Od Tihog do Indijskog okeana (i nazad)

Bosi72 · Februar 13, 2009

...dobro mozda i nije bas od Tihog, ali je od Melburna do Perta i nazad.

7015km za 5 dana.

http://www.nikolic.com.au/melb-perth-melb

Izvestaj je na engleskom (pisan u brzini) pa mi ne zamerite.

Pozdrav

Stjepan

------------------------

Melbourne-Perth-Melbourne in 5 days by motorcycle

Hi all,

Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for your support with regards for this trip. I found

some comments on forums very useful (thanks Davo from FarRiders), but some of

them were opposite. However, I didnt want to be distracted so I proceeded

with the plan and preparation.

Initial plan was to do the trip in 4 days (Melbourne-Ceduna-Perth-Ceduna-Melbourne), but

unfortunate event of circumstances delayed this trip for one more day.

Map

Day 0 - Preparations

Bike

Regular service performed by myself (like always I do). Oil, filter, various inspections,

paying attention on chain and tires (thanks father-in-law).

GPS installation (thanks Miki).

List of items:

Tent, camping mattress,sleeping bag - to be used only in a case of emergency.

Hat, waterproof pants and jacket

Spanners, Pliers, Allan keys

Axe

Tire repair kit

Chain lubricant spray

Mini compressor

Straps, Rope

Toilet paper

Small kitchen knife and fork, Mug

4x underwear, 4x socks, 4x t-shirts, 1x swimming shorts, 1x sport shoes

4x towels

First aid kit

Toothpaste and brush

Small shampoo bags

Camera, GPS, paper maps

LED - headlight

Mobile phone charger

Ear plugs

Spare rechargeable batteries

Water, tuna and sardine cans, small chocolate bars, tea bags

Honda CB900F6 919cc, 110HP

Myself

Not a single sip of any sort of alcohol 7 days prior the trip.

Thankfully I am not coffee nor cigarette (nor drugs) addicted.

7 days prior the trip I went to bed usually around 8-9pm. More information on this can be found

at http://www.farriders.com

Day 1 - Melbourne - Port Augusta ~1034.8 km (3:30am-5pm)

Friday 06/02/2009

Although this was the shortest leg in terms of kilometers ridden, this was probably the hardest

section.

To me this is more a mental game rather than physical. Initially, I felt like at the foot

of Mount Everest, took a deep breadth and started climbing.

The weather in Melbourne the was cold around 3:30am which is not unusual.

It rained until Ballarat. The weather forecast was predicting very hot day and I knew in a

couple of hours I will be missing this cold weather.

My initial setup

Bye Bye Melbourne

McDonalds in Beaufort

Giant Koala in Dadswells Bridge

Grampians in West Victoria

Horsham

Pink Lake

Kaniva city centre

Vic/SA border

Bordertown

I realised on Victoria/South Australia border that I am taking too many photos

and if I continue doing like this I wont be able to reach Ceduna on the same

day.

Approaching Adelaide the weather became very very hot. GPS and mobile phone

shut down due to high temperature so I relied on my memory for road to Pt

Augusta.

Portrush Street in Adelaide

Signs in Adelaide are good - but only for people who live there. For transit travelers

it could be a nightmare. I knew I should be heading North (where the Sun is).

Asked some people in cars for road to Pt. Augusta and they pointed me to the Main North Road. After 15-20minutes asked people in another car and they confirmed that I am

in right direction. Some 70 ks later there was a first sign - but directing to Sydney. Bummer ! Parked a bike in a shade under some bridge and started unpacking and digging for my

paper map. From that point paper map was always in a tank bag easy accessible.

Ill never learn the difference between Sturt and Stuart Hwy

Then went back, turned right to Two Wells and next stop was at Pt. Wakefield. You probably

noticed my favourite petrol station. This is only due to a BP credit card

discount.

Port Wakefield

Arrived in Pt Augusta around 5am.

By that time it was still hot and I felt like being inside a dryer. Decision was not to proceed

further as there are 4-6 hours to go to Ceduna, so better to stay on a safe

line.

My room in Best Western motel in Port Augusta

Bike in front of the Motel

I was a little bit disappointed that my goal to finish trip in 4 days will be harder to achieve.

Sprayed a chain then went to bed.

Day 2 - Port Augusta - Caiguna ~1295.1 km (3:30am-5pm)

Saturday 07/02/2009

Woke up at 3am (my watch was always showing Melbourne time as I didnt want to

make an advantage of daylight savings and be surprised on the way back).

This leg was "very easy".

First stop at Kimba.

Kimba - Center of Australia

Refreshment

Next break/refueling was in Poochera

Ceduna is a very nice town and left excellent impression.

Ceduna beach

Ceduna park

Resting

The petrol station in Nundroo had Bio-Unleaded only (another name for ethanol) but I already had

1/4 of a tank of BP Ultimate so mixing shouldnt harm engine a lot.

Met there an Italian guy on a black Ducati with plastic jerry can on the back seat full of

high quality petrol. He said he was very tired and wanted to sleep there for a

couple of hours. He also got lost in Adelaide and his mobile phone died in heat too.

Also, he got pulled by the police in Adelaide, but they couldnt find anything in their

books about it so they let him go.

Anyway, we shook hands and I proceeded towards Nullarbor roadhouse.

Got there, filled petrol (interestingly that was the only roadhouse I had to leave my drivers

licence before refueling). Guy at the counter said there were many runoffs and

now they introduced this rule.

Nullarbor

Nullarbor 2

I saw a camping trailer with slogan ADVENTURE BEFORE DEMENTIA, and I totally agree

with this.

ADVENTURE BEFORE DEMENTIA

Middle of nowhere

I removed the GPS and sticked to a kms distances data sheet.

Near SA/WA border

Near SA/WA border 2

There is a customs/agricultural checkpoint on SA/WA border where you have to

declare any fruit, honey, etc...

Just before Caiguna I hit a Magpie bird. Initially bird went off in right direction, but

then decided to go back and hit my left leg. It hurt a lot, but couldnt see

anything broken on my leg. But what shocked me was birds blood was all over my

pants and bike. Birds digestive system somehow got under the seat (!?!). That was

my strongest emotional moment. If that was a kangaroo or larger animal instead

of a bird, I would be probably the one with digestive system out.

No comment

Decision was to stay at Caiguna for the night and to go back home the next day. Thoughts were on my

mind do I really need this and why am I doing all this ?

I still believe this is all mental rather than physical game.

Another chain lubricating.

Room at Caiguna roadhouse

Day 3 - Caiguna - Perth - Northam ~1193.3 (5:00am-9pm)

Sunday 08/02/2009

Next morning I woke up with thoughts that I am only one day from Perth. So close that it would be a pity not to get there and complete the plan (actually half of

it). I got to an intersection and stopped for a minute. Left or right ? ... You

already know the answer.

As soon as I pulled off, there was a road sign saying Australias longest straight road... 90miles or 146km of straight road. But, it was still dark and I rode

around 80-100kph.

At one point I noticed lights in the distance and I was curious how far was that. Started

counting kilometers and assuming other vehicle was obeying speed limits, we

passed each other around 15th kilometer. Multiply by 2 and you get

the distance you can actually see the other person (vehicle). I believe this is

due to Earth curvature.

Next stop was Balladonia roadhouse where I had a good breakfast. By the way I was living on snack bars (apricot and sesame) and water. I usually had a breakfast 100-200ks

after ride each morning.

Balladonia menu

Norseman petrol station, and Telstra GSM mobile phone coverage (finally !)

Coolgardie - mining town in Western Australia.

Southern Cross petrol station. Colorful parrots theyve got there.

Few hours later and I was in Perth.

Found some similarity between Adelaide and Perth approach, e.g. you are riding through mountain area

and then descend to the city.

Perth CBD

Everyone says Perth has the best weather in Australia. From what Ive seen (not that much though), they

are right.

Kings Park

Beautiful and very quiet Indian ocean beach.

I felt like I could go further, or maybe even around the continent. Australia is really my backyard now.

This is unfortunately the end of the road and from now on were going back.

Decided to go back as far as I could. However it was 7pm Perth local time and my Melbourne clock was showing 9pm I decided to stay in Northam, some 100kms East from Perth.

Another chain spraying - this was rather a ritual.

Day 4 - Northam - Nullarbor ~1533.2 km (5am-10pm)

Monday 09/02/2009

Departed around 5pm and headed East. Hit the road Jack...

Northam early morning

Sunrise over Western Australia

Refueling again at Southern Cross, Coolgardie, Norseman.

Mining site near Southern Cross

Reminder in Coolgardie

Coolgardie city centre

On the road

In Norseman I was

approached by Murray (my apology if the spelling is not correct) - FarRiders

member from WA and he was going to a dinner in NSW. We then separated but met

again in Caiguna. We rode together between Caiguna and Cocklebiddy. Unfortunately

my bike does not have a fuel level gauge so I relied on my Trip meter. I

quickly calculated it would be better if I refuel in Cocklebiddy which would

get me to the Eucla. I hope Murray arrived safely to NSW.

After about an hour and half of riding I noticed yellow fuel low level light switched on around

170km, so I guess something was wrong either in my calculation, or head wind

was too strong. Stupid me, I found that I was riding all the time in 5th

gear (instead of 6th) !!! I couldnt believe Ive done such a stupid

thing.

Somehow I managed to get to a Mundrabilla roadhouse. Beware of deep holes on a gravel road ! Also

never trust your feelings - always trust your gauges e.g. speedometer. If you

think 60kph is too slow - no it is not. Thank God nothing happened.

There I met a German rider on a yellow BMW GS. He was complaining about very poor quality

fuel at Madura Oasis roadhouse. Asked lady at the counter if she could tell me

business hours for Nullarbor roadhouse. She rang them (learned that was a local

call for all of the roadhouses in the area) and got information they are

closing at 10pm (Adelaide time).

This can be very useful to someone wishing to do this trip.

Madura Oasis lookout

Many roads in the area are also an emergency airstrips

A bit later I was on WA/SA border.

I understand all roadhouses do not earn big money compared to the petrol stations in urban

areas, but in my opinion some of them went too far. Example is WA/SA border

petrol station. I put nozzle into the tank and squeezed the trigger and just an

air went out from nozzle and counter showed about 1 liter of petrol. Hang on !!

But worst is coming, I released the trigger and pulled the nozzle out. Counter was still

counting liters !!! That was very funny (and very dodgy).

I had to make few good yells for someone to attend. Guy just told me to go to the another

pump and try again.

I met two foreign females in the campervan eating apples like mad They offered me an apples

too. They were going to WA and they couldnt bring it in there.

Quarantine checkpoint on SA/WA border

Another two hours of riding and I was in Nullarbor. Actually I got there only 15 minutes before

closing so I was very happy to get there.

Each time I see a bird or animal close to the road I horn. Sometimes I horn for fun but in most cases

it was a precaution. And it worked.

Another refill, hired a room (the last one available - lucky me:)

Room at Nullarbor

Day 5 - Nullarbor - Melbourne ~1823.2 km (5:00am-4:30am next day)

Tuesday/Wednesday 10/11 Feb 2009

One more day. The

wildlife around Nullarbor is very live at night. I had a couple of kangaroo

surprises, but my hand and foot brake reflexes were good too.

Another beautiful sunrise

Refill at Penong roadhouse, then stopped at Ceduna.

My son loves windmills so I took several photos for him

Bacon, eggs and a cup of tea for breakfast.

It was too dark (and dusty) previous night so I didnt spray chain until the next day.

Ceduna airport

Iron Knob

Famous intersection at Port Augusta (right Darwin, left Perth)

Easy riding to Port Augusta, Pt. Wakefield and arrived in Adelaide around 6pm. I was

struggling again to find a road to Melbourne. This time the weather was much

cooler and GPS showed me the fastest route to Tailem Bend

Adelaide

It was getting darker and darker and I realised this is going to be a whole night experience.

This time I put my rain pants to keep me warmer through the cold night.

Getting to Bordertown was easy. You would be surprised how lively is on the

Adelaide-Melbourne leg. Plenty of trucks, Id say having fun between

themselves. Ive never seen before a truck to truck tailgating at 110kph.

However I decided to keep trucks ahead of me and save me from potential

kangaroos. It was a little bit "warmer" behind the trucks too.

At Bordertown petrol station I had a Chicken and Corn Hot Soup and that was The Best meal I

had in past couple of days. I recovered very quickly and took off. I was

hoping other stations will have hot soup as well but that didnt happen. Then

had a tea and that was also relieving. Three more stops: Horsham, Ararat (just

for tea) and Ballarat.

After 23.5 hours and approx 1800kms of riding from Nullarbor I arrived home in Melbourne.

Conclusion:

Is my bike Ok for long rides ? I think it is.

Am I ok with long exhausting rides ? I think I am .

Would I do it again? Why not.

Next time that will be much slower and with my loved ones.

Summary:

Day 1 - Melbourne - Port Augusta ~1034.8 km (3:30am-5pm)

Day 2 - PortAugusta - Caiguna ~1295.1 km (3:30am-5pm)

Day 3 - Caiguna - Perth - Northam ~1193.3 (5:30am-9pm)

Day 4 - Northam - Nullarbor ~1533.2 km (5:30am-10pm)

Day 5 - Nullarbor - Melbourne ~1823.2 km (5:30am-5:00am next day)

6897.6 (source maps.live.com)

7015 (my odometer)

----

135.4 (lost in Adelaide on Day 1, riding around Perth, plus my home is 30kms East from

Melb CBD...)

Thank you for reading.

Stjepan

------------------------

Boban · Februar 13, 2009

Mislim da je ovo prvi moto-putopis iz Australije koji sam procitao. Slikce su super, ali bi bilo dobro da si dao jos malo opisa, licnih utisaka i kako si se osjecao i ti, ali i motor na ovom putu. Bravo!

Ribolovac · Februar 13, 2009

E pa bilo je i vreme Bosi da nas zagrejes svojim putopisima .

Bravo i hvala !

Palacinka · Februar 13, 2009

Bas lepo.Hvala na putopisu

Joseph B. · Februar 13, 2009

^{Day 1 - Melbourne - Port Augusta ~1034.8 km (3:30am-5pm)}
^{Day 2 - PortAugusta - Caiguna ~1295.1 km (3:30am-5pm)}

^{Day 3 - Caiguna - Perth - Northam ~1193.3 (5:30am-9pm)}

^{Day 4 - Northam - Nullarbor ~1533.2 km (5:30am-10pm)}

^{Day 5 - Nullarbor - Melbourne ~1823.2 km (5:30am-5:00am next day)}

Kod nas pada sneg,hladno je, i sve je odvratno belo. ;D Oaj putopis nam dodje nesto kao podsetnik na tople dane.

Inace, impresivna dnevna kilometraza! Zanima me: zasto?

Jesi vozio za Farriders, ili kao vezba za neko stvarno dugacko putovanje, ili kao test izdrzljivosti motora i vozaca, ili jednostavno nisi imao vise slobodnog vremena?

Na zalost 5-6 slika ne vidim ni posle nekoliko refresha.

doktor · Februar 13, 2009

Upravo procitah putopis. Lepo je kad gledas slike iz toplih krajeva. Zavidna dnevna kilometraza.

PS. jel imas neki razlog zbog cega je top-case toliko nakrenut napred?

Bosi72 · Februar 13, 2009

>ili kao vezba za neko stvarno dugacko putovanje, ili kao test izdrzljivosti motora

>i vozaca, ili jednostavno nisi imao vise slobodnog vremena?

Ima od svega po malo, mada ipak najvise ima moje zelje da se malo provozam.

Fotografije bi trebalo da se sve ucitavaju.

>jel imas neki razlog zbog cega je top-case toliko nakrenut napred?

U pitanju je postolje rucne izrade (kum vario) pa smo gledali da bude paralelan sa repom, tj. sedistem uglavnom zbog estetike. Mozda smo malo preterali sa uglom, ali sve je izdrzalo bez problema velike brzine.

Takodje razlika je skoro neprimetna kada vozim sa i bez kofera.

Pozdrav

mrdjan1 · Februar 13, 2009

BRAVO!

Svaka cast!

pit · Februar 13, 2009

Lep putopis ,zavidim ti .

misko_kolo · Februar 13, 2009

Pa dobro, malo si se provozao. :o :o :o

Meni bre bilo dugačko i avionom od Perta do Melburna, a ti na točkovima?! Svaka čast!

shejtan · Februar 13, 2009

*be se tebi i za poplave i za pozare ;D ;D ;D ;D

Kako ti samo zavidim

VuleTigar · Februar 14, 2009

Uf, sjajan putopis .

Posalji nam malo sunca, tamo dole ga ima i previse a nama fali malko ;D

BusMan · Februar 14, 2009

I understand all roadhouses do not earn big money compared to the petrol stations in urban areas, but in my opinion some of them went too far. Example is WA/SA border petrol station. I put nozzle into the tank and squeezed the trigger and just an air went out from nozzle and counter showed about 1 liter of petrol. Hang on !!

Nije valjda da i po Australiji drpaju na pumpama? ;D

Blade · Februar 14, 2009

Svaka čast!

Lepi putevi, malo pusti,

Ajd objasni one cene goriva 126,9 čega/koliko.

KTM+A · Februar 14, 2009

lepe slike steta sto je tekst na engleskom

Bosi72 · Februar 14, 2009