Distance travelled: 913 kms
Cumulative distance: 7,506 kms
Sponsored by : John Osborne
Up at 5 am and on the road by 6 am. We went round in circles trying to get out of Port Hedland as they had closed the main road due to roadworks but hadn't put in a detour route. Luckily one of the guys was using Google Maps with "live" traffic updates on his bike so we followed him and found our way to the Great Northern Highway to Carnarvon. Our first refuelling stop was at the BP roadhouse at Roebourne. What a pleasant surprise, it was clean, efficient and the service was excellent, a complete change from the previous grotty roadhouses we have experienced. Even the fuel was reasonably priced. I headed on down the highway and took the turn off for Karratha and Dampier. They are both modern towns with manicured lawns and detached bungalows.
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| The working harbour at Dampier. |
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| The Karratha burbs |
I rode through both towns and then returned to the highway. After a while riding down the highway towards Fortescue River I came upon a ute with flashing lights and a sign saying wide load ahead. It certainly was a wide load as it covered 90% of the road. It was a huge piece of mining equipment. After a while trailing the ute the massive low loader carrying the equipment moved slightly to the left and the man in the ute waved me through to pass this monstrosity. I refuelled at Fortescue River roadhouse and quickly got on my way as I could see the massive wide load approaching. Next I stopped at the Nanutarra roadhouse for lunch with a few of the other riders and then headed for Minilya roadhouse. The weather was predicted to turn wet and nasty as there was a storm cell approaching the coast from the north-west. I hit a few spots of rain before I got to Minilya so I stopped and struggled into my wet weather gear. When I got to Minilya I refuelled for the 140 kms dash to Carnarvon. I was beginning to overheat with all the clobber on so I hit the road quick smart for Carnarvon. I could see the weather front in the distance so I put the hammer down to see if I could beat it to Carnarvon but to no avail. About 15 kms out the rain came pelting down along with the wind. I was having trouble seeing the road. Then a roadtrain came towards me and created such a huge spray that I couldn't see anything for a few seconds. I promised myself that if another roadtrain came I would pull over to the side of the road. I got a thorough soaking and was like a drowned rat when I booked in at the motel. All my wet weather gear is festooned all over my room hoping that it will be dry in the morning.
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| Wet weather gear hanging from my wardrobe door. |
