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LOOPING OZ |
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The Savannah Way By Al
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Savannah Way! Yep, it’s a long way from Cairns to Broome but we made it in one piece.
Imagine wide open spaces with not a lot from one horizon to the next. Imagine hazy horizons and heat waves. Then you can imagine what it’s been like for us as we made our way across the top of Australia on our courageous v7’s that have triumphantly completed Savannah Way.
We left Cairns on a wetish day. When we packed the tent we found there had been one large leak and everything was as wet as and the mats were floating in about one inch of water. Just about everything was wet or damp and only minutes earlier I was thinking of sleeping in as it was nice and cosy! We just packed everything as if it was dry and headed to west via Innisfail.
In Innisfail there is still evidence of Larry like broken panels and missing lights and other things. The trip down to Innisfail was slow as there was a very strong head wind. The place was very green and evidence that there is definitely plenty of bananas due to hit the shelves very soon. From Innot Springs we headed to the Atherton table lands via some very nice roads that weren’t quite as windy as others we had traveled on in the region but non the less very enjoyable. We took a bit of a detour on a single lane tourist track that came out at some town that I have forgotten the name off. This was an interesting road and if you can find it it is worth the effort.
That night we got to Innot Springs and stopped for a well earned rest in the hot pools. Not only is the place good for a dip it also serves good fish and chips. From here we headed out toward Croyden but before doing so we fueled up at the BP in Mt Garnet where a couple of dudes had to check out the bikes and have a chat. The drive was long, hot and flat, however, things picked up at the pub in Croyden where I was watching the Cowboys beat the shit out of some Mexicans when a couple of young girls started chatting to me. Didn’t mind the chat but it was a bit of a worry as they knew more about the game than I did. We also met some dudes from the UK who were into bikes and actually recognized we were on old Guzzi’s! Apparently he rides a Hyabusa in the middle of winter (ice and snow) and has gone over 160mph on the thing and still alive.
From Croyden we headed up to Karumba via Normanton to feed the fish and some fantastic barra and chips for $5. We stayed in Karumba with K, J and the kids for a couple of days before saying tu ru and heading south to Mt Isa. The first leg of the trip to Cloncurry was very slow as we were riding into a very strong head wind which wasn’t a lot of fun to be quite honest. From Cloncurry we turned west and rode to Mt Isa where we stayed at some caravan park in town. The ride to Mt Isa was excellent as the terrain changed quite considerably and reminded me of parts of the Pilbara. Rush hour in Mt Isa was a bit of a shock or lack off as there were hardly any vehicles anywhere.
We set off early from Mt Isa and headed for the Northern Territory via Camooweal. In Camooweal we were only able to pick up ULP and the red bike was starting to ping quite badly. It was time to use the “Phone a Friend” life line for advice. Collectively it was decided the red bike might be too advanced so from Camooweal to the border I adjusted the timing bit by bit using the trial and error method. So far the timing hasn’t been changed since and the bike is actually running better. We also did an oil change using BP Visco 2000 20/50 oil. This wasn’t a good idea as the oil didn’t hold up to the hot conditions thinning out when the weather heated up and discolouring early. It was such a bad choice you could hear the motors for both bikes clanking and clanging quite loudly once they were hot. The Visco oil was later replaced in Wyndham with BP Corse Plus 25/60 which has fixed the red bike but built the compression of the yellow bike so high it will hardly turn over when on the compression stroke. There will be more on the subject of oils later.
After Camooweal we ended up camping some place out on the road half way to Tennant Creek. Dunnies and showers out this way are non existent. So it’s - take your own roll and find a spot in the bush or take a potty.
The trip across the northern territory to Katherine was quite long and the scenery can become quite repetitive. On the way we went to Tennant Creek and various other towns along the way like Elliott, Daly Waters and may others We spent a night at Renner Springs and witnessed some bush fires that were raging across the plains. Eventually making it to Katherine where we visited the gorge for a couple of days before heading to Western Australia.
It was getting hot so we left the gorges in Katherine at the crack of dawn for Kununurra via Victoria River and Timber Creek. The region around Victoria River is to die for and one we will definitely be revisiting (in a 4wd). It was good to have a change in scenery however, the frisking you get at the border as you enter Western Australia is a bit hard to believe.
When you enter Western Australia you need to expect fuel, food and accommodation get expensive. In particular the one that hurts most and a good incentive to head as straight as possible to the other end of WA is the cost of fuel. So far fuel has been 40 cents or more per litre more. Hopefully, as we head south the cost of fuel will change.
Anyway, we stayed in Kununurra at a caravan park where the facilities are a bit average. While we were there I got chatting to some of the girls who were working on the farms picking fruit and veg. One girl was complaining about pains in her arms and hands from picking melons. Anyway, it turns out that thanks to AWA’s she works about 12 to 15 hours per day with two unpaid 15 minute meal breaks and gets one day off per month. All this for a flat rate of $16 per hour with no other benefits what so ever. No wonder she was suffering.
We left Kununurra pretty quickly for Wyndham. Wyndham is relaxed and still as it used to be when I visited it last about 20 years ago. This is a town you need to visit if your in the area. The bakery do a great sandwich and have great cakes. The caravan park has some fantastic barra and chips for two but watch out for the pub near the port where the roast of the day was $22.
On our last day in Wyndham we visited the prison tree that is out of town. We left it a bit late getting back and had to head for the pub for tea. When we were there one of the barmaids went out to checkout the moon eclipse and came back in telling everybody how it was spinning making her dizzy! We plus many others went to check it out only to discover that it wasn’t spinning and wondered what she was on.
From Wyndham we continued on down to Derby and eventually Broome via Halls Creek and Fitzroy. Apart from an overnights stay just out of Halls Creek and a visit to Old Halls Creek the trip was fairly uneventful other than very hot. Derby was good and we visited Broome long enough to pick up the mail and have a crap.
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