The main interest in this southern part of the track was the Dog Fence, supposed to keep dingoes out of the sheep areas, it is still in pretty good nick so
someone believes it works.…
Day 52 2 June on the Strezlecki Track 94 km
More corrugations, some loose stones.
Highlight was passing the Blanchwater Station ruins. Blanchwater was the horse and cattle station that Burke and Wills tried desperately to reach after they missed their support party. At one stage it was carrying 12,000 …
Day 53 3 June Mt Hopeless to Moomba 94 km
Snuck out of my discrete camp in amongst the nitre bushes a couple of km from the (abandoned) Mt Hopeless homestead and on to the Strezlecki track. Mostly good road but long stretches of corrugations.
A highlight was the stock …
Day 54 4 June Moomba to KJM desert hotel 113 km
From a gravel pit 32 km south of Moomba gas plant to the new KJM desert hotel motel was a straight forward ride.
Moomba gas plant was plonked in the desert like a set from a Mad Max movie. The …
Day 55 5 June KJM desert hotel to Innamincka 35 km
Hard to drag myself away from the KJM desert hotel with its luxury.
The ride was uneventful, straight up between the dunes until the last curving 10 km in to Innamincka.
Innamincka was a couple of houses and businesses catering …
Day 56 6 June Innamincka to the Dig Tree 71 km
Pack up camp and discover that the broken mounting clamp on the front pannier actually should be holding something on! Investigate further and find a couple more pannier bolts that have shaken loose on the corrugations and gibbers over the …
Day 57 7 June Burke and Wills ‘Dig Tree’ to Arrabury Station 76 km
Checked out the Dig Tree, one of Australia’s most famous landmarks. It was here that explorers Burke, Wills and King returned from their historic first south-to-north crossing of the continent only to find that their supply party had left the …
Day 58 8 June Arrabury Station sand to Arrabury Station gibbers 51 km
What a rough day!!
Basically the first four hours were straight into a 30-40 km/hr (estimate) headwind on a road that was mostly 50/50 drifting sand (get off and walk) or hard clayey-sand base. Very hard work so that for …
Day 59 9 June Arrabury Station to Haddon Corner 86 km
Rain and a leaking tent that blew flat in the wind (yeah, the CTAWA club riders know the story of my tent’s propensity to lie down in a crosswind) made for an uncomfortable night. Still, no damage done and back …
Day 60 10 June Haddon Corner to Betoota 106 km
No one else was at Haddon Corner last night so very peaceful.
A slow retrace of the corrugated, gibber strewn, dusty track out to the Arrabury Road starting with push/pulling the loaded bike over the soft sand track over the …