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LOOPING OZ |
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Pilbara to Perth By Al
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Pilbara to Perth! Luckily we had arrived in Broome (still in the Kimberley’s) early so we were able to be flexible about our camping plans when we decided Broome was way to busy and left for a place called Barn Hill Station just south of Broome. On the way we stopped at the Roebuck Plains Road House for a quick cuppa, munch on some tucker and top up the fuel tanks before the 600km trip to Port Hedland. At the roadhouse we met a bloke, heading into Broome, who had just ridden down the Gibb River Rd on his Triumph Tiger crossing creeks with water lapping his tank.
Whilst consuming our lunch I also rang the only bike shop in Port Hedland to order two new rear tyres for the bikes. The tyres we fitted in Cairns had shredded themselves in the middle due to the long straight roads across the top. Interestingly it cost nearly as much to get two rear tyres (unfitted and no tubes) in Port Hedland as it did to get four tyres in Cairns (fitted, balanced and new tubes)!
From the Roebuck Plains RH we headed south with a light tail wind to Barn Hill Station which is situated on the upper end of 80 Mile Beach. When we found the turn off we opened the gate and looked at the sandy track we were about to use to get to our destination. Fate hit early with Meredith promptly dropping her bike in a big sand hole. Fortunately bike and rider were unhurt other than some shaken nerves. It was now about 2pm, hot and getting hotter so it was decided to give Barn Hill a miss and head to Sandfire Flats RH.
We arrived at Sandfire Flats RH just before dark. It turns out the bloke that runs the joint has been there for quite some time as I recognised him from when I travelled to Broome in the early 80’s for wild weeks from Karratha. In those days the road into Broome was still gravel and we used to sneak into the caravan park after a hard night at the Roebuck Hotel. Unfortunately, Sandfire Flats RH had recently been burnt down which meant “no pub” and only fuel and some very meagre provisions could be procured. Welcome to the Pilbara! So far the day had been a bit of a disaster and so it was only fitting to have a Mars Bar with an Aussie pie and a bottle of cool drink for dinner. Yummy!
From Sandfire Flats we continued on to Port Hedland still with a bit of a tail wind. It was along this stretch I got bored and play a couple of games we used to play in the old Landy when travelling from Port Hedland to Perth many years ago. One game is called Carkit. It’s a motorised version of Cricket. You pick either one side of the road or the other and you count the pickets and signs. A picket is one run, yellow signs are four runs, blue signs are two runs, and cattle grids and bridges are sixes. You can modify to suit. Then you look for all the dead animals and each carcass is one wicket, a bunch of indistinguishable bones is a dropped wicket. Lowest innings was 21 and highest was 750. Then there is another game called ‘Ups n Downs’. This game can go on for 1000’s of kms and you bet whether there are more pickets on the right hand side of the road or the other. After 500kms I ended up with 17 more pickets on the left hand side when heading south between Carnarvon and Geraldton.
At last we made it to Port Hedland and some nibbles and a bottle of white at J and A’s place. They have a fabulous joint overlooking the beach and a comfy bed.
Whilst in Hedland we checked out the old place and its amazing how little has changed including the weather and the iron ore dust. The red dust (iron ore) is just about caked on everything and needs to be seen to be believed. We also did a tour of South Hedland and watched the Rovers thrash some team from Karratha in the footy while sinking a few ales.
From Port Hedland we headed out to Karijini National Park for a few days to check out the gorges. The trip out was as expected flat, hot and dry. The scenery, on the other hand, as you approach and ride over the Hamersley Range is spectacular.
We camped at Karijini for a couple of nights. We only got to visit Dales Gorge, which is my favourite. The gravel roads in the park were pretty rough and we were over shaking the bikes and us to pieces so we settled for a good climb and swim in Dales Gorge. While there we got invited for a couple of beers one evening, and watched as some over seas campers tried to bang pegs, with little success, into the ground (rocks). From Karijini we headed back to Port Hedland to change tyres and tune up the bikes before heading south.
We left Port Hedland on a beaut day heading south with yet again another light tail wind to Carnarvon. The trip boring with only a few changes in vegetation on our approach into Carnarvon. The sand dunes north of Carnarvon are a bit deceiving as you think your getting somewhere until you reach a high crest and all you can see is this straight road and lots of other crests for miles in front of you.
In Carnarvon we stayed at the caravan park on the recommendation of this Ulysis bloke who was driving a taxi. That evening he found us in the park and checked out our bikes and showed us his Bol d Or. During our chat he also put us onto a bloke who has a bit of a collection of older bikes south of Geraldton. We did try and contact the bloke latter but he was away at the time so no luck there.
After Carnarvon we headed south for Geraldton stopping off at Kalbarri on the way. We spent a couple of days in Kalbarri resting, catching up on some sleep, sight seeing, and a couple of coffees. On our way into Kalbarri we pulled into a national park lookout and met this bloke who was with a couple of others on BMW’s, two brand new and one about 25 years old. Turns out two of them had left Melbourne and one from Perth meeting somewhere north of Adelaide. So far it had taken them a couple of weeks to travel up to Darwin and down the coast to Kalbarri. He did say “we’re not actually seeing much”.
From Kalbarri we headed down to Jurien Bay via Geraldton. On the way we stopped off at Northampton to take a pee and click the button of the camera. When we were parked I could hear this unmistakable sound of another Guzzi. Sure enough this black bike comes up the main road from Geraldton headed to the town centre. Armed with the camera we headed uptown to take some photos of historic buildings and find the Guzzi. We located the bike, one gorgeous T3, parked at a coffee shop with two other bikes. We had a chat with the owner of the T3 and the other two bikers about all sorts of bike related stuff, politics, and the weather. When we left they all came down to where we were to have a look at our old Guzzi’s and take some photos and chat about more bike stuff.
From Northampton we headed to Geraldton. We had been given a tip to catch up with the cousin of the owner of the T3 we had met at the coffee shop. It turned out that finding the cousin was easy so we called to his house and said g’day. Turns out he also has a T3 and a some other interesting Guzzi’s locked away in his shed. Before we left he thanked us for calling in and was also mightily impressed, as ours were the first V7’s he had seen in real life.
From Geraldton we continued our journey to Jurien Bay. We left the main road at Dongara and headed down the coastal road to take in some coastal scenery. The terrain here is low coastal scrub covered with wild flowers, very similar to Kalbarri. We had sort of dithered around a bit and I was getting a bit nervous as we were running out of light and dark clouds were developing.
In Jurien we stayed at the caravan park in town, and went to the pub for dinner. It just so happened that after dinner we were treated to a raging storm. We dashed from the pub and got absolutely drenched and battened down the tent for the night. The storm went well into the morning so we didn’t get much sleep. Fortunately the tent didn’t leak but getting to the dunnies during the night posed a challenge.
The next morning we decided it was time to head to Perth. Not only were we quite wet but during the night the zipper for the tent broke and needed to be repaired. So, we packed and left early heading for Moora.
The trip to Moora was lovely. Everything was green and as we left the coast the place started to get hillier. The scenery was absolutely fantastic and we just had to stop now and again to take some photos. In Moora we stopped for lunch and took some more interesting photos of the town before heading on to New Norcia.
From Moora we headed down through New Norcia to check out the monastery. As we arrived in New Norcia it was getting obvious that the clouds were darker and rain imminent. Sure enough as we left the town it started to rain and the wind howl.
The storm continued all the way into Perth and at times we were riding through puddles about 100mm deep. Luckily I had a $70 leather bomber jacket and $40 wet weather suit and survived the trip into town warm with few wet bits around the collar, on the other hand, Meredith was freezing and looked like a drowned rat in her very expensive BMW wet suit.
On our way into Perth many car drivers leant out their car window to pass comments like “are you having a bad day” and “is it wet out there”. Must say I hadn’t ridden in conditions like it for many years and was starting to wonder. As we crossed the old bridge into the city the river looked like a raging sea with waves rolling up the Swan River backed by howling wind gusts. Anyone would think there was a storm or something.
While in Perth we caught up with relies, some sight seeing and a visit to Rottnest Island for a day. Even though Perth is busier than it used to be the skyline of the city if much the same. Even though the first couple of days in Perth were very cold and windy it was nice and green with plenty of colour from the flowers. The one thing about Perth that was evident is the cost of things like coffee and food (most expensive $5.50 for a cup). All except for Thunderbikes, out at Bassendean, where Mario donated some head gaskets and a set of brackets for the V7’s (thanks heaps). Mario also has a great collection of older and newer Guzzi’s worth seeing.
From Perth we will be heading south to Manjimup, to visit my sister and family, and a loop of the south west. Before we go we’re kitting ourselves out for the potentially cold and wet weather.
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