May 28, 2009

Yesterday’s PS:
Yesterday I sacrificed a perfectly good handkerchief for the cause which considering the collection of grease and oil stains on all of Norm's for obvious reasons I should have used one of his. We had filled the 5 litre jerry can at Camooweal as there was no fuel till Barkly Homestead and we didn't want to get stuck in case of head winds and any other unforeseen eventuality. We got in to Barkly Homestead on reserve so hadn't needed the can. Since fuel is available between 100 and 200 km or so we wanted to empty it. Norm was having trouble getting the spout out of the tin and grabbed a handy stick to hoist it up and you guessed it, it broke off and dropped in the can. Couldn't drop on the outside of course. So the handkerchief was the filter to make sure the stick didn't transfer from the can to the fuel tank. It didn't. It stayed in the can! Anyway the sacrifices have evened up today as you will see. We got a lot of strong and gusty wind yesterday both head and cross winds. My forehead was really sore by the time we got in from the force of the wind pressing it on to my forehead.

Today:
The day started off comfortably cool and cloudy and pleasant for riding with a few layers on. That soon changed and we were rid of all the layers we could be by the time we made it in and we were uncomfortably hot. Probably the most uncomfortable was when we were stopped at some road works traffic lights north of Katherine. I was at the point of just pulling over onto the verge and stripping off the helmet gloves and jacket and lying down when they finally changed. Boy did the airflow over the sweaty skin feel good when we got going.

Our first diversion was to the Daly Waters airfield which was used heavily in WW II. It has the oldest hangar in the NT built in 1930 and heritage listed and was tidied up in1992 by a group of Duke of Edinburgh volunteers. Thankfully the display in the hangar traced the whole history, not just the WW II side of things. The airfield was the first international airfield in Australia being the staging point for the Qantas Empire Airlines flights to Singapore. The Daly Waters hotel was built on the original post office and store to cater for passengers if held over and I'd say nothing much has changed since then. We actually went on our first (probably only) ride along an airfield runway here which was pretty awesome having seen some of the pictures of the war planes on the tarmac.



Daly River airfield hangar with (you guessed it) a couple of good looking bikes.

We think the old highway went through Daly Waters because we saw the Stuart tree on our Working Holiday trip and that's off the current highway. A lot of the highway has changed both in route and surface. The surface has been a huge improvement but the route is not as interesting though there are better signs to tourist attractions now. The only signs there used to be were the various cairns and monuments to the explorers and the Overland Telegraph but there are lots of signs and commentary provided now for WW II sites and others which is good.

Soon after the airfield I was noting the grass gradually changing from the fine plain grass and the lack of undergrowth and the light to moderate tree cover (gippsland standard) probably moderate to heavy (NT standard). Anyway there we were heading north when I saw something bounce along the road behind Norm's bike towards me then onto the side of the road. I barely had time to think that Norm did well to miss it when his LH indicator and stop lights came on and we were both pulling over and stopping quickly as I thought 'bugger clearly something off his bike'.

Norm's recollection was feeling something touch his leg and looking down wondering what it was and as he looked up saw the gaping hole where his fuel cap should have been! A couple of times I'd put it on after fuelling up it locked on but felt 'wrong' and I told Norm who pushed it down harder and it locked further. I'm grateful it wasn't me who had put it on this time. Anyway despite an exhaustive search and the loss of about an hour we didn't find it. The sacrifice comes in here. Norm sacrificed one of his soft polish cloths to wrap around a small stone to plug the gap then put it in a plastic bag so it wouldn't act as a wick. It is working well with an occasional bag replacement to cater for the friction of rough roads and a new one is ordered at Yamaha in Darwin which is supposed to be in by Tuesday. The bike is still running well so clearly not an airtight fit. Anyone we've asked along the way for generic caps looks at us. Blankly!

Our next diversion was a bite to eat at Larrimah. The first choice was the hotel (not the historic one off the highway) and it was an experience. It was a ramshackle sort of house with a sign which said it was a pub. There was a sign out front about all sorts of food apart from the cold beer so I walked in and straight in front of me was a bar with a sign on the front proudly claiming it is the 'Highest bar in NT' and has the longitude and latitude displayed which apparently proves it and who am I to disagree. The barman was a scary looking individual, in fact he reminded me of the toad in the Beatrix Potter stories. We said it was a shame about the servo being burnt to which he replied 'a'course it was no accident but at least they didn't get away with it' to which we replied that was a good thing. 'Gold mine that was run the right way, a'course they didn't. The bank owns it now but they'll never get their $400,000 back'. No doubt about it the locals tell you how it is and by the way the homemade pie was delicious.

The rest of the trip has been blessedly uneventful! The trees have gotten less dense and the grasses longer and tougher with an increasing number of palms as well as we travelled north of Katherine. A nice big bridge heading over the river out of Katherine now instead of road traffic sharing the railway bridge as it did in 72. We took a bit of a detour before coming into Adelaide River over some of the old highway and other roads. It was a slightly more interesting ride but we were hot and a bit over it by then.



A view of the War Cemetery at Adelaide River.

We booked into the Inn here then went to the war cemetery. We visited this on our way home from Darwin in 72 and the memorials were white wooden crosses then but have now been replaced with brass plaques. Beautifully maintained as then but I prefer the upstanding crosses itg somehow speaks of the fact that those buried there ‘stood’ for their country and countrymen In 72 we got a photo of Danny with a tiny wallaby feeding on the lawn. This time it was pheasants who were fascinated with our bikes, we assume especially the reflections of themselves in the chrome. We then went over the low level crossing which was the only crossing in 72. Norm spotted a sign which said crocodiles have been seen recently in these waters. No walking near the river in the dark!
Talk tomorrow.



Adelaide River crossing. The road bridge with Rail Bridge in background and the original low level crossing as well. It was on this crossing where the crocodile warning sign was displayed.