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| Adventure Rider Silhouette on the road in the Flinders Ranges SA |
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| Clubby and Troy at the ruins near Yunta SA, with Dave Bottomley's '83 XT 600 in the foreground |
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| Mannahill Hotel between Broken Hill and Yunta |
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| NSW/SA Border - Pete from Yass' 660 and my 2010 S10 |
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| Harley Drew at the Nurioopta SA Motorcycle and Car Museum |
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| Early morning sunshine at Arkaroola SA. |
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| Me at Mt Chambers Gorge Flinders Ranges SA. |
Guys, thank you all for an awesome 2 weeks out and about through QLD, NSW, SA and VIC on my XT1200 S10 now christened, "Priscilla Queen of the Desert". LOL. I had an absolute blast and can't wait for the next one.
The big girl did me proud. We racked up 8200kms in the 2 weeks from the getting to the "getting there ride" around the Flinders Ranges and getting back home. I had no problems, not even a flat however, my Kenda Big Block rear tyre had to be 'retired' ;-) at the Yamaha dealer in Renmark SA.
A group of 6 left Arkaroola on Sunday morning and re-grouped at Leigh-Creek Servo. I dropped Priscilla again on to the right hand side after taking her off the side stand (2nd time on the trip)! We fuelled up and headed to Hawker on the Tar. We lost Dean on his XT660 and waited at Hawker for ages but he never showed. Troy Mattson called him numerous times on his mobile but he got no reply. We figured he was riding and couldn't answer his phone! Hope you got home safe Deano! Harley and I planned to visit the Motorcycle Museum in Peterborough SA and Troy and Greg tagged along where we met up with "Lucky Graham" and Curtis at a Peterborough Servo where Harley noticed a Pop-Rivet embedded in his rear tyre. Troy pulled it out and repaired the tyre with a "dog turd" (sticky string). I had never heard of them being called that before. The group split after this point and Harley and I were in tandem for a trip through the beautiful Clare and Barossa Valleys. I wish I had a trailer to bring home some wine! We visited another Motorbike Museum at Nurioopta. From there we headed to Renmark and and on to Mildura. We followed the Murray down to Echuca. We then headed to Nerrandra for a pit-stop. The next day we had brekky in Temora where Harley nearly sold both our S10's for some antique Tins/Containers! WTF Harley! I didn't know this until later when we were chowing down on Bacon Sangers. From Temora, we headed through Young, Cowra and on to Bathurst were we did 2 laps of the circuit. What a great experience. Those V8 Super Car drivers must have balls of steel to drive around the top of Mt Panorama at the speeds they do. As it is a public road and the speed limit is 60kms, I was hard on the anchors through the Esses. They probably go through there at twice the speed. Fantastic experience!
After lunch in Bathurst we popped in to Lithgow Dave's Bike Stop. His big girl was sitting proudly at the entrance inside the shop still sullied and soiled from the adventure. We had a cuppa and a chat and it was great catching up with Dave.
I was now in for a BIG surprise. I had heard of the Putty Road but wasn't expecting to ride it but Harley led the way and boy was it fun. Inclines, declines, hairpins, forests, gorges, cliffs, and of course rain but the XT1200's ate it up. I was grateful for the ABS and Unified Braking on some corners!
We hit Maitland late that evening and went out for a meal at Harley's local. Stayed the night and set off "early doors". Forgetting my GPS settings included "unpaved roads" I found myself on some beautiful trails with stunning vistas around Dungog, Gloucester, Bretti, Nowendoc through to Walcha where I joined the New England Highway at Uralla. Armidale, Glen Innes, Tenterfield were the last major NSW towns before I crossed back into Queensland via Stanthorpe and Warwick. I followed the Cunningham Highway east and was suitably impressed with the Cunningham Gap. Super tight corners, sweeping bends, all down hill onto the plains below, heading to Ippy. Got in late to a friends in Brissy and had a fantastic Vindaloo Curry from the local Indian Restaurant.
The next morning I headed north on the Bruce Highway and got home around 14:00hrs. I was buggered after 12 days on the bike. Chillaxed on Saturday and downloaded my pics and vids this morning.
Sorry for the late check in but I have been riding hard without any Moto Cement!! All's well. Great to be back home. Already thinking about the next trip on my Tenere.
Take care and thanks again to you all for making the great experience which is the Tenere Tragics.
Best Regards,
Smithy TT #35
