Day 4 - Wing Around The Rock - Broken Hill to Coober Pedy - 1010km

We left Broken Hill by 6am local time which was just before sunrise. Don't normally like doing this due to the increased wildlife traffic on the roads however we had a lot of miles to cover so didn't have much choice. Fortunately most of the animals were well behaved and left us alone. The temperature didn't get much above 13 degrees until after midday so it was quite cool compared to the heat of the last couple of days. At least the strong winds of the previous day had gone and it turned out to be almost perfect riding conditions. For a 1000km ride it was relatively uneventful so this is just a small selection from the 1000 odd pics that Kerrie managed to take today. Some of the landscapes and scenery we saw was absolutely stunning and impossible to capture on camera.

Halfway Hotel although have no idea what it is halfway between.

Toy museum seemed to be struggling for customers.

Next three pics are at Horrocks Pass at the Flinders Ranges about 40km before Port Augusta. Awesome section of road!

More of those seemingly endless straight roads.

Gotta love these outback roadhouses...this one had more flies than dust particles..

Highlight of the day was this enormous wedgetail eagle which flew right in front of us after we disturbed it snacking on some roadkill. 

Our underground hotel in Coober Pedy.

Day 3 - Wing Around The Rock - Cobar to Broken Hill - 500km

Really not much to tell about today. It didn't quite go to plan as we were meant to get to Peterborough in South Australia, however strong gusty northwesterly winds put an end to that plan. After battling the wind for the last 100km into Broken Hill, we had lunch and decided to give it another go, however only got 5km out of town and it was so bad we turned around and found a motel for the night in Broken Hill. The wind was nearly travelling as fast as we were. A check of the weather reports show it easing up tonight and also becoming much cooler Tuesday. Downside is that now we have to do 950km on Tuesday to reach Coober Pedy as we have accommodation prebooked there. Will be an early start and a long ride.

Another pesky car getting in the way!

This emu decided it would run towards the road but fortunately changed its mind at the last minute...i dont think i have seen a dumber animal than these things!

At least the goats have some intelligence and run away from the traffic.

Stopped for fuel in Wilcannia...what a charming place it is...seems to be another town where everything has to be super secure for some strange reason!

Think its been a while since this creek had any water in it.

Welcome to Broken Hill (again!) this sign is on the western side of town after we turned around and came back.

Some nice buildings typical of you find in old Australian mining towns.

So that's it...had a walk around town before sitting back for a few beers and an early start tomorrow.

Day 2 - Wing Around The Rock - Narrabri to Cobar (via Bourke) - 580km

All packed up ready to go - amazing really - last year we travelled right around Australia over 28 days and fitted everything inside the bike. This time we are only going for 14 days and less than half the distance and have to have an extra bag strapped to the rack. Must be getting older and need more luxuries!

Passed this Husband Day Care Centre - works for me as long as they provide free beer!

Was going to pull into this roadhouse for a coffee break but for some reason it appeared to be closed!

Stopped for fuel at Walgett...seems everything here is either boarded up, secured with steel grilles or corrugated iron...gee...wonder why? Surely the locals couldn't be that bad! Must be passing tourists that cause all the trouble!

Even the library has to be secured with timber windows! Locals must really love their books!

After leaving Walgett, just cruised along...sit back, relax & enjoy the ride!

Until this giant chook thought he might dash across the road...luckily he didn't...but we came across heaps more of his friends for the next couple of hundred kilometres...was never really sure whether they would run out in front or not..after all Emus aren't known for their intelligence!

The old Muddy Waters cafe for brunch...interesting place.

There goes one of those giant chooks again..totally ignoring road rules...running across the road without even looking!

The main object of this photo is..you guessed it... a tree!

As if the emus weren't bad enough...now the goats have to get in on the act...dashing across the road without even looking sideways.

After ticking another one off the bucket list by going to Back O' Bourke, we finally got to Cobar dodging all the wildlife..only to find a big hole in the ground...and at the bottom the entrance to the underground shaft (aka a Decline). Mind you, the hole was only a slight depression in the ground compared to the Superpit at Kalgoorlie.

Real tourists now...so hot even had to ditch the safety gear while we looked around town. Not the recommended motorcycle riding attire!

Heritage park on the edge of town, with all sorts of old mining stuff as a tribute to the history of the town.

Day 1 - Wing Around the Rock - Home to Narrabri - 725km

We left home today with a Ducati Escort keeping us company til Kilcoy.

After some technical discussions and some last minute instructions including:

a) Do feed the fish

b) Don't kill the fish

c) Don't drink my beers

We waved goodbye to Mitch and his Ducati, and headed off towards Esk and Toowoomba.

I still want one!

Couldn't help noticing this beautiful Church passing through Toowoomba. Been here so many times before but never seen this one!

Pretty cool mural on the water tank at Millmerran.

Came across these steaks crossing the road on the way to Narrabri...they appeared oblivious to traffic and just wandered across the road as though they owned it.

All in all, was a fairly boring day really, travelling roads we have travelled many times before, enduring painful traffic most of the way until we escaped the other side of Toowoomba.