Australia 2008 – Day 53-62
Brisbane to Byron Bay to Coff’s Harbor to Sydney to Lakes Entrance to Melbourne to Sydney
Our plan was to try and make it to Sydney for Christmas Eve, then go back to Melbourne and return the remaining motorcycle, then return back to Sydney for New Years Eve.
Everything went to plan, but we had to move quickly. Stayed with some friends in Sydney for Christmas Eve, then headed off into the Snowy Mountains for some Christmas Day camping. A few days later we arrived in Melbourne and took the day trip back up to Castlemaine so the motorcycle could be returned and I could explain what happened to my bike.
Burned rubber back to Sydney and made it just in time for New Years eve.
Australia 2008 – Day 52
Hervey Bay to Brisbane
Short drive to Brisbane on some very windy roads. Sure makes me wish I was still on a bike.
Decided that we would go for total luxury in Brisbane and got a large hotel room on the South Bank. Ate at some incredible restaurants and bar hopped our way down the South Bank till the early hours of the morning.
Australia 2008 – Day 49-51
Airlie Beach to Rockhampton to Hervey Bay
Continued heading down the east coast stopping at a couple roadside fruit stands to load up on mangoes and pineapples. Stayed a night in Rockhampton, then onto Hervey Bay.
Australia 2008 – Day 47-48
Townsville to Airlie Beach
Decided to take another rest day and stay in Townsville a second night. Hiked up to the lookout on Castle Hill and then took a stroll through Queens Gardens. had a couple great meals at Benny’s.
Australia 2008 – Day 40-46
Cairns to Townsville
After spending a week in Cairs recovering from my injuries and limping my way around town, I thought long and hard about just how and if I would continue on with the journey. I made the sensible decision to carry on. My hand was still in vary bad shape, so renting a car for the remaining distance was the only option. Brendon would follow behind on his bike.
We headed down the coast and arrived in Townsville minutes before another massive thunderstorm dumped down.
Australia 2008 – Day 38-39
Normanton to…
My motorcycle trip comes to an end…
We slept in a bit and then left Normanton just before noon. Headed east and stopped in Georgetown for some snacks and fuel. While there, we called up the Udura Volcanic Monument and reserved a room for the night as they sky’s were looking very threatening.
About 60km outside of Georgetown I was enjoying the nice winding road when a kangaroo cam out from behind a bush. I hit it at nearly 110kmh sending me off my bike and rolling down the road. We were well outside of cellphone range so it was nearly 30 minutes before the first vehicle pulled up and was able to call for help on their UHF radio. Two and a half hour later and ambulance arrived and I was taken to the town of Mount Surprise (population: 65). Unfortunately there was only a nurse in town and it is procedure for them to have anyone with possible neck/back injuries to be airlifted out to the nearest hospital.
After another 3 hours, a helicopter arrived and I was airlifted to the nearest hospital in Cairs, 400km away.
Went through numerous tests and Xrays at the hospital and was released after a little over one day later. I got very lucky with the crash, and my riding gear saved me from any serious injuries. In the end, I had 2 badly twisted ankles, bruised hips and pelvis, and a number of other various scrapes and bruises. The worst of the injuries were to my right hand and sadly made it impossible to continue riding a motorcycle on this trip.
Australia 2008 – Day 37
Calvert River to Normanton
Started the morning off by packing up camp and getting soaked crossing the Calvert River just out side of camp. We stayed wet for most of the day as there were many more river and creek crossings.
Made it to Hell’s Gate Roadhouse, but because the government revoked their liquor license, they are now closed and don’t sell fuel. Unsure how far our remaining fuel would get us, we had no other choice but to continue on. Running on fumes, we pulled into the aboriginal town of Doomadgee and arrived at the only gas station literally 5 minutes before it closed for the weekend. Fueled up, had a quick chat with the locals, downed a cold drink, and headed back out.
Camped at a Caravan park in Normanton for the night. Very hot.
Australia 2008 – Day 36
Limmen National Park to Calvert River
Another hot, sweaty, dusty day of riding.
Left camp in the morning to find the Limmen Bight River had swollen by almost a meter overnight. It was a short deep crossing with fast moving water. Both of us just barely get the bikes across.
Arrived in the aboriginal town of Borroloola in the early afternoon to restock on fuel, water, and food. Headed off towards Hell’s Gate Roadhouse 350km away.
Many, many creek and river crossings today, but nothing too serious. Found a nice place to pull off and camp for the night above the Calvert River.
Australia 2008 – Day 35
Mataranka to Limmen National Park
Our plan is to stay north on the Savannah Way which is well over 1000km of 4WD dirt roads. There are small towns or fuel stations every 450km, so we should be able to make it.
Road quickly turned to red dirt and we arrived at the Roper River Station in the early afternoon to fuel up. Most expensive fuel so far at $4.19 per liter!
After the Roper River Station, we didn’t see another human for almost 500km. Crossed the Roper River and the Towns River, which was a lot deeper than I though so we were both completely soaked. Almost ran over a crocodile while crossing the Cox River.
Camped next to the Limmen Bight River for the night.
Australia 2008 – Day 34
Gunlom Falls to Mataranka
Woke up at sunset this morning to make the hike up to the to of Gunlom Falls. Took some pictures, swam, and just relaxed by the falls for a couple hours.
Stopped back in Katherine to have some lunch and made it into Mataranka in the afternoon. We then picked up supplies and headed into Elsy National Park. Found another completely empty campground by the river and setup camp. Since no one was around, we decided to unload the bikes and go ride them down the 4km hiking trail to the falls. After 3km of intense trail riding through sand and palm trees, we were faced with a large washed out creek and could not go any further.
Spent the evening drinking beers on the Roper River watching the glow bugs and lightning.
