Blog: April 24. Been out to Bourke

It’s Sunday arvo, and I managed a quick, trouble-free run out to Bourke on Wednesday and back on Thursday this past week.

Naturally it was for work, and while I’m unbelievably pressured at the moment, it needed to be done, and it needed to be done in a rush. The good news was it meant I was able to load up the Ducati and enjoy some serious performance.

I set out to run the Longest Day route, but, as usual, cocked it up out of Narrabri. I really need to remember to take a map on these things. It’s not like I was going to be unable to find Bourke, but it meant I missed some good off-road sections.

It was really nice up until Narrabri. I cruised through some of the New England landmarks and even stopped to look at a couple.

I honestly feel I should go push over that dead tree on Baldersleigh Road. It’s been there, sticking up in the middle of what would otherwise be a great scenery pic, for as long as I can remember. It kind of makes me smile now. Still, the spot always makes me catch my breath and remember the first time Ozzo and I went through there. I like to stop and remember the magic and wonder of that first trip to Cameron Corner.

I tried for a stop at Burren Junction as well, but it’s now a well-maintained campground heavily populated by grey nomads, and a lot of the joy of the site is lost to me. Still it’s another place chocka with great memories.

One memory I haven’t been able to shake is Gav ‘Men’s Elf’ Gill wandering around the bore in his budgie-smugglers.

Gawd! It was was back in 2008.

I think it was the combo of briefs and boots I found disturbing.

As you can see, I had the selfie-stick working overtime, and I’ve been experimenting with using the phone for pics and video. It’s actually not too bad, and it’s an iPhone 5S. I can only imagine how good the new phones might be. Maybe it’s something I’ll have to explore in the near future.

I couldn’t find the frigging dirt road from Narrabri to Wee Waa (again), and, being on the Ducati, decided to burn up the asphalt – which it did. Damn that bike’s fast and comfortable. I had the cruise control set on a fairly fast and illegal clip and the bike made the long stretch an absolute sight-seeing pleasure.

I got to Bourke on Wednesday arvo, did the things I needed to do, got lost again and ended up back in town.

I conceded defeat and booked into a lowbag motel. The motel was actually great for me, and I got a cheap rate on the room. Maybe because I was sharing with a mouse. He was a cute little guy, but camera-shy.

I’d intended to run out to Wanaaring because Marg and Ben at the shop have done a heap of building and improvements out there and I wanted to say hello. I don’t think I’ve been out there for two years. But work is work. I had the material I needed and time is very, very tight at the moment. Wednesday morning I was up at dawn and heading back to the coast, and that meant I copped the sunrise as I headed east. Good on me.

The trip back went well and I was at my desk late Thursday afternoon and hard at work (I hope my boss reads this).

So that was my week. Not much to complain about there, I’m sure you’ll agree.

This coming week I’m on a jaunt to ride the 2017 KTM 1090 and 1290 Adventures.

Tough, isn’t it?

TF

One Comment

  1. How time flies, that was the night the wind storm hit us & almost blew the tents down. You will be pleased to Know I have better looking boots now!

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