Seisia to Ussher point

Last night an Austrian guy, by the name of Christof, on an XR400 pulled in. We invited him to camp with us. He is off to the tip today and we to Ussher point. We have organised to meet up with him the day after tomorrow at Nolan’s Brook for the ride south on the OTT.

Packing up camp at Seisia with Chris (centre) relaxing.

Getting back on the bikes this morning was exciting however it soon became clear that over a week off the bikes has taken its toll. The refined balance and sense of space one develops to ride in tight spaces and over challenging terrain appears to fade quickly. After leaving the development road and taking the small track toward Ussher point we were faced with particularly narrow sections of track. I nearly dropped my bike at about forty in a rutted section.

Can you spot it?

Shortly after the rutted section, with my heart rate just settling I misjudged a protruding log and bam, put a huge dent in my left box.

Gee, I have lost my touch.

If that log had not been rotten it would have been a very different story. I think I was doing about forty or so when I collected it. The Ussher point track is narrower than the Telegraph track and its 63km each way.

This little section of the track is narrow but a pleasure to ride as one can ride in the centre. Other sections are just as narrow without the possibility to take the centre.

Negotiating rough rocky sections I felt my confidence returning with foot peg steering becoming smoother and my sense of space once again encompassing the exact proportions of my machine.

Raman taking in a lagoon a few km before the point it self.

An interesting epiphytic succulent.

Getting closer to the point we ran into more deep soft sand. Raman and I smelt something odd, oily but different.

Surprise

A quick look under the bike revealed a nasty oil leak

detail of the leak

Not engine oil though, this was shock oil.

Finding the leak was not from the engine, I decided to continue the short distance to the camp spot.

The realisation that I was not only 63km down a particularly rough and challenging track but I was still very much at the tip of Australia and had a shock absorber that had just decided to give up the ghost. This is going to get interesting! But for now I am at Ussher point and its overcast and blowing hard. I wonder if we will get a sun rise? We are hoping to get the sun rise here at Ussher on the east coast and then ride across to Vrilia on the west coast for the set once again over the water. Lets hope the clouds break for the morning and I get used to my new pogo stick.