AUS TRIP – Fri 27 July 07 – DAY 27 – >7000 ? kms

Dear Family and Friends [ cc NSW PiRiders ]

We've just crossed into WA and are now camped here at Kununurra, with a
beautiful outlook to red, rocky, outcrops and cliffs.

Warm on the bike… about 31 degrees, and hot when stopped..e.g at the
WA border..

Coming through the Victoria River region/Gregory National Park yesterday
and in western NT was a treat too: beautiful country. (You'd love it
Noeline: beautiful rocks, Great riding too).

Kakadu was great, but it didn't want us to leave. Leaving Cooinda, the
bike took a few goes to start. The starter motor wasn't firing. I said
to J it must be all the flaming ants…(they were a few on the bike
where we camped.

The starting problems continued as we wended our way north to Jabiru and
then Ubirr Rock, South Alligator and Annaburroo. On the outskirts of
Darwin. the bike finally refused to start at all. Hmm.. dead starter or
relay I thought.

BMW Roadside Assistance (BRSA) came to the rescue and a man with a truck
took 'Gebrselassie' to the doctors (Honeycombes BMW, Darwin), and the
nice lady at BRSA also found some accommodation for us (which can be
very hard to find in Darwin). After a day and half we get the R1200
back: ants had colonised the starter relay and got baked onto the
terminals. A new relay fixed the problem.

We did a quick tour of Darwin once we got the bike back…thankfully we
are more interested in the country-side/natural beauty than man-made
'wonders'… though we were both impressed with government house at
Darwin.

After Darwin we went down to Katherine, then to Timber Creek in western
NT. (Hopefully TC was not the inspiration for Wolf Creek, the movie).

Well…'must away. Hope this finds yawl well.

S & J

e&oe

zatopek53.blogspot.com

AUS TRIP – Day 21 – 21 July. ~ 6000 kms

Dear All

We are safe and well; we hope this finds you likewise.

We are currently camped in Kakadu NT, at Gagudgu Lodge, Cooinda, just
down the road from Jabiru. Today is our third non-riding day.

Yesterday we went for a tour on the Yellow Waters Billabong and South
Alligator River: it was great….lots of crocs, beautiful scenery on the
floodplain, and tons of birds. Soli deo gloria. 🙂

Today we hope to take a flight over Kakadu and Arnhem Land. You really
don't see the best part of Kakadu by road. We have been saving our
pennies for these tours by living 'cheap', relatively (~$10-$20 on
camping fees/night, and keeping food costs down, mostly. Also the
mighty R1200GSA uses half the fuel of most cars…(but about the same or
bit more than the the turbo diesel Golf… 🙂

I am about to run out of money… $2 for 15 min in this internet cafe…

Totsiens!

S & J @ Kakadu

AUS TRIP – Day 15 (15 July 07) ~ 4300 kms

Dear Friends and Family ( cc NSW Pi Riders)

After 2-3 days in Cairns and travelling thereabouts, we headed west
along the Savanah Way (Gulf Development Road) on the might
'Gebrselassie' (BMW R1200GSA).

We detoured to the Undara Lava Tubes, but the tours were all booked till
the next day. Time being short, we had to keep travelling.

Halfway to the Gulf, we stopped the night at Georgetown, camping at the
Miday Caravan Park/Roadkill Roadhouse. ("You kill'em, we grill 'em").
Just before Georgetown, we stopped at a lookout on the Newcastle Range,
where we had a slight accident. The gravel at the lookout was the size
of small boulders, and Geb's front while went astray on one, which
brought is down suddenly to the horizontal. We just got the bike
upright again (it's got a fair load on board): luckily J is fit and
strong. The riders were OK, and the bike just had a few scratches. Geb
wondered what the fuss was, and just kept idling though in the
horizontal plane.

The other little drama was on the Atherton Tablelands where an 'Andy
Strapz' came adrift and got shredded in the back wheel. Again, no drama
(aprt from me losing my temper), but it took a while to prise the
remains of the strap from between the hub and the rear brake disck

After Georgetown, we headed to Normanton, then to Karumba on the Gulf
where we stayed the night. At Karumba we went to the Sunset Tavern for
dinner, and had barramundi and veggies as we watched the sunset over the
Gulf. Soli deo gloria!

From Karumba, we did a 570 km run yesterday down to Cloncury and then
across to Mt Isa, where we are now (Spectacular views from Cloncurry to
Mt Isa..beautiful rock formations, Noeline!:-). Today is our second
non-riding day.

Some highlights: the everchanging outback … lots of variety in termite
mound colours and types, vegetation, topography, vegetation etc. There
are ranges through here you know…it's not all flat. Bird life is
interesting too…lots of hawks up here..and the odd wedgie or two.

Must go…have run out of time

'love

S & J

PS

Excuse the typos…not much time
Not sure when the next report will be
There are no photos currently accessible on the picasaweb site…maybe
later.
This report should appear on my blog.
—
Stephen Love
Armidale NSW AUSTRALIA

loves@fastmail.fm

[changed April 07 from lovesj@fastmail.fm]

Blog: http://zatopek53.blogspot.com/
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/zatopek53