Well we survived , 4 days, 1800km, 5 riders, 3 support crew....42.6 deg heat and missed the superstorms as we made our way home. It was a most memorable trip from the dust of Nindigully in the west of Qld to the opal mines of Lightning ridge and through the Gibraltar range national park to the lush landscape of Grafton ...this definitely the best roadtrip every .... shared with some great mates.
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| celebrating arriving at Lightning ridge |
With two days at over 42.5 degrees and extreme storms rolling through we had to come prepared and thanks to our "Camels" filled with ice and water we survived, in fact some took their camels to bed to beat the heat. We escaped a large storm thanks to the Glen Innes chinese restaurant where we bunkered down for dinner as the storm blew through,
The riders gathered at Gateway early for an start , Santa on board of course,whilst the support crew left to meet us at Yamanto for our first stage to Warwick....but first a word from Phil, Des and Dave.
So we journey from coast to country and back...from hot,flat to lush and green....wow what a landscape
Day 1 we excitedly headed off to Warwick, meeting up with the support team at Yamanto where they topped us up with jelly beans and collected a side panel from the Moto Guzzi. Weather was warming up as we enjoyed our run up Cunningham's Gap.
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| no not Darth Vader but yours truly all geared up |
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| we love our Camel |
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| concentrate Des,the Guzzi guzzler loves the stuff |
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| now Dave, you are going to get in trouble for that |
From Warwick it was off to Goondiwindi then onto Nindigully... or "the gully" to the locals. The temperature was rising as the day went on passing 40deg after our stop at the Goondiwindi Caltex where we topped up all tanks and spare fuel containers for our run through to Lightning Ridge. The Camel water packs certainly did the job keeping us hydrated the it was a welcome stop for some lunch. It was not without its drama as Des tried to burn the support vehicle with a fuel spill and Dave got roused on for filling whilst on the bike...oh well that's whats roadtrip is about.
So off we headed for Nindigully...temperature pushing 42.5deg, roads flat and straight and landscape scrubby. We tried to keep to the discipline of stopping every hour and thankfully we did as Des found a bolt missing from his suspension....but as Des said..he alway had another one.
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| a group photo with the infamous Guzzi |
Thankfull for our mighty support team who were there with cold drinks, food and moral support though we were envious of their balmy 22deg a/con discovery which was running beautifully according to Andrew. After a welcomed stop ,with the suspension well and truly bolted on and Des's luggage carrier now secure in the support vehicle trailer we headed off for our first night at the mythical "Nindigully pub"
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| Nindigully Pub paint change from Pink to beige |
Check out a you tube clip of ride HERE
We arrived late afternoon , had a nice experience of being met by some young backpackers from Sweden and Estonia behind the bar ...then shown to our accommodation..the plan to quarantine the "snorers" into there own rooms sort of backfired with Dave saying he had the "best" sleep ever whilst the rest of us crammed into one room .... next to a party ...and the power went out....so as expected most of us only grabbed a few hours sleep after all the excitement of the day
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| Andrew waiting for happy hour |
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| Can you find the leaping fish in Daves pic? |
Last word on day 1 comes from the Nindigully pub wall.... where the warnings were clear
