My Favorite Pic from the trip so far - Leaving Fraser Island

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4^th of January 2013

Today I left Gloucester shortly after 9 am, and took Bundook Road and connecting tracks until I reached Nowendoc. I took short stops at Nowendoc, Walcha and just outside Uralla, before continuing on through Armidale prior to visiting Dangar gorge and falls. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a swim in as the creek water was rather seedy…maybe tomorrow's falls will be better.  It was 5pm by the time I left there and decided to try and make it to Ebor, but found a camping ground within the New England National park where I managed to set up camp and have a feed before night set in.

The view from Dangar Gorge

5^th of January 2013

Today I decided my goal was to make it to Byron Bay with as much dirt riding as possible. However to begin with I was stuck on the main roads from Waterfall way through to Gurya. With a quick stop and refuel and the confidence of having a huge range of mileage from that massive tank I managed to find a single vehicle asphalt road that would finally lead onto some awesome sandy dirt trails. I continued on these back roads which passed mainly through agricultural land, and through Red Ranges and Shannon Vale. Eventually after hours of riding I turned on the Gwydi Highway which connected to Grafton. The tight and twisty roads were obviously filled with motorcyclists; on bikes far more suited to the roads than mine… it was therefore time for some more dirt! After praising my GPS for most of the day and deeming it the best bit of equipment so far (besides the bike) it began to fail me by directing me into numerous entrances of the Gibralter national park, only to be greeted several kilometres in by a locked gate. However eventually, around 60 km’s from Grafton I found an excellent dirt road (called Dandahra rd which continues on by several other names). The road continues all the way out to Clarence way, through numerous dairy farms and along rivers and creeks. This was some of the best riding so far but was extremely long. Noticing that time was slipping by and needing to get to Byron I reset the GPS, but forgot to remove the highway and main road avoidance features. As a result I was sent through numerous different national parks and state forests such as Ewingar, Mount Pikapene, Sugarloaf and Mallanganee, almost entirely slippery gravel road. When I realised what had happened I was still about 70k’s outside of Casino running out of time and I thought possibly fuel… so much for the confidence! At this point the so called quickest way was the route that I was already on.  After 8 hours of pure riding for the days total (which would take 3.5  hours by main road) and almost 20 litres of fuel burnt, I was buggered (I don’t know the odometer reading as the trip meter maxed out soon after I set off). With Byron Bay just over another hour away, and little chance of getting any type of accommodation being so late in the day let alone the time of year, I crashed at a small caravan park in Casino…. Tomorrow I plan on heading to Byron, only a short ride, and will hopefully be lucky enough to get somewhere to stay for a day or two!

6^th of January 2013:

This day wasn’t too exciting as I was still exhausted and rather sore from the previous days adventures. I decided to pass on Byron bay, as I didn’t wan’t to waste a day with such a small trip when I could be making some progress north. Initially took some unsealed roads towards Kyogle, but seeing the weather taking a turn from the south as it moved north I wanted to get moving along before I was caught in the rain. Still, I wanted to avoid the highway at all costs. I decided on a tight and twisty sealed road that headed North-West for a while, before turning off, to again, ride some unsealed roads. Unfortunately, my lack of a sense of direction took me on what would be a 60 km loop out to Toonumbar Dam. Once at the dam I noticed quite a few serious dirt bikers that were staying there… this should have been a sign of the kinds of track conditions to come. As I proceeded around the dam face and into the bush the track got gnarly, slippery and technical fast. Not knowing where this track leads to as it wasn't located on the topographic maps I turned around after nearly laying the bike down, probably to the other riders amusement. Once back on the tarmac and again passing through Kyogle, I took Kyogle road that travels through the mountainous region near Nimbin (which I bypassed, unfortunately). The road would have been great fun if it hadn't been raining and rather slippery, though I pushed on and eventually made it to Murwillinbah. I’m not sure of the route that I took, but I wanted to escape the weather that had been chasing me all day so I headed North East until I reached Tweed Heads. From this point on there was no interesting travels or roads, but eventually made it to Brisbane where I would stay for a couple of nights as I wait for my parts to arrive at Melaney motorcycles.

8^th of January 2013:

After a couple of nights in Brisbane I was off again. The better part of an hour was spent getting lost and going around in circles that, which was damn frustrating. Once I was on my way I headed towards the ‘Glass Mountains’ to check out the view along Old Gympie road and some of the other dirt tracks that run through the park, which was quite spectacular and unusual. If I had had more time I would have loved to explore the area more rather than just the couple of tourist lookouts that I did go to. There are numerous fire trails through the area which would no doubt expose some spectacular views. Anyways, I had to push on to a small town called Maleny to pick up a new chain and sprocket kit from Maleny Motorcycles (who operate as Motorcycle Accessories Australia). The owner (I think it was Jason, or Justin, or something similar) was very helpful in advising on routes. In order to get to Rainbow Beach North of Nusa Heads, I took the tarmac, but it wasn't all that boring giving the tight and twisty road… I definitely think my road craft is getting better despite the load on the bike.

Once at Rainbow beach, I got some accommodation at a backpackers called ‘Pippies’ which is fairly chilled and relaxed. Pretty much by accident, I managed to get some work in exchange for a place to sleep which saved me a few dollars. The next day was spent enjoying the beach and getting vehicle and camping permits for Fraser Island, as well as a ticket for the barge that will take me over there. I left some of the more unnecessary items locked up at the backpackers so I can lighten the bike, ready for the sand riding on the Island… It’s challenging enough riding the bush pig in sand without the added weight!

View of the 'Glass Mountains'

9^th to the 12^th of January 2013: Fraser Island, Beauty and the Beast:

So the day before I left to take on Fraser was spent enjoying Rainbow Beach as well as organising vehicle and camping permits, as well as the barge ticket to get over to the island (a bit over $100 for a motorbike). I met some great folks here at Pippa’s backpackers, and decided that I would wait until they left on their tour of Fraser and sneakily tag along… well they were taking quite a long time so I figured I would get a head start and meet them on the other side. Once on the other side, a few dolphins came right up to the shore within a few feet of me, and with the gopro I thought I would have got some amazing underwater footage… (turns out the visibility was crap under the surface). After the tour passed, I put my gear back on and tried to catch up but I wasn’t able to find them. I therefore decided to explore the island myself, and with the heat starting to get to me I began on the inland tracks towards the lagoons. This is where I managed to get myself into some strife. Around 4km’s in on the deep sand tracks, the rear tube got a flat… no troubles I’ll just repair it, right. Upon further examination it turned out that because the rear lacked a rim lock, the valve itself was shredded from the tube.  Being the genius I am, in order to save weight I left my bulky top bag and a number of other items back at the backpackers…. including my spare rear tube!!! With help from Shane (a Sydney bloke who stopped by) we put the tire back on the rim and cable-tied it to the rim to try and stop it spinning. This worked for probably a few hundred meters. The going was slow, real slow and I had to stop when the temperature warning light came on. If matters couldn’t get any worse, when I stopped around 2k’s from Eurong I felt a sprout of liquid pissing out all over my leg, which turned to be the auxiliary fuel line to the non-existent rear tank which had ruptured. Quickly, I turned off the taps and poured my water over the spill to prevent me and the bike going up in flames…. and adding to the disastrous bush fires that are plaguing this nation at the time. Thankfully, a few other 4x4’s had become bogged on the sand hill.  In order to kill time another aussie stopped by and put some hose clamps around the tire while I cut some fuel line from the breather for which I clamped off the t-fitting and wrapped the rest of the fuel line in some nitto tape to stop give it a little more resistance.

Eventually I made it back to Eurong where I organised my spare tube to be brought over and dropped off with the next tour the following day. After the long days drama I afforded myself the luxury of a hotel room, and enjoyed the pool and few pints on beer, which couldn't have gone down any easier!

Waking up early, with the new tube being my only way out I checked in with Pippa’s to make sure the tube wasn’t forgotten. With it being due around lunch time I got cracking on the bike and stripped it down in order to reinforce the rest of the fuel lines and remove the existing tube from the wheel. Turns out the rim tape had also had it. Using my trusty Bear Grylls knife, nitto tape and the receptions stapler, I made a temporary one out of the old tube. Having thought the worst of the struggle was behind me, the new heavy duty tube arrived. God damn it is hard to put the rear tire back on the wheel!!!! I probably struggled for over an hour before it was finally on, and the bead of tyre was on its last legs, from both the ‘flat’ ride back and my butchering. But it was on, and with the luggage packed and the bike back together I decided to head back over to Rainbow Island and not risk shredding my only tube. It was a shame I didn’t get to see much of Island, given the expense of the permits, accommodation and damn near my sanity!

To sum up the lessons learnt:

·         Have rim locks on the rear of the bike

·         Always, always carry spare tubes!

·         Know how to efficiently change the tube and tire

·      Take more water than you think you will need (some kind strangers saw me struggling and gave me more, thank god!)

Only around 1500k’s into the trip now, it can only get easier from here right???

  The welcoming view

Trouble in Paradise

Leaving the place that caused me so much trouble... I think just this landscape may have made it worth it though!

13th of January 2013:

I decided to leave Rainbow beach and head north to a small coastal town that I was told about, called ‘1770’. It is situated a couple of k’s from Agnes Water, and is the site for Captain Cook’s first landing in QLD. Despite the large number of tourists in the area, it had a secluded beach that no one seemed to go to, which was great to cool off, relax and enjoy the view. I scoped around the area for places to set up camp, and had to head out of town around 10 kms to ‘Bastard Beach’ in Eurimbula National park.

 The quite, and beautiful beach!

14th-15th of January, 2013:

I really wanted to stay and relax and 1770, and should of, but I for some reason decided to head north anyways to get to a motorbike shop and get the rear wheel sorted. But before I did, I had to enjoy that beach one more time (just look at the pics and you’ll hopefully know what I mean). My aim was to get to Rockhampton and stay there before getting the bike fixed up the next morning. I can’t really remember what way I went or the route, but once there it was very hot and dry. I didn't realise how far off the coast it actually was. So to get the sea breeze back again I headed east to another coastal town called Yeppoon. Once there I set up camp and finally got around to changing the chain and sprockets that I had picked up back in Melaney.

The view from where I stayed in Yeppoon

The next morning I stumbled across a motorcycle workshop that was open before hours whilst looking for another motorbike shop. I managed to get a couple of rim locks, new rim tape fitted really cheap, but unfortunately they had no suitable tires. After picking up a few spare tubes whilst I was there and refilling the tank I headed off again with my aim and hope that the rear tire would make it to Mackay. I managed to get back on the dirt in the morning for over 200km’s before hitting another main road. The road was called 'Marlborough Sarina Rd, and was located west of the ranges. It was no doubt the most bored and hot I have been so far, with long, dead straight stretched for at least 50km's. Anyways long story short I eventually made it to Mackay, but it was late… around 6-7pm. I had already passed the last of the national parks for a while and not wanting to fork out any more money for another shitty caravan park spot I was stumped. I had a break and something to eat for a few hours, and thought I could just relax by the harbour for the night. I was pretty bored, and unable to sleep thanks to the mozzies so I jumped back on the bike around 11pm and pushed through the night on the highway to get to Townsville. I had to take it easy and watch out for the Roo’s (which I luckily didn’t even see) and stop every 50 km’s for a quick nap. After a long, boring and tiring ride I made it to Townsville around 6 am and I don’t think I’ve been more tired in my life. Needing a shower, swim and rest I had a look around for a backpackers, but none had any real safe parking so I had to settle for a caravan park. Once set up and cleaned up, I went to a couple of motorbike shops to organise a new rear tire, which I had put through more than 1000km’s in the past 24 hours. I dropped the bike in before midday and had to walk around the area until afternoon before it was ready.

16^th of January 2013:

Whilst it would have been nice to spend a day riding around Townsville, I was just really keen to get to Cairns for an extended stay and to get off the bike. After some heavy rain in the morning I was thought the whole ride was going to be wet (but refreshing). I chucked on the wet weather gear, and took off. The sky quickly cleared up though and it became quite humid. Looking at the maps there were a number of waterfalls and gorges to look at though it meant taking the highway. This was the one time I wasn’t particularly bothered as I was able to take several roads off to check out the sites. One thing that did bother me though, is that I had to back track the same roads back to the highway after each visit. It seems as though QLD national parks are a lot more restricted, with far less firetrails and no through roads. Despite this I stopped in at McClelland’s lookout, Crystal Creek, Murray Falls and Tully Gorge, within Paluma Range, Girramay, and Tully Gorge National Parks.  I used the stop in at Murray Falls as a chanced to jump in a cool off, which I probably should have done a little earlier as well. It was an hour round trip from the town of Tully to the Gorge, which took even longer when I thought I found a dirt road that would take me north before getting back on the highway…turns out after 20-30km’s or so it too was a dead end. With daylight running out I opened the throttle and headed back to town (not before bottoming the O’l bush pig out trying to get some air, and breaking a gopro mount). I eventually made it to Cairns around 7 pm, and organised for my bike to be locked up in a friend’s underground car park. Once at the backpackers, I ran into a friend I made in Rainbow Beach and caught up a little over some beers!

Ah it’s good to be off the seat for a while!

Crossing the Fitzroy River

Crystal Creek - Pulumar National Park 

Murray Falls