Tuesday, 03 August 2010 15:06
The Lone Adventurer
Riding his trusty Honda XL600 'God Of Speed' packed his kit and headed north into the Outback from his home in Melbourne, and this is his story after surviving 10 days off the beaten trail camping out under the stars with new found friends he met along the way. Enjoy!
Day 1
Headed out of Melbourne to Horsham to stay with family, with a fresh kiss and a full tank I headed off into the horrible rain and wind. Got a puncture just before Ballarat but re inflated it and it stayed up just long enough to get to a bike shop, but with that unmistakeable excitement of adventure set in no problem could be too large. More or less a pretty tame day. However the excitement of two weeks of not having a clue where I was going was more than enough to overcome the adverse effects of the weather.
Day 2
Horsham to Silverton – I whipped out the camera whilst riding to get some action shots; yeah it was another boringish highway ride but a bad day on a bike is better than a good day not on one!
Day 3
Silverton to Tibooburra – things start to get interesting as I rediscover the fun of dirt highway touring, it was a good 5 or 6 hundred kays, but with Bob Marley blaring from the Ipod its days like this that make a trip effing awesome. However my pvc pipe that holds tools at the left rear quarter had rubbed against the wheel under the extra weight of my luggage.
I also found an old motocross track, obviously I considered taking the XL for a few laps but sensibility got the better of me
.
Day 4
Tibooburra to Thargormindah – across the border for the XL's first time in QLD, the famous dog fence and a good few hundred kays on the recently rained on clay highway sorted out my boredom pretty quick
.
I spent two days in Thargo, great place and great people, but I blew several hundred at the pub, I decided the next week was going to be done on a shoestring.
There was a band at the pub and a dog sleeping in their guitar case. A lovely little town, but I didnt go riding to spend my whole time in one place, so after copious amounts of beer, weed and romance it was time to pack up the old girl and head on into the south western Queensland wilderness.
Day 5
Thargo to Longreach – didnt actually go all the way to Longreach, camped somewhere before it a few kays off the highway.
Ate a cold dinner because I couldnt get a fire started with my still wet matches, but watched Lethal Weapon on my Ipod so went to bed a happy man.
Alas I did not wake up happy as four nights without a camping mattress were getting to me. I started to regret not packing one but didnt really have anywhere to put it anyway.
Day 6
Longreach to Mt Isa
– again I didn't stay in the cities but camped around them, this time I camped just before Mt Isa in a national park called Clem Walton Park. I was riding around the trails there trying to find a place to set up the tent when I came across a camping area with a family of aboriginals, the only other people there. Hundreds of people have warned me about the Aboriginals and not trusting them and all this racist bullshit so I camped right next to them. They were lovely people, they offered me dinner and we yarned for hours over the fire.
But obviously I didnt get any pictures of them.
I declined the Aboriginals dinner and they went to bed, it was after that I realised supplies I had recently stocked up with were, well, baby food, I bought three cans thinking it was some meal in a can thing. So I munched down on 6-12 month toddler food and went to bed early to get a good day in tomorrow.
But my 15 dollar Ebay rear tyre had started wearing a bit more than I anticipated
Day 7
Mt Isa to Barkly homestead – the XLs first time in the Territory. All was going swimmingly until my saddlebag decided to melt itself on the exhaust just a few hundred kays into the Territory, I guess the 130kph speed limit made the exhaust that little bit hotter, a few bits fell out so I had to go back and collect them off the highway, I guess thats what the oncoming cars flashing their lights at me were trying to tell me ... hmm. Conveniently I had packed my tent fly into the pannier instead of the dry bag because it was wet and I didnt want the things that are usually in the dry bag to get wet, so my tent fly got a roasting on the exhaust aswell. But a quick rearrangement of all the gear and oil change and we were back on course to Barkly homestead, where I booked in for a cabin despite my oath to go it cheaply but I had to dry everything out.
Snapped Chain somewhere near the Three Ways
Day 8
I camped somewhere near Three Ways on the Stuart Highway. Seeing as I lost my billy when the bag melted I just threw the cans of food straight on the fire then I had dinner, watched the sunset over the outback, and went to sleep in the holey tent before it was even dark.
Day 9
Three Ways to Alice Springs – the first day in a few that I went all day without copping rain, things were looking good for my holey tent.
Alice gave me a good chance to stock up on good food.
The XL ticked over 50,000 glorious kays, but I did not share the same sense of occasion as it was still a bit miserable weather wise, but after a shower, a shit and a shave in the Alice things were looking good for me. Was having a nice pizza in alice when two DR650s rolled up, they had come up the Oodnadatta track, which I would have liked to do but I didn't have the time, money or weather conditions to do it unfortuneately. I booked in for two days at the caravan park but left after one as I didnt feel like being in a big town amongst other people, just felt like roaming the desert.
Day 10
Alice to 400ks south of Alice
– So after one nights stay I took off south. I found a great little camp site that was no where in particular. During the night I woke up to what I thought was an earth quake, but then realised I had crossed the train tracks when I went off the highway to find a camp site, the noise was the train rumbling by!
Jeffrey, the cricket, was sticking around, the tyre was getting farked, but all in all I felt pretty proud of this bike.
The next day a truck had overturned on a 'corner' of the Stuart and we waited a good few hours for them to clear it. Never thought I'd see gridlock in Northern South Australia.
From Glendambo I went to a small town on the Murray just near Renmark. Needless to say the Riverland is pretty spectacular, one of my favourite places in Australia, and I've been to many places.
That night I started reminiscing as the trip came to an end. Australia: It's pretty awesome, we are a bunch of lucky bastards to have such a large place to just piss off, and do all types of riding.
And so concludes my adventures for another year, back into monotony until the old girl gets another kick in the guts ready for another odyssey, becuase thats all she really needs.
It's old, its ugly, it rattles, it leaks, it smokes and it ticks, but its got spirit. To me its just everything I need a motorcycle to be as it represents so much freedom when I look at it. It doesnt care what people think, it doesn't need shiny chrome or bright coloured plastics and sticker kits to be classed as a bike, it earns its respect by doing what a bike is sposed to do, not by pretending to. Forget anyone else, its just you and the open road, and that moment in a corner when everything in your world is OK, your problems are gone and the only thing that matters is making the next corner feel as good as the last. The uncontrollable smirk that comes over your face as you listen to the exhaust burble and feel the weight transfer onto the other side of the tyres is what motorcycling is.
The XL600 is an old banger, but whenever it starts first kick in the morning, pulls a second gear power wheelie, slides underneath a Weekend Warrior on the black spur or embarrasses a boy racer at the lights, I know the old girl still has a few years of fire breathing, kick starting, wheel standing, continent defeating fury left under that weather beaten 1980s Honda exterior, it makes me proud and I can't wait to be the rider taking it to these increasingly ridiculous places.
'God Of Speed' AKA Charlie Waters
'God Of Speed's' story 'Lone Adventurer' goes in the draw to win an Epic Video camera and a set of Dirt Freak Gear thermals! We welcome all trail/adventure related stories, you can check out the deal 'here' Send em in!
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would love to do the same