Day 17

Posted on May 21, 2013 by michaelhassett55

Port Headland to Carnarvon 870 km

This was the big day that we were gearing up for, so an early start was needed. It was fortunate that we were staying in accommodation that was designed for the early starters, the kitchen (mess) opens from 4am each day. I was there at 4:30, having had breakfast was ready to get underway at 5:15. It was going to be dark for another hour or more, so I followed the support vehicle. Better that they have the first encounter with kangaroo’s or cattle than a motorbike.

We followed cautiously until 6:30 am when there was enough light to see a good distance ahead, I the took the opportunity to lead. This still required a great deal of caution as there were many kangaroos returning to wherever they came from and the Cattle starting to wander for the day. Large flocks of Crows and hawks were gathering on every carcass along the way. I feel I almost wore out the horn of my bike on this leg, as it was required constantly in an attempt to warn the animals of our imminent arrival.

Having the sun rise over our left shoulder, presented an ever changing vista in front. The colour was gradually added to the countryside ahead, long shadows formed, creating a eerie companion on the road. The fine grass on the side of the tarmac glistened as if frost bitten, eventually to be warmed in the glow of the rising sun to reveal its true gnarly nature.

The scenes ahead were truly amazing, some of the most breathtaking countryside I have seen. This could only be appreciated by seeing it gradually revealed by the morning sun. The first sign of civilisation was Roebourne, a picturesque site indeed. (Unfortunately my bike mounted camera had failed and I lost all the images from it up until this point) We stopped to refuel and talked about the beauty of a day beginning that we had all just shared.

Although there were many more mindless kilometres ahead, we had to go to see the Red Dog as we were passing by. There were of course the roadtrains still to contend with.

After that it was full steam ahead to Carnarvon…challenge completed by by 3:00pm

The intended route and daily destinations

Posted on April 7, 2013 by michaelhassett55

This is the map of the route (not to scale)

MAY
New South Wales
Depart from Sydney Children’s Hospital
1 Tamworth – 400km
Queensland
2 Toowoombah
3 Rockhampton
4 Mackay
5 and 6 Townsville
7 Richmond
8 Mount Isa
Northern Terrirory
9 Tennant Creek
10 and 11 Katherine
Western Australia
12 Kunnanurra
13 Fitzroy Crossing
14 and 15 Broome
16 Port Hedland
17 Carnarvon
18 Geraldton
19 and 20 Scarborough
21 Margaret River
22 Albany
23 Esperance
24 Belladonia
25 Eucla
South Australia
26 Ceduna
27 Port Lincoln
28 and 29 Lyndoch
30 Mount Gambier
Victoria
31 Lorne
JUNE
1 Lakes Entrance
New South Wales
2 Batemans Bay
3 Arrive back at Sydney Children’s Hospital

About a month away

Posted on April 7, 2013 by michaelhassett55

It’s just a little under a month before the journey begins. Fifteen thousand kilometres to be travelled in 32 days with only four nights off. Lapping Australia anti clockwise from Sydney on the first of May and returning on the third of June.

There are two reasons I am doing this. The first being an opportunity to support a worthy cause, Sydney Children’s hospital via the Steven Walter foundation, and secondly, it was a lifelong dream of mine…for whatever masochistic reason, to ride a motorbike around Australia, two boxes ticked.

There are many challenges ahead, one is to decide how much clothing and equipment one would take, with a limited carrying capacity, although I am pretty fortunate, I have two panniers, one large top bag and a twenty litre leather cylinder. There are support vehicles, management, paramedics and mechanics, some basic spares and a trailer if you have an irreparable breakdown, not expected on the K1600. We won’t be roughing it, we are staying in hotels and motels, all booked and paid for arranged by the Steven Walter foundation management team. There is going to be a big range of bikes from sports to tourers and everything in between.

Speaking of the machine I am riding it’s BMW’s flagship tourer, it is fully equipped with all the modern safety features such as abs, traction control and stability control. There are some luxuries, for a bike, such as sat nav, a comprehensive trip computer, cruise control and phone integration all hooked up via Bluetooth into the BMW system 6 helmet, along with heated handgrips and seats, something one really appreciates when the need arises. Seeing at night is also a pleasure with dynamic xenon headlights that turn into corners and enough LEDs to be noticed even in the daytime.