Motorcycle Explorer November 2016 Issue 14 | Page 69

Back in Adelaide we had a big night out doing a
presentation for the Ulysses Club. Mo’s reputation
had preceded him and the room was packed with
WIMA and BMW club members along with the usual
suspects. I very much enjoy these evenings and
look forward to doing many more.
Linda joined me again for another week
meandering around the Barossa region, Victor
Harbour and the Adelaide Hills. Christmas was
approaching and it was here that I was invited by
Kim and Tony to join their family for the first of
many Christmas dinners. It is always a delight to be
welcomed into fellow travellers homes and to
share their stories and life, if just for a short while.
Meeting new people and making new friends is the
essence of travel.
Completing the Eyre Peninsula with a visit to the
Big Galah at Kimba, Mo and I greeted a 45o
heatwave coming into Iron Knob. These were the
toughest conditions faced by my underpowered,
air-cooled little Postie bike – stopping every
50kms to try and get the engine to cool down,
while battling heatstroke and a gazillion flies. [It
was only much later that Mick’s Motorcycles at
Gawler discovered that Mo had seized a ring on his
one and only piston.]
I finally pulled into Iron Knob mid-afternoon and
found out that not only does the town not have
any other accommodation than the free campsite,
it doesn’t have any hot food, no pub, no general
store or anywhere to escape the heat. It was still
over 30o at 2am.
Detouring into Quorn, I met up with Bob and Sue
Tulloch who famously ran the Copley Bakery up in
the Flinders Ranges serving the acclaimed
Quandong Pie. Quorn is like a step back in time
and is often used for location shooting for Aussie
outback films, the latest being “Tracks”. That
evening we attended a film night at Emily’s Café
which resides inside the old Northern Emporium; it
still uses the old fashioned wire flying fox to
transport money and sales chits around the shop.
Once Mo was back in tip-top condition [thanks
Mick] we struck east on our final leg towards
Sydney. I chose the longer route along the Murray
River and stopped for a break at Swans Reach. I
contemplated staying the night but the chorus of
corellas was drowning out the traffic and I knew
they’d be squawking their heads of at dusk and
dawn. (Been there done that). I free camped on the
river bank at Loxton before crossing the border
into Mildura. Again I enjoyed the wonderful
hospitality of the Ulysses motorcyclists at their
Christmas Party weekend camped on the banks of
the river at Cowra Station. Mo and I joined in the
Toy Run with 200 bikers from the district, filling
two trailers with books and toys.