Right enough slacking around in bed for this young(ish) lady, back to work.   Look out world – cause I’m ready to face you again, besides I have my “office” set up now so there really is no excuse.

I was admitted to the Alfred Trauma hospital on Friday 27th April by helicopter with a suspected neck fracture, broken pelvis in three places, broken collarbone, two cracked ribs, a gash to the elbow which needed stitches and gravel rash to the wrist.

Things were not looking good, besides that Kev was going to a different hospital by ambulance and I had no knowledge of his injuries but at least I knew we were both alive.

Fast forward to today Monday 14th May and a much rosier picture. I am sitting up in bed (my “office”), fully clothed having been in the wheelchair down to the common room for a coffee and chat to some of my fellow inmates. I am on a full physio regime twice a day and as soon as the stitches in my elbow are out and the wound is closed, I can go swimming. I am allowed short hour long stints outside at my request. There are still major hurdles I wish to achieve soon, such as propelling myself in the wheelchair and commode chair to be independent within the hospital and to be able to shift my position at night so I can sleep better but I have made massive progress in such a short time and I am more than happy with where I have reached right now. I think I will be fairly stable at this plateau for a while until the bones have a chance to heal. I had a fantastic ward mate, Michael whilst in the Alfred who made my time there pass fairly quickly.
I now have a new room mate in Epworth my rehab hospital. Agnes still speaks with a strong scottish accent despite having been in Australia for 52yrs.

Poor “Boofle” did not fare well either, he was missing in action for three days and we were getting concerned but eventually he was found and now sports a few trendy bandages of his own.

Here is a photo of Michael heading off to rehab, Boofles new bandages, my xray photos of my pelvis and collarbone (the breaks have been circled) and the view from the patients common room.

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Kev has been really well looked after by the Guzzi fraternity of Victoria and offers of assistance to repair the bike have been coming in. He suffered his own wounds and has had some deep bruising which is slowly healing as well as a swollen ankle and abrasions to his shoulder. He is still sore but now feels well enough to fully strip down the bike and fix her up.

He is deeply grateful for the help from everyone in the club but especially John who is currently donating his workshop and expertise and and Neil who has been the best friend we could ever ask for. Thanks also to everyone who has been visiting me in hospital I really appreciate it.

It seems the likely cause was something in the gearbox jamming which in turn locked up the rear wheel. Kev is just about to remove the gearbox so we will know for sure soon.

The strange looking picture below is Kev’s back, how he didn’t break something I will never know. The other pictures are some of the bikes trauma.                    Pete Roper who is well known in Guzzi circles is helping us out with a replacement rear wheel but who knows what we will discover in the gearbox.

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We have had our hands full the past few weeks, not only our recovery process and the repair of the bike but also a whole heap of paperwork as we had to cancel flights, extend visas, carnets etc. During this time it has been bought to our attention that people have been asking where they can send some money to help with our costs. For those that wish to help in any way, we have two accounts one UK and one Australian. Direct transfers can be made to these banks. We really appreciate your help.

We will have to replace all our motorcycle clothing, helmets etc but NEDS (motorcycle wear) of Brisbane have been great and sent us some replacement cargos which turned up today (Thank you again NEDS!!!). A lot of our gear looks like it has been through a lawnmower but neither of us a scratch on our legs so the kevlar did it’s job admirably. Pictures in due course.

Thank you also to Martin from www.jacksonracing.com.au who has very generously donated us two of his jackets to replace ours.

 UK account: -Nationwide Building Society                                                                Sort Code: 07 02 46                                                                                                Account Number: 1040920                                                                                     Account Name: Mrs K Browne

We both want to say a massive thank you, to all of you, for the well wishes, support, advice and donations. We hadn’t quite realised how many friend’s we had made or people we had following our journey until now. It is all of you that are helping us to get through this “hiccup” in our journey. 

We will blog all of this accident  in depth in due course but for now this is the last accident related blog I will write for a while. This will give me the chance to allow us catch up to this moment, after all we are still in sunny Tasmania and I wish to transport you back there for a few more good times yet.

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We have a bit of bad news to report I’m afraid.

As you all know we are a bit behind on the blogs, we were in fact coming to the end of our Australian leg just finishing Victoria and the ACT before heading back to Melbourne to prepare for shipping to South America.

After covering approx 30’000km around Australia were only 100km or so from Melbourne and journeys end when either our rear tyre lost pressure or the rear wheel locked up we are not sure which yet. It’s hard to say as it happened very quickly but the bike went into a horrible S weave/skid before the lights went out (figuratively speaking). The inevetible fall was sadly on tar seal which doesn’t give much.The reason for it might become clearer when we start to fix the bike.

Kev valiantly struggled to keep on our side of the road and avoid anything solid for a few seconds to minimise damage but then it was all over red rover, he got carted off to hospital by ambulance but has now been given the all clear. He has some nasty scrapes on his shoulder and elbows and bad bruising down his back and left side, he however was the luckier one.
I had a ride to hospital in a helicopter and have a broken collar bone, two cracked ribs and three fractures to my pelvis, this is the worst part as it means I am non weight bearing for a few months. So bed for now followed by wheelchair, then rehab.
There was a suspected neck injury at first and I had to wear a brace for three days but x ray results showed it was older damage from when I was 20 something. Phew !

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It has been a blow as apart from the obvious physical pain etc we were all booked to ship the bike to south america whilst we explored South East Asia. This probably isn’t going to happen now (although you never know) so we will have to rearrange the bike shipment and extend our Australian visa’s while we recover and repair, still the silver lining is we may catch up on the blogs as I recover and if we can delay shipping winter will be over in South America.

The bike is a mess but it should be repairable (hopefully), especially gutting as apart from a mystery gearbox noise I was going to fix at Martin’s she was in good shape.

Bike and helmet carnage pics.

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Our beloved Canon camera didn’t escape either.

When we recovered the bike the back wheel would not turn even in neutral or with the clutch in and there was a massive flatspot worn right through the bottom of the tyre so maybe something locked the back wheel ? We will see.

Our protective gear did it’s job but is now trashed, my crash helmet has a large split and Kevs has a big area ground flat and a crack. Strangely both of us could have sworn we didn’t hit our heads or black out but clearly we did. Both of us don’t remember anything until the ambo’s got there. They cut my NEDS off me, without them I dread to think what my legs would have been like. In fact neither of us has a mark on our legs. Both our jackets are scrap, my elbow suffered a deep graze despite armour, I guess my sleeve must have ridden up as I hit the deck. Kev has removed a big piece of skin from his left shoulder but it must have just been friction against the inside of his jacket as it’s clean and his jacket isn’t torn there.

Reasons to be grateful:

At least we are both going to be alright.

The bike should hopefully be repairable.

No one else was injured or involved.

We did it in the right place, i.e where there is very good reciprocal medical care, they speak the same language (just) and where we had already made many friends

The fractures are clean and everything lines up and is where it should be.

A big thank you to all of the Victoria Guzzi Club who have been brilliant but especially Neil and family for looking after Kev. Thanks also for the many offers of help with fixing up the bike. It will be a few days before Kev is mobile enough to think about this but he appreciates your kindness and assistance.

Thanks to Martin and Pete for finding us a replacement back wheel (ours is now a really funny shape)

Hapilly Karen is in good spirits and not in much pain.

She is probably being moved out of the trauma ward today and on a rehabilitation hospital so good progress in only a few days.

Pics of some of the visitors and Karen in Hospital.

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The rear (sticky) side of Kevs ECG stick on pads. OWCH !!!!  It took 3 x eyes closed , count to three pulls to get the worst one off. Yes that is my chest hair !

Kevs skinned shoulder, more of Karen’s bruised shoulder and the bruises on Kev’s back starting to come out more owch !

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Paul and Kier giving Karen their un divided attention. You can tell the latest Vic Guzzi club mag is out.

Kerry and Paul from Tasmania even came in to carry on the abuse.

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Seriously though, thank you everyone for coming and keeping Karens spirits high.

We loved seeing all of you.

We will be carrying on our trip to South America but first we need to rest, repair and recuperate ourselves and the bike.

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Tasmania was a days ferry crossing from the Australian mainland (well 10 hours anyway) and the change in latitude meant the island was much greener, cooler and generally wetter than most of the rest of Australia. It’s situated at roughly 42 degrees latitude right on the edge of the notorious roaring 40′s which means if you don’t like the weather in Tasmania wait 10 minutes and you will get something different. It was absolutely beautiful and there was so much to see and do.

A while ago some Guzzi riding friends of ours in England called Dave and Pam mentioned they had friends in Tasmania. They put us in touch and it seemed the planets might align for us to meet up with Phil and Karen. Phil is an engineer on a ship and was due home soon. The trouble was he was also off to Lake Gardiner on the mainland to run his Guzzi Daytona in the up coming speed trials so we had a window of only a few days when they would be around because of this we planned a little circuit of the North West corner of Tassie. The plan was to ride through Waratah to Corrinna and then ride back up the western explorer gravel road. As it turned out the weather had other ideas and by the time we had got down to Waratah the rain had set in.

Waratah was a picturesque and interesting town and we spent a couple of hours wandering around. It is steeped in history as it was the birthplace of the Tasmanian mining industry. James ‘philosopher’ Smith discovered Tin at the nearby Mount Bischoff and in its heyday it was the worlds greatest tin mine.

The hut in the picture below is a replica of Philosophers hut from that time. Also in town was a working stamper mill (the blue thing in the pics), this machine pounded the tin ore and was the first stage of seperation from the waste rock. This ‘small’ stamper was the last of its breed and was operated by the late Dudley Kenworthy the last man to run a mining enterprise on the mountain in the 1980′s. It was moved here together with its shed to show some of the regions mining past. The original stamper battery was run 24hrs a day by seven huge waterwheels next to Waratah falls right in the middle of town, the noise must have been deafening. The only time the town was quiet was Sundays when it didn’t run.

The weather was still coming from Corrinna direction and wasn’t getting any better so we found a free camp just out of town for the night. Waratah is infamous for having its own  wet microclimate. 

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On the return journey we rode along some great twisty roads past a dam and King Solomans cave where we had lunch. The sun came back out again and the day brightened right up. Next stop was Paradise where we had to stop for a picture.

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 Eventually we popped back out into civilisation and had a look around Sheffield and Latrobe both of which had some interesting old buildings.  In Sheffield there was a fascinating second hand shop called the Emporium. We got chatting to the owners and  I happened to notice they were selling postcards of some of the wacky vehicles that had been parked outside their shop over the years.  We were parked up the road but I said “we have a motorbike you might be interested in I’ll bring it down”  Their eyes nearly popped out of their heads when it appeared on their forecourt. The instant he saw it Mark the owner said “would you like to bring it to steamfest this weekend to display, we will let you in for free” We happily agreed and after taking some pictures we arranged to come back for the long weekend to do Steamfest Sheffield is also a mural town. Here are some pictures of all the above.

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Phil and Karen very kindly put us up for the night despite the fact they were moving house and were surrounded by boxes. We went out to dinner that night and the next day Phil took us out to where they are moving to, a wooded block of land just a few km’s out of town. We also put our tent up in their garden to dry it out from the previous night’s rain sadly a tom cat decided to sharpen its claws on the side in the night and by morning we noticed a large rip in the side about 12cms long. Grrrrr!!!!

Phil and Karen’s block of land was in a lovely spot and Phil spent quite a while showing us around what was quite obviously his little bit of heaven. He has built a workshop with an apartment alongside and plans to build a house on the block when he can. He has lots of projects dotted about the place and while I admire his ambition I can’t help but think he will need two lifetimes to finish them all. Good on him though!

We rode the bikes through some of the woodland tracks around the block and he showed us the Tasmanian freshwater lobsters in the creek (pic below), they are huge. They are protected here and he feeds and keeps an eye out for them.

Just as we were about to leave I spotted what looked like the top of a huge engine valve sticking out of the grass, it was from ship explained Phil. They come even bigger than this apparently, he bought it home after it burnt out intending to make it into a piece of furniture someday. Phil rode with us for an hour or so before peeling off, there are a few pictures of our ride out as well because Karen jumped on the back of his T3 for a change.

Phil is heavily into tuning both 2 strokes and 4 strokes amongst many other things and is really interesting to talk to, I Iearnt a lot from him in the short time we had there and wish it could have been longer.

Here are some pics.

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We looked at a weather forecast as we left and it looked like the West Coast was fine so we headed down that way. It is one of the most beautiful parts of Tassie but as the weather generally comes in from the west it tends to be the wettest part too (very similar to New Zealand). We were blessed with some great weather that day and the views were spectacular, this is looking back over cradle mountain, you can just see some of the road we had just ridden down. We had to stop riding in Tassie around 5pm as there were lots of small roo’s around and lots of roadkill to remind you too. We had dawdled a bit and the day was getting on so when a little used gravel road appeared we rode down it to see if we could free camp down there. It was a good spot but a cold night, we were well into autumn and the tipi was soaked with dew when we woke up. You can see the steam rising off it in the photo. It took a while for the sun to get over the treeline in the morning but eventually it made it and we were glad to see and feel it warm our bones and dry out our gear.

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The next morning we carried on through some more great roads to Strahan (pronounced Strawn)

This was an important port for the west coast mining and logging industries as there were very few roads on the west coast for them to get their product out. Even to this day there are vast areas of forest with virtually no vehicle access and strahan is still the gateway to the south west wilderness and the base for the seaplanes, helicopters and boats that go there.

It is also the centre of the Tasmanian Huon pine industry which was based around the Gordon, King and Franklin rivers as Huon pine generally only grows on silty riverbanks. It is really close grained slow growing timber which is excellent for turning, carving etc and such is it’s popularity that it is getting scarce and expensive. We wandered around a wood workshop and showroom that both smelled soooo good. Also there was the tiny set of  “The ship that never was” Australia’s longest running play about the” Frederick” the last convict built ship which was due to sail to the new Port Arthur prison from Sarah Island penal colony but the convict shiprights had other ideas. Sarah Island was the site of the Macquarie Harbour Penal Settlement from 1822-33. Its reputation was one of the bloodiest and most brutal penal institutions in the colony. Up to 380 men were confined on Sarah Island to harvest Huon pine.and build ships from it. 

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We continued a 100year tradition by having lunch in the peoples park then rode on to Queenstown which was and still is a mining town. The landscape was stark but amazing, the reason for the lack of vegetation is a combination of tree removal for use in the smelters, the smelter fumes (for about 40 years), and the heavy annual rainfall. The erosion of the shallow topsoil back to the harder rock profile has contributed to the stark state of the mountains. We were fore warned about this but we found it a quite fascinating landscape. It was an amazing ride up from Queenstown and again the weather was kind to us.The road is switchback after switchback and is called the Lyell highway after Mount Lyell the mountain peak where copper was found in the late 19th century and the site of the Mount Lyell copper mine which is the sole reason for the existence of Queenstown.

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The three hills in the picture below are the King William Range and the sign there reminds you that you are on the edge of one of the worlds last temperate wildernesses covering 1.38 million hectares and protected by world heritage status. The last couple of pictures are where we free camped for the night and the nice leech that crawled up my boot and made a meal of my shin. I felt an itch and pulled up my trouser leg to find him chowing down on my leg, a dose of salt showed him the error of his ways and he dropped off. For some reason there were quite a few of them around our camp that night which gave Karen the creeps, she found some in the tent too which had come in on the bottom of our drybags. We had to evict them before we went to sleep, you don’t want one of those crawling across your face during the night.

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 Next morning we headed back to Sheffield and Steamfest via a lovely road that ran beside the great lakes. On the way we visited the beautiful Liffey falls, it was a fairly bouncy 6km dirt road in but was well worth the effort. Liffey Falls State Reserve is nestled within a rainforest on the slopes of the Great Western Tiers. The state park surrounding the falls are a great example of Tasmania’s cool temperate rainforests where myrtle, sassafrass and leatherwood co exist with tree ferns and huge eucalypyts. On the banks of the waterfall were fossil impressions in the rock and we saw brown trout swimming in the clear river (look closely at the picture of the river and see if you can spot one)

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Next up : Steamfest.

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We followed Martin and made a mad dash into the city for the Moto Guzzi club of Victoria’s social meet visiting Martin and Natalie’s friend John on the way, who despite having cancer came out of his house to view the apparition that had appeared on his front lawn on his 80^th birthday. Many members of his family were there and thought he would like to see our bike as he is a lifelong motorcyclist.

From here we were up against the clock to get to the pub before 8.30pm and last food orders, rounding the corner it seemed the entire pub forecourt was awash with Guzzis and people. Keir was ready to guide us to place of honour in the middle. Kev fielded the inevitable onslaught of questions whilst I zoomed in to order some food. We were absolutely bowled over by the generosity and made to feel so welcome by the Victoria Guzzi fraternity not only did they pay for our meal and drinks but at barely a weeks notice they had organised a raffle in our honour. Neil used to be an auctioneer and by popular vote put his skills to test by the auction of a genuine Guzzi branded carrier bag and raised a hugely impressive $20 if I remember correctly. The total they raised for us was just shy of $200 thank you so much everyone. We were also gifted a T shirt and caps each, perfect timing as we doubt we will ever see our original Barmah hats again. They also bought our last three picture books which we signed. If any of you Australian Guzzi riders are visiting Melbourne make sure you look these guys up they are a super friendly bunch http://www.motoguzziclubvic.asn.au/

The group photo is very blurry as it was dark and raining but you get the idea.

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We stayed with Keir that night and next day set about working out our plans for the next leg of our journey. We also got a chance in between rain showers to photo his Flying Flea a great little Royal Enfield which I think he is selling if anyone is interested. Keir tried the Guzzi out for size whilst I modelled his period helmet, sadly the Sump Plug Shiraz was already drunk. It looked as though the wetter weather was set for a week or two around the neighbouring areas so we turned our attention to Tasmania it was looking a much better option and after inquiring into the ferries we booked it for the Sunday crossing which meant we had a few days to go. The Guzzi club came to the rescue again and Reg one of the members offered to put us up. We discovered Australia is not such a large country as we had already met Reg on our journey, we were staying at a free camp near mount Isa and he was just finishing his trip with some friends when he saw us and filmed us.

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We took a trip to the city centre with Reg and Jennie and visited the oldest pub in Melbourne Young and Jackson established in 1861. Stopping for a pint looking out over the the clocks of Flinders station. It was very luxurious upstairs and even had a chaise long. Around the corner was Pellegrini’s a lovely Italian pasta bar which has been run by an Italian family for many years, here we got to sample some good Italian pasta in old fashioned surroundings looking out on our bike which was legally parked up on the pavement outside. Bike parking on the pavement is one of the great things about Melbourne it should be legal in every city…..

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We left the bikes and went on the free city tram down to docklands and back to see the sights. If anyone has any idea what the strange object is we passed please let us know. Here are some pictures of the city.

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Reg took us back through the old parts of town and we saw an interesting mix of old and new. The overhead tram lines are very evident throughout the city, trams are part of Melbournes character. They make riding interesting with different road rules and tracks to contend with.

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We caught up with Tim (Theo’s son) in Melbourne who received a parcel from England a while back and had been looking after it for us. The ornamental motorcycle is in fact separate porcelain pieces that were full of drink (some spirit) collected over time.

Back at Reg’s it was time to get ready to catch the ferry to Tasmania.

We arrived at the ferry port early morning without drama and made our way to the front. The customs guys are very strict on what can and can’t get into Tasmania and it seems our horns are a step too far they asked us to remove them. What a shame they completed the Mad Max look.

As we were on a day sailing we got to see the Melbourne city fade away as we left Port Phillip heads. We also passed the sister ship of the Spirit of Tamania half way on the 10 hour crossing.

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Our time on the ferry was spent catching up with photos and blogs as we had a large back log, we worked tirelessly but were still behind when we arrived in Devonport at 6.45pm with just enough time to find a campsite before dark. Tomorrow we have a new island to explore.

Next up – Exploring Tasmania.

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We packed up and said goodbye to our beautiful camp spot, it was an early start  as unusually for us we had some big miles to cover to reach Bright and the “Adventure Travel Film Festival” by nightfall. It reminded us why we don’t travel like this very often, we spent the whole day seeing interesting looking places that we wanted to stop and look at but couldn’t or we wouldn’t make the distance in time.

The countryside in Victoria is markedly different to South Australia and the further we rode across the greener it got. The trees were much more prolific and bigger too but there was a notable drop in temperature although it was still a beautiful day.

We fuelled up at Myrtleford and as often happens got talking to quite a few people in the service station (or servo if you are Australian) We got a nice surprise when Karen walked in to pay, the attendant said “are you on the Guzzi that’s going around the world” yes she replied “it’s already paid for” he said. Some kind soul treated us to a tank of fuel and we never did find out who it was. Thank you if you are reading this, it made our day !

Our next stop was Bright itself, a very alpine looking town and a ski resort in winter. Spotting a supermarket we swung in to top up our supplies for the weekend. When we were packing it all away on the bike I suddenly realised our leather cowboy hats were not in their usual position in the cargo net on the front box. They have lived there all the way around Australia with no problem but someone had taken them whilst we have been in the shop. We were gutted, they have come halfway around the planet with us and are like old friends we mourned the loss.

We rode to what we had been told is the cheapest camp site in town but at $36 a night it’s the most expensive camp site we have stayed in since Ayers rock. Bright is touristy and touristy inevitably means expensive. We cannot camp out of town as our bike is to be on display at the festival.
The morning brings more annoying thievery, we put our perishable food in the fridge in the camp kitchen and it seem someone has been helping themselves to the contents during the night. We had treated ourselves to bacon and eggs for breakfast for the first time in months and that’s gone together with a brand new block of cheese and a loaf of bread. Someone else had a bottle of champagne stolen so it wasn’t just us.
The next night other stuff goes missing and it seems the local kids think it’s alright to come into the camp ground and help themselves. It’s a shame because we have never had any problem with security or theft right around Australia and it really spoilt our impression of what otherwise would be a nice town.

But on to happier things, the film festival was organised by Austin Vince and Louis Pryce to showcase adventure travel films around the world. It was running in the UK, USA and Australia this year and fortunately we heard about it in time to attend. Although we offered we were too late to do a presentation but Rupert the Australian organiser kindly let us attend for free in return for putting the bike on display at the event (good on yer Rupert !).

It was while we were parking it up on the grass out the front that we finally got to meet Martin the original “Mr Guzzioverland.” In the late 1980′s Martin ran a shop in London UK called Guzzioverland servicing and modifying Moto Guzzis. The business is no longer in existence and the name described perfectly what we are doing which is why I pilfered the name for our journey. Here is a picture of the Guzzioverland shop in the 1980′s.

Martin is riding “Mr Completely” the Guzzi special that he built and rode out to Australia, in the 80′s, it has also been through Africa and many other countries and he estimates has travelled close to a million kilometres in its life. It’s great to meet him at last, we arrange to drop into his place below Melbourne on the way back from the festival. Martin and I are like chalk and cheese in our travelling styles (he has two tiny throw over panniers and that’s it !) but we get on and have a mutual respect for each other.
Martin has just come for the day to support the festival and we have a busy itinerary planned so we say bye for now and head for the marquee to watch a presentation by Austin Vince entitled “How to film your adventure”

Here is a picture of “Mr Completely”, the marquee at Bright and some of the other stands that were there.

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We have been filming as much as possible along our journey although it’s tricky when both of you are on one bike and there is no cameraman to capture what you are doing. We could have made a brilliant documentary given professional resources or dedicated our time to filming it but would the journey have been as good or as enjoyable? I doubt it ! Video cameras are delicate and expensive and we have broken camcorders and on bike cameras. Heat, cold ,humidity, water, dust and vibration are all enemies of electronics and we have experienced plenty of all of these. We splashed out on a replacement on bike camera in the January sales this year to ensure we had some footage.

Austin’s presentation opened our eyes to some of the mistakes we have been making and we definitely learnt something from it. The rest of our day was spent watching other peoples travel films in the nearby cinema including the fabulous “Four strokes of luck”

Here is us with Roly Stokes the cameraman/producer of “Four strokes of luck”

It tells the story of three overland travellers who purchased an abandoned boat in Turbo, Columbia, fixed it up and modified it so it was powered by their motorcycles and set sail from Columbia to Panama around the Darien gap. It was a great film and as Austin himself said it knocks spots of any commercial “travel adventure” programmes but it’s unlikely it will ever see the light of day on television.

After dinner we wandered down to the open air screen in the park where the organisers were screening the 1956 film “First overland” about two Oxford and Cambridge teams who drove from London to Singapore in new land rovers. It wasn’t the first overland in my book, Robert Fulton Junior’s motorcycle journey pre-dates it as do others but it was a fascinating snapshot of that time and a superb piece of film making. So much has changed politically since their journey, they travelled through Burma and Afghanistan which would be impossible now, although things are definitely changing hopefully for the better in Burma (now Myanmar).

Here is a shot of the open air night screening and the excellent Bright brewery. We could not afford to sample much but what we did try was very good. They laid on some music one afternoon as well.

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The next day was my birthday. Karen surprised me with a gift that Pete and Trish from Adelaide had given her to look after until my birthday. It’s a 1971 (the year I was born) 20 cent piece with a platypus on one side attached to a necklace. It’s a really thoughtful gift and I love it !

Later we attended an interesting talk by Tim Cope about his trips through Mongolia and Russia by bicycle and horse and we also watched a really funny film about the Mongol Rally amongst others. We had met with some of the last years competitors as we travelled through Mongolia. Here is a picture of Tim Cope’s surprise guest a Mongolian Traditional dancer who was very good.

Friday and Saturday were both glorious days but Sunday bought rain, we missed our hats even more although we dodged most of the heavy down pours by watching the films and presentations. Monday morning it was heavier still and forecast to last all week so there was little point in staying to explore around Bright. We had a great weekend and it was well worth the detour. Here is a picture of us with Austin and Louis taken after the final film presentation.

We followed Martins recommended route which was an absolute cracker despite torrential rain most of the way. We took the mountain route through Whitfield and Mansfield around the lakes at Alexandra and through the super bendy thickly forested black spur route to Healesville where a guy on the side of the road was standing in the rain waving his arms around like a maniac. We figured we had better stop and it turns out his name is Bernd and he runs Stein Dinse the Australian arm of a big Guzzi parts distributor in Germany. He heard from Martin we were coming and wanted a look at the bike. Here is us hiding from the rain in a bus stop having lunch, the bike sat out in the rain and some pictures of the Black Spur and one of Bernd.

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From here we headed through Yarra Junction, Gembrook and then Koo-wee-rup (I am not making this up) skirting down the side of Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula where Martin lives. We got in about 7.30pm and were fed Guinness, lamb, potatoes and red wine in that order, yum !

Martin talks and thinks really fast and you almost need to video him and then play it back at normal speed to keep up. He is really switched on with setting bikes up and has already been thinking about some of the things we are going to have to do with carburation and timing for Altitude in South America. He helped me with some maintenance jobs next day and we bounce ideas around about carburation and try some things out. He suggested looking into an AFR meter which have recently come down to an affordable price and reduced in size. AFR stands for air fuel ratio and gives a readout from an lambda sensor placed in the exhaust, this tells you is whether the bike is running rich or lean or just right which would make jetting in South America with its ever changing altitude much easier and could save some engine damage. The theory is the higher you go the thinner the air is and the less fuel you need so you lean off the mixture as you go up, the dangerous part is when you come down as you need to richen up again or the bike will be running really lean which can burn holes in pistons. All this meter does is tell you what’s going on in the combustion chamber and unlike fuel injection if it goes wrong it isn’t going to stop the bike. It works with lots of different fuel types too as we are going to have to cope with ethanol enhanced petrol or should that be un-enhanced fuel in South America. It’s definitely on my wish list but I need to do some more research.

Martin now makes his living making motorcycle clothing check out http://www.jacksonracing.com.au/ Most of his gear is made from Kangaroo leather which is really light and supple, he makes some clever ventilated leathers and takes the time to help people get clothing that really fits them.

We had a great time at Martins and vowed to catch up again, before we knew what hit us it was time to head into Melbourne and meet up with the Moto Guzzi club of Victoria on their social night.

Next up – Meeting the Moto Guzzi Club of Victoria

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We leave Adelaide via a really lovely twisty mountain route partly by luck but also because any route out south or east criss crosses the Adelaide hills, on the way we visit Strathalbyn and a Moto Guzzi dealer called simply “The Garage”. Mary Lou is the proprietor and several people have said we should drop in on our way by.

Strathalbyn is pretty and after a look around town we find the garage easily. Our bike causes the usual stir and we have a chat to Mary Lou and some of her customers before we head on.

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We cross the Murray river at Wellington, the chain ferry here is classed as part of the highways and is toll free. From here we go to Menigie which once was a staging post on the route to Melbourne, in the early days they had to catch a steamer across the lake. We have lunch overlooking Lake Albert.

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We are still hugging the coast all the way and pass an old oil rig tower in the middle of nowhere, stopping for a look we discover it marks the site of a boom and bust search for oil in Southern Australia. During the 1850′s in the Coorong area a black rubbery, bitumen-like substance Coorongite appeared in swampy land after the winter floods had dried. This led in 1866 to the first hole to be drilled in Australia in search of oil. Although small amounts of oil were extracted from this rubber like substance the wells were unsuccessful and the Salt Creek Petroleum Company went bankrupt in 1888. By the late 1920′s it had been established that Coorongite was actually a dried residue of an algae.

Passing a few interesting signs Kev almost gets eaten by a giant lobster but we make it to Robe unscathed and ride past the old customs house, we know there’s a parks camp nearby but the signs for the track inform us it is 4wd, we try anyway. It is really sandy withlots of tree roots so Kev attempts it alone, I walk in and we are rewarded with a lovely camp all to ourselves. There is a distinctive nip to the air tonight possibly because we are lower down the country and heading into Autumn.

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Kev said it was an interesting ride in so opts to ride out solo again, I think he thinks I’m getting lardy and needed the exercise…..20mins later I am reunited with bike and husband both in fine fettle Kev has just finished pumping the tyres back up for the road and we head off for Beachport. We stop at Woakwine cutting for a look,  the famer Mr M B McCourt and his friend used a D7 tractor to drain a 420 hectare peat swamp on his property via this channel. The project began in May 1957 it took three years to complete and is 1km long. It is an amazing example of engineering accomplished by just two men and a caterpillar tractor.

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Bowman scenic drive is just that we pause so many times for photos we almost need to do the ride again to enjoy the bends. On the way we spot something called Sloam pool, it’s a salt lake that is reputedly seven times more salty than the sea. It looks about as inviting as it sounds but we brave it anyway. I video Kev going in first then join him , it feels really weird I’m standing up straight my feet don’t touch the bottom and I am floating with my head out of the water. Kev is treading water out of habit and laughs when he realises we can just stand upright without drowning. We lie on our backs and wave our hands and feet in the air for photos. There is a diving platform a little way out and Kev swims out to it, you cannot drown but it’s hard to swim when your feet won’t sink underwater. After we have finished messing about we get out for a welcome freshwater shower. Having built up an appetite for lunch we make tracks for Mt Gambier and the so called blue lake.

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It’s sooo blue you can’t get a more intense blue than this. The Blue Lake is the drinking water for the city situated in one of three extinct volcanic craters, the crystal clear water has filtered underground through the limestone. During December to March, the lake turns to a vibrant cobalt blue colour, returning to a colder steel grey colour for April to November. With an average depth of 70 metres, the lake contains 36,000 million litres (ML).

It’s a lovely lunch spot overlooking the lake.

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Back in town we check out the cave gardens in a sink hole right in the centre of town it is planted out beautifully and the fence around the top depicts the various trades and history of the town. We also check out the towns new library, this has won many  awards and the children’s library features a cave. The frog is a self issuing unit and very popular with the kids.Karen worked in a library at home hence her interest.

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Just on the outskirts is another sink hole called Umpherston and it seems we have saved the best till last. It belonged to the Umpherston family who established the garden in 1884 and opened it to the public for free. The original garden even had a lake at the bottom and did boat trips. After James death in 1900 the garden fell into disrepair and a saw mill was built next door, by 1976 it was nothing more than rubbish dump. In the early 1990′s some civic minded volunteers began restoring it to it’s former glory, by 1994 it had been restored and was open to the public once again.

Descending into the garden via a ramp and enclosed steps we are rewarded by glimpses of the view looking across the terraces to a waterfall of vines hanging down the walls. It also gives some pleasant respite from the hot afternoon sun and is a popular spot with the locals for picnics.

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Our stop for the night is over the border in Victoria, Dartmoor is a sleepy little town with a free camp by the river and is an idyllic spot. On the ride though town we see some amazing tree sculptures so once the tent is set up we ride back to the main street for a better look. They were old trees that needed to come down but the stumps were left and a chainsaw sculptor was bought in to work his magic. The carvings are magnificent, one tree depicts nursery rhymes tree and we spend about 20 minutes working out what was what. See how many you can spot. The other sculptures are animals and a row of memorials to local people involved in The Great War.

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Tonight we get some good news, there is an Adventure Travel Film Festival at Bright this weekend. We have been in email contact for a few days asking if we could do a presentation in return for free entry. It turns out there are no more spaces for any presentations but they would like to have our bike on display. We have to be in Bright over 700km away by tomorrow night. This is not a problem but we will have to backtrack later to ensure we fill in the gaps. Its too good an opportunity to miss though.

Next up: – The Adventure Travel Film Festival.

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We decide to go out and explore some more of the sights on the bike next day, our first stop is the whispering wall a concave dam that acts as a perfect sound reflector (parabola). I walk over the top of the dam and have a conversation with Karen on the other side which is perfectly audible without raising our voices above normal speaking pitch even though she is 140 metres away. It is like having a telephone conversation on a really clear line. After our turn is up the children behind us sing happy birthday to their Grandpa who is on the other side of the dam.

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We carry on exploring the Adelaide hills which are great biking roads. The names of some of them are legendary amongst bikers in this area. We ride the chain of ponds road, the corkscrew, the gorge road and the Barossa loop. Along the way we spot a rocking horse on steroids that demands a picture, it is the centrepiece of a toy factory.

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After lunch we pass through Birdwood which is famous for its motorcycle museum which unfortunately we do not have time to stop at today so it’s on to Handorf named after Captain D.M Hahn one of the co founders of this traditionally german settlement. Hahndorf has kept (and plays on) its german heritage and is an interesting town to explore. A lot of it is for the benefit of tourism but it’s done well and the place has character.

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Adelaide is also the home of my godfather whom I haven’t seen for 38 years. My mum wrote him a letter some time ago to let him know I might be paying a visit. She had an address as they had sent cards and things over the years but no phone number. I managed to find Mikes phone number using an online phone directory and gave him a call to see if it would be okay to come and say hello. We had an chat on the phone and arranged for lunch at his place on Sunday. Mike and his partner Betty are really lovely people and it was great to see Mike after so long. We had a great afternoon of easy conversation and Mike had another surprise for us as his son and daughter arrived to say g’day. Mike was a mate of my dads way back (my father died when I was 18 ) so it was great to hear some interesting stories of their mad motorcycle trips to the Isle of Man TT races. Here are some pictures of the afternoon including one of me and my sister taken just before Mike left for Australia (gonna get some stick for that one).

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Sandy also very kindly took us into the city one evening for a night-time tour. Adelaide is known as the city of Churches and is beautiful at night.

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Trish organised a reporter to come round from their local newspaper the Bunyip. Two young girls show up and obviously haven’t a clue about bikes so we explain what everything does and where we have been.They seem to make a pretty good job of it but we left before the article came out.

Our last appointment was at Sandy’s daughters Kindy school for a show and tell about our trip. It is a good geography lesson for the kids and everyone including the teachers seem to enjoy it. The kids all have their pictures taken sitting on the bike and we get a great group shot at the end. The first picture is Sandy and Katie trying out the bike.

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We head out of town through the Adelaide hills but there is one more stop to make on the way at Morphet Vale to visit Stu and Tom the guys we met in the Flinders Ranges. We arrive at Stu’s place by late afternoon and Tom comes over to join us we have a great time chatting about Asia and some of the places we have been. We hopefully give them some useful info as they plan to ride from Holland to Australia for charity see www.chariotsforcharity.com for more info.

We have a barbecue and salad for tea and Stu treats us to some delicious 10 year old port, a friend of his bought a 300 litre oak barrel of it from a bankrupt winery and boy was it good. He said his friend also had a 15 year old barrel as well but he wouldn’t part with any of that so that was obviously really, really good. We had a fun evening eating, drinking and talking till gone midnight, they are good company.

The Endeavour has now caught us up and sailed into Adelaide harbour so our time in Adelaide really has to come to an end, a big thank you to all we met for making it really special.

Next up – Mount Gambier

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We are in South Australia now and you can’t get more South Australian than frog cakes so we are told. Sandy (Trish’s daughter) brings some over one afternoon “cause you can’t come to South Australia and not try frog cakes ” They are very nice not a hint of frog about them.

Sandy offers to take us out to the Barossa valley for a wine tour. We have been through several of Australia’s great wine regions but motorcycle touring and wine tasting don’t really go hand in hand. Sandy acts not only as our guide but also our chauffeur so we are able to sample some vino properly.

First stop is Bethany winery a small family run outfit where we are taken on a journey from whites through to reds and finally the piece de resistance (and Sandy’s reason for bringing us here) a delicious white port. (Yes we do buy a bottle it was that good).

Next stop is the Grant Burge vineyard, it is in a beautiful building amongst immaculately landscaped grounds. The friendly ladies (pictured) take us through their portfolio including some delicious robust Barossa Reds that are so fruity its a wonder they are not lumpy. On the other end of the scale is a light summer slightly fizzy easy drinking Moscato.

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At this point you might be thinking we are hanging on to the bar but you only try a tiny sip of each variety so we are still compus mentis (hic). After our tasting we explore the sculpted gardens and take some pictures before having a look at the more contemporary Jacobs Creek winery next door (the stainless steel modern looking building).

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We all agree the older winery’s have much more character so Sandy takes us back via one of the the oldest in the region Seppeltsfield. This place just oozes history, it still has its own Cooper to make barrels and the whole production process is housed within the original buildings pictured. The greek looking building fringed by palms is the Seppertfield mausoleum situated so it overlooks the vineyard and the road lined with palms was a philanthropic project by the owners to avoid laying off staff during the great depression.

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Sandy arrives again next day with a surprise for us, it just so happens that she is friends with one of Australia’s youngest female helicopter pilots and she has managed to arrange a flight for all of us over the valley. It is the best way to understand the topography that makers this valley so special and we are so grateful to have the chance to see it from the air. Bridget was Australia’s youngest female helicopter pilot until her younger sister pulled the rug from under her. They both fly for Barossa helicopters which is a family affair run by their mum and dad. Dad (or Goose) as he is known is an ex Vietnam chopper pilot which goes a long way to explain how the girls were both fully qualified while still in their teens. It is an awesome flight as we are able to fly fairly low over the vineyards whilst Bridget points out the features below. When we get down we bring the bike over for pictures and Goose and I get talking, it turns out he is having a chopper bike built in the United States and is keen to quiz me about the rules and regulations of exporting and carnets. We have a good chat and I am able to show him some information on the net that should hopefully help him when he brings the bike over to Australia. We saved the best photo of the bike and bird for last !

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We head back to Lyndoch for lunch at the local bakery then we visit Chateau Yaldara for a tasting on the way home. This turns out to be the grandest yet and leads to an amusing misunderstanding. Just as we are finishing a gentleman wanders over to look at the bike as many do. Sandy, Karen and I get chatting to him about the bike and our trip and he is very enthusiastic about our journey. During the course of the conversation he explains he is guiding some people around the chateau and he is waiting for them to come back, we all thought he was a bus driver or courier. It’s only when the conversation is drawing to a close that he says something which makes us realise that actually he owns the place. You never know who you are talking to sometimes, especially in laid back Australia !

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Next up – More of Adelaide

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Leaving the Flinders ranges behind us we head back out through Hawker and a lookout also called Castle rock (haven’t we been here before). This is much smaller than the one in the Porongurups. We also investigate an old bush cemetry and ruined buildings from some abandoned pioneer settlements.

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In Hawker we pause to view the Panorama, a local artist has done a 360deg painting of the Flinders ranges along with some other stunning works of art which unusually and refreshingly they allowed us to photograph. We did ask permission and they said that’s fine as it’s free advertising for them which of course it is. It is well worth a visit, the Panorama is the main draw but some of the other large scale canvases are equally impressive. A mere photo can not do them justice but we hope these give some impression of their splendour. The last shot is the whole thing stiched together, it will look very small and thin but zoom in or hit display as full screen for a look at the whole thing. It took 13 landscape shots to get it all in.

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Back on the road we reached Mt Remarkable and Alligator gorge by late afternoon, we had hoped to camp nearby but the local garage owner informs us we can’t, instead she points us to Hancock’s lookout and after approx 8km on dirt we arrive at a stunning vista overlooking the Spencer gulf with the town of Whyalla and the lighthouse at point lowly that we camped on 7th Feb. The great thing here is we get fantastic photos at both sunset and sunrise. See the locals know all the best spots. This was one of our favourite free camp spots, the view was just stunning ! but the spider that I disturbed may me jump.

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Retracing our steps we ride into Alligator gorge (shouldn’t that be crocodile …) a once stunning ride in marred by MASSIVE speed dips (huge half pipes buried in the road to slow you down) we nearly knocked ourselves out on the first one doing 30km/h so we learned to crawl over the rest. It was actually easier on the way out as it was a steep uphill climb.

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The fire rangers see us on the way in and come over for a chat while we change into our shorts and sandals, it’s high fire season now so only the 2hr canyon walk is open. As we walk down into the valley bottom the colours are magnificently lit by the morning sun. The steep sides shear up above us in brilliant oranges and ochres and the gum trees cling to the sides of the gorge in every crack and fissure.

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Back in the car park we have lunch before heading over Horrocks pass to the other side of the park where we intend to camp, pulling into the camp ground a couple of fire rangers come over for a look and we’re soon joined by the other rangers we met earlier in the morning at Alligator gorge. It turns out they patrol both sides and Russell recognises us from earlier, we get talking and one thing leads to another and he invites us back to stay at his farm just down the road. We gratefully accept and arrange to meet when he gets off work meanwhile we have time to walk Davey’s gully a pleasant 1hr stroll amongst the many Euro’s (another variety of Kangaroo) still resting in the shade, we also disturb a small goanna who rushes up the nearest tree allowing us to photo it.

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Russell lives nearby and we enjoy a pleasant evening with him and his wife Joy and their grandson Rani. We are treated to Whiting one of Russell’s favourite fishes and it is one of the nicest flavoured fishes we have tasted and blissfully bone free. Our talk soon turns to the topic of travelling as both Russell and Joy have travelled themselves. We enjoy their company immensely and it is hard to leave the next day but we have already made plans to catch up with someone else that we have delayed already. In the morning we pass Rani on the way out waiting for his school bus and wave enthusiastically as we realise the whole family has assembled to watch us pass by.

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We are soon travelling through many interesting towns and stop in Gladstone famous for having three gauges of railway tracks; narrow, standard and wide. We explore the area and get talking to a man who bought the old station and is currently renovating it. It lay derelict for years and he described how they literally just walked away when it closed not even bothering to shut the doors. There was a old weighbridge still connected to some of the different gauges of track. Incredibly different Australian states used three different gauges when they built their networks as there was no standardisation. New South Wales used European standard gauge,Victoria and South Australia opted for Broad gauge and Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia and parts of South Australia thought they would go with narrow gauge just to be different. A passenger travelling from Perth to Brisbane in 1917 had to change train six times solely due to the differences in gauge. Even more incredibly it wasn’t until 1995 that you could travel between Brisbane and Perth via Sydney Melbourne and Adelaide on a standard gauge track. Three different gauges still exist to this day but now at least the major cities are linked by one common gauge. Also in town was the old butter factory which had a fairly checkered history originally being built as a assembly hall later used as roller skating rink before being purchased in 1922 for a butter factory and was in use right up to 1965. After standing vacant it was sold privately in 1974 saving it from demolition. Sold again in 1987 it is now used by the community as a paper and cardboard recycling depot.

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We set off to visit the gaol which the signs say is open seven days a week, except it seems today when its shut ? especially frustrating as we left the bike in town and walked about a km in the heat of the day.

We console ourselves with a local ice cream made in the neighbouring town of Laura yummy.

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A local directed us to some old WWII fuel storage tanks now located within the municipal tip opposite what was the old drive in movie theatre so we ride out for a look. We chat to the gatekeeper of the tip who not only lets us wander around but gives us a few interesting stories about its history as-well. Apparently theses were built during the war as emergency reserves of fuel and crude oil lest Australia had to make a tactical withdrawal and abandon the north to the Japanese.The holes have been cut in the sides to use them as storage originally they were filled by pipes from above and controlled from the command bunker.

That is how close it got at one point ! If it hadn’t been for the battle of midway destroying the Japanese supply chain they probably would have invaded and the tactical decision at the time was that the north was undefendable with the population they had and a tactical scorched earth style retreat was all they could do.

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Back on the highway we finally arrive at Gawler and are welcomed by Trish and her daughter Sandy who make us feel right at home. Trish is married to Peter (Jeff’s brother from Port Lincoln) whom we met when he got home from work. They kindly say we can use their place as a base to explore the surrounding area and make us very welcome.Left to right is Peter, Trish, Sandie and daughter Katie, Charmain, Andrew, Karen and in the pram little Josh.

Next up – Gawler, wine tours and helicopters woohoo !.

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Arriving at Wilpena Pound mid afternoon we set up the tent in the campground. We arrived early enough to do one of the bush walks into “the pound” itself. Wilpena is a natural amphitheatre of mountains with only one way in past the pinch point called sliding rock. The pound is 17km long, 8km wide across the valley floor which was formed 600 million years ago. Our walk went past sliding rock which is still the only way in and out up to the restored homestead and pound.

Here are some pictures the start of the walk, some of the gum trees and sliding rock itself.

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 In the 1870′s and 80′s the pound was used for running sheep but overstocking caused problems. The Hills family cleared the ground and used it to grow wheat in the early 1900′s hoping that the good soil and more regular rainfall would act as an insurance if their other crops failed. It worked to some degree but the topography of the pound meant it was extremely difficult to get the crop out to market in Hawker the nearest town. They had to build a log road from scratch to get bullocks and carts past sliding rock and a swamp and the journey took all day. At Christmas time in 1914 there was a massive storm and resulting flood which washed the road and years of hard work away and that was the end of farming at “the pound.”At the end of the walk was this restored homestead which was once home to the Hills family.

Nowadays it is a resort, campsite and tourist attraction, it is an impressive natural feature and there are many bushwalks to explore the area. As we were staying in the campsite we were allowed to use the resorts swimming pool so we made the most of it. It was quite funny watching the Roo’s and Wallabys around the pool munching on the grass while we swam, they are very good lawnmowers.

The Roo’s, Wallabies and Euro’s around here were very tame and quite cheeky, there were lots of signs asking people not to feed them but it was obvious that some people had as when we started cooking dinner they were hovering around hopefully. It gave us a chance to get some good pictures but we didn’t give them anything. They were also dozing under the bushes on the road in. They hide in the scrub to get out of the heat of the day and they become active at dusk which is why it’s dangerous to drive at night here. There were a lot of Emu’s around as well, they are a huge bird and have as little road sense as kangaroos, the problem with them is they are active during the day.

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Next morning we had another early start this was because we wanted to walk up Ohlssen Bagge a “mountain” ish at 923m and look down on the pound and surrounding views. We left 8am and enjoyed a fairly cool walk to the summit where we munched the last of the oaty biscuits Josie had made for us, they tasted even better after our climb. We spent about an hour enjoying the view and the wildlife before we headed down, the walk and views were awesome and it was well worth the climb.

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Next day we got off the bitumen and headed deeper into the park, we were rewarded with some spectacular scenery and great riding. While we stopped to take some pictures a couple of loaded up dirtbikes rode past, it didn’t take long however for curiousity to turn them around when they saw the bike.

Stewart and Tom were out practising for their up coming 10 week charity ride from Holland to Vladivostok, they are nice guys and we had a good chat and swapped details and promised to catch up when we got to their home town of Adelaide. Before they left we managed to get a photo together. Their website is www.chariotsforcharity.com if you are interested. Here is a picture of us all and some of the views.

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The rest of the day was spent exploring the park and Brachina gorge, the geology in there was incredible. Our route led us along millions of years of history and was formed when the whole region was at the bottom of a shallow inland sea. Our exploration along the river beds allowed us to view  some of the oldest exposed rocks on the planet which range in age from 500 to 800 million years old. There are some photo’s below but they don’t do the colours justice as the sun was high in the sky by then. We saw some rocks that were duck egg blue and some that were maroon the like of which we have never seen.The last picture is our campsite at Aroona.

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During our ride through the gorge we stopped for photo’s frequently, on one of those stops we met Denis Smith who was setting up for a night time shoot.

Denis’s project is called “ball of light”, he was in a high pressure sales job which almost burnt him out, now makes his living from photography which he says literally saved his life. He has a website www.balloflight.com which is worth a look.

It’s a really different way of looking at photography called “light painting”. We got all inspired and had a play with our torches a few days later but sadly our camera does not have a B setting (unlimited exposure) which is kinda important. As you will see we achieved something using a 15 second exposure but we are amateurs next to Denis, it’s something I would love to play around with some more in the future when time and equipment allow.

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We stayed at Aroona the next day too which gave us a chance to do some bush walking and explore the area some more. There was the remains of an old homestead from the 1800′s and another hut. The ranges in the picture framed the campsite, by walking up the the homestead remains we could get an unobstructed view of the hills as the sun went down and made them glow.

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There was also a great walk up to Red Hill which gave us a spectacular 360 deg view of the surrounding ranges with Wilpena in the far distance. The walk took us along a dry river bed which gave us the chance to look at more of the geology which makes this area so special. Karen is the small red dot in the river bed in the first picture and the ripples were formed by the water now forever etched into the rock. The last part made us puff but it was worth it for the amazing views.

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On the way back to the campsite there was a side track which went to a viewpoint famous for being one of the subjects of Australian artist Hans Heysen. Walking up to the viewpoint a huge shadow passed overhead, looking up we saw a wedge tailed eagle settle on top of a tree before swooping back over us. They are huge birds and are capable of taking down kangaroos and other similar sized animals.

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The next day we struck camp and starting heading down again toward Adelaide. We loved the Flinders Ranges and were glad we took the time to explore them.

Next up: Alligator gorge and Mt Remarkable.

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