Day 6: Heading home...

I managed to wake up early this morning despite not sleeping well last night. It was raining but nothing was going to stop me from witnessing sunrise at Uluru today. Arrived there just in time for the first break of light and it was beautiful. There were buses and buses of tourists there as well but I don't seem to notice them. Occasionally you would hear comments from them like, "Huh? Is this all?", "...and we're here for an hour for THIS?" and "It looks just the same to me...". Well, I pity them. They were not here because they wanted to be here - it so happens to be in their tour itinerary. I bet most of them would rather be in bed or enjoying the early morning buffet at the resort. For me, you have to be here for a reason to be able to appreciate it. But still, I can't understand why they are not able to appreciate something this majestic. Glory be to God who created all this and all the rest of us on this earth...

I took a series of shots with the camera on my tripod and it was fascinating watching the colour changes by the minute and then how the sky in the background gets brighter and brighter slowly revealing many other beautiful parts of the surrounding. I can't help making full use of the time pondering over the whole journey that took me there. It was not a particularly good year for me. First it was something about work, then my Dad passed away. This trip was in a way to run from it all and at the same time to help me look at things from a different perspective. Sometimes you have to be out to be able to look in and properly see what you have never seen before. It was also meant to pause from the normal rat race routine and put myself in a totally different situation and reflect on everything.

Last night I was busy rearranging my itinerary with the help of my dedicated "home base support". I was planning to join a 3-hour walking tour around the base of Uluru today at 8:00 am. But I also don't want to stay here another night (it costs me $235 for a room last night! Any cheaper options, you'd say... now, that's a story for later...) but I don't think I can reach Coober Pedy by tonight. My wife finally managed to get me a cabin in Erldunda Roadhouse. But that also means, I would have to rush back quickly to hotel now, check out, leave my stuffs at the concierge, no time for breakfast, no time for anything else and quickly return back here for the tour. And after 3 hours wandering around in the desert, I would have to ride to Erldunda at noon!

But hang on... why did I keep doing that? Rush, rush, rush trying to achieve what I want to achieve? So what if I missed the tour. So what if I didn't get to walk around the base of the rock. I just realized; it was probably not about the rock after all... I did the journey. I get to ride my bike for as much as I ever wanted. I have seen interesting stuffs along the way. I arrived here safely and I proved to myself that  I can do it. Perhaps; it was not about the rock after all. Perhaps I found what I was looking for all along... Yes, it then struck upon me. I did. I found what I was looking for! The treasure that I was looking for (for those who have read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho) was where I left it 6 days ago. What matters the most to me, is waiting for me at home, right now!

I quickly gather all my things (hey, but first a few quick self-portrait shots now that all the tourists are gone!) and head straight to my bike. Forget the tour. I found what I was looking for and I'm going home for it now...! Some might say that you don't have to ride your bike alone like an idiot for days in the sun and the rain and the thunderstorm to figure that out... well, good for you then. Maybe it took me the whole journey to figure it out (one guy said, "If you want to find yourself, pegi umrah lah... buat apa nak pegi tengok batu!"). Maybe the rock was only the source that triggers the inspiration. But think about this; and maybe also, the fact that what I had to put myself through and endure for the last 6 days have given me a totally new perspective of everything... The time I spent reflecting, and later on reflecting some more on my previous reflections and all the solitary time I have with only me and my bike have given me the opportunity I never had to think things through, again and again. It was a soul-searching journey indeed. Hence, you will never see what I see and you will never have what I have found...

The "Red Centre" is my heart.

It's time to ride home to what matters the most to me... my family...!

Day 5: Alice Springs to Uluru (536.8 km. Total now 3,613 km)

Last night was obviously not one of the most comfortable night. While I lay there awake in the middle of the night, I recalled that the last time I went camping was probably more than 7 years ago! Perhaps I'm too old for this... Oh how I miss the comfort of a motel room or a cabin...

Anyway, here's the view of our camp site. Not so much of wilderness to be bragged about but at least a certain level on inconvenience that demands a lot of effort to tolerate at this age. The bike is parked just next to the tent so that we can keep a close watch on one another...



Anyway, I woke up extra early this morning, all excited for the big day. If all goes well, we should reach Uluru by this afternoon!

First thing I noticed was that my shoo-roo was actually broken. No wonder the emu was just standing there staring at me the other day! Lucky I brought a spare...

We hit the road while the camping site was still quiet. It was a brilliant weather today and the road around Northern Territory was as usual, straight, long and virtually flat with scenery on either side of the road that can be exactly the same for miles after miles after miles. During times like this I'm so glad for having my auto-cruise function (yes, for those doesn't know, this bike does have an auto-cruise function like the one on cars. Cool eh?). First stop was at a roadhouse in Stuarts Well. Even after our 200 km ride we still arrive there very early in the morning and I was the only customer. I thought I'd order breakfast since we still have quite a long way to go that day. I went for my customary eggs-on-toasts and when the guy asked me about drink, I confidently requested for a large skinny flat white. He stared at me blankly, picked up a coffee mug, hand it over to me and gestured with the mug to a corner in the bar where I now see a big hot water pot, with a big jar of instant coffee, sugar and stuff and he said, "Go make yourself mate!". Lessons learnt; at a roadhouse, ask first what kind of coffee they have!

I also found out that they have quite an attraction there; "Dinky the singing Dingo" whom I judged from reading the many newspaper clips on the wall; is quite famous! I did ask the guy where Dinky is and he said, at this hour, he'd still be in his bed. Well, I guess I'd just have to take their words for it. (I did check out on YouTube later and guess what; there were actually quite a number of videos of Dinky "singing"!). But I still don't think I should get myself one of the t-shirts though...

When I was just about to leave, Dinky just woke up so I did get to say hi to the star in person...

This picture was taken at the Erldunda Roadhouse later that morning.Notice the sign? But they don't mind actually...

It was still another about 250 km to reach Uluru from there so we made our way quickly. This is one of the pic of a nice spot I found on the way there. There were quite a few of these called, "The Red Centre Way"





And after a ride that seems to be forever, it finally appears in the far distant; "The Red Centre" in its glory.

Wow! It was exactly the way I had imagine. It was quite an emotional moment. After months of planning and thousand of kms of riding, finally we made it here! I found a spot (there's hardly anyone else there at this hour) and started getting busy taking pictures of the bike, myself, myself with the bike and sending pics to FB and other BlackBerry friends announcing my arrival there. Yup, that's it... WE MADE IT!!! After that we made a quick "victory lap" around the 10 km track around the rock and I couldn't help but to congratulate the bike for taking me there with no problem whatsoever (touch wood for now!).

After bringing myself back to reality again, I realized that I had to start looking for a place to stay for the night (2 nights as per my original plan). I rode down to Yulara and true as what I have read before, it is a resort especially and exclusively created to serve the visitors of Uluru (Ayers Rock). And you can guess what people would do with "monopoly" market? Yes, charge them like crazy! It was quite a shocker for me because on my way there, I hardly bumped into any tourists at all but over here, they were everywhere; buses and buses of them and I also noticed that 90% of them are international tourists.

I had a quick lunch at the tourists centre then went searching for accommodation. According to the lady at the info counter, all the cabins in the caravan park were fully booked. The only ones available are dormitory and single rooms in the resort. The 40-people sharing dorm is $35 a night, 4-sharing is $45 a night and the single room is $235 a night! I thought to myself, I'm not going to succumb to this extortion so I book myself in for a 4-sharing dorm room. I went to the "resort", checked in and were given the key to my shared room. As I stepped into the room, the other occupants were not there but I can guess they are buddies. The only bed left is one of the upper bunk bed. The room was probably not more than 8x10 ft wide, no aircond, packed with the stuffs from the current occupants and their clothes, wet towels and everything else were hanged all over the place! It was damp and dark and.... I don't think I can survive one night in there! They are probably just some 20 year olds, so this 40 year old tough and rugged biker would not have a problem handling them but I just can't take it!!! I'd probably handle it better and blend in well some 20 years ago but not anymore...

Another quick call to home base for advice and same advice like the night before; if you're not comfortable, just get out of it! Stop being stingy! Well, what to do... went back to the reception, asked for an upgrade, paid the $235 bucks and decided to book for only one night and see how it goes later. It was probably one of the best decision I made so far during the trip. I moved my stuffs from the dorm room to my single room so quick, I even forgotten to take a picture of it! But anyway, now finally I can rest easy, unpack my things in my comfortable room, went back out again to take pictures of Uluru at sunset. Came back later, had a nice quick dinner then had a very nice and more importantly, undisturbed sleep...

Sunset in Uluru. If I can wake up early tomorrow... sunrise in Uluru...!

Tips of the day: If you go there, never forget to slap on some generous amount of insect repellent. The flies there, all hundreds and hundreds of them, can be really annnoying!

Day 4: Mount Isa to Alice Springs (1,171 km. Total now 3,076 km)

This day has to be one of the earliest start since I'm planning to break the 1,000 km barrier. Why 1,000 km? I don't know. It's just that at one time the number seems impossible, to me at least, so now I'm just going to prove that it can be done. In comparison to Malaysia; you would have to travel from KL to the North all the way to Chumphon, Thailand (2/3 the distance to Bangkok!) to do a one-thousand km journey. In Down Under, you could still be in the same state!

Anyway, I did leave the caravan park before anyone was up and probably when the whole of Mount Isa was still sleeping. I came across a few cars heading out of town to the mines but that was about it. Luckily the weather was brilliant and as I entered Barkly Highway I came across this sign. This has to be one of the customary pic for any Oz tour! Where else would you have to rely on one road sign to cater for the next 190 km!

During my refueling stop in Camooweal (according to my plan, this should be the last gas station between here and Tennant Creek which is 471 km away!) I met these two surfer dudes, Niels from Holland and James from England in their "Sydney-to-Sydney" tour! I overtook their car earlier and they caught up with me later at the gas station. I find their story fascinating: They met in a surfing school in Sydney 8 months ago then decided that they both have the same keen interest in surfing, travelling and exploring so they decided to tour Australia. Got themselves a car, packed everything they own into it, and off they go! They have been everywhere and have done every kind of work including pineapple farming, work on freight barges, driving bus; you name it! They have just left a place called Currumba (?) where they last work in the pineapple farm - I couldn't even find the place in the map! Now they are on the way to Darwin - to find a job, then surf some more.

I started taking notes of their story and told them about my blog. Then we all went back onto Barkly Highway together and later will go our separate ways as we changed onto Stuart Highway.

Wherever you are guys; take care and have fun!!! Hope we meet again one day...


After that it was a long ride for me to Tennant Creek. What was in the beginning a good weather turned cloudy after the Barkly Homestead (my research was not right, or was probably outdated - there ARE at least three more gas stations along this route!) and I can see lightning in the far horizon. It was really not much of a choice - ride in the rain or what? Stay out there in the field and become a lightning target? It rained and it rained hard all the way to Tennant Creek. It was a tough ride (which I thought would have been the toughest part of this whole journey) and I arrived totally drenched in Tennant Creek.

As I entered the Red Rooster at the Rest Area, I thought, oh no, they must be having a leak in their roof. Newspapers were spread everywhere so I tip-toed in so as not to make a mess of everything. Then I realized, hey, this is actually their floor design! How embarrassing... Maybe I've just never been to a Red Rooster before...

It was a quick lunch then hit the road again. Oh but, I also just found out that when I used my "octane booster" at Barkly Homestead for the first time just now, I only used half a bottle and kept the remaining half bottle in the side pannier. What I found out when I reached Tennant Creek was that the top was probably not meant for safekeeping - the octane booster spilt all over the content of the pannier! Now, I'm wet and smell of gasoline!!! This couldn't be any worse, I thought, and I hope...

I also bumped into two bikers on Triumph tourers and seeing that they came from the opposite way, I thought of striking a conversation asking about the weather where they come from. Turned out they weren't that friendly (ask one; answer one!) so I went off my way. One thing I start noticing here also that (I apologize upfront as I don't really know how to make this sounds politically correct, but) there are a large number of native people wandering aimlessly around town mostly middle aged to old. They seemed "lost" in their own world. I just get this uneasy feeling over all this and at the same time glad that I'm not spending the night here.

On the road, I started to come across bikers, mostly in pairs or more and on rare occasions, solo riders like me. But think again if you think I'm crazy; twice I came across guys on bicycles!!! Now; THAT's crazy!

This pic is me at the Devils Marbles near Wauchope. Occasionally my bike does help take a picture of me... :-)

It was still a long ride away to destination; Alice Springs. I stopped for refueling in Wycliffe Well where they supposedly had UFO sightings there, many years ago.

Here are the "Aliens". I wonder, what people would do just to sell gas! But I know I did and I even took a picture of it - so it DOES work!

Yeay! I saved a bundle as compared to sleeping in motels) and went to find a spot. The guy said, "...just take any spot!". I wonder why then I noticed, in the park which could have fit at least 30-40 caravans, with maybe another 20 cabins and plenty of space for tents - I was the ONLY person there! Then I also noticed few other things; a few suspicious characters wandering around outside the fence and my phone doesn't have coverage! I went back to the "reception" and asked the guy about phone and he pointed me to a phone booth outside the bar. Now, it doesn't accept coins or credit card so I had to buy a phone card. And the booth is stenched with stale urine I had to cup my nose to talk! I called home for advice and the advice was, RUN!!! It was getting dark and I had very little time to react. I went back to the reception and told the guy I needed to stay at a place with mobile phone reception. He was kind enough to let me go and even returned my $12! I fled out as fast as I could. Now, I did say I want to camp out for the night but definitely not out here. I can almost hear the dingoes howling at night and I'll be the only person in the whole camp site in the outback! Hey, I am adventurous but I want to write about my experience, not to be written about in the local newspaper [Newsflash: The remains of a lone traveller found in a deserted campsite].

I covered the remaining distance to Alice with the sun setting down fast. Imagine the feeling as I saw my shadow to my left getting longer and longer and I kept hearing the advice - don't travel in the dark in the Outback. It's dangerous! Yes, but so does staying in a deserted camp site out in the nowhere! It was a race against the setting sun. I felt like Fiona!

At the first sight of street lights of Alice Springs I breath a relief. Have I turned soft? I would have craved for the kind of adventure just now many years back but now I longed for the shelter of a city? Just to prove a point; I picked a caravan park and asked for a tent site. Here I am, camping in the "wild", in my little tent. It was a quick pizza dinner then off to bed, actually foam mat (sponsored by Ezran!)

It took a while to go to sleep. But at least I achieve two things today - ride for 1,000 km and sleep in the tent! I'm proud of myself and dreamt of the next big day...

Day 3: Mt. Isa (Rest Day – 18 km. Total now 1,904 km)

I need a rest and the bike needs the rest too… Here it is, resting in front of the cabin. Notice the outhouse? (The little shed on the right) This would have failed my family’s mandatory requirement of a place to stay during their holiday! It was alright for me. It’s clean and it’s cheap... :-)

 

Anyway, one thing I didn’t mention in yesterday’s posting; the first downside (and hopefully the only one) so far. While travelling between Kynuna and Cloncurry, as you can imagine is another long and lonely stretch, there was hardly anyone else on the road. With the monotonous scenery for miles and miles sometimes you couldn’t even tell whether you are moving or not. I must have speed up a bit and as it so happens, out of nowhere just on the other side of a crest popped out a police trooper!!! Within a split second his siren was blaring and he made a U-turn – I knew this was going to be the lowest point of my trip… I received a "souvenir" from the kind police officer of Cloncurry. It’s a severe dent to my budget! Come to think of all the money I tried to save and here I did such a stupid thing and cost me money for nothing! I was so depressed the whole journey, it took me a while to recover. I just sat for a long time by the roadside in front of a grocery store in Cloncurry pondering on what had happened. This is NOT one of those moments I was hoping for…

Anyway, I had to accept what I deserved. You guys can help you know – now, start clicking all those ads on this blog and help me raise fund to pay the traffic ticket! Pleeaaasseeee….!!!

I decided to count my blessings and try to look on the positive side. Isn’t it good that it happened earlier on in the trip that it becomes a reminder for me not to ride too fast for the rest of the journey? I also decided not to let any mishap spoil the spirit of this journey. I move on… Sigh… it’s just that riding with the auto cruise on in this kind of road is so boring it would even affect my concentration. Well rules are rules… And let that be a very valuable lesson to you all too… Speeding is dangerous – to your life and your pocket!

Today I decided to explore Mount Isa (I have to spell in full now; if not some people thought I was referring to Mat Isa!). Having surveyed the brochures and internet, I chose to go to the “Outback at Isa” complex. I read that in Bill Bryson’s book Down Under.

They have this Underground Mine Tour in a real mine which I’m sure would be very cool. Everywhere I read their advert, it says, “BOOKING ESSENTIAL”. So I called them up early in the morning hoping to be able to get a place in today’s tour and to my surprise, the lady said, “Sorry, we might not have the tour today as there has been no booking”. Apparently, I was the only one! I still insists that she put my name down and I said I will come around the time of the tour in case some tourists came along (for once I was looking forward to bump into one of those bus load full of Japanese tourists!). I arrive there earlier than time hoping to be able to browse through the complex while waiting for my tour. To my surprise again; I was the only visitor there! The lady explained that this is their quiet season – I know, but I never expected it to be THIS quiet. Anyway, in the spirit of don’t-worry-be-happy, I took the “Isa Experience Gallery”, “Outback Park” and “Riversleigh Fossil Centre”. To my nice surprise this time, it was good! I learnt a lot about the history of the town and the mining process. And the Outback Park is a little park with collection of all the floras you can find in the outback – all in one place. There was this lizard too who spooked me but I don’t think it was part of the exhibits. And oh those annoying flies… they are everywhere!!! Plenty of pics below. 

The highlight of my visit was when I got a special personal tour (what do you expect; I was probably the only visitor for the day!) by the resident palaeontologist Dr. John Scanlon around his lab. Hey, this is a real deal palaeontologist okay; not like Ross Geller! And I get to touch a 26 million year old fossil! How cool is that!!!

There are so many stories to tell about the visit but I guess I would have to tell it in person later. By the way, do you know that there were 52 nationalities among the thousands of miners back during the WW2 period? Each of them had their own football team; except for Australia! There once lived carnivorous kangaroos 2 meters tall! A day’s gathering of fossil-containing rocks takes a year to analyse. Riversleigh’s water is super-saturated lime and that’s why the animals were properly fossilized. Ok, stop; now I’m beginning to sound like Ross!

Next stop is the City Lookout. It was beautiful but in the 38°C temperature, it was a bit unbearable. I decided to come back at dusk as recommended by the tourist brochure.

Went back, had a good nap, then went out again. Yes, it is more bearable now… I decided to switch off my SatNav as I already learnt the street within a day. I noticed the multi-ethnicity of the population just like the video I saw. I find it fascinating that a place out in the nowhere is like a mini world of its own. And it was so easy to find the Chinese Takeaway and the Indian Restaurant. And the people were very friendly too. Here’s the little girl at the caravan park who stopped by on her bicycle to have a chat with me. When I ask her, shouldn’t she be talking to strangers, she said, “Oh yes, my mum told me not to stop and chat with people…”, then she went off.

Below is the pic from the visit to the Lookout at dusk. Again, a Canon EOS-550D would probably have captured it better…

And not forgetting, here’s a picture of a road train!

So, that’s it for today. I’m excited for the big day tomorrow.

Day 2: Blackall to Mt. Isa (923 km. Total now 1,886 km)

Simply put; Day 2 makes Day 1 look like a ride to the neighbourhood grocery store!!!

A good start this morning. Weather was a bit chilly but the storm has cleared up and the sky looks clear. I was hoping it stays that way today. Anyway, I shouldn’t complain – it’s a Monday morning and I don’t have to go to work! While packing, I realized most of the stuffs I brought were untouched. Well, it’s only Day 2 and most of it are “just in case” stuffs anyway. My back started to ache a bit but nothing that a painkiller can’t fix. A group of guys in the next cabin were also packing up their 4WD and getting ready to depart. A customary “G’day” and “Hi, howya doin, mate” was all I can manage at this point.

First stop, I decided to check out some local historical place. Visited the “Black Stump”. Long story but basically this was the original place used by the surveyors in 1887 to locate their theodolite in mapping of Australia. At that time, anything to the west of the stump is known as “beyond the stump”. Fascinating story; for a surveyor, I think… At 5:30 am, I was obviously the only visitor around…

Then when I was about to make a head start I realized that the bike needs a fill up. And I also found out that the gas station in town is not open until 7:00 am! [Note to self: Fill up in the evening next time]. I asked an elderly gentleman who’s one of the town council cleaning crew (you got to admire these guys who started working while everyone is still in bed) and he told me there’s a BP station as I come into town yesterday and it’s already opened. He was right. I also managed to get myself the routine double espresso. For whatever reason, I decided to just sit there on a rock in front of the gas station and decided take it easy. It was my second “moment” in this trip. Yes, I’m going to do more pondering and less rushing. I’ll try…

Then off heading Northwest towards Barcaldine. The road was just as bumpy but not as bad as the Roma-Mitchell stretch. I stopped counting dead kangaroos though – it’s too depressing. The scenery is just all the same except this part the tarmac is red. I shot a video of it from the mounted camera. Perhaps one day when I’m bored, I can just watch it and pretend… Anyway, I still don’t see any life roos so I assumed that my shoo-roo is working. But there was this emu who just stood there by the road side watching me curiously. I thought the shoo-roo works for all animals? [Note to self: Look for a shoo-emu?]. At one time I also had to swerve to avoid a hawk who was just standing (do birds stand?) on a roo carcass. He was just staring at me in a very intimidating way. It was his neighbourhood, so I had to show some respect… 

Arrived Barcaldine still a bit too early, even on a Monday morning. Decided to visit their “Tree of Knowledge”. See what it’s all about. I stopped for a quick chat with an elderly couple who was setting up their stall for the pink ribbon charity then head off to Longreach. I noticed that the stretch in this part is getting longer and longer in between towns. I started a new habit of customary wave to passing highway buddies. I was wondering before why people do that; now I realized that it was so lonely, you’d be happy to see another fellow travellers passing by! I also did a survey; you will most likely get a wave back from people in caravan, closely followed by road trains drivers. You get less percentage of wave back from locals especially those in cars. I will do some more analysis later. I also noticed that all the towns here call themselves “Gateway to the Outback”. I was wondering how many gateways are there… Then it made sense to me. The towns are the gateways to the Outback on either sides of the road! I think…

I stumbled upon this funny place The Bottle House just between Barcaldine and Longreach. It has old car rims hung all over its fence! Hundreds of them! Weird. A must-stop for car rims fans! I decided against actually visiting inside the house for fear it could be even weirder! By the way, every now and then I get a “where are you now?” message. Someone at home is missing me, I know… :-)

The thing about riding a bike is that I couldn’t do anything else but ride. I couldn’t even eat or drink while riding. I had to memorize all my ideas and at the next stopping opportunity wrote them down in my little notebook. Maybe a Bluetooth voice recorder would be handy next time… At stops, this is typical. A working toilet (they are surprisingly clean – for a Malaysian like me - and even have toilet paper!). You would have to use a foot pump to flush. Maybe I should get a picture of it next time.

Another wonder of the Outback are the road trains. [Note to self: Get a pic. Maybe not all have seen a road train before]. Some are 3 trucks long and up to 50 meters! After a while you’d have a love/hate relationship with them. You’d hate them when they come towards you (they would shake the whole bike!) but after a while not seeing them, you kinda miss their presence. There’s only one thing worse than road train – road train carrying livestock! The smell!!! I couldn’t roll up my window though…

Hey, I had more to write than yesterday! Read on…

Here’s a pic at the Qantas Museum in Longreach. Nice patch work, huh? I read first that the birthplace of Qantas is Longreach, but then when I arrived in Winton, they also said they are the birthplace of Qantas. Need to check which one is correct.

In Winton, I decided to crank up the adventure a bit. I took a detour to the Australia Age of Dinosaurs Fossil Preparation Facility. Sounded great but it is what it is; a warehouse full of fossils. The best part was that it’s 11 km into the outback. See pics below. I even recorded a video as I climbed down the steep gravel path from the mountain top. Not easy on an RT! Now, THIS is Outback!

The journey to Cloncurry was really torturous. This would really define “ludicrous”. This is the part I meant in my opening statement. Even I am beginning to think that I’m crazy to make myself go through this. Long lonely stretch and the temperature is now up to 38°C! At every stop, even the tiniest shade is a blessing!

But I still have time to take out my tripod to capture my biker look…

One last event for the day was a quick stop for lunch at a roadhouse in Kynuna. It was attended by an elderly couple and their dog. They were very friendly. The dog was sleeping, thank god.

Finally made it to Mt. Isa just before dark. AND, another cabin night. Oh, come on; I deserve it after a long ride like this. The tent and the foam mat can wait. Besides, I’m already one day ahead of my plan. Tomorrow I’m staying here and will be touring the town. For some reason, the town’s tagline is “You’re not a real Aussie ‘till you’ve been to Isa”. I guess I’ll have to find out tomorrow why they say that…

Day 1: Brisbane to Blackall (963 km)

There; I made it! I guess it was just about making that first move. Once I was on the road, all the worries and nervousness just got swept away by the wind and I was able to enjoy every moment of the ride today...

Make this the "before" picture. We'll compare it to the "after" picture when I get back!

It started early this morning as planned. By 5:15 am, I already had all my gears loaded onto the bike. I had only one fan bidding me farewell as all the others were still in bed. It was an emotional moment nonetheless. As I hugged and kissed my wife goodbye, she whispered to me, "I hope you will find what you're looking for...". Yes, perhaps that is what this trip is all about - searching for myself. I don't mean to sound too philosophical or melodramatic about it all but one whole day on a bike, all by yourself with plenty of time to reflect on all sorts of things tends to make you a bit softy inside somehow.

Anyway, I'm refraining myself from writing too much on the first day for fear of getting the "journal" too long in the beginning and thinning towards the end. But all the way I had so many ideas and thoughts to write about, I think I wouldn't be sleeping tonight if I were to write them all!

It went exceptionally well in the morning. As I got onto the Ipswich Highway there were already few wrong setups that I spotted but hey, we can only plan every detail of the trip but we can't help missing a thing of two. First I noticed that the duffel bag that I strapped on the back seat blocked part of the view in my rear mirror. This means that I would have wider blind spot than usual. Anyway, that just need a bit of adjusting myself to the condition. Next, I realized that the camera mount that I fixed on the windshield is vibrating badly. I really should have attached it to the body of the bike but that's something I would have to figure out later. The other problem was when I wanted to switch on the camera on the move. I was struggling to push the tiny button while wearing my riding glove! I tried once taking off the glove while riding just to push the button then putting it on again but decided that it was too unsafe as it took my focus from the road. Looks like the camera mount could be the first redundant gadget on this trip after all...

I had such a nice ride I didn't realize that by the time I reach Dulacca (about 100 km from Roma) it was only 9:20 in the morning! I way underestimated my travelling time. I have not even had any breakfast yet but I feel like I can go another 200k easily! Had a short break eating dates (good energy source - I learnt that the hard way while mountain climbing once) then head off to Roma.

Note: Resting under this tree was one of the "moment" during this trip so far

As I approached Roma I noticed that the "Km to go..." was reducing quite rapidly. My plan was to fill up at Roma. I had always find that the bike can go minimum 500-550 km without filling but this time, it went down to 0 only after travelling for 450 km! It must be the weight of all those gears. I was almost literally holding my breath as I rode the last 16 km on "0". I was praying that when the manual says the bike has a 60km worth of tank capacity of reserve, it really has it. I made it to Roma finally and filled the tank to the brim!

One of the few things I was really glad I had was the windshield on the bike and the full face helmet I wore. That route is really a bug fest. By the time I got there, if I had not had the windshield or wear and open face helmet, I would have been full with all the exotic outback bugs! Thousands of them all splattered their guts on me. And am I glad also that I brought the handy "optical wet wipes"!.

The stretch from Roma to Mitchell was absolutely beautiful. In my my trial run back in April, I passed through there near dusk. Now in daylight and when the rain was forming in the horizon, it was such a brilliant scene. It felt like one of Monet's painting actually came to life... and I was right in it! I did stop and tried to capture the scenery but my cheapo camera didn't do justice to the scene (perhaps it is now justified to get the Canon EOS 550D after all, wink..wink..)

By the time I got to Mitchell again I found out I'm way ahead of time (how I wish those projects I worked on were like this!). I had to make an executive decision there and then. By the way, the storm was faithfully following me from behind. So, what's it gonna be; put it up in Mitchell as per plan (it was still noon at that time!) or try to outrun the storm to my next destination. I did call my "home office weather station reporting unit" seeking information but as it turns out, the "support team" was busy attending a knitting and craft convention! I decided to push on...

But I forgot; up till Mitchell, I was moving westward and so is the storm. After Mitchell, I was heading north and so the storm caught up with me in no time! I arrived in Blackall [edited] drenched. Found the caravan park just in time before another downpour and as I enquired about a camping spot, the owner of the park said, "Mate, a thunderstorm is heading this way. I don't think you gonna make it in your tent!". So, here it is; now I'm sitting comfortably in my (as luck turns out; the last one available) cabin and a very strong wind is forming outside. I guess, I do get to enjoy the luxury of writing like at home while on the road. I wonder how it's like writing from inside a tent... Oh, and for one of my sponsor, no mention yet as I did not get to use his sponsored foam mat! [edited: Shah, the answer is; cabin night!] hmmm...

All in all, it was a great day today. It was time to reflect and ponder, and even to come up with few great ideas. Over the mileage I put today, I have thought of a design patent, construct half a poem and thought of a very good comeback that I should have come up with on one previous occasion. I also spotted 26 roos who ended up as roadkill along the way... poor souls. One did try to cross my path but my "shoo-roo" must have deterred it! What's a shoo-roo? Google it...

Here's my bike resting peacefully under the porch... Heheh, who could say "no" to a biker...

So, good night all. We'll ride on tomorrow...!


p/s: most of the pics will be posted on Facebook instead of here - the blog will be too heavy with too many pics. So, for those who are yet to have an FB account... you know who you are!!!

All set and ready to go!

Just thought that I'd post a quick one before I retire early for the night.

I can gladly say that everything is done! All the stuffs are packed nicely on the bike. I spent the entire morning (not that early though... some of the guys - and one of my "sponsors" - came over last night to bid farewell and we ended up chatting until 2 am!) and afternoon going through my packing list again and ticking them off one by one. It was going on so well, until I had to packed everything into the bike - they won't fit!!! The worse and saddest part is reducing the load. I'm very sure all the things on the list that was the result of months of research are all important - but some of them have to go. Anyway, there was also a bit of small success here and there. Look at the two "before" and "after" pics below - Look closely and you can guess that the wife would have came along at some point and help out...

The other funny (but also a bit scary) moment was when the bike was fully loaded, while on its centre stand, the front wheel just rose by itself! Haha... imagine how rear-heavy it is now. Thanks to the Electronic Suspension Adjustment (ESA) system, one push of a button fixed the rear suspension pre-tension level. But imagine carrying a big pillion rider everywhere for every day for two weeks!

Below here will be part of my fixed view for 8 to 10 hours a day. My cockpit:

One could easily mistaken it for a cockpit of a fighter jet, haha! The middle screen is the GPS and the compact camera is fixed on a separate mount next to it (that's the Camzilla camera mount).

By the way, this is also a practice for quick blog entry. From now on, I can forget the luxury of writing from the desktop PC in my home office, sitting on a fluffy chair with a mug of tea writing through the night. Starting tomorrow night, I'd be lucky to be able to spare 1 hour.

Anyway, here goes, butterflies in stomach and all - I'm retiring for the night. Hope I can sleep easy. This was what I cook the family for dinner tonight - fillet steak accompanied with greek salad, garlic oyster mushroom, sauteed onion and red pepper... Just wanted to see that smiling face before I depart tomorrow...

Good night and good ride... :-)

This is it!

This is it - after many months of preparation and dreaming (more dreaming than preparing actually); the day finally has come! I'm extremely excited but a bit nervous at the same time. I know I have sort of a plan and I'm sort of packed. I guess I would just have to wake up on Sunday morning and ride off. It's a blessing to have all the best people in the field working for me otherwise I would have never been able to make this trip and leave the office for two weeks! I just hope I'd still have my job when I get back...

Here's the bike with the new topbox. This pic was taken just after the Safety Inspection at the BMW Motorrad workshop. The gave it a nice wash too!

And here's the pic during the practice setup of the tent few evenings ago. It's roomy but it's also light - and it will save me a lot of money that otherwise I would have had to be spent on motel bills! Come to think of it, the money that I spent for the tent vs. money I save from motel bills gave me a return on more than 1000%! How's that for IRR...

More pictures to come (I'm sure I can spare some time in between packing my stuff)...