TROPPO'S COOKTOWN ADVENTURE PART I
by Troppo
Myself and a group of riding mates had decided that a weekend trip to Cooktown was in order. Much juggling of dates ensued, with the weekend of June 16/7 eventually being settled on.
The plan was to leave town mid morning on the Saturday, have a leisurely lunch at Port Douglas and then head north up the Rex Range to connect up with the Cooktown road.
Saturday dawned wet. Indeed, at 6 am, it was belting down in true tropical fashion. Most unusual for this time of year ? June is supposed to be the dry season.
Unfortunately, two of the riders also had to pull out due to family commitments.
We were now down to three die-hards - myself (FJR), Pete (BMW R1150S) and Mark (BMW Rockster).
After some phone calls, it was decided to brave the elements and push on...and just as I was about to head off to our RV point, the sun broke through - so, things were looking up.
We all met at the local Mobil servo - Pete was late, and there was some concern about the ability of his front tire to hold air... Mark performed an inspection, and fortunately the prognosis was good - words to the effect of "just stick some more air in, and she'll be right, mate" I believe...
The roads were dry; however it was decided to avoid the Rex Range on the northbound trip - this road is quite rutted and steep, and can be nasty in the wet, especially when trucks spill diesel. So, we took the alternative route via Kuranda Range, Mareeba and Mount Molloy.
Traffic was surprisingly light on the normally busy Kuranda Range, so we made good time to Mt Molloy.
Lunch was had at the Mt Molloy café.
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Pete photographing the photographer..... |
Two enormous burgers and a pie later, we headed off into the gathering murk.
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Ominous looking weather ahead... |
Mark needed petrol, so our next stop was Mount Carbine, a quiet little spot about 40 km up the road.
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Not much happens in Mount Carbine... |
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Unless you count tractors rusting in the parks... |
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Still a fair old way to go.... |
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The run from Mount Carbine to our next stop at Bob's lookout was straight and boring |
This section is rumoured to be popular for enhanced performance evaluation, I believe.
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A very sensible, law abiding speed was maintained, of course, Officer? |
I'm not quite sure who Bob was/is, however he has a great lookout named after him. Pity about the graffiti, though...
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The approach road is superb... |
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A very African view - if you squint, you can just about see the Zebras and elephants... Those are full sized trees down there below Pete... |
While we were enjoying the view, a 30-something bloke rolled up on a 1200 GS Adventure. He looked like he had stepped straight out of a BMW catalogue ? matching Beemer gear and boots.
Turns out that he had sold all his worldly goods, and headed off on the archetypical ?see the planet' tour. His next stop after Australia was Chile.
We wished him good travels, told him he was a lucky bastard and off he shot....
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Most runs end at pubs. Some start at them. |
