A good number of the group were well organised for breakfast cereal today after having the opportunity to shop at Winton yesterday while I was enjoying Longreach. As usual everyone was up and ready to go very early in the day, but today I wasn't in a rush. It wasn't far to Mt Isa and I decided to take it easy and spend some time wit Cuz and the Smurfster.
They needed fuel and the BP Roadhouse at Winton was open for breakfast early so we went there. The others had offered to wait for us, I told them we'd catch up which was a good thing because they must have taken the time to breed the chooks they got my eggs for my breakfast from before delivering it to the table. We did though, have the opportunity to catch up with the two HOGs from Wagga again..funny blokes!
Back on the road the first scheduled stop for fuel was Kynuna and if it was open the group intended to stop briefly at the Blue Heelers pub (it wasn't open). Fuelling up at Kynuna was an experience. There were 10 or more Harleys from another chapter lined up at three pumps, only two delivered premium unleaded. There were another 8 or so bikes parked, their riders inside ordering breakfast and not long after we arrived another 8 or so Harleys joined the fuel queue. It became apparent that the attendant would not reset the bowser until the fuel was paid for. On one of the pumps there had been confusion and it wasn't being reset. The result was obvious. Cuz, the Smufster and I positioned our three Harleys around one nozzle and filled all three up in one go in order to save us some time but it still took about half an hour to get it done. Fortunately everyone was happy to be getting close to Isa and things didn't get narky at all.
It was here I decided to pair my iphone to the bluetooth unit on my helmet to listen to some quiet music during this leg of the ride after a phone call from my wife brought the phone out of the jacket. While that was happening the other two I was riding with left, I'd catch them soon enough. With the iphone/ipod on shuffle I got a good laugh as I rode off to "I should be so lucky" (only present because I have daughters!! NOT) followed by Slipknot's "Road Hogs"...an eclectic mix followed.
It didn't take long to catch the other two for one reason or another and I ended up in front for a while with them chasing. The accentuated bumps on that part of the trip dislodged the Harley cover I'd had "andy strapzed" to the pillion seat without me even knowing. I did notice that the other two had disappeared and stopped to wait and eventually backtracked until I saw them riding up and waving me on. They didn't stop so I tucked in behind them and we rode to Cloncurry. It was at that point I saw the cover was gone and accepted briefly that I wouldn't see it again. Cuz however, with a big grin, asked if I'd lost soemthing and then let me know how close it went to him as it flew past. They'd stopped to recover it and it was in the trailer. The other group from the local Chapter were also at Cloncurry preparing to leave.
We decided to eat and investigate some oil being deposited on the Smurfster's trailer that involved a significant amount of oil, nearly two litres, being poured into his Harley to bring it back to a good level. That was something to get checked out in Isa that was now only 114k's or so away.
For days we'd ridden through virtually flat pasture land, a few bumps here and there but the road between Cloncurry and Mt Isa marked a change in the landscape. Hills, some curves and quite fun to ride. The occasional 50m+ road train made sharing the road interesting in places but the road was pretty good. This route is jokingly known at the big hill before Mt Isa because it rises about 300m in 50k's or so after leaving Cloncurry and with a couple of ups and downs Mt Isa is about 400M above level, enough trivia.
Riding in to Mt Isa was a great site, the town is completely backdropped by a huge hill (the mine), with industrial buildings and smoke stacks. There's no mistaking it's a mining town. We found our way to the Irish Club where our group, except for me at that stage, were staying and after a quick debrief headed off to the Mt Isa Harley Dealership to have the oil leak looked at on my companion's bike. Is it turned out there apparently was nothing wrong other than a sensible warning "Don't tow a trailer at those speeds or oil will come out of your bike". As it turns out the advice was spot on (no pun intended).
At that point I left to book in to my chosen accommodation, an executive room at a 4.5 star hotel, king bed, spa, fantastic restaurant, apparently the best in town, the Red Earth. I walked in, cancelled the room and went back to the comparitively spartan Irish Club, a single bed, shared bathrooms and a sink in the room instead of a spa. The bonus... camaraderie. The down side, the mongrels at the Red Earth hit me up for a nights accommodation without telling me they were going to despite the fact that they were fully booked for the whole period.. bastards!!! Even so, four nights at the Irish Club was cheaper than one night at the other place so the saving was substantial and could be re-allocated to sustenance. Initially a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, a dozen bottles of Tonic and a litre of Baileys... you can't forget the dairy serves!
Our group had organised a BBQ for dinner, not expecting me to be there and I gratefully accepted the immediate and generous offer of staying to share what was there. After dinner some of us adjourned to the Irish Club where a couple of drunken, dick head miners looking for a fight decided to embarrass themselves at the cost of their seat at the bar and continued service.
Tomorrow the HOG Rally started, we were all very happy to have arrived. But before bed, it was time to generate some clean clothes... stocks were getting low.
Today's Route 462k's
