Departed Narrabri bright and early. Well, it wasn' t bright at 4am but at least it was cold.
Fuel and start docket at the Shell and today was to be my longer day to qualify for the FarRide so the plan was to get to Port Augusta. Not too hard.
The run along the Newell through the Pillaga was pretty good with only a few trucks. I saw one roo gently grazing at the roadside.
Through Coonabarabran around 5am and it was really cold now. Just 1C on the dashboard. I was wearing five layers of clothing but it was still getting through. Ah well, the sun will be up soon.
Fuel again at Gilgandra and head further west in the early light. The moon was setting in front of me and it was quite pretty. I stopped for a shot with the sun just riding in the east while the moon was still setting opposite. It was very quiet and peaceful.
I’d decided on Cobar for more fuel and breakfast. The Caltex usually does an OK meal. Went past several servos and around a detour for roadworks only to find the Caltex closed as they were recalibrating the pumps. So back in to town to another servo and to a bakery for breakky.
After that the long haul to Broken Hill. Time for the MP3 player to come out and listen to a few podcasts. Conversations with Richard Fidler nearly got me all the way to Wilcannia where I stopped for a quick topup then a couple more hours to Broken Hill. After all the straight roads, the last 20km into the Hill is a bit of fun. Keep the speed at the posted limit and negotiate the few sweepers. Nice.
Another fuel stop then further west on the long dry run into eastern South Australia. The road follows the Indian Pacific rail line and the start hills always stand out craggy against the clear sky.
Through Yunta and the sun started to dip towards the horizon. Trouble was I was headed for the same horizon. From Peterborough to Wilmington was straight in to the sun all the way. Luckily the air was clear and with a bit of squinting I managed to stay on the road.
Then it was a nice little run through Horrocks Pass and down the other side. A stop at Davo’s Memorial plaque to pay respect and the last bit into Port Augusta in the dark.
The weather, although starting out cold, was perfect for the rest of the day so it made for a lovely day’s ride.
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