beach. We had to turn off and travel down a not so good, dusty, sandy, red road. I got 5 km down and had enough, so Chris jumped on my bike and road the rest for me. The caravan park here was lovely and shady but still hot. A chook kept visiting us which was nice. The beach was beautiful with a high tidal drop but unfortunately we couldn't go swimming as stingers are still in the area. I met a man who does a couple of hundred kilometres of coastal watch each day on his quad bikes. He has 2 sets of 2 quads. One quad will tow the other quad on a trailer with fishing rods etc. so if it breaks down he has a way of getting back. He was a lovely, interesting man to talk to.

Exmouth, National Park

Day 44
Tuesday, 17.3.09

We travelled from Coral Bay to Exmouth. It was way too hot to do anything. I tried to go for a swim in the caravan park, but got lost and then found there were too many people in the pool swimming anyway. People have raved about Coral Bay and this area but it's only great if you have a boat, lots and lots of money, air conditioning and come at the right time of the year. Everything costs a fortune and nothing seems cracked up to be how it's presented. It was a stinker of a day.

Day 45
Wednesday, 18.3.09

Exmouth to National Park

This morning we travelled to the opposite side of Exmouth's peninsula. It's supposed to be 10 degrees cooler on this side and so far, they are probably right. It's still very hot but a little more bearable. At the moment we are at Neds Camp and went in for a snorkel which was refreshing. The coral is too hard to get to from here but it was still neice and we still saw some fish.

Chris went off looking for a shadier spot and found one called Mesa Camp just around the corner from where we were. We moved there and the shade/heat is much better.

Coral Bay

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Day 43
Monday, 16.3.09

Today we travelled to Coral Bay. Along the way, we came across these anthills poking up everywhere. At first I thought they were boulders and then realised what they were.



Once we arrived at Coral Bay, we settled into a beachfront caravan park and went for a snorkel. The Ningaloo Reef runs along the coast here but it's a fair way out. If you can snorkel out to the coral, you can see beautiful fish. The coral was all a browny colour when we saw it. The heat is horrible. I took a quadbike snorkel/turtle tour in the afternoon which went for 3 hours. The quadbike side of things was great but the wind made the sea too choppy to do much snorkelling (alothough I did see this blue spotted lagoon ray)



and we only got to see the turtles from a cliff swimming in the very choppy ocean. They were quite hard to pick out and very disappointing - I had expected to see them relatively close up on the beach.



By the end of the tour, I was exhausted.

Denham to Carnarvon

Day 41
Saturday 14 March 2009

We started the day by looking at a postie motorbike that was for sale in Denham. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good example and had been ridden in the salt water. We left Denham and Kim rode 348 klms to Carnarvon.

Along the way we passed a fellow who walking along beside his camper which was being pulled by his 2 camels (Billie and Snowy). Kim spoke with him for a while and apparently he had no particular destination in mind, he was just following the road. His "camper" had solar panels for power and appeared to be just large enough to sleep inside.


Before settling into a caravan park we rode the motorbike out to one mile jetty and caught the tram out to the end of the jetty and looked through the heritage museum sited near the jetty.



Along the way to the jetty a number of seafood places successfully temped us to buy some seafood. We are having crab, oysters and prawns for dinner as soon as it cools down a bit.

Monkey Mia back to Denham

Day 40
Friday, 13.3.09

This morning we were up at 6:30 to get ready to see the dolphins at 7:30. We were there quite early and saw a few dolphins swimming around. The area is now very highly regulated. We were told we could only stand in the water ankle deep and were not to touch the dolphins. There were probably about 200 or so people there. The dolphins swam up close but not too close and rarely lifted their heads out of the water. It was great to see them but very disappointing to see how much control there is.



After the dolphin show, we moved to a caravan park in Denham. The people here are lovely and more helpful than the caravan park people in Monkey Mia. We are right on the ocean and as I type I can see a kite surfer out. When we first pulled into Denham, I had to fill my bike. When I went to get back on, an emu wandered casually past and down the main road. I'm going to try to post both a picture and small video clip. The video was taken on my phone and is an mp4 so it may or may not work. The video clip is not the emu I first saw but one I saw when I walked back into Denham. Since then, I've seen several emus wandering around the place. It's great and I love it.

Kalbarri to Monkey Mia

Day 39
Thursday 12.3.09

We left 1 1/2 hours late. My ride was hot and long. It started out beautifully, which it usually does but when the heat builds up it gets very hard. We stopped early on at Murchisons river where Chris had an unsuccessful go at fishing, and the flies had a go at him.



While I was riding, I noticed the soil seems to be getting redder up here. I also saw lots of dead roos on the side of the road and smelt even more. I passed 4 large trucks each with a house on them. For the last 500 kms or so we've both been blown around by the trucks a fair bit. Normally, if I pull over to the side, I'm ok but not so recently. Today however, was much better.

We finally arrived at Monkey Mia very hot and very tired. We booked into the caravan park/resort and went in the ocean for a swim. It was really lovely. While I was outside trying to escape the heat, some emus came up and checked me out. It was really quite funny.

Cervantes to Kalbarri

Day 37-38
10-11th March 2009



We travelled from Cevantes to Kalbarri - a distance of about 250 klms. Kim's back started playing up so we stayed at Kalbarri in a caravan park on the Murchison River. It is very hot, having reached about 40 degrees with the minimum (expected late evening) of about 24 degrees. The main attraction is the beaches, the Murchison River and the Gorges of the Murchison (further inland).

We have driven around and saw some of the sights and spent time in the swimming pool trying to cool down.



On our second day at Kalbarri we watched the pelicans being fed in the morning and drove the camper out to the Gorges. We loved the sandy tracks, the odd kangaroo and the Gorges of the Murchison.



Kim went for a walk down to a rock formation called Natures Window and almost collapsed from heat exhaustion. I wasn't feeling much better sitting in the camper but at least I didn't have to contend with the swarm of flies that seem endemic to the area.