BMW Safari Enduro – No bull! No wait…

This entry is part 4 of 16 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #19

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‘From Streaky Bay to Broken Hill!’ the cry echoed across the land. Around 110 BMW riders and supporters answered the call and measured themselves against the challenge of the GS Safari Enduro.

Streaky Bay in South Australia is on the coast of the Eyre Peninsula. Tourism material shows clean, clear water, sunshine and so many shiny happy people it’s a wonder all those smiles can fit in the tiny ocean-front town.

The residents may have been smiling on July 24 when the Safari kicked off, but it would’ve been difficult to tell. After a great deal of rain leading up to that day, and low temperatures combined with a wind that must’ve been blowing straight in from the Antarctic, any smiles were hidden behind layers of scarves and wet-weather gear.

That didn’t matter to the BMW riders. Their smiles were in place – possibly due to frozen facial muscles – and under an overcast sky and with a with a few light raindrops here and there, an optimistic and excited bunch checked route sheets, loaded GPSes, or just followed everyone else. The 30 or so who’d done the pre-Safari training were busting to put their new-found skills into practice, and the more seasoned riders were busting to just get riding.

So began a 2000km journey heading north through some of Australia’s most remote, isolated and uninhabited terrain. This was to be a ride where the extremes of Australia would be on show.

The remoteness was offered as a feature for riders to look forward to at the briefing, but about an hour into the first day many riders had eyes poking out on stalks as they negotiated the slippery, wet, dirt roads, desperately trying to see through the misty rain and stay upright. As an added bonus for those on GS models rather than GSAs, the first fuel was 300km away, which is about the range of a GS if it’s getting a bit of throttle.

It wasn’t all wet and slippery leaving Streaky Bay, SA, to start the event. Some of it was wet and sandy. Adam Rotzinger made his way north.

A happy group of BMW riders and supporters posed for a group pic at Rawnsley Park.

Crikey! Riders weren’t allowed panniers or large loads. The luggage truck took most of the gear. Getting to and from the event was a different story, though.

Arriving at Coober Pedy at the end of the first day, Gary Buttery, Sydney, Julian Hofer, Central Coast NSW, and Dave Boulter, Melbourne, grabbed a couple of pics.

Some crazy lines criss-crossed the slippery bits and there were fragments of colourful language here and there, but Kingoonya saw a happy crew lined up for lunch and fuel, already chattering excitedly about all they’d seen. A few had exhausted their fuel within pushing distance of the bowser, much to everyone’s amusement – except the people doing the pushing.

From Kingoonya to the opal-mining town of Coober Pedy was another 300km or so that included riding some amazing iron-ore country and a curious property called The Twins. It had missiles and a bomb shelter. The missiles weren’t on display as we arrived and there was no-one about, so we missed them. Riders arriving a little later got to check them out though. The projectiles and shelter were all due to the proximity of the Woomera Test Range.

After 600km the entire field rolled in to Coober Pedy in high spirits, busting to get sightseeing and enjoy hot showers before learning what the second day had to offer.

Easy does it

One of the best features of the Safari Enduro is the way there’s always time to enjoy the amazing places the event visits.

It doesn’t get much more amazing than Coober Pedy – although Arkaroola and Rawnsley Park might qualify – and with only 423km planned for the second day riders had the chance to check out the town. Safari organisers had set up some good deals for participants, including a visit to an underground opal mine for just a fiver.

From Coober Pedy the Safari was set to get seriously remote, so riders stowed the provided lunches into backpacks and headed up the famous Oodnadatta Track to the equally famous William Creek Hotel, the site of fuel, cold drinks, snacks and great coffee.

The rain had been left far behind but it was still just a little chilly as riders continued up the Oodndatta Track to their first view of Lake Eyre, and, a surprise inclusion, a ‘creative’ festival called Burnout.

Mick Harvey fuelled his big-tanked 800 ahead of the queue at William Creek.
From left: Grant Evans, Miles Davis and Sophia Evans. An excellent management team.
Now that’s a serious support truck! Damn! Greg Murdoch punted the truck through some very tough terrain.
Peter Rautenbach was try-ing to enjoy a sausage roll at Blinman store when we caught up with him. The Sydneysider was a good sport. His sosso roll was cold and softdrink warm by the time we’d fin-ished with him, but he kept smiling.

Burnout was…um…how can we put this…‘interesting’. Dreadlocks, humungous, industrial-sized sculptures and whale noises made a colourful contrast to the brooding desert at Planehenge. Dick Smith himself paid a visit and had a chat to the guides.

The night’s stop was Muloorina campground, the headquarters for Sir Donald Campbell’s attempt at the world land speed record in the 1960s. California Superbike School technical director Steve Brouggy mistimed a chicane near the entry gate and ended up with a sprained ankle that had him in the support vehicle for the rest of the week, but that worked out well when Mick Ryan’s bike blew its shock. Travelling tech Ben Pettit was keen to swap the shock from Steve’s bike to Mick’s, but Steve was good enough to just swap bikes, and that meant everyone was free to enjoy Muloorina.

It didn’t look as though the pristine natural habitat in the campground had been disturbed much since time began, and, as always, the catering and facilities were superb. A massive pasta bake was dished up to hungry riders and everyone was full as fools by the time an unexpected, but surprisingly large, fireworks display exploded into life on the banks of the dam.

When the BMW people decide to do a ride, they don’t miss a single thing. It was frigging amazing.

Serious

It may seem we’ve glossed over the first couple of days, but there’s no shortchanging Arkaroola. It’s one of the world’s standout adventure destinations and the Safari’s arrival marked a very high point of an already astonishing tour. Farina ruins made for great historic viewing on the way, and thanks to some excellent routing by the Grant Evans and the ride leaders, the route included a run through a fairly challenging loop that cleared away any cobwebs for the aggressive members of the group looking to hook in.

The bright-red rocks towered over the roads and resort, and riders were in real danger of neck injuries just from trying to swivel their heads around and see everything.

Fortunately the Safari was scheduled to spend two nights there, and that gave the opportunity for maintenance, laundry, and best of all, the best and most challenging riding of the whole event.

Hoo-ah! There was one little five-kilometre loop called ‘Station Backtrack’ that sorted the wheat from the chaff and
the round front wheels from the square ones. The longer Gammon Ranges National Park loop set new levels of spectacularness (too bad if we made that word up. It suits the scenery).

Sand

Riders helping each other was a big and very enjoyable facet of the Safari.

On the day spent at Arkaroola itself there was a tough and scenic loop which included a delightful, dry, rocky river bed. The riders had to cross the riverbed several times, and that was interesting, but the sections where they needed to ride along the loose rocks for a while, following the river’s direction… well…didn’t that cause some laughter and hilarity! There were a few falls and some unkind comments about the ancestry of the route setters, but everyone made it through okay and all was smiles at the end.

Arkaroola allowed a great deal of relaxation and sightseeing, while at the same time threw up the most challenging riding of the event. The area is rocky, and while the crags, cliffs and valleys make for breathtaking stops, they meant riders had to be on their game to avoid mishaps.

Stony trails made up a big part of the challenge, especially rocky uphills leading to absolutely astonishing and heartbreaking views, but a second, less-challenging loop offered some relief…sort of.

A short run of 60km or so out to Lake Frome offered a far more relaxing, rock-free jaunt. Except there was sand. Deep sand.

The actual ‘deep’ sand was only a very short section of maybe 50 or 60 metres, but it caught out a lot of riders. Bikes went down like a Census website and, once again, it was uplifting to see riders helping each other through. There was a great deal of leg-pulling and joking as groups formed to lift bikes and get riders going again. The soft landings meant no injuries and no real bike damage, so it was all good.

Lake Frome looked suspiciously like Lake Eyre, but the ride out and back was brilliant, and everyone was keen to soak up as much of the amazing outback as possible. Who knew when there’d be another opportunity to ride to places as isolated as these?

All the way from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Bob Chua selemat pagied through the course on his F800GSA. “I’m a religious reader of your magazine,” said Bob in an obvious – and successful – attempt to get his picture in the mag.
Ben Pettit stood in for Safari regular Craig ‘Benno’ Bennett. Ben made sure everyone had the very best of technical support, from spare bike batteries through to emergency repairs. Got a sharp eye for front-wheel damage, has Ben. AdvRiderMag’s editor was the offender.
A quick snack stop suited Condo’s Matt Lewis before he hit one of the hard options. Matt’s living in Broken Hill at the moment, so he was ‘headin’ home’.
Paul Nettleton fair fanged his 800 through the hills around Arkaroola. The 50-year-old from Melbourne sure seemed to be enjoying himself.

Last night

Some riders may have felt that anything following Arkaroola could only be an anticlimax, but they were soon climaxing all over the place. There can’t be too many places in the world to rival Arkaroola for incredible, remote majesty, but Rawnsley Park Station is one of them, and it was the destination for the final night in the Flinders.

Arkaroola to Rawnsely was only 268km, but the section included more incredible, National Geographic-standard scenery and a lunch stop at Blinman, a favourite destination for all Flinders Ranges’ travellers. The tiny village served up amazing choices for lunch, covering everything from big steak feeds through to scones with Quandong jam and all stops in between. The barista meant the shop was a very popular place.

From Blinman the route took in the Brachina Gorge and Bunyeroo – both of which would have David Attenborough in tears of rapture – before skirting the monumental Wilpena Pound and arriving at Rawnsley Park Station itself. The short day meant riders had time to enjoy scenic helicopter rides, change tyres or just sit around trying to come to grips with the impossibly wonderful riding they’d done so far.

Not over yet

The final day from Rawnsley Park Station to Broken hill looked to be a bit of a doddle.

The last 100km or so was bitumen, and the dirt sections didn’t seem too threatening after all the group had conquered so far.

The whole day was only 352km.

It’s funny how things often aren’t as they seem.

First up the lead riders, Grant Evans and Craig Bernard, made an early start to get the arrows up and clear the track. Even though the field was told not to leave before about 8.30am, that meant the lead riders leaving as early as they dared.

Unfortunately, the first real incident came about when Craig Bernard collared a ’roo about 30km into the first section, and resident, ridin’ medic Dr John had to swing into action. Despite being a tough bastard – and a nice bloke – Craig ended up with a broken collarbone. He never stopped smiling though, and after a visit to the Broken Hill hospital showed up at the dinner and raged on with everyone else

No sooner was Craig sorted and on his way than Wayne Litzow nailed a bull.

Yes, a bull. A big, bovine poo machine that unloaded its fragrant bowels all over poor Wayne. He finished up unhurt, but his bike was a bit how’s-your-father. No-one’s sure how the bull ended up. He gathered his pride and wandered off.

Andrew Connors wore the mile-wide grin of a bloke who’d just tackled six serious days and made the finish. It was smile that’d still be in place when he arrived back in his hometown of Dapto.
The tyre guys – Stuart Tait and Tony Williams – were kept hard at work from start to finish. They did an unbelievable job.
Kalabity Station turned on fantastic service. While the bikes were fuelled from 44s, Maggie, Jemma, Xanthe and Zoe provided tea, coffee and biscuits. All proceeds from snacks and fuel went straight to the RFDS.

RFDS thank you

This was another day with a long section between refuels. The route sheet said 352km, but the folks at Kalabity Station threw some 44s on a pallet, and for a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, a few litres were pumped into the bikes with small tanks. The children of the station ran a stall offering tea, coffee and biscuits, and it became one of the favourite stops of the whole six days.

Aside from those little mishaps on the last day, everyone rolled into Broken Hill, tired, dirty and justifiably proud of themselves. It may well have been a beautifully organised, superbly run event – special thanks to Grant and Sophia Evans, Dave Coop in the Allianz support vehicle and the tech and tyre guys for making it happen – but there was so much more going on than just great riding and once-in-a-lifetime destinations. Aside from everything else that was fantastic about the 2016 BMW GS Safari Enduro was the ongoing support for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A bucket was passed around at briefings and over dinners, and aside from generous donations a few tongue-in-cheek fines were happily paid by offenders who were judged at fault by jeering, cheering peers, and of course the cash raised by the folks at Kalabity Station was chucked in to the pot.

Blue-ribbon service at Kalabity Station. All proceeds to the RFDS

At the end of a glorious, amazing, awesome week, a tidy $4300 was handed over the RFDS.

Adventure riding just doesn’t get much better than that.

It’s Ol’ Mate Iain Murray! We’d ridden with Iain before, and he’s a bloke who loves a good laugh. He was up for a chat at Kalabity Station on the final day.
Craig Bernard, happiest lead rider ever, hit a ’roo on the morning of the final day while clearing the course. A broken collarbone was the result. He’s a tough bugger, though. We bet he’s back on a bike before this story’s even written.

Chris Reed scooted over from Perth, his 800 well loaded up, and stopped to check out the Burnout festival. Artists and creative types cut loose with music and sculpture in the middle of nowhere. Chris wasn’t the only one feeling a little confused at what it was about.
Dr John Smith, medic for the ride, had a pretty easy run…until the final day.