Trip to Longreach ~ Day 2
01/10/08 07:24 Filed in: Motorcycle
Madness
I left Emerald this morning around 10am. I waited for
the motorbike shops to open so I could try and get my
visor mounting plate repaired or replaced.
I pulled into a Honda dealership and while they didn’t stock my helmet brand, the helpful bloke behind the counter took to my helmet with super-glue in an attempt to help me out.
While I was waiting, a local mechanic on his way to Roma to fix a truck, saw my bike out the front and pulled in. He’d been thinking about getting a V-Strom to replace or add to his GS1400. He hit me with a hundred questions and when I finished answering them, he left with the intention of buying one. I’m not sure how the bloke in the Honda dealership felt. I just sold a Suzuki to a potential customer while in his Honda shop.
Anyway, thanks to that bloke with the super-glue. I taped the visor up as I had a feeling the glue wasn’t going to hold for long. On the way out of town I stopped at another bike shop and they happened to stock my helmet. $20 and some deft work with a screwdriver later, I had two new visor mounting plates. Thanks to Adrian and Julie from Central Bike Centre, you’ve made my second day of riding much more comfortable.
I ducked down to Fairbairn Dam which is easily reached just to the west of Emerald. It is full and Lake Maraboon is quite a site. My Dad worked as an engineer on the Selma Channel, which is an irrigation channel fed by the Dam. This little detour cost me an hour so I really didn’t get away from Emerald till 11am.
On the way to Barcaldine I stopped briefly at Sapphire to see how the other half live. The town is almost entirely made up of corrugated iron... at least that’s how it looked. It was almost deserted so I’m guessing everyone was underground digging for gems.
I stopped off at Alpha for a bottle of water and a couple of apples. Alpha is a quaint little town and the information centre is full of good information on places to see. It also doubles as the rider-reviver offering a cuppa.
I’ve taken to stopping every 45mins or so, so the next stop was Barcaldine. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I thought it would be bigger. After a brief stop it was off to Ilfracombe and its “Mile of machinery”. This is an interesting feature of the town. There is a line of old farming machinery a mile long, as long as the town, that runs along the highway. It’s worth a stop and look. The country between Barcaldine and Ilfracombe is rather uninspiring.
The country from Ilfracombe to Longreach was better to look at. Dotted with some Emu and a few red-headed stork/cranes that I’m yet to identify, all too far away for photo opportunities.
I arrived in Longreach at 4:45pm, passing both the QANTAS museum and the Stockman’s Hall of fame on the way in. These I will visit tomorrow on my day off.
I pulled into a Honda dealership and while they didn’t stock my helmet brand, the helpful bloke behind the counter took to my helmet with super-glue in an attempt to help me out.
While I was waiting, a local mechanic on his way to Roma to fix a truck, saw my bike out the front and pulled in. He’d been thinking about getting a V-Strom to replace or add to his GS1400. He hit me with a hundred questions and when I finished answering them, he left with the intention of buying one. I’m not sure how the bloke in the Honda dealership felt. I just sold a Suzuki to a potential customer while in his Honda shop.
Anyway, thanks to that bloke with the super-glue. I taped the visor up as I had a feeling the glue wasn’t going to hold for long. On the way out of town I stopped at another bike shop and they happened to stock my helmet. $20 and some deft work with a screwdriver later, I had two new visor mounting plates. Thanks to Adrian and Julie from Central Bike Centre, you’ve made my second day of riding much more comfortable.
I ducked down to Fairbairn Dam which is easily reached just to the west of Emerald. It is full and Lake Maraboon is quite a site. My Dad worked as an engineer on the Selma Channel, which is an irrigation channel fed by the Dam. This little detour cost me an hour so I really didn’t get away from Emerald till 11am.
On the way to Barcaldine I stopped briefly at Sapphire to see how the other half live. The town is almost entirely made up of corrugated iron... at least that’s how it looked. It was almost deserted so I’m guessing everyone was underground digging for gems.
I stopped off at Alpha for a bottle of water and a couple of apples. Alpha is a quaint little town and the information centre is full of good information on places to see. It also doubles as the rider-reviver offering a cuppa.
I’ve taken to stopping every 45mins or so, so the next stop was Barcaldine. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I thought it would be bigger. After a brief stop it was off to Ilfracombe and its “Mile of machinery”. This is an interesting feature of the town. There is a line of old farming machinery a mile long, as long as the town, that runs along the highway. It’s worth a stop and look. The country between Barcaldine and Ilfracombe is rather uninspiring.
The country from Ilfracombe to Longreach was better to look at. Dotted with some Emu and a few red-headed stork/cranes that I’m yet to identify, all too far away for photo opportunities.
I arrived in Longreach at 4:45pm, passing both the QANTAS museum and the Stockman’s Hall of fame on the way in. These I will visit tomorrow on my day off.
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