Well the ride through the Vic High Country in my previous post was really a shakedown run for a planned journey on the Sertao to Darwin and then on to Indonesia.
As a result of my leg injury I postponed the journey for a few months and decided to split it into two parts -
1. A return ride to Darwin which I have now completed, and will detail below.
2. A ride to Indonesia in November/December this year in which I plan to rent or purchase a local small bike to travel between West Timor and Bali/Java.
To Darwin.
Well, I determined that I would retire from the workforce on the 30th of June so I could start the new Financial Year as a man of Leisure. I am now officially a retiree but have not fully managed to escape the clutches of the health care community and am currently working as a casual staff member one day a week.
However, back to my story. On the 1st of July , at 6:30am on a cold and wet Melbourne morning I headed West and North on the first leg of my journey to Renmark and a night in the old Shearers cottages at Chowilla Station on the banks of the Murray. The plan for the ride was to spend as much time as possible off-road rather than the bitumen highways and I am pleased to report I achieved this ,
From Renmark it was North through the Dangalli National Park to Yunta, continuing to Arkaroola and then West again to the Oodnadatta track up to Mt Dare before heading West again to Finke and Alice Springs. The nights were cold and many times I rose in the morning to be greeted by frost on my tent and a frozen bike seat.
After a days rest in Alice to fit a new rear tyre, it was off through the West MacDonnell ranges to Hermannsburg, Kings Canyon and Uluru before hitting the Great Central Road which took me to Kalgoorlie via a number of remote indigenous settlements. At Kalgoorlie it was time for a front tyre change before heading North to Broome via Wiluna, Newman and Marble Bar.
At Broome things finally started to warm up and I sent a relaxing day at Cable Beach in preparation for the Gibb River Road which would take me from Derby to Kununurra. The Gibb River area was spectacular and well worth the jolts from the very corrugated roads.
From Kununurra it was another quickish run to Darwin where the Sertao received its 20,000km service and I was able to enjoy the gracious hospitality of Dave, a HUBB member who hosts many riders travelling through the North.
Sadly, I could only stay a couple of days and headed back down the highway to Katherine before heading South to Top Springs then across the Buntine Highway to Halls Creek where I would wend my way back to Alice Springs via the Wolfe Creek meteor crater and the Tanami Track. This route was particular challenging with lots of loose sand and the need to carry extra fuel as it was close to 700kms between fuelling stops.
This time I only passed through Alice Springs before taking the Plenty and Donohue Highways to Boulia in Queensland followed by a quick run down to Birdsville - sad to say, but between Boulia and Birdsville there is less than 100km of gravel with the remaining 300km a ribbon of bitumen.
Leaving Birdsville the next morning I headed south down the Birdsville track before heading East to Innamincka along the Walkers Crossing track. At Innamincka I elected to head to Tibooburra via Omicron Station and Warri Gate, and here I experienced the only low point of my trip when I managed to throw the bike chain and had to wait overnight for a vehicle to arrive with appropriate tools to remove the Sertao's front sprocket.
From here it was a fairly uneventful journey back to Melbourne via Broken Hill and Mildura, but taken very easily as the sprockets were badly worn from all of the sand/gravel riding and I didn't want a repetition of the problems with the chain.
So to sum up, 15,000kms in 6 weeks of which half was on gravel, before being safely tucked up in bed again after quite a number of cold nights (and days) on the road.
....... To be continued......
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