Riding Down Under - Tropical Cairns Australia

[MacDoc]

Got a bit more description of the wash out from fellow rider as both thumbs feel a bit strained and shoulder getting better but still sore.

Hi David, bike was in third gear when i tried to find neutral for you.

You were not braking but looked like you were trying to steer right slightly to exit the death zone, i could see it happening before it happened.

Speed was pretty slow, maybe 20k tops, i was in first gear, can't hit 2nd until 30kph, very high gearing.

As your front wheel washed off to the right your rear tyre stayed on track but at about a 45degree angle your peg dug in and the resulting stop transferred into a whiplash effect and you shoulder slammed the ground very hard, much faster than your bike speed from where i was watching.

.

stay off the green stuff...sigh...

wet even too much for the 4WD - they came back the route Jude and I took inland on the Cooktown run.

We have been up at Bloomfield for a couple of days fishing, got flooded in with all of the rivers rising behind us overnight so we drove the 400k route via lions den to get home last night.

CREB track is too deep even for my car to cross

This is the highest I've seen it - this crossing is a few miles outside Daintree Village and a nice ride to get to. Was lower last year but still not crossable.

this is the falls on the Bloomfield River - ken says he's seen it even higher.

The kind of crossing that gets people in trouble even in 4x4 let alone bikes. Ken's comment

The Bloomfield crossing at low tide, very high velocity, crossing it would have been a waste of time because all of the other rivers were 2 metres deep, yes I've been stuck at all of them. The green water pushes cars off, the white water is easy because it has no force.

Kezza told me about it last year....he did go across but barely made it ( was lower ) - no photos as I was back 20 KM having lunch. Above my pay grade

 

[MacDoc]

Someone wanted critters

this cool critter hanging about the feeder here is Forest Dragon

 

[DownUnder]

lol are you feeding him scrambled eggs?

This thread may be the reason I divorce my wife and run back to Australia. Are you happy now home wrecker. JK, though im contemplating just kidnapping her and heading back there.

 

[MacDoc]

Banana I think - I photo - owner of the place feeds.
Why would you not come back ( tho it' expensive without an anchor spot)

 

[MacDoc]

Very lucky shot of a Bluefaced Honey Eater as he swung around to look at me. He was channeling his raptor ancestor with that look.



Bar shouldered dove I had been stalking all day but he would land on the driveway and disappear...good camouflage



Two years I tried to get a clear shot of these - damn camera did not like black in the undergrowth - scrub turkey aka mound builder



and the mounds can be huge!!! ( 4' high - 12' in diameter )

Pale-yellow robin ...yeah that's the correct name...realllllly imaginative :bored:



Kookaburras surveying their domain - they were getting quite raucous earlier


This was an interesting situation - did not know honey eaters could be insectivores and this Macleays snagged something size large and proceeded to dismember it across the yard. Could only get a few shots of the butchery but had sizeable wings initially..



took him a while to get down to the juicy bits



Seems I'm plagued with fallen trees ( typical for here when there is lots of rain )

 

[MacDoc]

Just one week left til I take the long hike home - at least it's a single stop in Hong Kong this time. Weather has turned nice so will get a couple of rides in before tucking the bikes away.

We said goodbye to Kingfisher Lodge and took a side trip to Jabiru Lodge on the way home to Cairns

Start out with an unknown

A black swan showing his colours..



and a pair



apparently fairly rare Comb Crested Jacana - the bird that walks on water



Australian Kestrel



Family conversation between a male and female Welcome Swallow



I washed out the background so show the lovely colours of these swallows.



these are laughing kookas


this fierce guy is the Eastern Blue wing kookaburra aka cruise missile



Ibis composing something...



Little Pied Comorant


and the Australian Darter


Nice half day at Jabiru Lodge tho we did not see the bird it is named for - we took a $15 cruise of the lake in a small boat with an electric motor. The watershed that feeds these Mareeba Wetlands stretch 450 km.

 

[MacDoc]

Stunning day and more to come




of course I'm leaving and the dry season kicks in ...sigh

flash back - putting on the knee protectors today and noticed the armour did it's job on that fall.....this could have been my knee

 

[MacDoc]

Getting to end of this years riding in Australia....heading home at the beginning of the week.
Been keeping the distances short to not stress my shoulder as 30 hours of travel will be a pain no matter what.

Said goodbye to dirt riding partner Ken....his living room/dining room table is worse than mine.



He's just 20 km north of Cairns. There are small communities along the ocean and I certainly have not visited them all and I'll be hitting a few over the weekend. Have to put the bikes at their storage place....will likely do the ST1100 tomorrow as no long rides planned. Was just getting to know it.

This was a nice ride yesterday on the ST up north of Mossman
Idyllic hardly covers it - looking north up the coast towards the Daintree. Rarely see the Pacific so calm....it was almost glass a bit earlier.



Cliffs along the Captain Cook Highway ...always under construction to prevent slides ( never succeeds ).



Looking back south towards Cairns



Pulled off an interesting side road that wandered through the cane fields towards the rain forest..



such a gorgeous day....not too hot tho you would not want to spend time in that sun very long



Welcome swallows were having a ball pigging out on insects over the cane fields.



Hundreds in the air - dozens taking a break from the buffet


Moving up the feeding chain this kingfisher was lurking near Bamboo Creek.



One more step up the kites cruised behind the mowing tractor for small critters killed or flushed out



The sky was INSANELY blue..



one of the more relaxing rides poking around the side roads then a straight run back down the twisties on the ST to home.

 

[MacDoc]

Riding buddy who has the task of occasionally picking the KLR off of me sent me this. Got a good laugh and so true

[video=youtube;-iFTIeWTvn4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iFTIeWTvn4[/video]

Last year my tires were hopeless and putting a decent knobby on the front on helped a lot...no more washouts.

This year the 606 on the back was a treat but that now worn down front ......sigh - green moss got me

This is rougher riding than most of what I do here....tho we have way more stream crossings and some tracks are a bit technical with ruts and washboard and exposed rocks going up and down into the stream gullies. Ken does more of the difficult single track and has the bike and the skill set for it.

And yeah....the KLR650 is BLOODY heavy

 

[patw]

And yeah....the KLR650 is BLOODY heavy

It sure is. Picking it up a few times will leave you exhausted. Try to lean back more, that front tire sounds like it's doing you no good.

 

[MacDoc]

Over for the season for off road - and yep it was not doing much good as the green moss adventure showed.
It still let me lift out of ruts as the side knobs were intact but not much left in the centre.
Next couple of days are just casual side roads and getting the bikes to their storage areas.

I miss my Bultaco

 

[patw]

For next season, try a pair of Kenda K270's. They're about 1/2 the price of the D606's and they do very well in the mud and deep sand. They last a long time, but are cheap enough to replace yearly. The first 50km break-in of the tires is really sketchy, but after that they become great on-road tires as well.

 

[MacDoc]

It's a Kenda I have on the front now. Yes they were squirrelly early on - dealer warned me about that. We do very little deep sand which is fine by me, some mud, lots of forest track, rock and clay/gravel mixed surfaces which change after every rain storm.
Taking the ST1100 up for storage this morning ( is't 5 am Friday ). Will have a kangaroo pie and some coffee in Kuranda

•••

Poked around some of the beaches on the way back from fetching fishing rod from Ken yesterday. Had a light lunch at Holloway Bay. Just a lovely setting



right on the ocean front and interesting seating made from old growth logs repurposed.



Popular swim area



But travellers in the time of year might find the cautions daunting. The enclosed netted area is actually outlining a stinger net to prevent the jellies from getting in. That said bits of the tentacles can get through and send you to hospital. Stinger suits are available for swimming and for reef diving. One reason I want to come in the dry season when these issues are not present.



Lifeguard it there - most often in regard to stinger issues tho it can get rough. Young girl last month was sent to hospital in a lot of pain with a stinger fragment that got her even tho she was inside the net.



Sun is very strong and Aus has a very high rate of skin cancer so certainly no beach bunnies very often on these stretches tho that changes as the season goes on and the stingers go away and it gets cooler.

 

[MacDoc]

Yum - Annabel's Kangaroo Pie - waiting on my ride to store the ST and enjoying a very lovely morning in Kuranda.

 

[MacDoc]

Time for this second second season to end and get back to riding in Canada



Did not get the long touring in I had considered but have a good machine for it at a friends and being ridden from time to time and ready for anyone who wants a low cost ride in Australia.

The KLR is just about to be put under it's cover. We found a spot it fit and put the new seat inside and the battery on a tender inside as well. Tough beast should be fine.

I'll likely post some other stuff up here as I organize the photos and then resume again next year.

 

[MacDoc]

ahhh six cold dark weeks to go before I get to Aus....

The Captain Cook Highway awaits....one of my first trips will be to hit Cooktown on the bike.

Bit of a long one day 650 km round trip but be okay if I leave early.

 

[Riceburner]

must be nice. Swapping hemispheres with the weather.

 

[MacDoc]

Yeah - unfortunately it's the rainy season - one reason I'm going a few weeks later this year.

2015 I hope to be there twice for three months each time as August and Sept are glorious. Have to discipline myself this year and do some distance -

 

[MacDoc]

Re: Down Under on a KLR 650 & ST1100 ...season 3

Landed in Oz - bloody hell that's a long haul but sure caught up on the movies.
Been raining steadily - was going to go out on the KLR for a bit of practice on wrong side of the road bu battery was flat despite being on a tender....GF put on the floor ....a damp floor

Waiting for the KLR to charge was browsing the classifieds and score this

Scored a dririder Highlander-5 that fits for $100 - still had the tags. AND he dropped it off…had knee surgery and sold his Bonneville
They run $250-300 and the fasters were super stiff so maybe worn a couple of times as he stated.

Might take it home if I find it too warm as I don’t have a light ballistic jacket here in Canada - only my mesh and my heavy cold weather one.
Like the way the straps work on these to get a snug fit so the armor stays in place

which is what I think happened when I fell last year - jacket was not done up properly and the armor was not completely in play at contact point. Won’t do that again.

Also has afeature I had not seen before ( glad I read the tag ) a crotch strap - keeps the riding pants up if you don't have a zippered set ( which I don't

So will pick up the ST1100 tomorrow and brave the range road twists - might yet get a KLR ride once the battery gets charged but hey - it's WARM

and the best pool in the world

 

[MacDoc]

Re: Down Under on a KLR 650 & ST1100 ...season 3

Morning started out lovely - early morning walk to the bakery brought some nice photo opportunities despite the low light level. Just great to see and here birds again and GREENERY!!!

Well if it could go wrong it did yesterday after that lovely start to the day- soaked, dead battery, chased around town trying for a replacement with no luck.
Came home and put it on a charger and called it a day.

This morning klr started like a champ and the sun finally came out.
Scampered up the range road in a bit of mist and skittish new knobby but stayed mostly dry and scooped the ST1100 from storage.

Love affairwith the ST1100 resumes....navigated out the dirt and ditch and iffy bridge I had been worried about

( one of these at the bottom of reasonably steep up and down - not a normal road bike venue )

- turned out forgot the lappie and wallet in the KLR .

Turned around did the bridge and slippy part again snagged the missing bits and by this time had the first few hundred meters of tense on a big road bike down pat.

Out on the pavement and a totally lovely sunny day. Put on 150 k- dry and sunny - hit the fav coffee stops and down the Rex mostly okay tho lost the rear end a bit shifted down too far - but the bike is long and stable ...just waggled a bit.

Off road riding partner took his daughter out as well since it's been a deluge for the last while ( even for here ).

He want's to take me on this.....says the creek is "deepish: :lmao:

ya think.....this was two weeks ago...yeah that's his front fender underwater....must have a serious snorkel on his 650.

Today however was a creek too far, deep, fast.....same creek - higher water levels.
It's amazing at times in the tablelands - it can be dry as a bone where you are and you come on a creek or river that was a cake walk last week and a raging torrent from some deluge 100 km upstream this week.

Nearly everyone outside the city drives something with a snorkel.

even for crazy Aussies this was too much.

Ken said they barely got their bikes turned around the mud was so thick.
KLR would have been hopeless....I'll wait a few weeks to take him up on the offer. Stick to the higher forest trails and cruising on the ST. ALways spots to explore for photos and the thing has legs to get out a bit further than I've explored.

Shoulder still a bit sore but been 5 months off so expect a few aches and pains especially after that marathon flight.

Saw my down under road riding partner heading the other way on his Burgman - man his glare yellow helmet is sure obvious.

Sorted the heavy traffic round abouts and came home tired but exhilerated - nice to be riding again after a longer than usual lay off.

I'll stay on the pavement for a bit until the wet season is over.....make friends between my back and the ST