Norton In Australia
Created | Updated Apr 20, 2006
I think the first thing that people wonder is why did he do it, but then people often say I wish I had done something like that.
Cooktown and Darwin
I was in Cairns, North Queensland, and I wanted to tackle my first piece of dirt road. I asked people what the road was like to Cooktown and what they thought of the road and was told it was OK.
The thing I have found out is that everybody sees things differently and what is OK with one is not so good for others. I had, however, made up my mind and Cooktown was on the cards for me to visit. All the conditions were OK as the rainy season was just over.
I was happy to go ahead but was a little unsure how the Norton would handle it. As I got further north I could see the roads had been washed away by the amount of rain that had fallen. There were large channels beside the road and, in some instances, across the road. It was a bit hard to find a way over them but, by tackling it slowly and carefully, I did it. I could see the advantages of a 4 x 4 under these conditions.
About 10 miles from Cooktown there was a sign typical of the Aussie sense of humour. It said 'Historic Motor Inn 10 Bloody miles to go'. That more or less said everything as it was a long hard haul.
I rolled into Cooktown pitched the tent and went over to the pub. They were really nice people there and they asked where I came from and what I was doing. They told me there was some sort of sing-song or something at the pub and I could come over but I told them that my gear was mucky and I did not have much else to change into. They said 'No worries! Just knock the dust off you will be alright'.
I stayed in Cooktown for a couple of days and the winds were strong during the time I was there. I spent some time looking around the sites as it was a gold mining area and there were a lot of Chinese people there in the early days. There is still a tree marked where Captain Cook was said to have tied off his ship the Endeavour, also a museum with a logbook which was written in his handwriting.
It was now time to leave Cooktown and travel back on the dirt road again. The Norton was still in fairly good running order at this time but not taking all the changes that the wind had made into consideration I hit what the Aussies call Bulldust which is dust or dirt that fills up potholes and, when you hit them, the front wheel drops into it. This is what happened to me and the result was that I got thrown off. I did some damage to my shoulder and also bent the handlebars although, when you are in pain, the bent bars were helpful as they bent more towards me.
I had to give myself a short break to get my shoulder back to normal again and, after I got back to Cairns, I assessed the damage to the bike. Well the fairing screen had broken so that had to go and the next thing I found was there were 2 spokes broken in the rear wheel. I tried to get some spare spokes but none were available so I carried on and thought I would eventually get some. There was a new rear tyre needed as 7,500 miles was average for a rear tyre and the exhaust needed a bit of a weld as there were signs of cracks where it bolted to the mountings.
I sat down and looked at my map- where was I going to head for next? I thought 'Ah Darwin. That is my next port of call'.
Well I took a look at the Norton and, although it had these small problems, I considered all the facts and felt if I kept checking them it would be OK. I set off down the coast again and got to Townsville, where I branched off west towards the Northern Territory. The roads were quite straight and I hadn't been on this road long before I noticed that the vegetation had changed from green to yellow and looked quite dry.
I thought the roads were a bit better than the coast roads as they did not seem to be as broken up and over the next few days I rode across to the main north to south road, and then went north up to Darwin. About 200 miles south of Darwin is Katherine and Katherine Gorge which is a real sight to see. If anybody goes that way do stop and see it.
It was less than 2 years since Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin (Christmas 1974). I was working in South Australia at the time. I thought how well Darwin had recovered and looked quite good and I camped there for 2 or 3 nights. The sunsets were really something - it was nice to sit on the beach and see the sun go down over the sea.
It was now early September and very hot up there - the thing that I remember most was when the sun rose it was too hot to lay around in the tent and I had to get up. I decided to make my way south and intended to see Alice Springs and go out to Ayers Rock. That was my next target.
The bike seemed OK at this time but I had to keep a check on it as I knew things had started to deteriorate - there were still only 2 spokes broken at this stage. I headed south on a concrete road which I should think was the best type of road for the heat that was playing on it - bitumen would have melted I am sure about that. I was not too far down the road when I had another puncture. I had so many on this trip it seemed part of my days work to repair one.
The road was straight and there was a lot of nothing between petrol pumps. I got back down to the Three Ways Road where I first came on from leaving Townsville. I liked that part of the trip and would not have missed it, this is the Australia I like.
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