Left Halls Creek & we were soon on a rough winding gravel road, heading East, which soon changed to a better road & then equally quickly bad corrugations..bad enough to loosen your fillings. Riding on the very edge of the road seemed smoother but this had its own challenges as suddenly it could turn into soft sand or a large pothole. Keeps you on your toes!
After a while we experienced smooth long straights but even these were variable with the odd rough patch.
Around 11am we stopped under a Coolibah ? tree to eat our service station sandwichs & take a break. Shortly after getting going again,we met 2
graders so the road improved where they had been working.100kms later, I experienced a rear puncture on my bike. Taking the wheel out we found a decent size nail had been in & out & as well as puncturing the tube has damaged the inside of the tyre. We put a tube patch inside the tyre to stop the jagged edge of the hole wearing out the new tube.
Refitted the tyre (great work Brenton & Ian) & I refitted to the bike. another 100kms of variable straight wide red
We reached Kalkarindji at 4.30 just before the store closed. The Sports Club was not open due to a funeral, so we bought sausages for a BBQ & some pizza. This is a no alcohol town except at the club - but closed. Had an interesting chat with the store & camp ground manager. He manages the facilty for who manages quite a few similar places. The store and campground are owned by the local who get 25% of the profits. He says this is the best Aboriginal town he has worked in and has no crime due to the Community having strict rules over miscreants. Works well he says but very brutal. 2 young guys caught breaking into road train trailer recently were handed over by the Police elders who dealt with them.He says rest assured they wont break the law again. He respect & has been given a skin name equivalent to honorary title so is under protection leaders. This area is Culrandi ? Where original Aboriginal rights movement started. The people
are considered to be desert people (northern Tanamai desert) and can exist on just about nothing. They go into the desert with virtually nothing & survive for weeks and back having caught & slaughtered a feral beast. They survive moneywise on government payments plus annual royalty payments from mining etc. There is a population here of around 500, none of whom work. When they get their payouts they spend all of it immediately, as they have no concept of saving and in any event they know there is another next week
We left Kalkarindji after a petrol pump false start as the card function was non functioning. After a couple of resets we fueled up, headed out for 170kms on a single track sealed road to Top Springs for brunch & gas. This is as remote as you could imagine with a gas pump & pub & nothing else. Then onward another 230kms east on a straight straight gravel road with the odd patch of soft sand to keep you on alert. We arrived at Daly Waters Pub. Met Bryan
here who had ridden 3200km over the last week from Towoomba where he had picked up his new Yamaha Tenere T7. Daly Waters is a traditional Aussie Pub that has basically taken over the small town with a massive camping ground, Donga & a huge outdoor eating area. The pub is deliberately kept basic with heaps of interesting memorabilia in the pub & even crashed helicopters & planes parked outside. Well marketed with hundreds of people on road trips drinking, eating & staying there. The swimming pool was a activity on a hot afternoon. Live Country style music & discussion with an Aussie couple on a Caravan road trip made for a pleasant evening.
Left Daly Waters after a roadhouse breakfast & gassing up. Mainly single track seal in a straight line for the trip East for 270kms.
