Day 1: Epping - Donald

Some time ago, Onion and I decided we needed to plan another ride.  We looked at a couple of over-seas options, but decided to do something local and/or general.  Given that we ran the Oodnadatta Track last year, we decided to do the Birdsville Track this time, and set about putting an itinerary together.  Now, given that there's a swelling ground movement of 'adventure' riders in the club, we mentioned it to a few others, all of whom jumped on board.  Along with a mate of ours (Bruce), who seems to be having a bit of a mid-life-crisis and went out and got his licence and bought a V-strom, in the space of about 3 months.  We took him out for a few rides and he went well, so we asked him to join us and of course he said yes.  So that gave us a crew of (a manageable) 6.

Loading my bike was easy, as I had all the necessary equipment and knew where everything needed to go.  So with the bike packed, I headed over to Pete's place in Effing, to meet up with the rest of the crew.







Not to my surprise, Willie was already there (probably camped on Pete's front yard the night before).  Pete was flapping around, tying some last minute ballast to the Big Honda. Geoff rocked up the same time as me, and Onion and Bruce arrived a few moments later.  We got an obligatory photo (clean bikes, clean clothes, clean faces), kissed Pete's missus good-bye and fired-up for what was sure to be a great fortnight away.



The plan was simple, ride to Donald!  We had a lot of k's ahead of us and the first couple of days were planned to be easy going, to allow everyone to settle in and make sure gear was all secured and everyone was comfortable.  Pete lead us out through Epping, picking a few gravel and dirt roads on our way out through Macedon, Woodend and lunching at Trentham.  Weather was good and riding was easy, as we pulled over for a leg stretch at Carisbrook.





Now, as part of our 'rider's briefing', we had told Bruce that he needed to have provision to carry about 5 liters of water and an extra 5 liters of fuel.  What we didn't tell him was that he didn't have to fill those containers from the get go, as we would be in 'civilized' areas for the first couple of days.  So when Bruce set-off (with aforementioned extra fluids), we laughed at him (as you do)!  Not long after leaving Carisbrook, Onion (and I) started looking for a petrol station, as we were getting low-ish.  We pulled into the next town (I'm gonna say Dunolly), only to fing that the fuel stop had shut down.   Hhmm....  We did some quick calculations and thought we'd make it to St Arnaud.  We didn't!  Hooting along the highway, Onion's bike just ran out and he pulled off to the side of the road.  We all pointed fingers and laughed, especially Bruce who was called on to supply some emergency relief.  When asked if I would make it, I said "Of course!"  But took a couple of liters just-in-case!  So the moral of this story is, 'don't be a dick!'  Nuf said.

We continued on to St Arnaud and did a proper re-fuel.



Then continued the short distance onto our over-night stop at Donald.  We checked into our motel accommodation (amid some confusion over bed configuration), showered and headed to the pub for libations and sustenance, inspecting the local menagerie on the way.





The 'Bullock's Head' tavern was our chosen destination and after a few beers, we perused the menu for dinner.  As expected, Pete went for the chicken schnitzel, chips and gravy (surprise, surprise).  I went for the bourbon basted pork ribs.  The ribs were grouse, I was wrapped.  The schnitzel was ordinary, Pete was pissed!



Early-ish night and 400ks done.

Day 2: Donald to Renmark

Sunday dawned clear and sunny, albeit a little cool.  The chickens and parrots in their cages woke us (me), as they started to squark, but there was no need to get up at sparrow's (chicken's) fart, as today was gonna be another easy day on the bikes.  Having said that, when we did emerge from our rooms, Willie was already up and dressed.  He'd been up since 5:00, been for a walk, polished everyone's windscreen and was now pacing back and forth, like a terrier dog behind a fence, saying "can we go now, can we go now!"  We settled him down and waited for our bacon and egg rolls for brekky.  Then we started to load up the bikes and prepare for the off.





It never ceases to amaze me how, despite un-packing for only one night, the gear never packs back the same and I was already letting out the straps on my panniers so I could fit everything back in!  Anyhoo, we rolled out at about 9:00, en-route to Renmark.

First stop was Warracknabeal for fuel, before hitting the Henty Hwy and following the silo art trail.



We encountered our first painted silo at Brim.  These largely abandon and dis-used structures have become a remarkable canvas for local (and not so local) artists to ply their trade.





Willie thought that the subject on the far right and he shared some similarities!





We encountered our next silo at Roseberry.  A little more color in this one.





From Roseberry, we continued on to Hopetoun for a coffee break and onto Patchewallock for our final silo of the day.









From Patchy we went down to Pinaroo for fuel (and Pete's stale pink donut).



We stopped on the road-side somewhere for a bite of lunch (I don't remember where), and then pushed on to our over-nighter at Renmark, arriving late in the afternoon with just enough time to shower before hitting the pub for refreshments and dinner.













All was going well until someone ordered a bottle of red.  I don't remember much after that!

Around 470ks for the day.

Great report Serge - eagerly awaiting the next instalment!

Gotta love those silos.

Was the red off?

Have you got your bike home yet Serge.

Ken R wrote:
Yep
No
No

Day 3: Renmark - (via Denggalli/Yunta) - Wilpena (planned).
             Renmark - Peterborough (executed)

Sh!t was gonna get serious today!  Day 3 was planned to be a big day, one of the most taxing for the whole trip.

The plan was to head to Wilpena, via the Dengalli State Park, which meant SAND!  We rose pretty early and headed to the bistro for a big breakfast.  Then back to the rooms to pack and prep the bikes.  By this stage, I was just throwing things back into my panniers.  seems it didn't matter how careful I was, things just didn't fit (I reckon the other bastards were storing stuff in my bags!)  We headed out for fuel and filled our aux containers (just in case), then made our way out of town and out to Ral Ral Ave and onto the Wentworth-Renmark Road. 



I was really looking forward to this part of the trip.  It was gonna be our first real foray into the 'adventure' section of the ride.  I'd spoken to a couple of mates who did this last year (along with some info I'd gleamed from some Facebook 'friends'), all who said there was some 'tricky' sand sections, but the route was otherwise smooth sailing.  Armed with some gpx files and a map that Onion put together, we traveled the 60ks out to Chowilla Track to see for ourselves.









We set-off up the track and the sand seemed quite firm, so I picked up some speed and cruised along.  Around 5ks in, I noticed a slight rise in the 'dune' and felt the BM bite as the sand got considerably deeper.  A bit of a squirt on the big single and I pulled up the rise, but as doing so, I looked in my mirror and saw Bruce carrying-out 5 of the 7 basic steps of ballet, before grace-less-ly depositing himself on the sand.  I wasn't able to stop where I was, so continued on a bit till I hit some flat ground and then pulled up.  Geoff was right behind me saying, "Bruce is down!".  I radioed ahead to Pete and Willie, before walking back to where Bruce was.  He staggered to his feet, clutched his side and said, "ribs!".  Now, I know he wasn't pre-planning his dinner selection, so I figured he'd hurt himself.  We got his bike up-right and lead him onto the spot where we'd stopped, so he could catch his breath. 







Soon after, Willie and Pete returned, advising that they had gone a kay or two further and that the sand got 'worse'.  We had a bit of a conference and decided that it was probably not the best idea to try and continue, so with strains of Monty Python ringing in our ears, we decided to "run away, run away" and back tracked to the access road.  The little rise we encountered before, now became a descent and as soon as I hit it, I started fish-tailing and prayed that I'g get down without going down.  I did!  And I stopped to watch Willie's descent on the mother-ship, which was considerably less pretty than my effort!  Anywhoo, we all made it safely back and re-evaluated our plans for the day.





Having ascertained that Bruce was uncomfortable but willing, we made our way back along the 60ks of access track and back onto the bitumen.





Time was now getting away from us, so a squirt along the road was in order.  We headed to Morgan for lunch and fuel, then onto Burra and past the Mt Bryan wind farm (familiar territory that Onion and I covered last year, but in reverse).







Before finally pulling into Peterborough for the night. 



Last year, Onion and I stayed in the motel rooms behind the Railway Hotel, but unfortunately they were all booked out.  So we tried the rooms at the pub down the road...also booked out.  They suggested the motel just out of town, but alas...also booked.  So, back to the Railroad Hotel and we took pub rooms, which were fine (and cheap), but required us carting all our gear up stairs.  This done, it as in for a quick shower and into the bar to take advantage of the 3 hours of 'happy hour'!

Now, I've been away with Pete on a few occasions and he's not know to be a big drinker, however tonight was different!  Maybe it was the long ride, or maybe the bar-girl who we think was whacked-out on speed, but we all had a pint, then another, then another and then another.  Then Pete had a bourbon.  The he messaged his missus and said "guess what, I'm pissdedq!"  Yes, complete with 3 S's and a silent 'q'! 



At just before 6:00, we were ushered into the dining room and sat at a table farrrrr away from everyone else, in preparation for dinner.  Pete went to the mens' room and bought himself (or Jo), a souvenir of Peterborough, a glow-in-the-dark tingler ring, which he thought might come in handy on dark nights when we were camping!





So we stayed up reasonably late (for us) that night, and had a good laugh.  We tried to make some plans for the next day, but we weren't making much sense so we gave up and eventually went to bed having only ridden around 400ks for the day.

Great report and photos so far. Thanks Serge.

Great read Serge, I like thousands of others were waiting for the loose cannon to get a little loose. I tipping there was never a dull moment with Pete around.

Cheers.

PS, did the glow in the dark work Pete ?

Come on Serge - Day 4 - - - -  

Ken R wrote:
Orright, orright...just for you!