Hi all,

Kathleen and I have been on the road for six months and we are still talking which is a good sign!!!

We travelled up the east coast pretty quickly to get to Cairns for the end of August as Kath had organised me a dirt bike trip from Cairns to the top of Cape York for my birthday. It was fantastic to be back on a bike even if it was a DRZ400 which did the job really well. I think a couple of club members have done the same ride over the years, it was expensive but worth it.

The plan was to now take the car and van to the tip which we did. Fortunately the PDR was in reasonable condition for most of the trip, however there is no getting away from the corregations. Having experienced most of the Cape York tracks on the bike there was no way I was taking my car down them!!

At the end of September most people are heading south as the weather is starting to get hot but we decided to head west and drive the Savanna Way from Cairns to Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria. This trip must be a thousand Km with several towns of no more than 150 people. Basically, there are no other tourists around this time of year it is great, we can camp where we like.

Between Croydon and Normanton (middle of nowhere and in the 40's) the car decided to go into limp home mode, it wouldn't rev more than 1500rpm. Fortunately, when I restarted it all was OK. It has done it another three more times since. The nearest Ford dealer was in Roma 600km away, I took it in yesterday and you guessed it no fault to be found!!

We have travelled south via Mount Isa, Cloncurry and Longreach, it got to 46 degrees as we arrived in Cloncurry. We are on our way to Brisbane for Christmas.

I will try and add a couple of photos to the post.



Sorry, cant get the other photos to load.

Have a great Christmas and New Year.

Cheers Colin 

Thanks for the update Colin - I'm more than a little bit jealous!

Good to hear you managed to get out on a bike too, and especially up to the tip of the country.

Hope the car behaves itself from now on, and have a good Xmas!

Thanks Colin.

Looks like you might have done Cape York with Ray Kunda? Good mob.

WRT your 'limp mode' issue, I had something similar with my Territory.  I was towing Pat's trailer and my computer didn't like his electrics!  Try un-plugging your van (where it's relatively safe to do so) and run with that and see if it does it again.

Just a suggestion!

Limp mode, sounds like u or the KTM Colin.

Did you call the RACV ?

Hi all, 

We have looked at getting jobs and there are plenty around if you want one from caravan park work to mining equipment operators, we just haven't really had time.

Yes Serge the tour was with Roy and the team, they are a good bunch of blokes. Thanks for the heads up on the trailer wiring I will try it next time. We travelled over 400km yesterday with no problems. This sort of issue reinforces if you are going bush try and keep things as basic as possible. If you are really brave you could always drive a Jeep!!!!

Gaz, I did think about calling the RACV but I thought better of it as I didn't have a spare two days to wait for the service guy!Actually, I did better than that I called Scotty our friendly Ford man and AMTRA member, he spoke to his workshop manager and was able to point me in the right direction.

Couldn't see a thing when a road train was passing.

On Sept 11th 2001 the AMTRA Cape York tourers were sitting around a camp fire on a very remote beach soaking up the good vibes.

Our DRZ400's were resting while TimD tuned in to the radio waves to check if Ansett had gone broke yet. Yes that WAS our biggest worry as we all had Ansett tickets to get home with.

Tim's face between the ear buds told it all - Ansett had gone broke. He said it was worst than that, and passed the buds around, we all said FARK Ansett - is this the start of WW3?

The sat phone was pressed into service and we spoke to loved ones crying as they watched the twin towers attack on the TV. 

Hope you don't mind me sticking my bit of Cape York memory on your thread Colin.

It's great to hear you are having a Bonza time in this fantastic country of ours.

Getting lost in the road trains dust was never pleasant, if I had time and room I got off the road with headlights and hazard lights on and recirc on the AC.

Keep the news coming, Enjoy. 

Yes!  Cape York brings back memories.  Enjoy your adventures.

Hi all,

Ken, it sounds like you had a really memorable Cape York experience and not for the motorbike riding!!

Phil, your ride sounds similar to mine. It does appear like you spent more time on the main tracks. On day one we rode the CREB track then out to the coast through a lot of sand. From the east we rode Frenchmans track back to the PDR then straight up the Old Tele Track. Given it was late in the season there was very little water or other tourists. We were able to ride all of the rivers although some were still challenging.

Kath and I came across this old Cruiser on a isolated beach somewhere on the Cape. Unfortunately, I am hopeless with remembering were we've been and no it's not old age!!

Cheers Colin 

Yes the locals get plenty more where that one came from Colin.

It's pretty disgusting the way they don't look after anything or anyone. Very Sad really.

So Colin, if it's not old age it must be the booze?