Whilst here I'd sent a message to Camille to let her know I was in Broome but had found out she was currently in Karijini National Park and wasn't due to get to Broome till today. There was a small chance we'd pass each other on the road but I had no idea what car she was in and so didn't know what to look for. It was a shame we hadn't managed to catch up here but such is the way of travelling.
Just outside town on a straight stretch of road I looked ahead to see the road had large birds sitting in groups along it for about a 200m stretch. I think they were all wedge tailed eagles but there may have been other large birds amongst them, all I know is there were loads of them. I've seen a few of them along my routes but they were always picking at the road kill. However on this stretch there wasn't any road kill to be seen. As I approached, the birds flew up to avoid me and then I looked in my mirror to see them land again as soon as I'd passed. It was like they were all meeting for a morning chat on the road before starting their day and I'd interrupted their odd routine. It was a little surreal. I topped up with fuel at Roebuck Roadhouse to make sure I had enough to get to Sandfire Roadhouse and continued my journey south on the Great Northern Highway. I spotted my second massive lizard on the road but was too quick to see what it properly looked like. I soon arrived at a stretch of road that was straight as an arrow and very open on either side and was reminded about the plans I'd made on my to Broome. Aah yes I remember this stretch, time for a bit of fun. I checked my rear view mirror, scanned the horizon for signs of life and seeing that I was completely alone I wound the throttle open. The bike went like a rocket and didn't bat an eyelid. It just did exactly what it was told with no murmur at all. This is not admissible in a court of law but my top speed, for a brief amount of time, had the numbers 0, 1 and 8 in. I'll leave it to you to put those numbers in order. I didn't hold it for long, although the bike was still pulling, as I wanted to finish my journey in one piece. It was good to see what the bike was capable of though. About half way to Sandfire Roadhouse I pulled into a rest stop that I'd used on the way up to take a short break and try and do something about fitting a rudimentary cruise control to my throttle grip. I'd been given the idea by my guardian angels but had forgotten to do anything about it till now. As I pulled in I headed straight for the large roofed area so I could park the bike in the shade and get a break from the sun. Parked up in the parking area were three caravans and sitting on the picnic benches underneath the roofed area were three elderly couples. They watched as I approached and once I'd got my helmet off and my earplugs out I said hello to them all. We got chatting for a bit and swapped stories about where we were going. They were heading south and doing the ever popular retirement plan of buying a caravan and travelling right the way round the edge of Australia. I told them about a few places to see on the way and we laughed about the fact they were taking sight seeing advice from a pomm. While we were chatting I was fitting my cruise control device. This consisted of wrapping a rubber band round the end of the throttle grip and trying to wedge it between the part that turns under the grip and the fixed bar end. The idea being that it doesn't stop the throttle grip turning completely but gives enough friction to hold the throttle on while giving me the chance to rest my hand and get some blood flow back in it. Unfortunately the rubber band I had in my pocket wasn't big enough and so didn't slow the movement of the throttle. I explained to the others what I was trying to achieve, as they were giving me quizzical looks, and, after a quick trip to their caravan, one of the women returned with a box of rubber bands for me to choose from. I had to fit two more to achieve the desired result but it seemed to work fine whilst I was there. I thanked them for their help and one of the blokes said they'd keep an eye on the news for a story about a guy that hit Melbourne without being able to stop, just in case it worked too well. I told them, while laughing, that if that happens I'll tell the news team that a group of retirees had supplied the dodgy parts and dared me to do it. I geared up again and waved goodbye to them all as I rode off. Back on the highway I gave the "cruise control" a test and it worked perfectly. It was definitely a welcome treat for my throttle hand. After a very long time I arrived at Sandfire and pulled in to fill up with fuel and take another break. I was feeling pretty knackered from the journey so far and so decided have a sit down in the shade and eat some of my lunch to perk me up. After lunch I had a quick snooze but was rudely awoken by an annoying crow cawing in the tree above and after my attempts to get it to bugger off I gave up and went for a walk to wake up. During my walk I went round the back of the roadhouse and saw in the grounds, behind a fence, two massive animals sitting next to each other. One was a camel, the other, I think, was an ox. Feel free to correct me from the picture but this would be my best description. Seeing these two types of animals next to each other was weird enough but the sheer size of them was even more astonishing. It was like they had been genetically modified here at some weird underground laboratory. Walking freely round the grounds were a lot of peacocks too, including albino ones. It was a small eclectic haven of animals in the middle of nowhere. With the camel making weird grunting noises at me, and unsure whether camels are the ones that spit, and I could imagine this giant one gobbing a massive cricket ball sized lump at me, and me having to go into bullet time to dodge it, I returned to my bike to continue my journey. About 250km after Sandfire I passed the signpost to Karijini and hadn't seen anyone waving to me from a car going the other way so knew then I wouldn't see Camille on the road. I continued on towards South Hedland and only stopped at Pardoo Roadhouse to use the toilet, refusing to pay their extortionate fuel prices, knowing that I had my fuel can should I need it nearer South Hedland. I finally got to South Hedland some time in the late afternoon and actually managed to get back to Ryan and Lauren's house without needing to consult Google maps. They were both out. I phoned Ryan and while he was telling me that Lauren might be a while she pulled up in the driveway. That was good timing. I said bye to Ryan and got my bits into the house. I caught up briefly with Lauren but didn't stay for long as I wanted to get to the shops to buy some bits for dinner. I'd told them I was going to cook for them on my return to say thank you for putting me up and wanted to stay true to my word. I checked out what Lauren had in her cupboards and rode to the shops to get the rest. Red Thai curry was on the menu. I bought a crate of beer too, as I'd helped Ryan drink a fair bit of his when I was there last, and a bottle of Morgan's spiced rum for the guy that was going to do my welding on my exhaust later that evening. I got back to the house, did some clothes washing, and took a shower to freshen up before Ryan got home as he would need the shower himself. After he got home and showered the three of us went straight round to his mates house to get the welding done and get it out the way. We ended up being there for quite a while chatting while his mate worked, trying to avoid his Great Dane slobbering on us. He made a great job of welding the exhaust and used stainless steel as it wouldn't rust. The only piece of stainless steel he had to hand was an old aerial so it was interesting to see him at work twisting the small piece in his hand as he followed the curve of the aerial's shape. He even went over the previous weld with stainless steel as it had been done with mild steel before which had rusted over time and that would make the whole thing a lot stronger. Welding is one of those things you really want to look directly at because of the bright sparks but I managed to resist the temptation and so my retina's stayed intact. After a few beers we went back to the house, later than planned, and I started dinner. We didn't eat in the end till about 8.30pm but Ryan and Lauren said they enjoyed it none the less which was good, and I'm pretty sure they weren't just being polite. After dinner I'd arranged to Skype Mum and so went out the back and attempted to get online on my tablet. Unfortunately, the mobile Wi-Fi unit that Ryan and Lauren had didn't have great reception so it was impossible to use video during the chat and even just the voice call gave out a few times. We caught up slightly but gave the exercise up as a bad job in the end and just about managed to say goodbye to each other and arranged to try again once I was back in Perth. It was very frustrating. Whilst I was Skyping, Ryan came out to say goodbye as he was off to work early the next morning and I thanked him again for his hospitality. By the time I went back inside the house Lauren was about ready to go to bed too and so I wished her goodnight. I spent a bit of time planning bits for tomorrow and putting my water bottles in the freezer ready for the journey before heading to bed myself. I was only staying here one night and would be on my way tomorrow morning so was glad to get into bed after another long days ride.
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