With Tropical Cyclone Alfred set to drench the east coast, the route for this ride was easy, the Newell Highway!
Fueled up, ready to ride.
Rolled out of the garage and down to the local servo in Phillip. Once fueled up, with starting docket in hand I pointed the bike out of Canberra heading for Holbrook.
Starting docket.
The Barton Highway was relatively quiet, and I joined the Hume right on schedule to motor southwards. Traffic was typically heavy, mainly semi’s with a smattering of smaller vehicles. The temperature was steady in the high teens, with the stars shining brightly. At Holbrook, I refueled the main tank, and then headed slowly for Culcairn on the old road. 2 kms out of town I threaded my way through a mob of roos’ who didn’t seem fazed at all and were happy to stay put across the road and verges.
Culcairn Bakery.
Snapped a corner photo at the Culcairn bakery and turned north on the Olympic Highway. There was a reasonable amount of traffic sharing the road, and at the junction of the Sturt Highway I turned west for Narrandera. Still plenty of traffic and I was happy to sit behind a couple of trucks as we motored westward in the pre-dawn.
Junction of Olympic & Sturt Highway. Go West young man!
Stopped for brekkie at The Early Opener Café (perfectly named café) before continuing northwards on the Newell. Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature’s stayed in the high teens.
Breakfast time at The Early Opener Cafe in Narrandera.
A check of the weather radar provided assurance the road ahead was clear
Made a few phone calls, as I motored towards the border, while also monitoring the weather radar. At Coonabarabran, I took my 35-minute meal break (to mimic the likely compulsory IBR requirement) at the bakery. Another BMW rider and his partner were there too, and we shared some time chatting about our travels.
Fellow BMW riders Alan and Bridget were happy to share a table while we swapped stories about our travels
Once my timer ticked over, it was back on the bike, onwards, ever onwards. Narrabri came and went, followed by Moree. Soon enough the border at Goondiwindi was in sight, where I stopped to snap a photo. The clouds had closed in now, I was just on the edge of the cyclone cloud cover and it was hot& humid.
Welcome to Queensland! Hot n Humid!
The last 2 hours from Goondiwindi to Miles would have to be some of the roughest roads I have ridden in a long time. Combined with the heat and humidity it made for a tiring section of the ride and I was grateful to finally roll into Miles to refuel and collect a corner docket.
The town of Miles in Queensland! This sign is made for the Long distance rider.
From Miles, it was a short ride eastwards on the Warrego Highway to Chinchilla, where I collected my finishing docket with 1,652kms on the clock. Once checked in, I joined the team for a late meal. Great to see my fellow long-distance riders!
Finishing docket in Chinchilla, QLD.
My Spotwalla Track
Fueled up, ready to ride.
Rolled out of the garage and down to the local servo in Phillip. Once fueled up, with starting docket in hand I pointed the bike out of Canberra heading for Holbrook.
Starting docket.
The Barton Highway was relatively quiet, and I joined the Hume right on schedule to motor southwards. Traffic was typically heavy, mainly semi’s with a smattering of smaller vehicles. The temperature was steady in the high teens, with the stars shining brightly. At Holbrook, I refueled the main tank, and then headed slowly for Culcairn on the old road. 2 kms out of town I threaded my way through a mob of roos’ who didn’t seem fazed at all and were happy to stay put across the road and verges.
Culcairn Bakery.
Snapped a corner photo at the Culcairn bakery and turned north on the Olympic Highway. There was a reasonable amount of traffic sharing the road, and at the junction of the Sturt Highway I turned west for Narrandera. Still plenty of traffic and I was happy to sit behind a couple of trucks as we motored westward in the pre-dawn.
Junction of Olympic & Sturt Highway. Go West young man!
Stopped for brekkie at The Early Opener Café (perfectly named café) before continuing northwards on the Newell. Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature’s stayed in the high teens.
Breakfast time at The Early Opener Cafe in Narrandera.
A check of the weather radar provided assurance the road ahead was clear
Made a few phone calls, as I motored towards the border, while also monitoring the weather radar. At Coonabarabran, I took my 35-minute meal break (to mimic the likely compulsory IBR requirement) at the bakery. Another BMW rider and his partner were there too, and we shared some time chatting about our travels.
Fellow BMW riders Alan and Bridget were happy to share a table while we swapped stories about our travels
Once my timer ticked over, it was back on the bike, onwards, ever onwards. Narrabri came and went, followed by Moree. Soon enough the border at Goondiwindi was in sight, where I stopped to snap a photo. The clouds had closed in now, I was just on the edge of the cyclone cloud cover and it was hot& humid.
Welcome to Queensland! Hot n Humid!
The last 2 hours from Goondiwindi to Miles would have to be some of the roughest roads I have ridden in a long time. Combined with the heat and humidity it made for a tiring section of the ride and I was grateful to finally roll into Miles to refuel and collect a corner docket.
The town of Miles in Queensland! This sign is made for the Long distance rider.
From Miles, it was a short ride eastwards on the Warrego Highway to Chinchilla, where I collected my finishing docket with 1,652kms on the clock. Once checked in, I joined the team for a late meal. Great to see my fellow long-distance riders!
Finishing docket in Chinchilla, QLD.
My Spotwalla Track
