Camping with Chris

• By: RTWPoker
• On: 03/10/2010 16:47:59
• In: Australia
• Comments: 0

Camping with Chris....

Well it's been an adventure and I don't have much time for blog entrys so if you want to see better news coverage you should definitely visit Chris Barnecut's blog at thelongestfriday.com

He took the pictures that I have posted and he definitely tells a better story. 

Leaving Alice Springs with my new untested camping gear it began to rain. Actually pour or sheet down in waves that would make a drive through car wash envious.  And did I say we were going camping? bush camping? in the outback?

Why park at a campsite where you have to pay for unneeded services like water, showers or toilets?  Fortunately for me, my tent held up and kept me dry.  My new ultra small ultra light sleeping bag worked a charm.  My $9 foam mattress was a bit of a bust.  Note to self,  spend a bit more on a foamy and get a better night's sleep.

King's Canyon was pleasant, bugs galore. They have bugs there that can stand flat footed and fuck a turkey.  You can't take a piss without a cricket landing on your pecker.  On the bright side the Mossys weren't bad.

My mind is a blur and it is on to Uluru.  Ayres Rock was worth the price of admission ($25 entry and about $2000 in gas to get here).  Really quite impressed with a big rock in the middle of nowhere.  We were not allowed to climb it so we drove around the tarmac at race speeds taking videos for Chris.

After a night at the Ayers Rock Resort we pushed offroad down the Great Central Road.

Roadhouses can be the only stops for gas for 300km and the first one we came across was closed on Sunday.  The riding was relatively straight forward but the challenge for the Big Katoom has always been fuel range and I was already carrying an extra 13 liters in plastic gas cans.

We eventually got to Warburton where we organized fuel food and water for our gun barrell assault.

After sticking the bike in the dirt about 5 times in soupy sand and bull dust it was time to park for the night.  The bike had not been dropped since a water crossing in Panama's San Blas jungle so this was a big day for man and machine.

We had gotten on the Gun Barrell and were 165 km down a 500 km offroad adventure but I had already burned 13 of a total 32 liters of OPAL gas.  My math was a little foggy after 5 get - offs but I figured  I was going to have to walk the last 50km if we continued.

We returned to Warburton the next morning and 25 km out my front tire went flat.  Chris pumped me up with his new compressor that I WAS PRIVILEGED TO HAVE BOUGHT HIM and with a top up every 10 km we limped back to WaRBURTON.

If Chris can keep it out of the trees and out of the rain crevasses he should be fine.  He likes a challenge and thrives on testing himself on moto, hanging from a parasail and in life. 

Lessons Learned for me - New gear required for future expeditions...

In hindsight I was wrong about the gear required for this particular adventure .  Bottom line is travelling light is a lot more fun for moto and pilot until you break down.  When faced with the adversity of mechanical challenges in remote areas you realize very quickly how far up shit creek without a paddle you are.

If you camp, you add weight.  When you camp, you tend to go places that are not immediately serviceable by dealer networks and wifi hubs.  The gloves are really off when the nearest paved road is 600km plus from where you have broken down.

The outback is not just out back.  It is really way out back.  A few things I recommend for my next real bush camping adventure whether it be Far North in North America, Africa or Siberia, Mongolia.

Substantial back rack upgrade. Wider platform can keep top weight lower.

Spare tube or tubes.
Tire pump, Compressor or gas cylinders.
Patch kit.
Tire irons.
Tire goop.
Gas stowage system. Water stowage system.
Camp stove.
Tank bags.
Tank Panniers.
Crash pan enhancement..

Here I was stuck in one of the most desolate and remotest places on the planet without a spare tube. I had been tenting but after surviving my little peice of the Gun Barrell I needed to sleep in a bed after 7 nights of camping.

The next day I rode solo west out of town on a tube patched by a local motocrosser and my tire went flat about the same place it went flat on the way into town the previous day.  I limped back to Warburton on my flat front tire and checked back in to a luxury suite for another night.

Up shit creek without a paddle.  I had hauled spare tubes with me from Victoria to Buenos Aires and from Sydney to Cairns but when I got new tires in Cairns my tubes got replaced by my spares and my used tubes were in fairly rough shape so I tossed them without thinking and was riding naked.  Lesson learned, always have a back-up when you are 600 km to the nearest pavement.

 Problems were solved by Mark the plumber and his Mazda truck (Much appreciated Mark!).  The Big Katoom got hauled backwards to Alice Springs (about 1000 km east) when I could not arrange a solution to go 600km west.  It turns out that sometinmes a truck only comes to Warburton once a week so I could not pass up on this opportunity.

Getting a spare tube brought in was thwarted by a guys health problems and instead of sitting at the luxurious roadhouse I jumped at the opportunity to get moving.  From Alice I drove north to Darwin on heavy duty tubes and a new front tire.  I now have a pump, spare tubes, goop to patch leaks, patches to patch holes and CO2 cyulinders to fill tires.

 And I will never, ever run my tires with less than 20 psi even if more experienced overlanders recommend I do.  Flat tires are a pain in Warburton.  Next time I have a flat I may not be able to fix it but I will sure have lots of new kit to attempt repairs with.  It's an adventure....Thanks Chris, for introducing me to the Gun Barrell.