Adelaide to Silverton ride - Dec 2012

With two young kids under three the chance to have a peaceful bowel movement can be rare, let alone an opportunity for a multi-day ride away from family. So when my beautiful wife agreed I needed some me time she didn't have to tell me twice. A plan was devised over a couple of lunch breaks with a mate to ride from Adelaide to Silverton and then back via the Darling River, Linsday Island and Loxton. The prerequisates? Camping, cold beer, relaxing, and of course hundreds of kilometres of dirt roads in between.

Dave was at my place at 5am for an early run out of Adelaide as temperatures were forecast in the mid to high 30’s.



After turning off the Walker Flat Mt Pleasant Rd we hit the dirt just after sunrise.



We rode out through Sanderson and Cambrai and then took easy gravel roads up to Morgan. There we fueled up and headed out the Morgan Mail Road.



About 40km’s on we stopped to thank the gods for the the cloud cover.



Some sections like this were easy riding and enabled us to rack up some kilometers.







There were plenty of sandy sections that had Dave wishing he was on his old DR650



Infact, I think he was day dreaming about the good old days on his DR when he hit this bulldust hole about 100km from anywhere. I was waiting about 30km further down the track at the next turn before realising something was wrong. Needless to say I was relieved when I saw Dave was ok. Thoughts had begun creeping into my mind that I’d ridden past and missed him to the side of the track laying under the PIG in a salt bush. We stuck much closer together for the rest of the trip and as lead rider I tried keeping a closer eye out for hazards like this and making sure Dave got through ok.





The dirty girl

It takes two men to get a fully laden pig upright again. Dave checking his kit



With the BMW back on two wheels we took off again for another 100 or so kilometres of tracks like this.



The NSW / South Australian border. Lots of goats around here..... and emu’s and kangaroos



When we reached the Silver City Highway Dave had just hit reserve so we rode to Coombah roadhouse to fuel up. Dave rolled in with about ½ a litre left in his tank. Once there we enjoyed chatting with this bashful young woman while she delicately filled up our tanks without spilling a drop.

After 620 km’s in searing heat we were thirsty as camels when we got to the Silverton pub.



We arrived at Penrose Park and set up camp first.



Penrose Park had hot showers, rainwater and a lovely grassed area to pitch the tents. The pub was a 400m walk away across a dry creek bed.

The publicans Peter and Patsy were very hospitable and made for a great night. Dave with Patsy



Friday night ended up a big one and the 6am departure plan we were discussing over several beers became a source of amusement to Peter and Patsy the next morning when we returned at 8am to get some photos.



The original Ford Interceptor from Mad Max II accompanied by a BMW R1100GS that would have looked equally at home in the movie.



Silverton really surprised me. It’s a thriving tourist town with a beautifully renovated pub, museums and art galleries.

good stuff

After leaving Silverton we rode to Broken Hill and sorted out an issue with a leaking valve in my front tyre. From there we rode to Menindee for lunch and fuel and then headed out around the back of Lake Menindee and Lake Cawndilla. This closed road behind Lake Cawndilla hasn’t been maintained for years but is a ball tearer on a big trail bike. Unfortunately it was so hot through this section we didn’t stop for photos.



A shady spot behind the lakes



After passing by the Menindee Lakes we were never too far from the Darling as we headed south towards Pooncarie.





We headed on south and parked out the front of the Pooncarie pub at 2pm looking for some lunch. On arrival we were amused the noise of the bikes didn't wake up the guy asleep at the tables out the front . ACDC Back in Black was blasting out the windows of the pub as we walked in. Inside a bloke and his missus were totally shitfaced playing 8-ball and commanding the juke box. We learnt the guy out the front had been with them on a bender since 6pm the night before. They were all truck drivers in the black sand mines apparently.

Anyway, they weren’t serving meals so we grabbed a beer and continued on our way soon after.

Temperatures had reached high 30’s and even the DR was thirsty.



After stopping at Wentworth and fitting a bag of ice and a slab of cans on our bikes we headed down the Old Renmark Mail road straight into a dust storm.







We set up camp on the Lindsay River at about 6.30pm



We had everything we needed. Basic food supplies, water and a slab of cans.



The beers went down like silk...

Early morning the bikes were packed and we took a few minutes to take in the serenity.



Before heading off to explore some tracks around Lindsay island.



Some nice deep powdery dust.



And some great bush trails like this one

After fuelling up at Loxton we got back on the dirt for a fun 90km into Walkers Flat.



The GPS was having a laugh and lead us to a dead end in a paddock somewhere. While we were there Dave wanted to check if there was much water in the tank



So many great tracks like these took us to Walkers Flat and across the river on the Ferry

We got on this great little track we’ve ridden on many times for our last stretch of dirt before hitting the blacktop home



Dave rode ahead after the last gate and I came up over the crest to some carnage.



He’d been travelling at about 100km/h and was caught out by this sweeping left hander.



Dave was lucky to walk away with just a cut nose and a few bruises. The BMW? Well, what’s a few more broken bits?



I’m standing on one of Dave’s skid marks, the other’s in his jocks. I’m pointing to my track here where I very nearly met the same fate. The BMW spun in the air after Dave’s not so graceful dismount coming to rest about 15m from where it hit the verge.



About an hour later and some bush mechanics with a large rock and some muscle we managed to knock the front subframe into a position where it was rideable. Dave gave it a short squirt up and back to test, repacked the gear and we were away.



We jumped onto the black top about 5km further on and I followed Dave most of the way home. After a short stop and debrief we parted ways and headed for home down the freeway.

Great ride, great company and a great adventure.

...and a great ride report! Well done

Same bike (and year) as mine, been to most most of those tracks so brought back lots of memories. Well done

Cheers

enjoyed that - great country

Bloody rippa!.......kano650
I reckon Dave got outta that 'off' alright.:eek1

really enjoyed this RR , I used to think the big beemers were the way to go , but clearly there bloody handful in these conditions .

Nice report, thanks for sharing

good stuff!
AWesome pics

Borthwick road is a little beudy isn't it

This is just left of where the big BM bit the dirt, on top of the hill.

Great RR. Thanks for sharing

I know the feeling of the young family mate! Glad to see your mate was ok after the big stack, looked like a big one hey!

Great report mate,
Will get back to Silverston and that area again one day

Mallee