Day of the big snore
Can it get any better that this? On the Gun Barrel in 6th gear with the throttle on the limiter. (5th gear for the not so fortunate on the EXC's)
An epic day indeed. After the usual Hyatt quality breakfast banquet we packed the cars for the 3rd time and just realised we had our first real drama!!!!! We were all ready to break camp when Troy, 690 Pilot #1 radioed to his squadron leader Matt, that he had lost his glove and could not proceed any further without it! Matty seeing the urgency grouped the team into a grid pattern and meticulously searched the area with the aid of his newly acquired Hema GPS on backtrack and extracted the lonely Fox dirt paw from a meat ants nest.
The guys were so eager to hit the Gun Barrel, it was infectious. This is where Statts low rider rear end, chopper style 400EXC was going to shine, or would it? Statt truly believed that both 690 pilots were going to throw in the towel and he would tow them to the safety of the Nissans.
At around the 200km mark from our overnight camp we stopped at Mingol Camp for lunch and what a cracker of a spot. A beautiful creek, a shelter and 3 wire bed frames to sleep on if you need to. Cold salad sandwiches thanks to our Chef Tony and an icy can of coke for lunch, and we are off to refuel at speed for Carnegie Station. After swallowing 15-20 flies each and filling up with fuel we asked the nice lady how the road was going East. “Well it has not been graded since1991 and is bumpy at times and the other side of the Wiluna Shire sign is just plain hell” The look in Scotts eyes (even behind the gold aviator style goggles) was similar to him holding his first born for the first time, tears of joy. We all rolled out, took some pics of the Gun Barrel Hwy signs and as we rounded the bend trying to catch Scotty and we hit the Gun Barrel head on………It was awesome,,,,,,,heavy sand, ridiculous wash outs, ruts, bull dust and every other obstacle one would hope for. We just loved it. The track got a little better about 20 kms out, and when we all regrouped we all hoped this is what it would be like for the next 200 kms, except for the STIG on board the USS Missouri. Shaymo was feeling the heat, seems the ballast tanks on the big girl were at max capacity and he sensed the danger. We could also see the danger overhead, seems even the 12 Wedge Tail eagles above sensed the inevitable and circled constantly above the Tenere skipper. This could only end in tears. (They circled us for the next 3 days)
About 40kms from Carnegie we hit the end on the Wiluna shire and the Gun Barrel from here on didn’t disappoint. Gnarly corrugations, insane washouts, square edge ledges and fauna everywhere. All of these obstacles while carrying speed can only result in pain, and yes “Man Down” was the sound carried across our channel 20 on the UHF’s. Shaymo miss read a deep sand creek crossing at pace and he was ejected on the hard stuff. Shaymo not sure what the fuss was about lifted the big girl from the deck for the first of a couple times today. We got rolling again, took some great photos and video and settled into a ride that would hopefully never end.
It was getting late in the day and we headed for Mungilli Clay pan for the nights camp. We rounded the long left hand corner and arrived at Mungilli Clay Pan and were surprised to see how much water was still around. We stopped at the water’s edge and seeing where the track started again some 500 meters across the lake we sensed a water crossing was imminent. Not all the boys shared Robbos enthusiasm and a slight detour around the water and a perfect campsite was found.
Robbo did his first oil change for the trip while the beverages and h’ordervers were served. Robbo mentioned that bike preparation is key, but Statt was on his 3rd tinny by now and pretended not to hear the good advice and scoffed of any suggestion the mighty 400 needed anything more than a good side stand at the moment.
Bikes: Everyone enjoying the ride, just a few lay downs to report
690’s, A few hesitant moments through the insane washouts, but loved the wide open sandy sections
530 and 400, These bikes were made for this, a shame there is so many transport kms to get to these places.
Cars: Making extremely good time for the conditions. Don’t let this end!
Scotty at the entrance to Carnegie Station
Not bad we are making good progress
Fuelling up at Carnegie Station
Statts getting frustrated at the 1,000,000,000 flies
Bloody flies
Scott wasnt even taking his helmet off for fear flies would go into his nostrils
Lunch at Mingol Camp
Abstract stuff
Lunch by the creek
Pope Well
How Lovely!
