As some of you will know, I have been away for three weeks circumnavigating Australia on a motorcycle. We covered 7500 miles all up. To quote something I saw recently, “Only a motorcyclist knows for certain why a dog sticks its head out of the car window!” Riding a bike certainly gets you up close and personal with the environment and gives you a true perspective on just how vast Australia is. It took us more than two days hard riding just to leave Western Australia. The journey took us across the Nullabor, which is so isolated that the road doubles as an airstrip for the Flying Doctor Emergency Service. The cattle and sheep stations are too enormous to fence. The biggest Australian stations are larger than small countries, four times bigger than anywhere else in the world – yes, some things ARE bigger than Texas! The result is that livestock strays on to the road, along with kangaroos, emus and the birds of prey that feast on road kill, all of which are very hazardous to motorbikes. The Wedge Tailed Eagle has an 8 foot wing span and is so heavy it has to take off into the wind so it is often hit by passing vehicles. We had to be constantly on alert for them.

 

Another hazard is the “road trains”. These are huge trucks pulling several trailer units, with a total length of 58.5 yards – more than half the length of a football field. They are challenging to overtake, as the “tail” wags about on the road, and when they pass by on the opposite side the resulting wind shear causes a motorbike to wobble about. Even the distance between gas stations was a challenge. In many places they are nearly 200 miles apart, which is close to the limit that a motorcycle can cover. We had to carry extra fuel and water. People die every year from exposure when vehicles break down in remote locations. Many of the areas we traveled through carried little traffic, and even in winter the daytime temperature was 90 degrees plus, while some of the night time temperatures were close to freezing. We spent a lot of time adding and subtracting layers of clothing.

 

From Western Australia we passed into Victoria then into New South Wales, finally arriving on the Queensland Gold Coast five and a half days later, where I got the chance to catch up with my two daughters and their families. One flew over from Auckland New Zealand, and the other flew up from Canberra. It was hands on with two grand children and The Bump. Great fun! At one stage we were following one daughter and her husband and children in their hire car on our bikes and I thought “there’s something wrong with this picture – isn’t it supposed to be the grandparents in the car and the children on the bikes?” It gave me a good chuckle.

 

We then rode up to Townsville for a week in the tropical sunshine at a bike rally, before heading home “Over the Top” through North Queensland and Northern Territory and back into Western Australia, where we took the inland road past the mining boom areas of the Kimberleys and the Pilbarra, skirting the Tanami Desert, the Great Sandy Desert and the Simpson Desert en route.  It was in Mount Isa that I opened the lid of a camp ground toilet to be confronted with a bowl full of frogs (you probably thought I was never getting to that!) I have to admit that I screeched in surprise, but better frogs than snakes…

 

We had a wonderful moment when we watched a wild dingo crossing the road in the twilight, but I have to confess that I’m not fond of emus. They stand watching the bikes approach, getting increasingly hysterical, like elderly spinsters confronted with a prowler, then decide to make a mad suicidal dash at the last moment right across in front. At least the kangaroos try to avoid you if they see you. We managed to avoid all mishaps, but two of our fellow riders weren’t so lucky – they both hit roos and did a lot of damage to their bikes. Fortunately they weren’t killed. A big roo can be the size of a deer, and they move like lightning.

 

The principal impression I was left with is of the vastness of Australia. We rode through all the States except Tasmania. It took six and a half days to ride back across the country, using every minute of daylight, and for hours and hours we would ride through the same surroundings – red earth with sparse scrub and termite mounds every yard or two. It’s hard to believe that these areas are ever flooded, but the road markers say differently. Every creek bed we passed was dried up, and the only major river we crossed Up Top is infested with crocodiles that snack on those foolish enough to camp nearby. Someone is killed every few months by one. It is a harsh and unforgiving land.

 

I am currently enjoying sitting on a seat that doesn’t move under me, but I know that in a few weeks time the wanderlust will return and I’ll be planning my next Odyssey. Next year the bike club rally is near Sydney, and we have yet to travel the Great Ocean Road…