Tibooburra Destress Mission

This entry is part 4 of 19 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #45

A rotation of shifts had Hopper’s wife at home more than usual and the normally high level of marital bliss was under pressure. Permission was granted for a few days riding to destress.

Newcastle shrunk in the rearview mirrors as the luggage-laden 790R left the city behind. It was 7.00am, 12 degrees, and a cold wind blew as I headed west.

I normally did this trip on a long weekend, but on this occasion, being a normal working day, I didn’t have the worry of double demerits and traffic was a lot heavier than I was used to. It stayed that way until I turned onto the Golden Highway just before Singleton.

The 380km to Dubbo was normally easily within the range of the standard 20-litre tank, but on this day, riding into a headwind, I was surprised at the increase in fuel consumption and needed a top up at Dunedoo.

The customary stop at Dubbo’s PK Bakery for coffee and a pie rose to new heights as I walked through the door the lady already had a fresh cream turnover on a plate for me.

Author Hopper and the luggage-laden 790R left the city behind.
Apart from the work needed to clean the bike, it was a successful destress.

Old favourite

The temperature had soared to 10 degrees as I left Dubbo and cruised on to Warren for more fuel before finally hitting the dirt.

The council had taken advantage of recent rain to do repairs and maintenance, and with most people in lockdown for the previous few months tracks hadn’t been used much. There was plenty of water around, but the dirt roads were in excellent condition. Some mud sections needed care. Most had an easy detour, but at speed I some-times didn’t have time to divert, and that caused a few hairy moments.

Another positive of the recent rain was there being hardly any wildlife lingering around the road edges waiting to dart across at the last moment.

Bourke emerged from the red desert and the Port Of Bourke Hotel offered a good feed and plenty of travellers to mingle with.

There was plenty of water around.

Stick the nose in

It was quite fresh leaving Bourke at 8.00am the next morning heading to Louth. The road was good, and, surprisingly, there were no ’roos.

There were plenty of goats and emus though, and they’re definitely not the smartest of animals.

I met up with Gary Grey. Gary had ridden from Cobar on his 690 fitted with a Series 3 Hard Kit, and we swapped mounts as we headed towards Wanaaring on Wangamana Road. Gary was contemplating moving up to the ‘big’ league and wanted to try the 790. I’d owned a 690 myself, so I was happy to be back in the smaller-bike saddle, especially on a bike fitted with a Hard Kit. The things that struck me most on the 690 were the amount of wind buffeting and the lack of Steg Pegz, and when Gary eventually stopped he agreed the wind protection on the 790 was a lot better, and he liked the front suspension.

Conditions deteriorated on the main Bourke-Wanaaring Road and there were some very average sandy sections. I’d pushed the fork legs up through the triple clamps in an attempt to lower the bike a little, but hadn’t realised the adverse effect this would have. The change in weight bias towards the front of the bike was very noticeable and didn’t make riding sand any easier.

The track came out on the Silver City Highway. Hopper (right) and Cobar gentleman, Gary ‘Eyebrows’ Grey.

Splashdown

A break at the Wanaaring store meant time to meet the new owners, Cath and Colin. We checked out their barista and toastie skills and shed a few layers before mounting up again.

The roads west of Wanaaring had only recently opened after being closed due to the rain, and it was quite deceiving trying to pick water on the road. Several times we’d slowed down thinking water was across the road, only to find it was just red sand turning to a white-sand base. Then, as we cruised along on a long, white, sandy section, I failed to pick the water across the road until I was in it. Riding those sections was just like being on ice. In one section I held it for a while, then went side-ways, then went face-first in the drink. Thankfully the water wasn’t very deep, just bitterly cold. I’d done a 180-degree turn and Gary, following at a distance, was left wondering why my headlight was pointing back at him.

Fortunately, I was wet but okay.

Gary found it very amusing.

The Port Of Bourke Hotel offered a good feed and plenty of travellers to mingle with.

Pub grub

At a T-junction about 30km from Tibooburra we met with the road to Adelaide Gate.

Normally on a ride like this one Cameron Corner would be my destination, but with Queensland travel restrictions it wasn’t allowed. That meant we had time to explore, so we opted to do the Jump Up Gully Track, an extra 50km so, and that meant some fuel concerns for me. Gary had the supertanker so we decided to give it a go. It was a great run out through Mount Wood homestead where some ruts, washouts and sand made things interesting, but quite doable, on the big bikes. The track came out on the Silver City Highway and the road to Olive Downs, and we rolled into TJ’s Roadhouse at Tibooburra with one litre of fuel left, and everything but my undies had dried out.

Having a sophisticated gentleman from Cobar with me meant we booked into motel rooms and unpacked in comfort.

I changed the Rottweiler Performance Power plate I’d fitted recently and was very pleased. It was heaps easier to change than the 1190 prefilter socks I’d been using and much more effective at keeping the dust out. I’d also fitted filters in the rubber teats at the bottom of the airbox.

We shared a few yarns with fellow travellers and had a few ales and a good feed at the pub to finish the day.

Hopper battling the Paroo River.

Wife hi

Egg-and-bacon rolls with strong coffee at the Tibooburra servo were a heartstarter the next morning.

We were keen to avoid the now fully sealed Silver City Highway, so we headed 160km back towards Wanaaring then onto Monolon Road to White Cliffs. The track was generally good, but there was still plenty of water around and over the road. Most of the creek crossings were quite shallow, and of course the only one I didn’t slow for had several feet of water which left me saturated.

We only just made the White Cliffs servo.Normally on cold days the one-stop shop had a pot of soup on the go, but not on this particular cold day, so we had to settle for a piece of quiche (no need for any comments about real men and quiche, thank you).

The Paroo River six weeks previously.

Six weeks before, three of us had done a similar ride and found the Paroo River flowing with a good 60cm of water. As more rain had fallen, Gary and I opted for plan B: Mandalay Road and the Wilcannia-Wanaaring Road. There were plenty of cattle and sheep to contend with, and as we topped up with fuel the servo attendant told us both roads to Tilpa were closed.

That wasn’t good news. Luckily, a couple in a normal sedan overheard and told us they’d just come from Tilpa and the road was open and fine. It turned out it was freshly graded and the best dirt road of the trip (so much for local knowledge, Mr Servo-attendant).

We grabbed fuel at Tilpa as the Louth pub and servo was closed, then crossed the mighty Darling River with more water in it than had been seen for some time.

Louth came and went and, with just shy of 800km on the odos for the day, we rolled into Cobar and booked into the Copper City Motel and enjoyed a great feed and evening with Gary and his much better half.

Bourke, and the first day done.

Until next time

A frosty six degrees opened the next morning and made for the coldest start of the ride. Alone again, I thrummed along the Barrier Highway towards Nyngan for 40km then onto the dirt to Nymagee, Bobadah, Tottenham and along backroads to Narromine, taking several shortcuts which, true to form, weren’t short at all.

They were a lot wetter than expected, too, with major bog hazards. Getting off the big girl several times to push in first gear was hard work.

On to Dubbo Bakery I went for lunch, then back on to the Golden Highway with cruise control doing its thing. A triple-caffeine hit at Dunedoo maintained levels of alertness before I ran straight through to Newcastle to complete a 760km day.

All up I covered 2950km over the four days, and apart from the work needed to clean the bike, it was a successful destress.

I was ready to face the hazards of married life until my next release hearing.

Hopper and Gary stayed inside NSW but covered plenty of distance.