|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 9:38:56 GMT 10
Sometimes a bloke just has to go bush!My diary entry for Tuesday 2 November 2010, "I am going totally nuts on Champix!!! Got to get off this crap!!!"Diary 3 Nov, "Mucked around with trailer, ready for going bush!"Diary 4 Nov, "Lee and I to Ballina for grocery shopping. 3.30pm me off on bike/trailer - arrived Grafton soaking wet!" ;D (My head, you see was euchered due to me having a crack at giving up the fags and going onto a pill called Champix which is designed to assist people giving up smoking. It does enable many people to get off nicotine, but it didn't help me! About one in a million people go nuts on Champix and I was one of them!) ;D ;D So, on the morning of Thursday 4 November, I didn't take a Champix pill and I bought some of my favourite bakky, Drum, and I hit the road! Just 100 kays to Grafton, most of it in the pouring rain, so I booked into a cabin and set about drying myself and everything else out! ;D
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 9:41:22 GMT 10
I had jacket, shirt, pants, socks and jocks hanging from everywhere in the comfy little cabin, and of course, the heater on to help dry stuff.
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 9:50:13 GMT 10
Day 2 - It's funny how one says to one's self and to one's wife, "This trip won't cost too much because I've got my trailer full of tent and other camping stuff, so I won't have the expense of cabins and motels etc." However! Night one I stayed in a Grafton cabin, and after riding 226k from Grafton to Guyra on Day 2, in rain and fog, I booked into a Motel! ;D And, once again, went through the process of 'drying everything out.'
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 10:01:39 GMT 10
Day 3 was a lovely 215k run in the sun from Guyra to Gunnedah, where I actually pitched my tent. Yep, I found a nice shed in the Gunnedah Showground, so come rain, hail or shine, I would very nice and comfy. And I was.
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 10:07:28 GMT 10
Day 4, and I can't remember why, after just a 200k ride from Gunnedah to Gilgandra, I decided to book into a Motel! Oh! I just remembered why I did that instead of pitching my tent... the Tourist Park Manager bloke told me the forecast was for a "severe storm and maybe hail!" Any excuse for the comfort of a motel room eh! ;D
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 10:29:58 GMT 10
Day 5 was fantastic, riding the 558k from Gilgandra to Wilcannia.
About 100k short of Wilcannia, is the Emmdale Roadhouse.
A couple of women had recently bought the Roadhouse and were doing all sorts of improvements and renovations to it.
Their aim was to make the place attractive and to provide good tucker in an effort to attract the heaps of truckies who had previously abandoned stopping at Emmdale Roadhouse due to its poor set-up and poor food.
It would be interesting to know how the Roadhouse is going now.
My plan was to camp at Wilcannia but a couple of local blokes suggested I don't do that 'for safety reasons', so, of course, I stayed in a Motel! ;D
After checking into the motel and having a shower and general clean-up, I jumped on a local courtesy bus and was taken to the Wilcannia Bowling Club where I had a beautiful steak and vegies (and chips of course!), then got the courtesy bus back to the motel.
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 10:44:07 GMT 10
Day 6 - A nice, gentle and enjoyable trip of just 202k from Wilcannia to Broken Hill, where, would you believe it, I pitched my tent! ;D Not only did I pitch my tent, but I pitched it in the very same Tourist Park that my dear Mrs Clem and I had stayed (in a tent), 10 or more years ago when we were riding from Ballina via Broken Hill to Darwin and back. Great memories. What wasn't great was that, late afternoon, when I was putting things in their places, I locked my bike and trailer keys inside my trailer!!! A couple of other blokes, on adventure bikes, who were parked near me and with whom I had been chatting, had a screwdriver etc (my tools were also locked away!), so we managed to unscrew six bolts and take the lid off the trailer! It sure was good to get my keys from in there!
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 10:56:53 GMT 10
Day 7 - I had intended to stay in Broken Hill for about a week but that's not what happened! The Champix pills that had sent me totally berserk had worn off a bit, the nicotine was again flowing in my veins, I was feeling just about 'normal' and I think I might have been just a little bit 'homesick'? So, at 3.30pm I decided, "I'm out of here! I'm off home!" So I rode the easy 200k from Broken Hill to Wilcannia where the motel I had stayed in on the way to Broken Hill was booked out, so I stayed in another one which was a dump of a place, filled to the brim with mosquitoes, and no insect screens! I got a couple of cans of Insect Killer from the Office, sprayed the life out of millions of the pests, and slept most of the night hidden from them, under the sheet! ;D
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 11:15:44 GMT 10
Day 8 - After a couple of cups of coffee, I hooked it off out of Wilcannia and rode 452k to Warren. On the way, I stopped-off at Nyngan and bought, for twenty-five bucks, a self-inflating cushion because my butt was as sore as hell and I had quite a lot more kays to go! I wrapped the cushion in a tee-shirt, half-inflated it, and my bum was very happy. ;D Of course, when I got to Warren, I booked into a cabin!
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 11:27:15 GMT 10
Day 9 - Like a horse headed for home, so my bike just didn't want to stop! ;D
Except for a few quick stops for dunny and drinks, I kept the throttle alive on my Mighty little Nightster, riding the 1,008 kays from Warren to home, arriving at 2.15am. ;D
I have no idea where I took the below photo, somewhere on the way home. Wherever it was, it was a nice place to stop, have a leg-stretch, wander around, drink lots of water, and enjoy a few fags.
|
|
|
Post by dING on Feb 16, 2013 17:53:00 GMT 10
But Clemmie the secret is out
Everyone knows
Your secret
You stay in motels
Cause the hot water jugs n kettles
Are isistible you just cant help yourself
You need help
Turtle has a course starting soon
Which may help
Please enroll
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 18:02:27 GMT 10
Chortle chortle chortle Mr dING! ;D ;D ;D
|
|
|
Post by Turtle on Feb 16, 2013 20:07:13 GMT 10
Wot course? One solution is to bring ya own kettle, that way if ya camp ya can still pee in one.
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 16, 2013 20:35:51 GMT 10
You might have noticed that my piccies in this thread are kind of small?
I think the reason for that is, bakkabit I reduced the size of heaps of my pics.
I reckon I forgot I had done that and shrunk 'em again! ;D
|
|
|
Post by Turtle on Feb 16, 2013 20:38:42 GMT 10
Ya get that.Just don't do it again cause we won't see 'em.
|
|
|
Post by dING on Feb 17, 2013 7:23:01 GMT 10
See I told ya
Mr Turtle had the answer
Take notice Mr Clenmmie
He aint just a pretty face
Or is that even --------------- Must ask snowy again
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2013 7:25:04 GMT 10
Great tale of your trip to broke back mountain Clem, little shots aren't a problem for my young eyes ;D ;D
|
|
|
Post by Patch on Feb 17, 2013 7:36:51 GMT 10
I was looking at going to Broken hill for a bike I was looking at on e-bay, I goggled where it was and thought better of it, So tell me Clem is there anything there worth going there for.
|
|
|
Post by clem on Feb 17, 2013 7:52:00 GMT 10
I was looking at going to Broken hill for a bike I was looking at on e-bay, I goggled where it was and thought better of it, So tell me Clem is there anything there worth going there for. It's a great place to visit and spend some time I reckon Patch. Lots of information and things to see about the historic mines. Nearby Silverton (where Mad Max was made) is great. On my ride there and back in 2010, I didn't do any sight-seeing because I had been there three times before. It was just a place this time, to rip off to!
|
|