14 Day Solo Motorbike Ride around the Flinders Ranges and the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia

In May 2023 I did a solo motorbike tour of the Flinders Ranges and the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. I was away for 14 days and I clocked up 4070kms in total. 370kms was on dirt roads in the Flinders. I bought my BMW R1200 GS motorbike new in late 2008. On the second last day of this ride it ticked over 250,000kms on the original engine. It has never let me down on the highway, and the engine still sounds as sweet as ever. A lot of unanticipated good things happened on this ride.

Apollo Bay to Hawker

I planned to depart at first light on 6 May 2023. There were strong winds and driving rain in Apollo Bay on departure eve. I donned my tried and tested warm wet-weather gear and departed on schedule. The only rain for the whole 14 days was on the first and last days. A welcome change from my last ride to SA when it rained every day in both states. The forecast for my time of departure included a high chance of rain, single-figure temps, snow above 800m and strengthening SW winds. The temp got down to 6°C as I rode over the Otways before sunrise but it wasn’t cold enough for snow. There were a few light showers and I got an occasional glimpse between clouds of the full moon setting over the silhouetted ridges to my left as I rode over the Otway Ranges.

[This gallery format of three small photos and a big one is used a lot in this post. Any descriptions will relate to top row photos L to R then the larger photo.]

The cleanest the bike looked for 14 days. Lights of Apollo Bay pre-dawn. Mist in a valley near the top of the Otways. My favourite colonnade of eucalypts on a traffic-free back road somehwere near Balmoral in western Victoria.

This squall line was out to my left as I rode north between Naracoorte and Keith, where I turned west. Any smugness about staying dry was washed away as the path of the rain and my route intersected somewhere between Keith and Murray Bridge. Burra bakery the next morning. My heart almost skipped a beat at the sight of fresh oil under my parked motorbike for the moment before I realised it was petrol via the tank overflow pipe. I’d just filled up on level ground, and parked on an angle before burning any fuel off. If it had been oil dripping from my bike, the trip could well have ended at Burra. My room at the unpretentious Outback Motel in Hawker at the end of day 2 of the ride. I have stayed there many times on motorbike rides. Clean, comfortable and spacious. Thanks once again Mick.

Arkaroola – dirt roads and dry creek bed crossings

I rode from Hawker to Arkaroola via Copley and Nepabunna. I had hoped to take an alternative longer dirt road route via Blinman, Wirrealpa and Wertaloona station. But I was warned of a recently graded section of the road 75kms from Arkaroola which had protruding slate shards which could puncture or destroy a tyre. There had been a recent spate of four wheel drive vehicles puncturing tyres at this location. I was equipped to fix a puncture (with a plug kit and a compressor), but a destroyed tyre on a dirt road a long way from anywhere would be quite inconvenient. So I opted for the sealed Outback Highway from Hawker to Copley and the 130kms of dirt from Copley to Arkaroola. The major dirt roads such as this were in the best condition I have ever seen them. It was dry when I rode them, and had been for some time. But a couple of hours of heavy rain could quickly make some of them impassable.

On leaving Hawker I rode north on the sealed Outback Highway over the flat relatively flat country between Lake Torrens to the west and the jagged peaks of the Flinders Ranges to the east. The land either side was mostly unfenced. Road kill (mostly kangaroos) is a frequent sight on this highway. It attracts a variety of bird species including the wedge-tailed eagle.

Photographing this majestic adult bird was my first reward for carrying my Nikon camera with Sigma 150-600mm telephoto lens attached packed in an easily accessible swag on the back of my bike – for just such an opportunity. There is limited time in which to photograph an eagle disturbed from feeding. The eagle took off as I approached, circled overhead, then when I stopped it perched some distance from the road in this dead tree. Eagles do seem to like a dead tree. The raffish protruding head feathers were caused by a light wind coming from behind the bird. I was able to approach a certain distance towards it on foot, but as the photo shows, I was under constant surveillance. So I had to settle for the telephoto lens bridging quite a distance to get this shot. The peaks, cliffs, ridges and gullies of the Flinders Ranges are home for this bird. I rode along and beside creek beds through the majestic mountains in the first two photos and often saw eagles soaring effortlessly thousands of feet above their home territory. I must start saving for a Nikkor telephoto 800mm prime lens to get sharper images over such distances.

The sign at the start of the dirt road from Copley to Arkaroola. There was a QR code on the bottom right of this sign which, when I aimed my iPhone camera to photograph the big sign, produced a message advising me to open the SA road condition link in Chrome! I did so and got a helpful update. But I was soon to be out of mobile range and on rougher roads. The top right photo was taken at Italowie Gorge, after which the road leaves the Gammon Ranges National Park and has longer straights as it tracks between the relative flatlands on the eastern edge of the Flinders and Lake Frome to the east. It re-enters the Gammon Ranges National Park about 10 kms before reaching the Arkaroola Village. I encountered this emu crossing the road with a mate at a leisurely pace just before the Oocaboolina Creek (dry) crossing. In my experience, emus have the least road sense of all wildlife on Australian roads.

Roads in the final 30-40kms to Arkaroola Village. The signpost is at the T intersection where I would have joined the Arkaroola Road if I had taken the longer dirt road (with the recent puncture history) via Wirrealpa. Next time I plan to take the Wirrealpa Road which I haven’t ever ridden.

This link is to an animation showing my route and terrain for the last 25kms of my ride up the Arkaroola Road to the Arkaroola Village: https://www.relive.cc/view/vr63A3egWdv (If you wish to view it, I suggest you cut and paste the link in your browser, or it will take you away from this blog to the app maker’s website). Just before the half way mark in the short clip you can see the Arkaroola airstrip on the left of the road. The aerial view of my track with terrain displayed shows clearly the extent to which the unique geology of this area absolutely dictates where roads must go. Roads only cross these great curving rocky ridges where creeks have created a path. This is my first experiment with this app and I’m not yet convinced that it is useful for my purposes.

Rough tracks deep in the heart of the Gammon Ranges west of Arkaroola Village. Comfortable motel accommodation at Arkaroola. The owner of Arkaroola is Doug Sprigg, the son of Reg Sprigg who founded it. I have met Doug on a few occasions on prior visits, and we have a common interest in general aviation. He is a pilot and owns some aircraft kept at a very adequate airstrip on the Arkaroola Road just beside a steep ridge. I have used it in the past on light aircraft visits to Arkaroola. Doug does charter flights for guests at the Village. He joined me as I finished my dinner at Arkaroola, and we chatted for quite a while. He is wonderfully well-informed on a very wide range of subjects including geology, aviation and astronomy. After our chat he gave me some car keys and a map and some suggestions as to tracks to take. He said I was welcome to borrow his 4WD Toyota Land Cruiser in the morning before I left on the bike for Blinman. He gave me directions to the shed the Toyota was parked in. This was a most generous offer which of course I readily accepted. I spent a few hours the next morning exploring roads in the area I had never seen before. ‘Spectacular’ does not do justice to this country.

Track following river bed. Stony ridge with wallaby’s head and shoulders just visible against the sky between two of the smaller dead trees on the ridge. He had been on the road, and retreated up the hill when he heard me, but apparently felt this a safe vantage point from which to keep an eye on me. This water hole was in a very remote location. I found it a beautiful and very atmospheric spot. I’m sure this would have been a highly significant location in the lives of indigenous Australians living in the area for millennia before European discovery of the continent. This of course is not to suggest it does not retain great significance for their descendants.

Video

The remarkable processionary caterpillar. I came across this linked procession of individual caterpillars near the Nooldoonooldoona waterhole. The chain was about 4m long and moving at a very slow pace as the video shows. They live mainly on Acacia trees. For those interested, there is a brief but informative article (some of which I found quite surprising) on these caterpillars on the Australian Geographic website at: https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/fact-file/processionary-caterpillars/

A nest befitting the majestic wedge-tailed eagle. I like their style.

Not an eagle’s nest.

The dirt roads varied greatly in condition but were uniformly surrounded by spectacular sights. The Land Cruiser back where I found it. Thanks very much Doug.

The Parachilna Gorge at Sunset and a night in the Blinman Pub

I left the dirt at Copley for 70kms and was back on it again after taking the turnoff to the Parchilna Gorge and Blinman. After the first 7-8kms of rifle-shot straight dirt road from the highway to the beginning of the mountains, the road follows and repeatedly crosses the winding path of the Parachilna Creek to Angorichina Village (top right photo and large photo). It then continues climbing and winding its way to Blinman, the town with the highest elevation in South Australia. I had planned to stay at Angorichina but discovered I would not be able to buy a meal there. So the proprietor Dave very kindly rang Mick at the Blinman pub and booked the last available room for me. I’ll return to Angorichina with food some time. Thanks Dave. Turns out a large crew of motorbike riders from Melbourne were staying there, on their way to the increasingly popular Skytrek off-road track at Willow Springs station (just east of the Flinders Ranges Way and about 10kms NE of Wilpena Pound.

Without planning it, my ride up the Parachilna Gorge road turned out to be perfectly timed to coincide with the sun setting. I arrived in Blinman just after it set. It was a wonderful ride in the rich colours of the last light of the day. Lengthening shadows and photogenic gravel roads are all part of the sunset show here. Kids crossing the road. Healthy wild goats are a frequent sight on this road. I have always found wild goats to display great road sense. These were no exception. I have never had a close call on the bike or in a car with a wild goat.

The shadow of hills to the west crept up the west facing slopes as the sun set. The large photo was taken at the shadow line where the sun had turned everything including the gum trees to gold.

I arrived in Blinman in the fading glow of the half hour between sunset and last light. The bore water in Blinman is so rugged that the sign in the hotel bathrooms directs not to drink it, and instead to drink the 10L carton of fresh water provided. But the shower uses bore water. I heard one of the other motorbike riders obviously visiting the area for the first time complaining that the soap didn’t work.

Dawn. Clear cold air. Bikes being eagerly packed. Riders moving with energy as none of us can wait to get on the bike and head off in new directions for another great day.

Brachina Gorge, Bunyeroo Gorge Road and the Moralana Scenic Road

Turnoff from the sealed Flinders Ranges Way to the Brachina Gorge road (unsealed). Classic Flinders Ranges scenery along the 10kms or so to the Bunyeroo Gorge road turnoff. I rode the balance of the Brachina Gorge road to the sealed Outback Highway in April last year with Andrew Langmead. That section goes through the Brachina Gorge and along the creek bed and is much rougher than the section from the east to the Bunyeroo Gorge road turnoff.

Creek crossings and mountain vistas along the Brachina Gorge road.

The Bunyeroo Gorge road turnoff from the Brachina Gorge road. This is a road I have never ridden before. I had heard varying reports about the road conditions, which at the varying times they were made were probably all correct. All reports mentioned the remarkable scenery. It’s a 30km section of road between the Brachina Gorge road at its northern end and the Flinders Ranges Way at its southern end. It follows a circuitous route dictated by terrain and other natural features. I had some hesitation in riding the Bunyeroo Gorge road solo, as in the event of an incident I was not equipped for camping out and there was not a lot of traffic on the road. An incident could see me spending a night or two sleeping out in what I was wearing. I would be out of mobile range, and would not use my PLB unless I was badly injured or in some other life threatening situation. Also, the nights were very cold at this time of year. I did however put a custom message on my Spot satellite tracker so I could send it to Liz and/or my brother to arrange for any assistance I might need in the event I was stuck out there with the bike. Had there been another rider doing the trip with me, things would be much simpler and safer in the event of an incident. As I was solo, I decided to ride down this road taking it easy. I also decided I would turn back if road conditions presented an unreasonable risk for my meagre dirt riding skills. These steps seemed to me to be reasonable management of the risk of riding this new dirt road solo on the mighty GS at the age of 73.

The yellow line is the full length of the Bunyeroo Gorge road that I rode, as tracked by GPS. If you use the shape of this track, you will be able to find and follow the route on the map below. This image is oriented with north approximately at the top of the image. My ride on this road started at the northern end.

The only two riding ‘moments’ I had on the entire 4070km ride, were on this 30km section of dirt road. The first was in the Bunyeroo Creek Gorge on slippery mud, and the second was on a couple of hundred metres of steep rough road with loose rocks on the climb to the Razorback lookout.

The early section of the ride down the middle of the lower country between two sharp parallel ridges. Have another look at the track log image above the map showing the satellite imagery of the terrain.

The southerly track terminated abruptly with a left 90° turn along the Bunyeroo creek gorge. The creek bed was the track between the rocky walls of the gorge. The wet section looked OK from the western end. It was only on one side of the gorge and appeared to be no more than a few puddles. But as the other two pictures show, that changed. I was standing on the pegs taking it easy when I came to this section, and assessed it on the move as damp to wet mud, not sandy and it didn’t look like clay. But I quickly learned that it was very much like clay as the back wheel moved sideways from under me. I applied some power and made it to the dry road beyond after an unintended and unsettling sudden S curve through the mud.

Between Bunyeroo Gorge and the Razorback lookout. Approaching the lookout the road steepened considerably and instead of the uniform smallish corrugations created by vehicle wheels I was suddenly faced with a section of significant water-erosion gullies not far apart crossing the entire road at an angle, with a lot of loose rocks. I stayed up on the pegs and gave the throttle a good twist to retain momentum. The bike was yawing left and right beneath me and the front wheel was repeatedly finding loose rocks or small gullies which tended to steer the front wheel other than directly ahead. There was a lot of handlebar action. Had I remained seated I would not have stayed upright past the first 10 metres of this section of road. The power appeared to be the right move as the bike kept charging up the hill. I was not confident I would stay upright but I kept the power on and eventually made it through the bumpy section. The bike had all my gear strapped on the back, and the weight of the bike with me on it would have been over 325kgs. I would not have wanted to repeat that steep bumpy section or anything like it. I am considering doing a training session with the right instructor to raise my offroad skills a notch. Dodgy sections of road like this seem to keep finding me on these trips even though I don’t go looking for them, and I take steps hoping to avoid them.

Neither of these ‘moments’ made me regret taking the Bunyeroo Gorge road. In fact I was very pleased to have ridden the road. But doing it with another rider would be a better idea than doing it solo.

The end of the Bunyeroo Road where I rejoined the sealed Flinders Ranges Way. I would be on bitumen from this point for most of the kms that were between me and home on my planned route across the top of the Eyre Peninsula, down to Port Lincoln, then to Adelaide via Port Augusta then home via Naracoorte and Dunkeld. I re-set the suspension on the motorbike from maximum height and softest compression and rebound settings, to the highway settings. On this trip I didn’t feel the need to lower the tyre pressures to 25psi as I have done on some previous trips in this area.

The final road I took which I had not ridden before, was the Moralana Scenic road which leaves the Flinders Ranges Way not far south of Rawnsley Park Sation, and joins the Outback Highway after 27kms of creek crossing and great views of the Ranges. This road was in good condition and without much change in elevation and was a great finale to my 370kms on the dirt in the Flinders.

Parked in the main street of Hawker after my big day on the dirt roads in the heart of the Flinders Ranges, the Bunyeroo Gorge road being the highlight of the day. I was feeling pleased that I had stayed upright all day on roads I found challenging at times, through so much wonderful scenery. Breakfast at Blinman pub early that morning had been less than I needed and I didn’t have any lunch, so this was afternoon tea and I felt I’d earned it.

Seems I can be inspired to eat, drink and write lyrically not only after a great day on the bike, but before a great day on the bike. I sent Lizzie the photo on the right as I breakfasted without restraint at Hawker, with a message which included the following words: “Not too many better starts to the day than a clear outback-blue sky, nil wind, icy air, a long black and sourdough toast with quandong jam, and a full tank of fuel on the GS. 350kms to the farm.” I was using the map to plan the single fuel stop I would need that day. It was propped up on its edge because there was dew on the table.

Farming on the Goyder Line at Koongawa

In 1984-1986 I spent a couple of months each year working full-time as a flying instructor at the Port Lincoln Flying Club. I also instructed there part time in 1981 and 1982. Two students I taught were Lindsay and Paul (aka Gus), farmers and great friends from the northern Eyre Peninsula. I taught them to fly in Jan-Feb 1985 (restricted private pilot licence) and January 1986 (unrestricted PPL). Those qualifications have different names now. They decided to learn to fly together. So when Lindsay lined up for his first lesson, effects of controls, Paul sat in the back watching carefully. Paul had his effects of controls lesson with Lindsay sitting in the back observing. This pattern was followed right through their basic training and their navigation exercises. Navigation exercises 1 to 6 of the training syllabus were completed by both in a 9 day period in January 1986. That is a lot of flying and a very good effort. Each day we would fly to some distant location with Lindsay at the controls, and back to Pt Lincoln with Gus at the controls. There was one longer trip to Victoria to make sure they could navigate over country where they didn’t know every farmhouse occupant and his parents by name. They were diligent students with natural ability, and it was a pleasure taking them to licence standard. They were each granted their unrestricted private pilot licence on 15 February 1985.

Over the intervening 37 years between Lindsay getting his pilot licence in early 1986 and my ride to SA in May 2023, we had occasional contact. So I thought it was time for a catch up in person. I sent Lindsay a message suggesting we meet for a coffee during my ride across the top of the Eyre Peninsula to the west coast.

We certainly had that coffee and much more, starting with some delicious afternoon tea when I arrived on the farm. In addition, Lindsay and Anne extended warm and generous hospitality to me beyond all expectation. I spent two nights on the farm and a full day of being educated about the farm and seeding, which was underway 24/7 during my stay. It was very interesting. It’s been a while since I learned so many new things in a single day. I was very comfortably accommodated in the working man’s quarters, despite being a non-working man. It was most enjoyable to chat about our shared early flying days and the days Lindsay and Anne spent in Coober Pedy mining opal and running their charter business.

The farm has 13,000 acres most of which is planted and harvested each year. The annually rotated crops are wheat, barley, lentils, peas and canola. It’s a high tech operation and struck me as being run with great efficiency. The farm is located on the Goyder line. In layman’s terms the farm is situated on the northern perimeter of the zone of economically-arable land on the Eyre Peninsula. North of the farm lies the Gawler Ranges National Park. Wild goats from the park sometimes enter the fenced farming land. It takes a special breed of person to farm this land where dry years and droughts are a fact of life. Lindsay’s grandson is the fifth generation of this family to live and work on this farm. I thoroughly enjoyed my farm visit.

The following explanation of the Goyder line appeared on a blog post of mine about a motorbike ride I did to South Australia in May 2022: https://southernoceanblog.com/2022/05/02/motorbike-ride-to-the-flinders-ranges-south-australia/

Goyder drew his line in the 1860s after riding around the relevant areas on horseback. Satellite photos were close to a century away. I think he did a pretty good job, as assessed by the agreement between his line and a modern satellite photo showing the distribution of vegetation and desert. Despite its having been first drawn over 150 years ago, the term ‘Goyder’s line’ seems to have retained currency amongst farmers and other inhabitants of rural areas in South Australia.

The Eyre Highway between Port Augusta does not have a lot of curves. Its stretches across the northern Eyre Peninsula over land that is either flat or gently undulating. Either side of the road is a lot of scrub and red sandy soil. West of Ceduna the highway quickly gets flatter and straighter.

I turned off the Eyre Highway to the road shown in the large photo above, which is effectively the farm’s front drive. It was 4-5kms long, dead straight and there was only one farm house (with outbuildings) at the end.

With only one sentimental exception I could see, the machinery on the farm was state of the art and very well maintained. The sheds storing them were huge, as was the workshop area. Lindsay owns an aeroplane which can be comfortably accommodated in one of these sheds. He has a very adequate runway on the farm, and a second runway is under construction.

John Deere tractor pulling a new seeder. The tractor delivers 500hp with its 13 litre diesel engine. The seeder is 50 feet wide. The containers at the rear of the seeder carry seed, liquid fertiliser, granular fertiliser and fungicide, all of which are delivered into the soil with the seed. All up, 50 tonnes of equipment and product are being pulled by the tractor at 16kph. The seeding operation is highly automated, with GPS guiding the tractor for each run, and ensuring that the runs are all 8 inches apart. The driver manually turns the tractor at the end of each run assisting it to line up and commence the next run. The GPS is accurate to 2cm. Next year, seed will be planted in between the seed lines shown in the picture above – exactly half way between this year’s lines of seed.

The 50 tonnes of equipment, seed and product being towed during seeding. Sand wages battle with cropping and must be controlled. The middle picture above shows seed lines across sand. It is expected that something will grow in the sand but it will not be worth harvesting. However, that growth will contribute to holding the sand together so that over a number of years what is presently covered in sand will revert to being arable soil. The green tractor with the rubber tracks in the large picture above is towing a metal device to spread sand threatening to gather in a particular spot in a paddock – this is called smudging the sand. The top right picture shows seeding occurring in an area of the paddock where there has been a groundwater upwelling. It was soft and muddy. Uncontrolled a salt lake could eventually establish itself here. In this area, nature is not taking the arrival of farming lying down.

The two photos on top left show the Agrifac all crop sprayer. Its ground clearance is to accommodate spraying canola when it grows taller, but the machine is used to spray all the crops. In the top left photo, compare the size of this machine with my motorbike in the background. The two lower pictures above show the sentimental exception to the excellent modern equipment used on the farm. It’s a 1986 Volvo F86 truck which Lindsay bought when the Coober Pedy council decided to upgrade. It has done over 1m kms. In an epic journey after it was purchased, it was driven from Coober Pedy to the farm at Koongawa, with Anne driving a support vehicle following. Its current role is to carry chemical in a large tank for use on the crops.

This rusting relic sits in a corner of a paddock as a reminder of yesteryear. It’s a stick rake for collecting sticks off paddocks.

In 1969 a Cessna 206 carrying the pilot and 5 passengers crashed in a paddock on this farm in bad weather not suitable for visual flying. It had departed Ceduna and its destination was Parafield. The pilot and all passengers died in the crash. Most of the wreckage was removed, but some remains to this day. The pilot had a total of 187 hours flying time and was not trained or authorised to conduct this charter flight. The Department of Civil Aviation accident investigation summary stated by way of opinion as to the cause of the crash: “The probable cause of the accident was that the pilot, who was not qualified for instrument flight, lost control of the aircraft when he proceeded into weather conditions which deprived him of visual reference.” It was sombre experience to stand in the vast paddock where the wreckage lies and look around at the gently undulating terrain in all directions and imagine what the pilot was experiencing in his final moments. I can clearly envisage the sort of weather this pilot flew into, and the terrible predicament in which he briefly found himself. The wreckage lies where it landed, serving as a mute reminder to every pilot who sees it of the perils of flying in conditions of low or no visibliity without the appropriate training.

Sadly, this reamins an all too common cause of light aircraft crashes and fatalities in the modern era. During my career I was involved in a number of accident inquests and cases dealing with crashes of precisely this nature. I recall a Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (universally called BASI) investigator telling me that when investigators attend the scene of an accident caused by the pilot losing control of the aircraft through weather depriving him of visual reference, such attendance usually being the next day after the accident, the investigation is typically carried out under clear skies in perfect weather. The message of course being that the pilot only had to wait until the next day to avoid entirely the risk that killed him and his passengers.

L to R: Lindsay and his son Wes, who was just a toddler when his dad was learning to fly in Port Lincoln. They are third and fourth generation farmers on this land. Wes’s son Luke is continuing the tradition – a fifth generation member working on the farm.

Lindsay and Anne have done an interesting and very kind thing in maintaining the old farmhouse on their property for free use for an overnight stay by travellers with caravans or camping gear. The grounds are spacious. There is undercover parking. The house is historic, well furnished and equipped and very well maintained. The only security is trust. Advertising consists of the sign on the white tractor tyres at the entrance, and word of mouth. It is well used. The Eyre Highway is long. Driver fatigue is real. This rest-oasis has probably saved lives.

Big swell on a remote break on the edge of the Great Australian Bight

My ride down the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula to Coffin Bay then across to Port Lincoln coincided with the arrival of some perfect Southern Ocean swell. This is the subject of the immediately preceding post on this blog:

Big clean swell at a remote break on the Great Australian Bight May 2023

From a cliff on the edge of the Great Australian Bight I witnessed the longest barrel rides I have ever seen. The water was glassy and the swell was big. It was a privilege to be there.

My ride down the west coast also coincided with the tragic death of a local surfer who was taken by a shark while surfing with others at Walkers Rock Beach near Elliston. This death is not the first shark fatality on this coast.

Venus Bay to Port Lincoln

Between Ceduna and Coffin Bay is the beautiful small coastal town of Venus Bay. I spent two very relaxing nights here, accommodated once again by my generous farm hosts, this time in their holiday shack.

I arrived on this cliff top at Venus Bay overlooking the Southern Ocean as the sun was setting. I stayed there until the stars were visible on the eastern horizon. There are some good things about solo riding.

The view over the bay at dawn from the front deck of my accommodation in Venus Bay (a further act of generosity from Lindsay and Anne, and Wes and Karen).

Very inviting bay water. Clear and green with lots of fish. There were some reasonably solid currents running here. Venus Bay struck me as an iconically South Australia coastal settlement. It has progressed in entirely good ways from the tiny collection of shacks it was back in the late 1970s when I used to regularly fly over this coast.

West coast cameos. I’m sure the GS wondered what was happening with a roof over its head for the night. Luxury. While stayng here I had more than one meal at the general store. There was a most pleasant older lady serving there who always had a smile. On my last coffee there on the morning I left town, I told her I had enjoyed my stay. I added, “I’ll be back”. Quick as a flash she responded, “Don’t you threaten me!”. She could only hold the serious face for a second before having a chuckle.

W

The Elliston welcome sign and jetty.

Mount Greenly on the west coast not far north of Coffin Bay. I had my first high flights in a hang glider from this 650 foot hill when the westerly wind blew at an acceptable strength. This photo from the highway shows the eastern side of the hill. Great memories.

Port Lincoln

Lindsay and Anne accommodated me in the spacious and comfortable guest quarters building on this beautiful property in Port Lincoln.

I spent a further two nights in Port Lincoln, also in luxury, at the home of our good friend Pam. Lizzie and I have known Pam since the late 1970s. Pam and George invited me to sing a favourite song of theirs at their wedding (Carole King’s ‘You’ve Got a Friend’), which Liz also attended. Apparently James Taylor was too expensive, and in any event, not available. The lower picture is the view from the front deck.

I had the very great pleasure while in Port Lincoln of meeting Jack Davies and having a good long chat. He took me on a short tour of the marina in this electric boat, and also drove me to various points of interest around the town. The marina was just swamp when I lived in Port Lincoln in the 1970s. The canal residential area now boasts, among other things, this drawbridge for a pedestrian crossing.

Jack and I first learned of each other through photos and comments we posted on Instagram. Jack is a retired fisherman and an experienced and excellent photographer. Our choice of photographic subjects has some overlap in the natural wonders of the coastlines we live on. Jack also takes great portrait shots of interesting people going about their lives, or in moments of reflection (but not in a studio). If you are not famiiar with his work, I can recommend without hesitation that you check out his photos on his Instagram account @jackdavies48, and on his website at http://www.jackdaviesdiscovery.com

Lindsay’s immaculate Seneca III. Lindsay set up and ran an airline (Opal Air) in Coober Pedy for about 9 years from 2002. That charter flying business was sold but Lindsay still has an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) which entitles him to conduct commercial flights in his aircraft. He no longer does passenger charter work. But he is currently engaged to use the Seneca to conduct a fruit fly eradication program over the fruit growing areas in the Riverland. The biological control used is sterilised male fruit flies. They are dropped from the aircraft through a chute on the underside of the fuselage while the aircraft flies 500 feet above ground level at an airspeed of 120 knots. That must surely be the fastest any fruit fly has ever flown, and they probably dine out on the story of their arrival in the orchard, while keeping quiet their procreational incapacity. The flies are dropped at the rate of 3000 per hectare. The program has been closely monitored on the ground and has been very successful to date. Lindsay employes a commercial pilot, Hannah, to conduct this single pilot fruit fly eradication program. He also has a share in a Cessna 172 which he flies between the farm and Port Lincoln.

Lindsay kindly provided me with a flight over Port Lincoln harbour and town in his Seneca III, in the capable hands of his employee pilot Hannah.

Conditions were perfect. We flew around enjoying the scenery, the clear air, the figure 8s and repeated turns just for the fun of it in this beautiful aeroplane. Memories.

It’s been a while. Great to have a fly of this lovely aeroplane over the Port Lincoln area on such a beautiful day. Thanks Lindsay and Hannah. Flying and landing the aeroplane was a highlight of my SA motorbike ride.

Two beautiful machines in the one hangar. Alright, only one flies, but the other has exceptional taxying performance.

Malcom, a friend and fellow pilot from Port Lincoln from the late 1970s and early 1980s took me for a local flight in his RV9A. It has performance, comfort and looks. It also has a glass cockpit (with a few old school backup instruments). Malcom flew it around Australia. That would’ve been a great pleasure.

A few showers in the area. Functional dash panel and instrument arrangement. On final approach to runway 15 at Port Lincoln with Boston Island in the distance, and a cumulus cloud dropping some rain over the town.

Malcom and I visited the Port Lincoln Flying Club building to briefly revisit the past. I was a member for the five years I lived in SA between 1978-82, and I also worked there as a flying instructor, part time in 1981-2, and fulltime for a 3 month period once a year in 1984-6. We both have a lot of memories of this club and the people who have passed through it. My name is on the list of pilots trained there beside the date 20.2.81, which is the date I obtained my commercial pilot licence. There are names on both boards of pilots I trained to licence standard (commercial and private). We discussed names of pilots who were never seen again after getting their licence, pilots who went on to be QANTAS captains, pilots who spent a lifetime in GA after qualifying and pilots who have died. On the first of the two boards, in the right hand column the name B. Firth appears beside the date 2.10.68. Barry Firth obtained his licence in the club and went on to fly commercially in general aviation. For many years he operated a small airline out of his farm at Cummins and Tumby Bay, flying Eyre Peninsula locals to and from Adelaide. He was the chief flying instructor of the club for many years, including the periods I instructed there. He did my commercial pilot licence training, and was a flying mentor to me all his life. When he died in 2004 he had over 26,000 flying hours in his log book. That could well make him the most experienced pilot in the state at the date of his death.

Barry Donald Firth at the controls. This picture hangs on a wall at the Port Lincoln Flying Club rooms.

After Barry’s death in 2004, his service to aviation and to Eyre Peninsula communities for so many years was recognised by naming the main road from the Lincoln Highway into the airport after him. A truly fitting gesture.

My search for the Eastern Osprey

I first became aware of the eastern osprey in June 2021 when I spent six days on Thistle Island SA. I was hoping to see white-bellied sea eagles there (and was not disappointed). But I was fascinated by the story of the eastern osprey as a raptor living on fish, and as a species in need of ongoing protection.

In April 2022 I did a road trip along the north coast of NSW, actively searching for osprey (amongst other things). This mission succeeded when I spotted one on a clifftop in a tiny ocean bay in Arakoon National Park.

My next sighting of an osprey was in May 2022 on Sheringa Beach on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It was a brief sighting as the bird was soaring in strong gusty winds on the cliffs while searching for food, and kept on the move.

On a motorbike trip to SA in August 2022 I read about the flight routes of osprey (recorded by radio trackers fitted to some birds – see image on left immediately below) in areas where they were known to breed. Kangaroo Island was the area I chose as offering a good chance of finding one. At the Bay of Shoals, Kingscote SA August 2022 I had a false start with a bird I initially incorrectly identified as a young osprey which turned out to be a nankeen kestrel. I found the kestrel in an area near an offshore breeding platform established for osprey.

But after some patient waiting on the shore in sight of the breeding platform, I finally saw some nesting osprey. The platform was some distance offshore precluding clear shots with my camera, and I didn’t get any photos of these birds in flight.

Osprey (& an emu) at Lincoln National Park

Through a contact in Port Lincoln provided by my friend Pam where I was staying on this motorbike ride to SA, I was fortunate to speak to one of the Port Lincoln Osprey group members who very kindly and knowledgeably gave me directions to some locations where I could well see an osprey. One site was in the Lincoln National Park. Fran identified the exact location where there could well be an osprey, and after a drive and walk as directed, there it was! Thanks Fran. I later learned from Fran this bird was likely to be a female called Calypso or her mate. Unfortunately, the drive and walk to this site late in the day resulted only in three grainy and entirely unsatisfactory photos (see above the photo of the emu). But there was a feeling of satisfaction in having found an osprey by design rather than by relying on good luck.

The emu above was spotted in the Lincoln National Park drinking from a shallow roadside puddle. I know birds’ knees bend backwards, but I still find it interesting when I see it happen. You can see the water dripping from its beak. The drinking method was to put the lower beak at water level then lower it further while keeping it level until water flowed in and filled it. The bird would then raise its head and toss it back a little as it swallowed the water. It looked like a lot of work getting hydration in this manner from this very shallow puddle.

Osprey at Port Neill

As I drove north up the Lincoln Highway leaving Port Lincoln behind, with Adelaide and then home ahead of me, I decided on a bit of a whim to take the Port Neill turnoff. I had read of an osprey breeding platform there. My last chance in SA for sighting and photographing an osprey.

I looked at the street map on my GPS and decided to start at the boat ramp and work my way around the foreshore. At the boat ramp I met Kevin with his boat in the water at the ramp ready to go fishing. I asked him about the osprey platform and he told me it was no longer there. He seemed disappointed that it had gone, and I too was disappointed. Then after a brief pause he added, almost as a footnote, “But there’s a couple of osprey over there.” Indeed there were! In fact there were three. My pace quickened. My camera lens was soon pointing at a perched osprey. One was on a light pole and another on a navigation light on a pole. Kevin kindly delayed moving his boat to avoid scaring them, until I had taken a few photos. They were disturbed when the boat left, but not for long. They flew around and returned to my vicinity near the boat ramp repeatedly. I finally got my photos of some osprey.

These are my three favourite shots of osprey taken at Port Neill. Other photos I took that morning appear below.

Thanks Kevin. I have said many times on the blog that serendipity fuels my photography. Here it was, doing it again. I was very pleased to get these photos. Now to focus on finding some osprey diving and plucking a fish from the water. But that won’t be until my next ride to South Australia as there are no eastern osprey in Victoria (or Tasmania).

Running repairs beside the Lincoln Highway south of Port Augusta

Leaving Arkaroola, as I approached the airstrip, the body fairing beside the front left shock absorber started to detach from the body. Its front fastener was missing. I ‘secured’ the front of the fairing to the body with duct tape, anticipating it would hold until I returned home. It didn’t.

But duct tape has its limits. In this application it reached that limit after 1375kms, on the Lincoln Highway south of Port Augusta. It was there, at speed, that the duct tape failed and the fairing blew back through 180° and hit me on the leg. There were semi-trailers behind me and approaching me at the time so I couldn’t inspect for a moment or two. My immediate thought was that I’d collected some form of wildlife on the left side of the bike. But no, my newly ‘hinged’ fairing was just hanging on by its damaged rear attach points and wind pressure as it flapped against my leg. The motorbike could not be ridden in this state.

I parked on the RH side of the highway in my direction of travel because the camber on the road verge on the left sloped the wrong way (given my side stand is on the left) and would have seen the bike parked on its side-stand leaning to the left at an entirely inconvenient angle.

I roamed around the low scrub hoping to find a bit of fencing wire, or something else that would secure the fairing. First I came across a lengthy coil of fine wire lying in the sand. I thought multiple strands of this might do the trick. I tried to pick it up, but it to turned to rusty wire-crumbs and dust in my hand. Next I came across a small area of what appeared to be debris from a car accident or at least a car fire. There was some unidentified molten material, some shattered windscreen glass and other odds and ends, including a rusty spring.

The area between the road and the railway line consisted of hardy grass, saltbush, red soil and undisturbed traffic debris deposited there over many decades. I didn’t have any cable ties (zip ties) in my tool kit. But it’s likely the sharp edges of the hole in the fairing would have quickly cut through the cable tie due to normal vibration of the bike at speed.

The only faintly useful tools I had on board were two leatherman style tools – and duct tape of course. This gave me two pairs of pliers with which to attempt to cut and manipulate the spring to form a suitable fastener.

Demonstrating my lack of mechanical knowledge and skills, the first attempt at cutting off 3-4 coils of the spring saw the pristine cutter on the pliers doing the job easily, but the part I hoped to retain ricocheted off into the distance never to be seen again. Despite age and rust, this spring steel had lost none of its original properties. The second attempt produced the custom fastener shown above.

Anyway, it did the job and was still secure when I returned home. I added some duct tape to stop vibration between the fairing and the body. As an added precaution, I duct taped the rear of the fairing to the body.

The end of the wire bent over to hold it in place was such that it put a bit of tension on the spring against the fairing which held it very securely in place. Two people stopped to assist when I was tidying up after doing the repair. It was kind of them, and predictably, while both were in SUVs they were both motorbike riders.

I was not comfortable working on the road side of the bike with such fast heavy traffic (the speed limit was 110kph) flying past me at such close quarters. Every large semi going south that passed me caused me and the bike to rock uncomfortably. For the first time in my life, I would have welcomed 30 witches hats, and some speed restriction signs progressively slowing the intimidating highway traffic through 80kph, 60kph, 40kph and 25kph, and eventually back to 110kph. But my OHS skills are about as deficient as my mechanical skills. I didn’t even have a high vis vest to wear.

But I was on the move again, with the GS returned to its original number of smoothly moving parts.

I readily acknowledge my lack of mechanical skills, as evidenced by how pleased I was to simply find a bit of wire to hold the fairing on after it came loose.

The Ride Home

The mighty GS ticks over 250,000kms

I purchased the mighty GS new in 2008. It has never let me down and the engine has never sounded sweeter.

On a nondescript stretch of highway near Tailem Bend in SA the odometer ticked over to 250,000kms. There was a big pipeline one side of the highway, high tension powerlines crossing the road ahead and scruffy looking paddocks on both sides of the road. Nothing I would normally photograph. I had hoped the 250,000km milestone would be reached on a more scenic road in the Flinders Ranges for example, or in an area like that shown in the photo below taken as I neared Naracoorte. The large photo above of the bike against the backdrop of mountains was taken in the Flinders Ranges on a ride I did last year. The shot just captures something about the natural habitat of this machine, and the scenery is an entirely worthy backdrop for the ‘quarter of a million kms milestone’ formal portrait shot of the might GS.

Nearing Naracoorte en route between Adelaide and Penshurst in Victoria, my last overnight stop. The farms lining the road here just had a look about them that suggested this area was doing very well.

Overnight on a historic western district farm

I spent the last night of my ride in great comfort at the home of a good friend from my university days in the early 1970s. Peter collects and restores old cars. I lifted back the cover on one of my favourites.

Very brief video with sound

Peter lives in a historic farmhouse on his property between Dunkeld and Penshurst. The night was cold and I awoke to still air, fog and the muted call of a solitary bird I didnt see.

It was drizzling rain as I rode into Camperdown, and raining heavily as I left the bakery after a hot black coffee and a sustaining vanilla slice (both excellent). There were showers for most of the way from here to Apollo Bay.

The cool temperate rainforest of the Otway Ranges

I could not resist turning right down Turtons Track and parking after riding a km or two to be beyond hearing any traffic on the Forrest – Apollo Bay Road. As it was cold and wet there wasn’t much traffic on that road, and there was none at all on Turtons Track.

When I first started riding motorbikes my brother suggested I should stop and turn the engine off in these special places. It was good advice.

After 4000+kms of engine and wind noise, meeting a lot of people and moving at speed for much of the last 14 days I stood still, heard the soft subtle sounds of the rainforest and breathed the cool forest air that must be as pure and fragrant as air can possibly be. I felt very content. I rode the short distance home at a relaxing pace savouring the last few kms of my ride.

The mountain ash cathedral of many spires.

Home again

Home at last. Great to see Lizzie and Magpie. The mighty GS had earned a few days off after carrying me safely through so much on this wonderful 4070km adventure. I feel affection for this machine.

I heard during this ride that the Gawler Ranges north of the Eyre Peninsula is a wild and remote place with dirt roads leading to all sorts of interesting places. Time to buy some maps and start planning.

This May 2023 solo ride was my seventh ride to the Flinders Ranges on the GS. The earlier rides were in August 2022 (solo), April 2022 (with Andrew), April 2021 (solo), May 2017 (with Noel), June 2015 (with Noel) and November 2009 (solo).