Flash Bang Wallop on the Tablelands - 947km

My plan for the day was to go to Tennant Creek to catch Ian on his way through - see how he was traveling.

I only had a few hours sleep, but that was OK as the previous day was a restful one.
Away at about 6am I kept a wary eye on storms off to the south and heading north. I managed to outrun two of them but a third appeared over the horizon directly in front. Lots of lightning hitting the ground.
As I got closer it looked quite scary. This was an open plain with either no trees or very short scrub and the GoldWing has two shiny aerials sticking up the back. I actually folded them down in anticipation. However I had visions of lightning striking under my armpits.
Thankfully, I came upon a roadside rest stop with a shelter - of sorts. Just a flat roof over a table. But there was room to park the bike and it was a metal frame so I figured it would act as a faraday cage.
I put on the wets and waited.
The strikes got closer, coming from where I was headed so there would have been no escape.
Soon the bangs and flashes were simultaneous and very loud -scary.
Then came the rain. It bucketed down almost literally with the water also pouring through large gaps in the roof and wind blowing it everywhere. Nothing to do but hunker down and wait.

Thankfully it was only about 10 minutes and the rain started to ease. Thankfully because the water was starting to build up around me. I was thinking I might have to inflate the mattress and float out.

Back on the road and after twenty minutes of light rain it stopped altogether and I was able to take a photo from whence I came and remove the wets.

Now it was fine weather all the way to Tennant Creek and the time passed without incident.

I located the servo we had discussed and fueled my bike as well as paying in advance for Ian's expected fuel amount, then it was sit and wait for an hour or so, watching the SPOT on the iPhone and calculating his ETA.

I worked it out about right and walked out on the road and saw the familiar white light approaching.

Fuelup was fast and efficient. He wanted energy bars - non chocolate - so in I went and grabbed half a dozen and he shoved them down his shirt. He looked in great shape and able to continue, saying it was so far a beautiful ride with nice weather and temps.

Off again and under way and I realized I had forgotton to get a photo. Damn. I went back in and the fuel was within $4 of expected so the bloke refunded me. Ian had made sure the receipt was safe for the log.

Nothing for me but to return to Camooweal and await the Big Finish. The ride back was fairly uneventful, though I looked online at Barkley RH and saw a storm across the road ahead so waited for a quarter hour or so for it to pass.

So that was my day, a leisurely 947km ride to help fill up a mate's bike. My total for the trip so far ticked over 3000km today. That's fitting somehow, except it has taken me three riding days with a rest day.

Well he got here with 19 minutes to spare. 3000km in under 24 hours within the road rules. Well done.

First phone call to Colleen

The mighty rocket cools down outside.