The Gibb Challenge Recovery

Time to clean the bikes

And thank our amazing support driver

Ponder our next move

Watch a sunset or two

And find an easier way to get from one campsite to the next....

The Gibb Challenge 2019

It was Hot!!  With cloudless sky's riding in high 30's to 40 degree was almost unbearable.  It bought home the briefing message - "Drink or Die!!"

It was Dusty!!  There was little rain during the wet season. Only one water crossing had water - The mighty Pentacost River.  Even that was reduced to a dribble.

The road was Corrugated!!  With a short wet season, The Gibb River Road was open early and had already seen lots of traffic. Bad corrugations were everywhere. Sometimes, it was just a matter of riding through them...easier than it sounds.

The Headwind!!  The prevailing wind was easterly - straight into your face.  The first 3 days weren't too bad, but then it picked up.  In Belgium we had headwinds but not *hot* headwinds.

Day 1: A 4am wakeup for a 5am start - 230km to Imintji. I got into a great peleton where I first met Peter and Tim.  It slowly whittled itself down from about 9 riders to 5 as teams did their changeovers.  After a long anxious wait, John finally hit the road at 7am.  It wasn't long before he launched us onto the gravel. We initally did a 2 hour turn, followed by 1 hour turms.  However, as the heat climbed to 40 degrees, these quickly dropped to 30-45 minutes.  A rest in the air-conditioned comfort of the Troopy was much appreciated.

John on the first bit of gravel

Bryce on Donna's bike

That's water after a long tough day

Imintji campground has had many improvements since I last visited in 2016. There are new ablution blocks, BBQ's and showers.  They also now have soap and shampoo after I left mine there.

Simon giving the nightly briefing

Day 2: John kicked us off.  Shorter turns to keep the heat stress under some sort of control. We had a new hand signal - five fingers to show "5 minutes to change".  It was a long 5 minutes and I found myself stopping after 2 minutes - "I'm done!!".  We also started doing changes with Bryce and Donna. Bryce was using a borrowed bike after running over his the day before. Their 13th Gibb was to be somewhat of a bad luck charm. But the amazing Gibbsters offered all they could to get them to the finish (3 broken wheel studs, a broken bike, a leaky camelbak, a broken shock absorber, a fridge that stopped working, missing chairs). Bryce was heard to say "Everything lasts 12 years!!".

Donna leading the way

Mount Elizabeth station also had spacious new showers. Queue reduction protocol meant we could share a shower and tick another thing off our "Gibb Passport".


Day 3: Hot, Dusty, Corrugated, Headwinds...well, now add Sand. Ouch. Energy sapping sand. 42mm tyres worked well everywhere here. It seemed to grab the wheels and send you flying off in another direction. I had to fight to get my bike back on track. John had a slick tyre on the rear - "It's feels like my rear wheel is spinning".

On the Gibb Challenge you queue for everything, even to leave the campground!!

John looking to get away from the sand and corrugations

The Team Trailer and Flag of Nations

Riding with Peter and Tim

With Bryce on his borrowed bike

Ellenbrae also had new showers. This was fortunate as the waterhole hole we normally use was now a "slimehole".  There was another waterhole down further, but even that was only thigh deep.

Day 4: Stronger Headwinds. A brutal day with increasing fatigue.  We had now linked closly with Donna and Bryce, sharing the riding into the wind. It was quite a slog. John and Donna impressed on the climbs, whilst Bryce and I had the best of the flat ground.  After stopping to take pictures, I was looking forward to the downhill into Home Valley.  Unfortunately, I had a rear puncture at 40km/h.

John climbing up a valley

David with Peter and Tim

The iconic photo with the Cockburn Range

David, Bryce, Donna, John and Cathy

Simon and Anna - The Gibb Challenge Event organisers. Royalty.

Home Valley station greeted us with a pool, a superb dinner and a fun evening catching up with Peter, Tim, Emma, Matt and George.

Day 5: Everyone rides today. John rode across The Pentecost. I walked.  The headwinds seemed stronger and hotter during our 2 hour ride to El Questro (ELQ) station. We formed a small peleton to share the load. It really bought home just how difficult it is to complete the event solo (ie. you ride every km!!) Peter and Tim did an incredible job to finish.  We were proud to have our photos taken with them and make some new friends.

The (not so) Mighty Pentecost River

The Cockburn Range seems to go forever.

At the ELQ Turnoff

Saturday May 18th - The Gibb Challenge is about to begin!

John arrived from Melbourne via Perth and David took him on a highlights tour of Broome. The pre-challenge events began with the fat-bike championships at Cable Beach followed by drinks in front of the sunset bar. Exciting to see so many teams arriving and enjoy a Matso’s beer. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Cable Beach Club before retiring for a well deserved rest. Saturday morning was an early start to get ice, pack up the trailer and for Cathy to do a quick run around the market.

Three of us filled the front eat of the Troopy on the drive to Derby with the air-condioning struggling on the long slow rises with a heavy trailer behind. Again,we stopped to see the Prison Boab tree, the Derby jetty and the start of the Gibb River Road. Next time we pass that, it will be in the early hours of Sunday morning in the dark.

The afternoon at the Spini was spent with last minute bike maintenance. Sadly, David’s front wheel has buckled!! Hoping that someone will have a spare wheel sitting around and be willing to accept a few dollars for it. Otherwise, John may be doing a solo ride.

Family matters to me - 10-12 May 2019

Sadly, after a couple of days in Nelson with David, Trina and Billy, it was time for me to head back to Melbourne. At least it's not too long until we meet again when Phil, Sandy and family come to Australia in June to August. Here is our farewell group photo in their new kitchen.

After a night at Auckland airport, I flew back to Tullamarine where mum and dad collected me and brought me home. Mum stayed for the afternoon so we could chat and do a bit of clearing and cleaning. It was so good to have the time together. I then drove mu home to Ringwood and had dinner with mum and dad. Dad had finally sorted out the phone and emails with Optus NBN so I helped them get their email inboxes working again.

I do love our family.

To Broome - Day 7 - Arrival. At Last.

Simple drive from Fitzroy Crossing to Broome.  All bitumen and no surprises.

Number 1 Task: The Courtyard market is on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  Direct to the Mango store:

Worth every dollar.  Fill the car with fuel then off to check-in at "Club Jamieson".

The stats from Home to Broome: 7 days, 3766km, Almost 600l of diesel. No speeding tickets ;)

Nelson – 11-12th May

Trina and I spent Friday working from home until 5pm when we let ourselves out for a walk at sunset. It was hard to capture the beauty of the evening colours as we looked over Nelson and over towards Motueka and other places we’ve visited in the past. So good to be back in Nelson.

Billy is a such a toddler. He was quiet for a moment and had found his way into my room and found Alaok. Alaok was being held to ransom under David and Trina's bed. Fortunately, Trina was able to rescue him before he was beheaded!

My brother David, was lucky to get out on his flight from Auckland to Nelson due to fog in Auckland. He was on his way back from a work trip to Canada and Seattle. A clear and sunny morning in Nelson was perfect for exploring the market, lazing about chatting about all our recent adventures. David and I did a wine tasting (and purchase) at Casa del vino. Smith and Seth Pyramid Valley wines were on tasting. My favorties were the Riesling and the cabernet franc. Steve Smith set up Craggy Range wines– a label we enjoy. I chose a Craggy Range Pinot Gris to try.

Together we tramped up the Kahikatea and down the Mahoe track in the Grampians and DJ pointed out the mountain-bike tracks across in the distance. Meanwhile, David McAdam called to say he was arriving in Broome after a week on the road. I was so pleased to hear he was there with Donna and Bryce to look after him until I arrive next week.

Under Trina’s supervision, we all helped prepare a delicious roast chicken dinner followed by cheese we’d bought at the market earlier. Rose and Pinto gris were the wines of the night. I slept very well.

Sunday morning, we woke up to rain in Nelson. This interfered with our plans for another walk as well as taking Billy to the beach. We have tried to time our outdoor activities between showers of rain. We made a special facetime Happy Mother’s Day call from the beach.

Northern Health School and Starship Children’s Hospital – Thursday 9th May

After checking out of my room, I headed up to the Northern Health School to meet their Principal and Deputy Principal before walking over to the Starship Children’s Hospital to see the classroom in action there. Lots of artwork and a classroom of students engaged in various activities both on the room or one who preferred to work out on the balcony in the sunshine. I was impressed with the way they provided seamless oversight of the student and their individual education plan until they were able to re-engage with their regular school. To do this, they had branches all across the north of the region. Central and Southern School exist too. Their intake was for students expected to miss at least 10 days of school. I was so engrossed in discussion; I was almost late for my next meeting. It involved changing gears to discuss Quality and Safety as well as their Excellence program. I realized how much I really have to learn and perhaps focus on the most important aspects of this area to cover during my sabbatical.

After grabbing some lunch, I reflected on what I’d learned from the top of the Sky tower before heading out to the airport to fly to Nelson and meet Trina.

To Broome - Day 6 - Tanami to Fitzroy Crossing

Easier day today. The road was much better in patches. No mechanical's BUT the rear door wasn't shut properly - so I got to Fitzroy Crossing with dust covering everything in the back.  A quick clean up of the Troopy and myself.  After 3000km, I might have a beer. Or two. Slabs!!

To Broome - Day 5 - I picked a bad week to give up drinking ;)

Early start with a trip to Woolies to buy some food.

Arrived at the start of the Tanami - at least it's open this time!!  Easy cruising for the first 200k's it's either double or single lane bitumen.

Although, there are always dangers just around the corner....

Just for the record, kangaroos are either deaf or stupid.  Maybe both.  After a quick top up of fuel at Tilmouth Well and then Yendemu, the road turns into gravel....ok, dirt.  About 100km further on, I noticed the steering required a lot of right lock to stay on the straight and narrow. Then suddenly, I was a passenger rather than the driver.  The troopy veered right across the road.  The steering wheel had no effect.  Fortunately, the brakes still worked.  A bit of a look underneath revealed a tie rod had disconnected on the left wheel.
I waved down a Granite's mine vehicle, with Greg and Troy onboard.  They helped me work out how to get the tie rod back in position.  But extra parts would be required to get it working.

So, I took to walking back only the road looking for parts.  I found a spring 40m away, the second half of the cup 300m away, and the most important part, the threaded end almost 400m away.

Looking back from where I found the last part. 
I then waved down another car.  Brian helped me fit the parts and supplied the final part - a split pin (it only needed gentle persuasion).  It took a few k's to get some confidence that it would hold.
A long and stressful afternoon drive was followed by an amazing sunset.

And a small fire to add some warmth to the night.

Melbourne to Alice Springs - in Numbers

4 days
Distance - 2250kms
Diesel - 360l
Ave $/litre - $1.60
Total Fuel Cost - $577
Coffees - More than 4, less than 40
Total Coffee Cost - $$$$$
Road Kill - mainly Kangaroos - 1 every 30km from Port Augusta (a lot!!)
Length of Road Trains in NT - 55.3m
Number of Road Trains Overtaken - 1

To Broome - Day 4 - Marla to Alice Springs

Another cold night.  The blankets were just out of reach. I'll be organised by the time I get home.

The road looks the same, the scrub is similar BUT there's a LOT more flies.  Time for lunch inside.....

The perfect NT lunch if you skip the muffin and coffee.
I checked into my campsite. Fixed 2 flat tyres on the bikes - damn it.  The occy straps holding the tyres was rubbing against them, wore through and created a puncture.

You learn something everyday. 

Uncle Frank came and picked me up from the campground for coffee and biscuits.  It was also great to catch up with Linley and a grown up Josie.

Tomorrow, off into the "internet desert" - it'll be quiet for a couple of days