Outback Motorbike Ride – Mud

Well, I’ve gotta tell ya that Nicky, my grandson, was the best outback camping adventure mate you would hope for.

He hooked into the jobs such as setting up camp, getting the beds ready, collecting fire wood, packing up to move on in the morning, and he’s a pretty good one match fire lighter, too. Together, we’d put up the tent and have the meal cooking in no time.

Nicky rode well in the difficult conditions, helping his Suzuki motorbike through the sand hills with his legs.

Daily maintenance jobs had to be done such as checking the motorbike tyres, oil, fuel, air cleaners, oiling Nicky’s JR80 motorbike chain. We did all these jobs together.

We camped for two nights in an old stockmen’s hut with a good bit of the roof missing, and it rained. Nicky handled these conditions well.

Overall, I was so proud of my grandson and so pleased that I’d taken him along for a bloke’s outback adventure.

But with a ten year old boy, going on eleven, as you may imagine, we had our moments. The accompanying video shows one of the few occasions that it didn’t go so well.

We started off at the shearer’s quarters at Gum Woolshed on Pernatty Station in outback South Australia. The rain from a few days previous had left boggy patches here and there on the station tracks. Sometimes a boy just doesn’t understand the possible consequences of riding through the mud.

When I became lost for words…… well, you’ll work it out!

On this occasion it was a one day ride, returning to the shearer’s quarters in the evening. We went to Coulthard’s grave, but that’s another story.

A couple of apologies about the video, relative to all my videos:

1) Digital still camera used on a monopod, stuffed down my shirt and under my belt.

2) I was controlling the bike with my right hand whilst controlling the camera with my left. Couldn’t see the viewfinder or screen.

3) The wind noise got a bit loud when I gave the bike some! Later we put a piece of foam over the microphone. That helped a good bit.

4) Yes, I know the strap is flapping.