Hi Guys, first post ever. Left Adelaide South Australia on my BMW1200gsa with my travelling mate (Bubbles) on her BMW g650gs on the 10th of August heading for Cape York, Queensland for a huge adventure. Day 2 the Birdsville track, Bubbles only had 50km dirt experience before the start, 1300km from the start and 3 punctures later we are having a beer in the front bar of the Birdsville Hotel. Off to Karumba 1200km away to see the Morning glory cloud formation, no clouds just a pub with a great view and fellow bike riders on tour. Off to Mareeba, we ran into ADV. Rider Panhead_Pete at Croydon on the big Dr 650 heading to the coast from Darwin, he put us onto the ADV Rider forum, Absolutely great bloke heaps of great stories and good advice, needed a few bits and pieces at Mareeba for the bikes dropped into" 2 Wheels & Wear" spoke to Aaron, helpful bloke who has ridden to the tip plenty of times, he was surprised to see 2 fully loaded BMW's heading up and most impressed with Bubbles effort, he insisted that we drop in on the way back to shoot the shit over a cuppa with the goss. More to come. Dick & Bubbles
Mareeba to Coen only 480kms today, all great till the blacktop stops at Laura then the road turns to crap for the next 250km with heaps of kamikaze drivers using both sides of the road at speed, a few close calls and put into the bush a couple of times and shitloads of dust, Bubbles lays the BMW650gs down after being forced off road by the local cops on their way back to the station, ripped off a pannier and a few scratches, she bounced back up and off we go, washing down the dust with a few beers and rums at the Sexchange Hotel in Coen,:kbasa all good. The Sexchange Hotel at Coen is a great watering hole with great camping facilities out back for $5. Coen to Fruit bat Falls a short day 350km of some of the crappiest roads in Queensland but a shitload of fun with a great swimming hole at the end, this is what it is supposed to be about, only 3 close encounters with 4WD vehicles today, all on my side of the road on bends going like the clappers. Ran into the group from Perth on their way to the tip after shipping their bikes over to Cairns, they seemed to be doing it easy but all their gear was on the support vehicles. Only 150km from the tip. More to come. Dick&Bubbles
Ah the day turns to crap, put the big 1200 into a termite mound, they are hard, knocked 2 inches of rake out of the forks, no fork travel at all, got the bars pointing straight and off we go, its a real pig to ride in the sand and rough corrugations, 1 km from the Jardine ferry Bubbles lays down the 650, bends a pannier frame and breaks an indicator, up she gets and off we go. Across the Jardine River, 50km to Bamaga and a cold beer the road was supposed to be good but was as bad as the rest we had covered, but that is what half the adventure was about, if it was easy everybody would do it. Ah tarmac again, Bubbles 650 has the shakes, have to look at that. Into the Bamaga Tavern for a few cold beers, grabbed a carton and off to Siesia for a waterfront campsite overlooking the bay, set up camp and ready to eat. Bubbles turn to cook, so back to the Bamaga Tavern for a meal, the girl don't cook, but I don't mind a good pub meal. Both on the 1200, Bubbles reckons the 650 is to shaky. Thursday Island tomorrow and the tip the next day. More to come. Dick & Bubbles.
Thursday Island was great, had a few beers in the Northernmost Hotel in the Australian Territory, it tasted pretty damn good. Getting ready to head to the tip, Bubbles is a bit apprehensive about the 650, I had a look and squared the bars up, not a 100% but better than the 1200. Off we go only 32km to the tip. Called in to the croc tent for a chat with the owners who were friends of Steve Croc bait from Undarra, he used to run bike tours from Cairns to the tip, told us 1 trip 9 guys started only 1 finished, 8 had broken collar bones, its not an easy trip. Here we are at the tip, the boys from Perth are here on their 660 Yams all pretty happy, we took their photos for them and they did the same for us. I wish I knew how to insert photo's because they took a good shot of us at the tip, oh well had a couple of cold beers at the top, now we head back down. Put the bikes on a cargo boat and got on board ourselves, taking the bikes to Cairns BMW, for a few repairs. 3 Days on the boat, what a blast. Ah Cairns the next leg. More to come. Dick & Bubbles.
Cairns BMW, Westco Motors what a great group of people to deal with, they couldn't get hold of the parts in time to get the bikes repaired properly (Parts were in Germany) but were able to straighten them up enough for us to continue our epic trip. So off to Charters Towers where we ran into Doug McLean an ex Territorian who invited us to camp at his place and have a few beers and tell him about our trip, a hell of a great guy. Off to Longreach today via Hughenden and Winton 435km with a strong sideways breeze all the way and 35degree temp, not a pleasant days ride, but we arrived safely & set up camp amongst the Grey Nomads. Into town to get a few supplies and settled in for a quiet night of beer &Rum drinking, listening to the snoring of all the old farts in their caravans. Ah morning off to the Stockman's Hall of Fame and the Qantas museum, then on the road to Barcaldine to the Tree of Knowledge a quick beer in the Bar across the road a quick chat to DG the barmaid then off to Tambo after a quick beer in the Blackall pub on the way thru. Ah camping in Tambo just across from the pub, what a good spot. More to come. Dick & Bubbles.
Sounds like a good trip, thinking I will do the same in reverse from here in Cairns. Were you the guys on red BMW's I met on the Almaden to mt Surprise Road? I was returning from an 11450k ride to WA and back on a Honda XR650. Get some of those photos up, you can host them with tapatalk from your mobile as well. Cheers and safe travels Ken
Tambo, not a bad place to camp, got the word that QLD.Police had a massive road block at Cunnamulla, stopping everyone and defecting their Cars, bikes and trucks, drug dogs and the whole deal. No issue I reckon, was wondering though, maybe the back tyre might be a bit short on tread and Bubbles had a broken indicator, not to worry. Off we go, stop for a quick beer at Charleville and another at Wyandra, these places are full of great people, if you don't stop you miss half of the fun. Heaps of dead roo's and pigs on the side of the road, then we arrive at Cunnamulla. See the big blockade as we are filling up, had a chat to one of the Police who was having a feed of chips & gravy at the servo, he was a KTM rider he reckons KTM's go twice as fast as BMW's but break down twice as much so it evens out. Thru the blockade we go, no issue, just a quick random breath test and a wave from KTM guy. Onto Bourke ,grab a few supplies and then blast out of town, got advised by a Security Guard to get at least 20km from town to camp safely, there has been a few issues close to town he reckons. We have taken a bit of notice of local advice during the trip so we fueled up and headed out to camp in the bush. Great sunset. Had a quiet night checking out satellites and having a few quiet drinks, a great night. More to come. Dick & Bubbles.
Great sunrise, the start to another great day, cruisey run down to Cobar, got fuel and some alcohol stores for the evening catching up with my mate Jeremy on his station at Wilcannia. Heaps of goats on the side of the road between Cobar and the Emmdale roadhouse where we stopped for a quick bite to eat, chatting to a group touring on a tour bus about the amount of stuff we had on board the bikes and had our pics taken with them. Some were bike riders and had a heap of stories about their exploits in the past, good to talk to like minded people. Ah off through Wilcannia and past where I had stacked the big 1200 a year ago, breaking my Tib/Fib and collarbone, requiring a flying doc trip to Adelaide, no issue this time (knobblies make all the difference)but it rattled Bubbles riding thru the sand where I had my prang. Off the bikes and a quick shower before a bit of station work to help Jeremy get water to a few sheep, then a great night of BBQ and drinking with a great Mate. Bubbles was enthralled with the station work and had a ball dragging hoses and stuff around in the dark. A late and great night was had, then the early start as station folk do. Sorting out the solar pumpjack and a few minor problems and we bid Jeremy goodbye and head off to broken Hill. Stopped at Little Topar on the way thru for a quick beer, to be asked if we were with the Rebel's as they were passing thru on their way west for their club run. I had a bit of a chuckle and said "they don't ride BMW'S". Grabbed fuel and a burger at Broken Hill and headed for Yunta to camp for the night. Rolled out the swags for our last night of the trip across from the pub under the trees, realizing that the trip was almost over. More to come. Dick & Bubbles.
Early morning breakfast at Yunta roadhouse, and a quick shower, fueled up and on the road, have contacted our Mate Doug who is going to ride up towards us to escort us back to Adelaide on his 1800 Boulevard, we catch up with him just out of Burra and then head towards Adelaide where another Mate Julie is waiting at Cavan on her 800 Boulevard. A bit unusual riding with all the traffic after being out on our own for a month, but back to reality. A quick cuppa at Cavan and start the last 40 minute ride back home. Doug and Julie both commented that Bubbles riding has changed so much, but they expected that after all the dirt and the distances we covered on the trip. Arrived home safely to my Wife Carlene who was busy filming our arrival and snapping photo's. I still don't know how to post the photo's but Panhead_Pete put a great pic of me and Bubbles on his post after we caught up with him at Mt. Surprise. It seems a bit sad that the trip is over, I said to Bubbles that I felt like turning right thru Peterborough and heading to Perth and she said she would of been up for it, oh well maybe next time. Anyway the bikes need a service, tyres and a few repairs, and I need to get a bit more cash stored up before the next big trip, although Bubbles and I are contemplating riding thru India and Tibet in 2016, so I best start saving. It has been an epic adventure, and showed that a bit of planning and the right bike/people/attitude combination can bring about probably the best holiday you could ever imagine. Thanks heaps to the many people we met along the way, you are forever a part of the trip and stored in our memories and photo's and stories. 7900kms by road and 1200km by impromptu sea voyage and the trip is over. Dick & Bubbles . Watch this space.
