Crossing the Australian Continent by Raptor
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Image Gallery ( 24 images )Day Two
Quads fuelled and the chains lubed and it was time for another long day in the saddle with 800kms of bitumen before reaching the nights stop at Thargomindah. The route took us through Cunnamulla and St George where we had our first taste of the true outback with kangaroos, cattle and road trains. Both Matt and Ross had some close encouters with Kangaroos. Matt was thankful for his saftey gear after recieving a rock to the chest from a 50 meter long road train. The Yamaha Raptor 700's perfumed brilliantly only requiring a quick fuel stop every 100 to 130kms. The Kenda Knarly tyres where also holding up well showing only minimal signs of wear with over 1200 kms of harsh road use and some playing in the table drains. The ATV's gained heaps of attention wherever they went drawing attention from all walks of life. All were amazed with attempt ahead of us.
Day Three
With still another 200km of bitumen before the first taste of dirt roads the group left Thargomindah at daylight for another long day in the saddle. Many thanks to Constable Regan and his wife from the Thargomindah police station for the accommodation. It was a good start to the day with Ross's bag falling off the support vehicle only a few kilometers out of town. Fortunately for Ross it was spotted rolling down the road and after retrieving it it was all OK as the bottle of after shave had broken and deodorised his clothes but the bottle of Bourben was still in tact. It was decided that this time we would tie on the bag - Ross was OK with that! Soon after hitting the dirt roads for the first time the setup on the ATV's was soon changed to make them softer to deal with the rough conditions. The dirt was a welcome change for the riders and a whole new burst of enthuasim was found in the loose conditions. Innaminka was the stop for lunch and the Raptors were still getting heaps of attention with people always inquisitive to find out more about the machines and the world record attempt. After lunch the group took the back way across Walkers Crossing through tight twisty tracks before reaching the Birdsville Track and heading north into Birdsville. Another faultless day for the Yamaha Raptor 700's with more then 2000Km of high reving, fast ridding now behind them they were truly being tested beyond what they were originally built for. Their reliability to date was exceptional. Day 4 and 5 were rest days to rehydrate the crew at the Birdsville races, promote the new Raptors and to raise money for Variety before the adventure continues across the Simpson Desert.
Day Four
After some long days aboard the Raptors it was time for a little rest and relaxation at The Birdsville races, but with the Birdsville races what it is the boys found themselves answering questions about the world record attempt while rehydrating over a few ales. The pictures tell the story. The boys also took the day to raise funds for the Variety club children's charity and to promote the new Yamaha Raptors. Many thanks to all the generous and intoxicated people that donated funds for the Variety club. Many thanks to Matt Brown who managed to raise $300 in five minutes by doing some things that can only be done with enough alcohol. A bloke called Bulldog will never be the same! A race was also staged in the campgrounds with some 1944 Ferguson tractors that had crossed the Simpson Desert prior to the races. Unfortunately the tractors won because the Raptor riders were momentarily distracted by some female talent passing by. As night fell and the temperatures dropped the true spirit of Birdsville come alive with characters from all over the world. Tales were told, stories were passed and lengths were measured. Not sure what happened after that but thankfully the camera's batteries went flat. That's our story and we are sticking to it.
Day Five
Sometime during the Bu#$%* of the night before Matt had arranged to meet Channel Seven's Getaway and the Courier Mail at Big Red for some publicity shots at 8.00am. Big Red is the most Eastern and the largest Sand dune of the Desert crossing. By the time that the boys got themselves together and travelled the 45km out to the dune it was well past 9.00 and they were greeted with hundreds of people all waiting to see how the Raptors would perform in the dunes. The crowd was not disappointed as the boys tore up the dunes sending 20 foot roosts off the top of the dunes and soaring through the sky leaving the crowd astonished by the Raptors performance. Many Four wheel drives struggle to make it to the top of Big Red and some opted to walk to the top after many attempts. The Ford F250 support vehicle also tore up Big Red. Jumping the four tonne of F250 off the top of Big Red on a track that very few 4x4 can even get up left other four wheel drivers impressed by its ability. Even the local Police were impressed as they got a great view of the bottom of the truck heading straight for them. Although, after many attempts to get the big F truck up one of the rough, narrow, winding tracks made by the Raptors it was conceded that the Raptors can definitely go places that the F truck can not. Soon after that it was discovered that two of the four rear shocks had been torn off the F-truck. Not quite sure how this happened!!! After the photo shoot it was back to Birdsville for a few hours before packing up and heading back across Big Red and into the Desert for a quite night and a good sleep.
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