Late Aug 09 saw John Gilbert and John Brak from Melbourne and
a Ultra Glide Harley Shane Blakeborough from Geelong head off in
the early morning to Ayers Rock 2300km away. This was the first
major trip for the two new wings and as Shane only just bought his
Harley the week before it was a new bike for him as well.
Day 1 Melbourne - Mildura
Today saw the two GoldWings head out from Melbourne and as it
was early and a Saturday the traffic was light. Just out of the
city the clouds darkened over and the air started to get cold, we
knew we were in for a bit of rain with a quick stop under an underpass
we put on our wet weather gear. A short distance up the road it
poured with rain and the wind picked up enough to toss our bikes
around. The heaters came on, on the seats and handle bars as we
made our way through to the other side of the storm. As we got onto
the country roads towards Mildura the weather cleared up to clear
skies and the temperature was starting to raise. The plan was to
meet up with Shane in Mildura but as we came through the little
town of oyouen Shane and two of his mates were stopped for coffee.
Mildura is the fruit bowl of the state of Victoria with orchards
and grape vines everywhere and very rich soil.
Day 2 Mildura - Port Augusta
This morning saw us get underway all eager to get some miles
under our belts and with not a cloud in the sky we were off to a
good start. We followed the Murray River (one of the biggest rivers
in Australia)for some time and then started to head inland towards
the South Australian border and the small old town of Burra.
As we got closer to the border the clouds started to come over and
the temperature dropped again as it appeared we were headed for
another dumping of rain with the temperature dropping from 18 degrees
to 8 degrees, the heaters got another workout. The rain was a little
kinder to us this time and it appeared we were just behind the rain
and only got a few drops on us. We arrived in Port Augusta all ready
for tomorrows ride into the true Australian outback.
Day 3 Port Augusta - Coober Pedy
Today saw the bikes travel over some of the flattest and barest
country in Australia, our first stop was in Plima which is the turn
off to Woomera, so a side trip into Woomera was taken to see the
rockets and remoteness of this part of the country. You have marvel
at how people live out here in such a sparse part of Australia.
(Woomera may bring back some memories for some of the ex military
members of GWRRA as in the 60s there was a large USA contingent
in Woomera for the fitment of radar etc.) Back on the road again
for the 300 km trip to Coober Pedy the opal capital of Australia.
The road remains very flat all the way with not a tree for miles.
The road from here up all the way to Ayers rock has a lot of road
kill on it and this in turn draws the wedge tail eagle to the side
of the road and they can take some time to get going in flight when
they hear you coming so caution is needed when approaching this
large bird. As you approach Coober Pedy you know you are close
as the country side is littered with small mounds of dirt from the
individual opal mines. Tonight’s accommodation is in the underground
motel an old opal mine made into a motel and, boy, once the lights
were turned out you could not see a thing.
Day 4 Coober Pedy - Erldunda
Today’s ride was a very long ride with long straight stretches
going on forever the vegetation in these parts of Australia is very
low due to the heat and low water. Along these parts of Australian
roads the massive road trains travel and with up to four trailers
can be a daunting site as they come towards you and can take some
time to pass. As we rode to the Northern Territory Border it seemed
be moving away from us instead of getting closer, but finally we
made it to the border and after a quick break and some pictures
we rode on into Erldunda which is a road house resort at the turn
off to Ayers Rock. There is something about the air in the Australian
outback that draws you to it again and again. Having been here a
couple of times it is something you never forget and at night the
display of stars is unbelievable.
Day 5 Erldunda - Ayers Rock,(Uluru)
Well today is the day we get to see the rock, we could have
covered the distance yesterday but it would have meant getting into
the small township of Yulara late and miss seeing the rock on the
horizon as come into town. We awoke with cloudy skies and the likelihood
of rain however it is not so bad when it rains in this part of the
country because you dry very quickly and the temperature stays warm,
so it is quite pleasant to have some showers. The two
GoldWings
were on our own today as Shane had to go to Alice Springs and would
join us later in the day. As you ride towards Uluru there
are a couple of false starts as there are one or two rock formations
that look quite like the rock itself but once you see the real rock
there is no doubting you are seeing one of the natural wonders of
the world. After three hours of riding from Erldunda to Yulara we
checked into our cabin and then we head straight out to the rock
for our first visit. It costs $25 for a tree day pass to enter the
park.
We rode around this mammoth rock and marvelled at its height
and beauty that it brings to the barren landscape. (Its taller than
the Eiffel tower and equal to an18 story building) Ayers Rock (Uluru)
is an inselberg meaning "island mountain" an isolated remnant left
after the slow erosion of an original mountain range
Day 6/7 Sunset –Sunrise of Uluru – and walking the rock
We awoke at 5.30am to see the sunset on Uluru. There is no picture
that can show the colours that you see with your naked eye, and
we experienced lots of them for both the sunset and the sunrise.
We were lucky enough that there was a lot of cloud and some rain
around which formed a rainbow over the rock (I am sure there is
a song about that) after sunrise we headed off to the Olgas or Kata
Tjuta actually means 'many heads' in traditional Aboriginal language which
is another beautiful rock formation 30 kilometres from Uluru. With
the day drawing to a close we headed back in the hope that tomorrow
the walk would be open and we would e able to climb the rock. We
headed out early along with most of the other tourists to see the
sunrise and hopefully walk the rock early however the wind was very
strong and the walk was closed. As the rangers check the wind strength
every two hours we came back at 10.00am again it was closed so we
decided to stay on until 12.00pm and we were in luck the ranger
opened the rock walk and we were the first to go up. The first
part of the climb is the steepest but once on top the view is unbelievable
and the moonscape has its own beauty. The walk took us about three
hours to complete and you knew you had walked the rock when you
returned to the bottom With the trip drawing to a close it was time
to press the home button on the GoldWing GPS. The journey home took
us the same way as we came up as we did not have enough leave time
from work to take the round trip to Mount Isa and back down the
east coast to Melbourne.
As we headed away on the 2300 km ride from Uluru we had many
colourful pictures in our minds that will last us a lifetime.
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