As the ferry approached Bastia the clouds hanging low over the mountains was a portend of the hot and steamy welcome awaiting in Bastia.
The ferry berthed at 0700 and the line of exiting traffic snaked along the roads out of the city.
The road over the Col de Vergio (the highest road in Corsica) is one of the great rides of Europe. Therefore on my agenda.
Morning coffee at at a little village Cafe in the foothills was the perfect first stop of the day.
The road crosses Corsica from east coast to west finishing in the seaside village or Porto.
The eastern side of the Col climbs up though beautiful pine forests offering cool shade.
Higher the forests give way to rocky gorges, steep sloops and narrow ancient roads.
Till the Col is reached.
With the Virgin standing atop the Col
The road down to Porto on the west side of Corsica is also a cracker.
Don’t you just love those stone Corsican safety barriers.
The road, one of the great rides of Europe end ar the beach at Porto, a small boating village. The municipal camping ground is only 400 metres from the beach and offers cheap, shady camping sites.
And a cold beer at the beach bar after a long day’s ride and a swim.
The reason that I was in Tasmania riding a Moto Guzzi Stelvio 1200 NTX is a bit too convoluted for this blog but there I was under beautiful Autumn sun.
I have been to Tasmania a number of times but a couple of places had eluded me.
The far north west coast and the Tarkine Rain Forest wilderness.
Arthur River has a lovely camp ground in the remote North West Coast.
Near the mouth of the river there is a little beach and lookout at a place called The Edge of the World. The longest uninterrupted stretch of ocean in the world bound against these shores.
Travelling west from here the next stop is Patagonia.
The drift wood on the beach dragged across the sea by the pounding waves of the great Southern Ocean.
Even when it’s a still day the waves roll in on their relentless motion.
There was time for a swim under the warm sun rays of the late afternoon sun.
Before the sun set.
South of Arthur River there is a road junction. Heading south is the Western Explorer a gravel road that runs 150km south to Zeehan. The road west is the Tarkine Drive the winds through a mixture of farmland and wilderness.
The Tarkine Wlderness is an amazing temperate rain forest.
The Tarkine is limestone country with a number of sinkholes some of which have been plugged by forest debris to form lakes and ponds.
Being a rainforest there is also an array of beautiful fungi
The unique Tarkine Widerness is currently a battleground between conservationists and logging and mining interests.
If you would like to support the preservation of this unique wilderness contact https://bobbrown.org.au/
It was a short trip to this beautiful place but I’m sure I will be back.
The Giants provides insight into the importance of old growth forest and the Giants in them. Trees 100 metres high and thousands of years old.
The Murray and Darling rivers converge at Wentworth. These rivers form the Murray – Darling Basin which is an area important for both food production and environmental diversity.
The Murray starts in the Australian Alps near Mount Kosciusko fed by snow melt and Alpine rain. The Darling is fed by the monsoons of northern Australia. In the photo you can see the muddy water of the Darling in the foreground as it mergers into blue water of the Murray.
I camped 20km down stream of the rivers junction on the banks of the Murray.
Beside the Murray River as it slowly rolls south west to the Southern Ocean around 500km away.
In many ways the Murray forms the southern boundary of the Outback or at least the southern east corner of the hot dry lands that are the outback.
I had ridden up from a cultural holiday in Adelaide and this was the first stop on the edge of the outback that would lead me to Mungo National Park (my next stop) then up the Darling to Bourke (previous post).
Leaving the banks of the Murray it was onto the dirt roads to get out to Mungo National Park – A World Heritage area.
It was hot and I was happy to set up my tent under a shady tree
The Park was once sheep station and the old shearing shed a relic of those times.
Mungo National Park has both colonial and aboriginal history. The colonial history goes back a century or so. The aboriginal history is an over 46,000 years continual association with the land.
This long association was confirmed with the finding of the remains Mungo Man and Mungo Lady. These remains that have been dated as 46,000 years old. These are the oldest homosapian remains found on the Australian Continent. These are also some of the oldest examples of ritualistic burial any where in the world. If you want more information follow this link: https://learn.culturalinfusion.org.au/story-of-mungo-man-and-mungo-lady/
Another feature of Lake Mungo is the sand dunes that stretch for 135km across the horizon like the walls of China, but nature made.
Areas of dunes are called Lunettes because of the luna type landscape. But in these dunes are artefacts tens of thousands of years old.
At sunset the dunes tale on a redish hue as the sun burns the sky orange and red.
That night I slept with wonderment of the place and what a tiny spec modern humanity is on the universe while sleeping under the milky way.
In the morning I did a tour of the dunes with an aboriginal ranger. As part of the tour I help artefacts 10,000 years old and heard stories of the land, this place that had been passed down from generation to generation in the oldest continuous culture in the world. Stories and rituals that had their origin back 46,000 years ago.
As I left Lake Mungo there was a Sand Goanna on the side of the road.
I thought it was wishing me a fond farewell but, looking back, I think that it was a sign that the 350+km of dirt road I had before me to get to Bourke was going to be a difficult and sandy ride.
That’s 45c hot on an early autumn day and the days in 38 – 45c range stretched on while I was there.
The recent floods meant that the inland rivers were flowing.
And in Wilcannia where the banks are 12 metres above the normal river height
But the high water line on the doors of the shower cubicals shows the flood got well over 12 metres.
The locals told me that in Bourke when the water was at its highest it was running over the old wooden lift bridge. A relic from the days when paddle steamers plied Australia’s inland rivers.
Water is life. Not just for humans, but for animals, especially birds.
The kites circling in the skies over the rivers.
The waterbirds in the river.
My favourite was the raucous Glossy Black Cockatoos that came down to the river to drink.
While there is always beauty there are also constant reminders of the harshness of the Outback.
There is also something quirky outback and for me this time it was an amazing stick insect.
There is also something quirky outback and for me this time it was an amazing stick insect.
The dry, dusty, sandy, and rutted roads
The dry red soil
The millions of fish that die when the relentless heat suck all the oxygen out of the water.
The dead Dingo hung in the tree. Supposedly to scare off other Dingos, but more likely a reassurance to the shooter that he has control of the environment. There is no controlling this wild country.
Not far on from.the Dingo Tree is Warnaaring -200kn out Back o’ Bourke. I stayed at the camp ground.
The owner just laughed when I said I was looking forward to a cool shower.
I turned what I thought was the cold tap. Scalding water came spurting out. I quickly turned the tap off. I turned on the other tap and heard the gas hot water heater burst into life as piping hot water came forth.- tap off. Back to my first choice of tap and let it run a bit.
Agh after a little while a nice hot shower from the cold water tap. I guess that’s how hot the sandy soil gets after long spells of 40c heat.0
There is always something quirky about the outback, everytime I visit. This time it was amazing stick insect
You have to look so closely to distinguish it from the tree twigs!
Each trip to the outback is a learning experience.
The New England National Park sits at the top of the Great Divide above the Pacific Ocean west of Coffs Harbour.
The route south through the mountains was chosen to catch up with friends in the NSW borders and explore some beautiful rainforest.
Heading south from the Lockyer Valley in Queensland I take the backroads out through Peak Crossing toward Boonah. Then winding my way toward the border with NSW and down the wonderfully twisty Lions Road to Kyogle and the start of the Summerland Way.
A good place to stop overnight and for a swim. Although it comes with the risk of getting bombed by Patch the flying cattle dog.
The next day I headed along the Summerland Way to Grafton where I turned off and took the winding mountain road up to Ebor at the top of the Great Dividing Range.
Ebor is a good stop to top up the bikes fuel tank. Fusspots Cafe is also a good place for coffee and lunch. To refuel thy self.
The turn off to New England National Park is about halfway between Ebor and the Regional Centre of Armidale along the waterfall way.
There are campgrounds in the Park and lodges in and around.
The heavens had opened and luckily there was a local cabin vacant.
