Jeremy: it's nice to take a break.

So, our tent ended smelling like incense all night, which sure beats the hell out of petrol and rancid butter. Other than 2 wee kids who were pelting around on their dirtbike this morning at 5 o'clock, we had a lovely nights sleep. The big meal of mei goreng we had at the lovely local indonesian restaurant and the couple of whiskeys we followed it up with might have helped... The campsite here has soft grass too, which none of the other campsites (bar uluru) have had in the last few weeks have had. Today the petrol smell seems to have disappeared, thank goodness.
We decided later last night that we were going to give burra another night. After our stint of covering close to 1600kms in the last three days we decided another rest day was due, and we're pretty lucky to have landed in burra for it! It's really a lovely town, still full of beautiful old stone buildings, lots of nice old antique shops to mosy around in and little coffee shops and restaurants in which to relax. It's been a very relaxing day of reading and laundry, with some poking around in the town museums this morning. In the town hall they have costume rooms up the back of the theatre for poeple to try out some period dress. Bridget got all dolled up in a ridiculous big stripy thing. She still looked quite fetching though!
We reckon we'll push on to renmark tomorrow, and see some of the national parks around so bridget can do some drawing.

Jeremy: One more day of desert to go, then corners!

I'd forgotten how nice it was for a motorcycle journey to involve corners, till later today. Granted, I still didn't have to slow down for these particular corners, but I had to actually lean the bike over a bit which is more than can be said for anywhere else we've been lately, and they reminded me how much they help you focus too. It's just been pack up, turn right onto stuart highway, get bike to 110kph, do that for 80kms, pull into rest stop (where there is just a bin and a table, if the table hasn't been burnt or the bin hasn't had a shotgun shell put through it) wait for ten minutes, pull out of rest stop, turn right onto stuart highway, get bike to 110kph, go for 80kms etc.. Most of the time on the way up into a head wind. It's tiring, and boring. Just in a straight line at 110, for as long as your head can take the wind, and your fuel lasts. Can't wait to have to slow down for a corner tomorrow!
I made a few mistakes today. I put it down to tiredness and sore hands, but I could just be a bit uncoordinated... I was filling up the jerry can with fuel for the run from coober pedy to glendambo (i didn't want to repeat our feat of running out of fuel again) and I slipped with the nozzle and poured a whole squirt of fuel over the bottle, which then ran down onto the sleeping mat and sleeping bag that it was strapped to. I rinsed it all with a bit of water as best I could, but here I am in the tent tonight writing this blog post and the tent has the rather strong aroma of petrol permeating it. Not only that, but the tent smells like stale milk for some reason. I think something must have got jammed in with it by accident 3 days ago when we slept in it last. I could go on about the food too (just truckers food everywhere (burgers, chips, dimsims, egg and bacon rolls)) but all I've done is whinge here so I better stop moaning, just get some sleep and cheer up a bit!
While we were in Alice Springs (which was roasting, as you can see from the pictures) I went and got the chain on Norman seen to. I seemed to be making a bit more noise than it had at the start, and remembering how often I used to lubricate the chain on my old bike which was every 300kms or so (i'd done 3000kms or something on Norman and hadn't even checked it) and also that new chains stretched a lot in the first couple of thousand kilometers, I thought it prudent to have someone who knew what they were about to have a look over it. I think I heard the word "floppy" a few times, so Norman got tightened up and lubed, ready to turn around and head back the way we came.
Cadney homestead was a wierd wee place, with a wierd wee cabin we stayed in, but we got a pretty good nights sleep and that's what matters really. There was an amazing rainbow after the storm we narrowly dodged, because of the really bright sunshine I think.
I'll let Bridget explain the last picture tomorrow...

Jeremy: uluru, kata tjunta and lots of heat

So, today we finally saw Uluru, and the Olgas. We saw Uluru last night but it was from quite a distance and we were on camels, which was lovely but distracting as we'd just witnessed one of the women riding with us get thrown off her camel. Apparently the ants are mental at the moment because of all the rain, and the camels were all stamping their feat as we rode along to get them off. This is normal behavior but the camel infront of us took it a little too far, and actually jumped and bucked his rider off. Lucky she was ok, because it's a long way down off a camel, but every subsequent stomp of everyone else's camels was met with a tightening of the grip on the saddle. Not as relaxing as it was supposed to be I think.
After waking up a little late, we got some stuff for breakfast and lunch, and promptly decided that we were taking a bus trip to see kata tjunta today, there was no way we were putting all our leathers on and riding there in 35 degrees. So, we got on an air conditioned bus which took us to kata tjunta (the olgas) where we walked up through a gorge and then drove around uluru before watching the sunset there. Very nice and civilised. We've decided to go on to Alice Springs tomorrow, to try and escape the heat for a night or two at a backpackers. I think we're feeling a little too guilty about all the money we've spent on camels and busses to go all out on a hotel, and everything else here is very expensive too so these past 2 days have been quite a drain on the budget. Oh well.
We nearly ran out of fuel again yesterday on the way in. after paying an absolute fortune (photo below) for fuel at ebeneezer roadhouse, I think I must've just neglected to fill the tank properly. Too busy watching the dollars mount up. We set off, and after stopping for lunch at curtin springs, we accidently set off the wrong way. After 9 ks in the wrong direction it was Bridget who pointed it out (don't know what I was doing, looking for camels or something) and we turned round, adding nearly 20kms to the trip. I still figured it would be fine, but with 50 kms to go to yulara, I had to switch to the reserve, which only has 45kms on it at absolute maximum. I was panicking, already making up stories in my head to try and explain to the racv how 2 days after I had to call them to top up the tank after we ran out I needed them to do the same again. Oh, and this time we had an empty jerry can on the bike too, just to make it even worse. Just then, we caught up to a huge coach, and I just tucked in behind it and stared at it's tail lights for the next 52kms. It actually sucked us along the road all the way to yulara where we managed to roll into shell with a shot glass of fuel left. We were so lucky that coach appeared, because the head wind was fierce and there was no way we would have made it.
The jerry can isn't empty anymore.

Jeremy: adding up the distances...oh yeah, and we ran out of fuel.

Yep, it's a long way to go still, and I think we are tired today because we're sitting here looking for ways to make it all a bit shorter. Alice springs is first on the cut list, and we're still in discussion. I reckon uluru and kings canyon may just about do us, we've still got 17 or 18 days to go to see it all and get home, 20 with alice springs added. Camping has made it a little more difficult to stick it, just because as the campsites have got a littke more rough, so have the nights sleep. In glendambo last night we had a very picturesque camp spot but the ground where we pitched the tent was really hot from the sun all day so even though the night air got quite cold the heat from the ground radiated up through the ground sheet and the tent was boiling all night, and the ground was really, really hard. Needless to say, i've had better nights sleep. It was a beautiful spot though, and the pub was a nice place to relax in, so it was quite good really, I'm just whinging. I'm also tired.
The landscape has been breathtaking for most of the way, and we've only had to dodge the one little emu today. Clearly got a bit frazzled by the bike and didn't know which way to go, and chose too late and poorly. Lucky for him/her we were going about 20kph by the time we reached him, so no harm done, maybe scorched the tail feathers a little on the exhaust. I still haven't seen a live roo, plenty of dead ones (and cows) though.
So, we ran dry on fuel today too. A little embarrassing, but I always knew it was going to be close. I didn't factor in just how much drag the two of us and all our gear apparently make at 110kmh. 250.9kms is our range at that speed, and I won't be forgetting it. We'll have to get a wee fuel bottle for the way back, just a small top up and we'll be fine. The bike coughed and spluttered a whole lot to get going again too, (after the rac man came and topped it up) a very clear message from norman that "this behavior is not to be repeated, or my battery might not be so ready to run the starter motor for a whole minute and a half while the fuel slowly trickles back in to get you going again". Anyway, you live and you learn the hard way.
We had a look around an opal mine today which was interesting, although I think my highlight was a cool old film set of a crashed space ship out the front of one of the museums. Apparently lots of movies are filmed in the desert around here. The motel where we are staying is lovely, it's just called the "underground motel", and I can't wait for a night in a bed!

Getting ready for the big push...

I think we proved to ourselves today that we can just do a big hit without too much hassle, and without thinking about it too hard. We'd had a lovely day just looking at museums and Bridget had got some drawing done, but all of a sudden it was 5 o'clock and we were still hundreds of k's from clare, which was where we'd decided to stay the night so that the next day we could go to port augusta in readiness for the longer days to come after that. So, we just did it anyway. We got in a little late but we got here and the drive was beautiful. The sun setting, huge lovely golden wheat fields waving in the breeze, countless vineyards all the way. Bridget and I have decided that we really love the adelaide hills, and we'll definitely be back sometime soon, for a little more wine tasting maybe. The clare valley is especially beautiful, I've a lovely photo there of our camp with norman and the setting sun behind.
We stopped in hahndorf this morning, very interesting museum there about the first waves of german settlers to colonise the hills around mount barker, then to birdswood to the national motor museum. I don't think Bridget was as excited as I was, but she did her best and managed to find a few cars she liked, mostly Austins of various shapes and sizes (a30, a40, a50, 7...) And morris's. Morrisi? I'm not sure on the plural. I loved the motorbike section. Amazing! And what a ride through the hills, lots of twisty roads to negotiate, but all in good condition, no worrying about potholes!
Then we managed to squeeze in a visit to the giant rocking horse before it closed. I think bridget got a couple of photos of that.
Anyway, Norman chugs along, as.per usual. I think I may have to get someone to check the chain soon, I'm pretty sure they stretch quite a lot in the first little while after they're new so I'll get the tension checked out once we've done another 1000kms or so. Anywho, a quick bonus of bridget at the pink lakes from the other day too, and what also bridget posing next to a lovely fj holden ute at the motor museum, what a sight! I think she has to work on her draped across the bonnet pose a little more.

Portland

Just stopped for lunch. Look at  bridget's excellent repair job on our bag with portland in thr background!

First Highway Ride

So, we've had norman for a day, and we went for a short spin yesterday evening so Bridget could try it out. I think she liked it, not so secretly... She looked good in all her gear too!

It felt really good to be on a bike again, although it took me a little while to get back into the swing of it. 'Point your face where you want to go and you'll go there.' Took me a little while to remember that, what with all the working out how the indicators work and getting a feel for the gear changes to RPMs and trying not to kill myself in the traffic. Good times! It was all sorted by the time Bridget got on though, nice and steady.

So, first test passed then! We just went to Tim's place for a cup of tea, 20 mins each way with a break in the middle. In about 20 minutes we're for our first highway ride, 30 mins each way. Should be all sweet but we'll be taking it nice and easy just in case! I'll report back on our return.