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The Easy Way Up.
A great short video of hte crew crossing the Pentacost River -
http://vimeo.com/94807069 What did Wayno have to say - My ride started 2 days earlier than the rest on a cold Wednesday morning at 0430. It nearly ended about an hour later when I went within 4 feet of a 5 foot roo, on Burns Beach Rd about half a km from the freeway. Anyway I made it to Kalbarri just after lunch where I camped with Mick530 and his family. Friday arvo and I met up with the boys at Murchison River. It was getting late so we took off offroad to the MOA grounds. Next day we were at Monkey Mia and experienced the tail end wrath of Cyclone Jack. This was a memorable experience and a real highlight of the ride. Despite pissing down and blowing a gale we came out unscathed. Moving on we came to Quobba. A top spot that I will return to in the future. Cyclone Jack got us a second time when it flooded the roads into Coral Bay and Exmouth. The highest rainfall in 3 decades! Unpassable we put in a long day to arrive late at Karratha. Heading for Pardoo Station Roley bust a clutch cable, after an hour all good and off again. Pardoo was a good spot to stay with an awesome creek that would be great for fishing. A salty was seen on the banks the day before. Next stop Broome where we had a couple of days rest then onto Derby where our adventure ride would really begin. The Gibb River Rd was in pretty good condition and you could hold a good pace. It was good to get on the dirt. An awesome little track led us to Bells Gorge followed by a bit of a hike to the falls themselves. Beautiful country out here so a swim and a few pics was the go. A nice ride then with a few water crossings and some tricky bits and watch out for those bulls and we were at Manning Gorge. Another hike and another awesome Gorge. A swim, wash my shirt and back on the bikes. A fairly decent ride with more water, crossing the Durack River..this was quite deep... boggy stuff a few ruts and onto Home Valley. This place is a real oasis. Hard to believe you can get a meal at a bar in the middle of nowhere. Prices were as Perth and the food was better. Cons...no VB so had to battle with Emu Export. An easy ride to El Questro once you had passed the Pentecost River. This looked a bit daunting but was pretty easy in the end. El Questro was nice although expensive...especially when compared to Home Valley that was more remote. It did have some top spots like Zebadee Hot Springs and Emma Gorge. Leaving the Gibb we detoured to Wyndam where the view from the 5 River lookout is unbelievable. On to Kununurra for a couple of days R & R. Kununurra was great but you really needed a 4wd and a boat. Heading back down the inland road we free camped at some pool which was a good spot. On thru halls Creek and into Fitzroy Crossing. If this place isn't the arsehole of the planet you must be getting close. No take away piss...no bottle shops...no drive thrus ...nothing. Nuff said. Next day back onto dirt via Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge. The boys camped over at Windjana but due to alcohol depredation I headed into Broome. More R&R then down to 80 Mile Beach. A good spot again but the tide was out so no swimming. A long day on the tar thru Port Headland down to Karijini. Must of passed/overtook a thousand road trains...never seen anything like it. Even the roads have ruts from them. Karijini was nice but wet. We copped a thunder storm and heavy rain so turned 2 days into 1 as we rode in the rain heading for Coral Bay. This was a big day and we were all glad to get off the bikes at the end. Put up wet tents and try and dry everything out. We had 3 days relaxing in Coral Bay, I swapped a rear tyre and the boys made plans for new tyres in Carnarvon. Tyres fitted we headed off, the Bros to Hamelin Pool and me down to Port Dennison. A cold ride to start my final day, pass the only other roo of the trip and home for lunch. The rain got me about 5 mins from home. All in all a trip of a lifetime...not like climbing K2 or circumnavigating the globe but something I imagine the majority of people would never do. A big thanks to Colin, Roley and Peter who were great fun and never short of a laugh or a sly dig. ....Wayno What did Colin have to say - Getting older isn't something that should stop you from riding but you may have to reassess your abilities on occasions. With a handful of Crusty Quinns purchasing Adventure bikes I too needed to question my next move. Is it going to be semi retirement or full on desert racing onboard a fully laden fire breathing dragon. With a only a handful of capable big bore duel sport bikes to choose from, the DR650 appeared to be a popular choice for the level of pure dirt bike enjoyment we had in mind. Not only is the bike cheap to buy but there are plenty of after market options available to suit most riders needs. I picked up an older 2007 model which had already undergone some pretty good upgrades and then got to work to build a bike capable of carrying my fat arse and another 50 kilos from Perth to Kununurra and return. The best money spent was on suspension and the bikes off road performance could not have been better. Roley, Peter, Wayno and myself headed off for a month to take in as many iconic spots as we could with a very loose itinerary and plenty of ideas. Although I enjoyed the first few days it really wasn't until we hit the north west that I felt the trip had properly began. I had no idea my arse would get so sore nor did I know my ears ring for so long. After living in the Pilbara and the Kimberley's for 8 years I was more than familiar with my surroundings however riding a motorcycle through this country was just somehow different. You could feel the warm sun on your jacket, smell the rotting flesh of everything that laid dead within 100 m's of the road and feel the golf ball sized bugs slam into you at 110 kph. There were some close moments with all sorts of living things including cows, roos, emus, birds, lizards and horses but we all managed to brake or swerve in time to miss everything. I even spotted an Eagle having a go at Wayne at a decent speed. The Gibb River Road was the highlight of the trip however we were all disappointed at how well maintained it is. We wanted action and found a freeway. There are a few good water crossings and plenty of corners, crests and valleys but we could easily travel at 90 - 110 kph in most sections. We divided the Gibb River Road into 4 days to give us plenty of time to explore the Gorges and enjoy everything it has to offer. We were not disappointed and visited some really spectacular spots. Manning Gorge and its waterfalls really blew me away and I plan to visit again. The best of the river crossings was the Pentacost not too far from Wyndham. Not too deep but just a nice great big wide crossing. I also enjoyed crossing the same river just near the entrance to El Questro Station where trees, palms and pandanas line the rocky crossing and there is always the fear of a salt water croc not too far away. Some of my favourite spots along the way were Pardoo Station, Happy Valley Station and Hamelin Pool Station. All very unique but at the same time very welcoming with great amenities. The pics tell the story. The trip ticked many boxes for me and although I am not breaking my neck to ride the same distance again I cant wait to get out and explore other areas. My suggestion for this type of ride, pack light, far lighter than you think. Don't take too much food, you can restock every couple of days along the way. Choose your tyres carefully. I would be far more likely to use duel sport tyres rather than knobbies. Do it on a DR - with around 35000 cumulative kms we only had a broken clutch cable and dropped a chain link. The bikes purred all the way. Colin What did Roley have to say - Easy Way Up – Itinerary for Roley, Peter, Colin & Wayno Day 1: Perth to Murchison Off Road (MOA), Coolcalalaya Station via Cataby Roadhouse and Northampton for fuel – 630 kms. Met Wayno at the 24 Hour Campsite at the Murchison River on the NWC Hwy. Tea in the Bar & Grill and our first of many campfires! Day 2: MOA to Monkey Mia via the Billabong & Overlander Roadhouses – 400 kms. Rode out of MOA across their causeway water crossing on the Murchison River and took a dirt back road across to the NWC Hwy. Our campsite survived a three hour downpour from Cyclone Jack in Monkey Mia but, the backpackers were completely under water and had to sleep in their cars! Watched the dolphins while having breakfast in the restaurant overlooking the beach the next morning. Day 3: Monkey Mia to Quobba Station – 425 kms. Highly recommended campsite. Rode into a cold front and some rain the next morning and we broke out our wet weather gear. Fortunately the further North we rode the better the weather got though we had to be on the alert for sheep, goats & cows. Day 4: Quobba to Karratha – 630 kms. Planned stopover at Coral Bay/Exmouth foiled by Cyclone Jack closing roads. A very long day that was unplanned as we re-assessed the itinerary on the road given the weather but, the swim in the Karratha Caravan Park pool helped! Day 5: Karratha to Pardoo Station – 340 kms. A bit of shopping at the Camping Store in Karratha before heading on one of our toughest legs of the trip due to the very strong head winds. Also a big disappointment of a planned lunch stop at Whim Creek, when we found it closed for business. We then powered onto Port Hedland and rode into unbelievable mining “peak hour” traffic and road works! After fuelling Roley notice a distinct change in the clutch? On inspection it was found that the top end of the cable was hanging on only by a few strands! We found a shady stop out of the heat and while the boys dismantled the DR Colin replaced the clutch cable with a new one supplied by Peter. A great team effort and we were back on the road within the hour. Pardoo camp pool was a refreshing way to end the day, followed by a meal with a busload of adventure backpackers. Day 6: Pardoo to Broome – 490 kms. Another tough day in the saddle due to the 40+ degrees heat. Wayno saved the day by buying a bag of ice at Sandfire Roadhouse and we all put ice into our hydro packs to quench our thirst! This section of bitumen was particularly savage on our tyres with Colin’s rear Dunlop chopping out and Peter’s front Dunlop having a bit of a melt down! Stayed at the Palm Grove Caravan Park in a chalet and just fell into the pool. Day 7: Broome for R&R. Colin fitted new rubber – Chinese adventure tyres which turned out served him well. Gel seats purchased! Gear from Peter Smith, Kimberley Motorcycle. A friendly helpful guy but you get slugged Kimberley prices! Day 8: Broome for more R&R. We picked up our gel seats and did a few tourist things! Day 9: Broome to Bell’s Gorge (Secret Grove) via Derby & Imintji – 450 kms. The Gibb River Road from Derby starts out bitumen but goes to gravel a bit before the Windjana/Tunnell Creek turnoff. Imintji has a great store but only sells diesel fuel. A great campsite with showers & toilets. Had a campfire & BBQ tea. Went out to Bell’s Gorge in the morning and the half hour walk was well worth it. Had a swim and took lots of photos. Really felt like we were having the Kimberley experience! Day 10: Bell’s Gorge to Manning Gorge via Mount Barnett Roadhouse – 78 kms. An easy ride into the roadhouse to fuel up ($48.00 top up for 20.8 litres!) and then rode into the campsite. Again another great campsite, with all the amenities and had a swim before tea. Peter even went off for a little fishing. Another campfire with a threat of rain and lighting in the distance. In the morning an early rise to walk the 45 minutes out to Manning Gorge. It was certainly worth the walk! The falls were spectacular and the swimming was great. Wayno could not resist jumping off the falls. Day 11: Mount Barnett to Home Valley – 260 kms. This was the best ride of trip for all four of us – it was like a day enduro event except we were on fully loaded DRs! Very few re-groups and every one of us was in the zone with smiles all round when we got to Home Valley. The road was mostly wide and hard packed and once the DRs got up over 80 kph there was no corrugation felt but, you had to keep an eye for staying cattle. The spillways and dry creek crossings had been recently repaired (for the tourist season) and it was just a matter of kicking down to 3rd or 4th and throttling on. Peter & I did walk our bikes through the first water crossing after the Mount Barnett Roadhouse. The water was over the knees and a sandy bed. There was a number of water crossings but, nothing too difficult until we got to the Durack River and assessed it. Wayno crossed first and as it turned out not too challenging even though it was flowing and up over the axles. Arrived into Home Valley and fell into the pool with a coldie! This stop proved to be one of our favourites. Has a great restaurant with huge serves of ribs! The camp was set back from the Pentecost River and looks back onto the Five Rivers and the Cambridge Gulf, which can also be seen from the Wyndam side. Saw our first Cane Toads! In the morning before riding the short distance to El Questro we rode back up to lookout to take in the vista. Day 12: Home Valley to El Questro – 49 kms. Our first challenge was crossing the Pentecost River which raised a little initial concern. We were told to cross early morning before the rising tide peaked late morning (this is a tidal river with possible salt water crocs!). We watched a couple of vehicles cross and then Wayno went for it staying to the right of crossing and making it look easy! Peter then Colin then I all crossed without any mishaps. A Swiss DR owner, living in Bolivia, we met at Home Valley took some great video footage which we previewed on the other side – which he has now sent us a link! A big thank you Aschi! It was an easy ride to El Questro with a few small creek crossings but, the final crossing into the El Questro Township caught Roley out who had a little step off though fortunately did not drown the DR. No damage other than to his pride! We quickly set up camp as the public only has access to Zeebedee Gorge hot springs before midday, as the elite campers staying in the expensive part of El Questro have exclusive access after 12! Well the rush to get to the hot springs was well worth it. We could have stayed there all day. We then set of to Emma Gorge 16 kms away. Given the heat it was a challenging one hour walk in to the actual gorge but, again really worth the effort to chill in the cool, clear water. The only draw back is the walk out! Peter then went off to try his luck fishing in the Pentecost but, came back empty handed. We can highly recommend the Steak House at El Questro! The next day fuelled up before departing and another $48.00 top up (20.7 litres for me)! Day 13: El Questro to Kununurra via Wyndham – 208 kms. The detour to Wyndham was well worth the effort just to ride up to the Five Rivers Lookout. The vista was outstanding looking out over the Cambridge Gulf and the river system back to Home Valley. The ride up and down the Lookout was also a hoot. We booked into a chalet at the Big 4 Caravan Park for two nights. The break was both for a bit of R&R and to replace tyres & service the bikes at the halfway mark of the trip. We picked a good night to stay at the Big 4 as they had a Wednesday Special Fundraiser on with a camp oven feed – all you can eat for $10.00! As well we got to meet George the resident (freshwater) croc, swimming with turtles & catfish while bats were flying overhead. Day 14: Kununurra. Bikes serviced – oil & filter change and air filter cleaned. The Dunlop 606 were also replaced with Pirelli MT 21on Roley, Peter’s and Wayno’s bikes at Allgear, Bike Shop. The rears had chopped out while the fronts were still looking good for a few more kms. The hope was we would get home on these new tyres! Colin’s adventure tyres were holding up. Peter & Colin ordered sheep skin covers as they still had sore butts and took my advice that the combo of aftermarket seat, gel seat and sheep skin does make the difference! Seat comfort is everything on an Adventure Ride. Ordered from Bike Biz but, could not collect until our return to Port Hedland. Day 15: Kununurra to Mary (Pool) River via Halls Creek – 468 kms. Fuelled up at Warmun (Turkey Creek) Roadhouse. A great ride into light air with great vistas to the left. We were aiming to spend part of the day visiting the Bungle Bungles however, after arriving at the turn off a little later than we had planned and bit of “deliberation” we agreed to ride on, with the aim of camping at Mary Pool. Mary Pool campsite was filling with Grey Nomads when we arrived after having lunch and getting fuel in Halls Creek. A great spot to camp with toilets. Peter went off fishing and caught a few sardine sized fish. Day 16: Mary Pool to Fitzroy Crossing – 180 kms. Another easy ride into light cool air! We booked into the Fitzroy River Lodge and fell into the pool on arrival. We then rode out to Geikie Gorge and decided to book the boat cruise later in the day. The cruise was informative and well worth the experience. Cooked up a BBQ feed. Ants at the campsite gave us a bit of trouble. Day 17: Fitzroy to Windjana Gorge – 145 kms. Got away early and headed firstly to Tunnell Creek. A few kms into the dirt road to Tunnel Creek we came on a quite loose, sandy, boggy section. As I kicked it down a gear to power on to clear this section (as Sweep) the boys up front decided to pull over to let their tyres down. Well I went sailing by them looking for a hard spot to stop I very stupidly lost the front wheel as I was coming to a halt! Unfortunately as I went down my right pannier grabbed my right boot and twisted it in an unnatural angle until the boys lifted the bike off me. Luckily for me while I was in quite some pain both to the ankle and the knee, I had only three years ago had a reconstruction to, my boot and pod knee brace saved me from nothing more than a very bad soft tissue damage. Never the less I was in a lot of pain for next few days and not knowing if I had a fracture or not (?). A little further down the track we came on Wayno sizing up a very muddy creek crossing. He had observed a FWD come through and there seemed to be lots of large rocks hidden in the mud. Between Colin & Wayno they came up with an alternative route to the side using fencing wire/mesh as a platform to ride across the muddy reeds. Stopping at Tunnel Creek I kept my boots on for fear I would not get my right boot back on if I took it off and stayed with the bikes while the other three explored Tunnel Creek. Luckily I had been there back in 1972 so didn’t miss anything! At Windjana Gorge the Baboons made camp and after Wayno had a quick look around he headed off for Derby – something about out of VB, must get some! We later found out that he would catch us in Broome after deciding not to stay in Derby. We saw a few big fresh water Johnston River crocs in the Gorge. That night was the hottest I can recall with plague proportion of mozzies. The throbbing ankle and knee didn’t help either. Anyway once I got my right boot on in the morning we were ready to head for Broome via Derby. Day 18: Windjana to Broome – 372 kms. We hit the Gibb River Road early after 20 kms and dodging many cattle and continued to dodge cattle for many kms. Then we were dodging small grey wallabies almost all the way through to the Derby turnoff. After fuelling up at Derby we powered onto Broome via Wellard Bridge Roadhouse for late morning tea. Turned out to be a very hot day with intermittent cattle encounters which kept us on guard. Back to the Palm Grove Park on Cable Beach for some more R&R in a chalet, which I badly needed to rest my still very sore right ankle. Once again we fell into the pool before I took myself off to the Broome Regional Hospital for x-rays to confirm I had no fracture. Day 19: Broome for R&R. We took a hovercraft tour across the bay and went to the outdoor Sun Picture Theatre in China Town. A good day had by all! Day 20: Broome to 80 Mile Beach – 370 kms. The day didn’t start well with Colin dropping his chain about 50 kms from Broome. Fortunately there was no rear wheel lock up at 110 kph or any casing damage. The link had failed – lost the plate and clip. Colin managed to repair it and we took off again but with some reservation about the link holding. A quick stop at Sandfire for lunch & fuel. Good camp ground but little shade for tents. Park put on $6.00 hamburgers! Wayno was observed getting two down while the baboons knocked over cheesecake instead! Day 21: 80 Mile Beach to Karajini via Port Hedland – 570 kms. Back to the ever busy Hedland. Sheep skins covers were picked up for Peter & Colin and a spare rear sprocket for Colin’s bike. Then after re-fuelling let’s get out of this place. Well this road through to Newman was like the Kwinana Freeway with many, many quad (4 trailers) road trains in both directions. Adding to the congestion was road works in a number location bringing traffic in one lane at a time to a stop. This meant the road trains were catching one another up. This added to the interest of this leg passing multiple road trains at a time and getting the adrenaline going! As we headed for Auski Roadhouse the sky began to get darker giving us a hint the 35+ degrees of Hedland was cooling quickly and we were in for a weather change. We re-fuelled at Auski which must be the busiest Roadhouse in the West with dozens of road trains parked up – the noise & dust had to be experienced! Getting a little concerned about the wear on my rear tyre! We then rode onto Karajini National Park and set up camp near Fortescue Falls. The ground was so hard not one tent peg could be hammered in. Tents were anchored to camp ground posts and tied to bikes as the weather continued to decline. As the light faded we spotted a fellow Adventure Rider who happened by on a 1200 BMW. We invited him to share our camp site which he was happy to do. We shared many stories with Stephan/Stephen who is riding around Australia over 6 months. We encouraged him to tackle the Gibb – I wonder if he did? Around midnight the skies opened up with massive thunder & lighting display and then down came the rain for most of the night. At first light there was a break in the rain but the weather had clearly set in for a few days – there goes our planned two day stay to explore the Gorges. We broke camp, said our farewells to our new AV mate after taking a quick look from the lookout of the Fortescue Falls. Temperature is down to 19 degrees! I will be back some time. Day 22: Karajini to Coral Bay via Tom Price, Paraburdoo & Nanutarra – 660 kms. For me the second best leg of the ride after the Gibb. The road was twisty and passed through and by some great vistas. Adding to the experience was riding into a storm front but, fortunately we only got rained on a few times though the road was awash from heavy rain in places. Re-fuelled at Tom Price and Nanutarra. We managed to ride into Coral Bay with the light fading. We booked into the first Caravan Park set camp and headed to the Tavern for a steak sandwich and few coldies. Day 23: Coral Bay for R&R. Back to clear skies and warm swimming weather! Day 24: Coral Bay for R&R. Simply swimming and leisurely reading the newspapers, as you do on a holiday! Peter went fishing around the point but came back with nothing after one big strike. Day 25: Coral Bay for R&R. Wayno decided to change his rear Pirelli with the D606 he had been carrying since Broome. My rear tyre was the worse but I decided we would take it easy into Carnarvon and see what we could buy. Peter went off around to the Marina to have another go at fishing but again came back empty handed. Day 26: Coral Bay to Hamelin Pool Station Stay via Carnarvon – 455 kms. We took it easy into Carnarvon due to Colin’s, Peter’s and my rear tyres chopping out. We re-fuelled at Minilya Roadhouse and Carnarvon. We struck luck with Sandy McGinns, Honda Shop, Carnarvon when I called them from Minilya and discovered they had three rear adventure tyres ordered for another ride but no longer required! I immediately asked that they hold them for us. On arriving in Carnarvon we immediately headed to the Honda shop and picked up our tyres. Two Heidenenau Scouts and Metzler. While the shop does not fit tyres they suggested we go over to Beaurepaires and said they will “look after you”. Sure enough Beaurepaires were happy to oblige as long as we removed the rear rims. Once the job was done Colin went to settle the account and the boss simply said it’s on the house! Colin then made a donation to their beer fridge. How good is that? So after seeing Wayno off, as he was heading home, Colin noticed that the offending chain link had again shed the clip & plate! We immediately headed back to the Honda Shop and with the loan of tools and assistance, riveted the link on to avoid any further concerns. Once again like Beaurepaires Sandy McGinns said there was no charge. Colin insisted on paying for their services. We then got on the road headed for Hamelin Pool Station Stay as it was already after 2.00 and it was getting late to get to our destination before sunset. On arrival we booked our own rooms and then headed over to the communal kitchen for a “sundowner” with the other residents and cooked up our BBQ pack. We also met Belle, an ex UK Bobby and freelance photographer riding solo around Australia on a 110 Postie Bike. She has already ridden through Africa and Asian on other small bikes & scooters. The morning saw us having a cook up breakfast before hitting the road to see where we could get to that night given we were around 700 kms from home. We can highly recommend this Station Stay as a place to stay great facilities and customer service. Day 27: Hamelin Pool to Jurien Bay via Northampton & Geraldton – 500 kms. We fuelled at the Overlander and had an uneventful ride to Northampton for a further top up in the cooler, still air. At Dongara we stopped for a coffee and put our wet weather gear on but fortunately it did not rain though it was getting cooler temperate wise. We then made the decision not to push on all the way to Perth as the weather was not looking good and we would be on our headlights to get home with the usual wildlife roaming around. We booked into the Jurien Bay Caravan Park and had a comfortable bed for the last night of our adventure. Tea was at the Sandpiper Tavern which is well known to the Crusties and breakfast was at the Jetty Cafe before heading the road for the last time. Day 28: Jurien Bay to Perth – 200 kms. We refuelled at Cervantes and few kms out of Lancelin put our wet weather gear on again, given the dark skies. We got rained on but, arrived home safely with smiles all around knowing we had personally achieved what we had sent out to achieve. 8,000+ kms, over 28 days (for my DR it took 470 litres counting the 30 litres from the start through to the last top-up in Cervantes – interestingly my bike constantly used 2-3 litres less at each fuel stop out of all the bikes even though Colin and I ran the same gearing: 15/44!). Adventure Riding can be both challenging and rewarding and will be a different experience for each individual but, for me to do it with my two brothers Peter & Colin and Wayno it was a trip of a life time and I have no doubt there will be other rides yet to be planned. It is always about the journey not the destination! Roley What did Peter have to say -                                  |
