Kalgoorlie to Madura

The day dawned fine and warm but the wind was cool, so we added a layer. After breakfast we headed south via a slight detour to the town of Coolgardie, this is a historic gold-mining town where gold was discovered before Kalgoorlie. A very nice place with old buildings and a museum but we were a bit early so didn’t stop. We then retraced our track from a couple of days ago to Norseman for gas and a bite to eat.

I said gidday to a biker who said they were heading east also.

We headed off on the Nullabor, it started off through bush land which slowly got smaller and smaller. 

The Bikers passed us after about 50km so I said to Robyn shall we follow along. They were doing about 130 so it was pretty comfortable. There were 3 BMW’s similar to ours and a 1981 Yamaha XS 1100 which was easily keeping up. 

We followed along at a respectful distance and then the guy at the back indicated for us to join them. 

Stopped for gas at Balladonia which is where we thought we’d stay for the night but it was only 12:30. We asked them where they were headed and they said Madura. We decided that was too far for us but thought we would ride with them to Caiguna.

 The road is unusually busy and it’s because last week a truck carrying nasty chemicals caught fire near Eucla and the road was closed for some time. No options for detours around here so travellers are backed up.  

We rang Caiguna Roadhouse and they had no rooms available so we rang Madura Roadhouse and they had one left, the budget room. They explained it was fine but hadn’t been done up like most of them and it was $110. Bargain so we took it. 

Sure enough it’s wasn’t flash but we’ve paid more for less!

The next stop was Caiguna Roadhouse for gas but they didn’t have any!  So on the road for another 70km to the next stop. You can’t take anything for granted around here which is why we carry extra fuel and water. 

So we’ve travelled 720km today almost twice what we had planned. 

I enjoyed riding the Nullabor including the famous 146km straight. 

It was much better having others to ride with, it was a welcome distraction. But for all that for first timers it is awe inspiring to be riding through this vast barren landscape with such a big sky. 

We passed some fire guys carrying out a controlled burn off, amazing really as the wind was gusting into the 40’s.

We rocked into Madura and then realised we had lost 3/4 of an hour due to a time shift. 

Excellent dinner with our new friends and two others returning home from the Black Dog ride. 

We said our goodbyes as they have another 1000km to ride tomorrow and we have a bit of sightseeing to do. 

Thanks guys for your camerarderie, until we meet again, keep the shiny side up.