^{Date Published: 15 Nov 2010 11:27pm
Author:Jan Russell}

After turning left at the West Australian coast, the Brilliant Blue Blitzers continue their trek southwards. They had a short stopover in Broome with a quick visit to the iconic Cable Beach for a very refreshing and well deserved swim. The lads bunked down at the Sandfire Roadhouse for their daytime sleep – and declared it a minus five star joint with cramped little dog boxes and the air con humming away at top speed trying to keep the room cool. JR set the alarm for 9.30am instead of 9.30pm and slept in an extra thirty minutes, only waking with the rest of the team banging on the door. Beagz, Easy and JR say it was worth the extra thirty minutes in the sack!

The ride to Port Hedland took about ten hours with another coffee break under the glorious outback night sky kindly supplied by Mister Barista Shippers all decked out in his Beraldo gear.

After ten days hitching a ride with Red Team, the only official event photographer, Shane Goss (“Gossie”), jumped ship to spend the past five nights with the Blue Boys to capture their progress. He also provided much needed support and assistance for the night driving and has been emailing family and friends with pics. This much needed communication has given those back home an insight into the experiences of the Blue lads and has alleviated some concerns about their welfare. Blue Team really appreciated his humour and company; however, now that he has returned to Red Team once again they no longer have any media people to capture their ride. From all of Blue Team, a very big thank you for everything Gossie – hurry up and come back!

Petrol is an issue tonight because all the roadhouses close around 8 or 9 o’clock but those ingenious Blue Boys have a cunning plan to get around the problem: they bought four jerry cans for fuel to get them through and, if need be, will leave the thirstiest vehicle at a roadhouse with a driver who will then follow when the roadhouse opens up. Clever!

And now, the highlight of the report – more insights from those Brave Blue Boys of the Bitumen:

Beagz:  I feel like a fruit bat! I’ve become nocturnal! The night riding is an unbelievable experience, especially the sunrises. Shipper’s coffee in the middle of nowhere is something I look forward to. Drinking coffee under the stars after a ride is amazing. Ten days to go. I’m a bit homesick but the experience I’m having is priceless and the Blue Team hasn’t stopped laughing since we left. Plenty more to come!

Croc (Dave): The night riding has been great, with spectacular sunrises. We are all in good spirits and getting fitter as we go on. We are about to meet up with a number of other firefighters while in WA. I find the driving to the next stage hard to do after a night’s riding. We manage this by constant driver changes. We use the two-way radios to entertain ourselves with trivia.

JR: It has been 18 years since I was last in Broome and our visit to Cable Beach brought back memories of my girls riding camels along the beach. I rang my wife Jan while I was standing in the water and made a promise to take her to this amazing place. It finally hit home just how much I miss her and my family.

Dick: The Sandfire Roadhouse was an experience but after looking at the map and finding we were on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert, I see it in a whole new light. The sheets were clean and the air con kicked in eventually so it was all OK. I won the sunrise shift again – it just gets better every day. We ended up in Port Hedland and were over the moon to find we had to stay there and not at another dodgy roadhouse. Had a swim and feed followed by a great sleep. Really, you would only go there to work for a Big Quid. We now drive 350kms, ride 335 then drive another 300 before our next sleep so it’s just as well we are in good nick. It looks a big job but we take it in bit size chunks and get through. I am up first tonight with Dave and it will be good. Roads have been pretty flat for the last few days so I wouldn’t mind a hill or two.

I saw some of the photos Gossie took and they are very good. I think I’ll take up modelling – the camera and I are at one with each other. We have lost him for a while so will have to take our own pictures.

Missing everybody and look forward to boring all with my tales tall and true. I have always said never let the truth get in the way of a good story. I also say if it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger. I’ve got more, but that’ll do for now…

Shippers: The boys have finally learnt to ride the way I like them to. I’m not saying that they are slow learners, but it has been two weeks – finally. Things are going great. We have stayed in some interesting places, had some laughs and only one or two tears.

Simie: Sandfire Roadhouse had a highlight – the peacocks. If it wasn’t for those it would be a zero star establishment. Remarkably, I had an excellent night’s sleep. The next night we spent at Woomeral Roadhouse was even worse – imagine a toilet block converted into a hotel. Regardless, again I slept like the dead. The night riding is now a matter of course and not a drama; generally, everyone is in high spirits and the occasional laugh is had by all. Personally, I am very well, have no injuries and am enjoying this trip immensely. I feel we are on the home run. Naturally, I am missing my family friends.

Marky Mark: Starting to adjust to night shifts and finally learnt to sleep when my head hits the pillow. If I can sleep well at Sandfire and Woomarel roadhouses I can sleep anywhere. Getting pretty hot here near Geraldton but Pete and I are really enjoying the daylight riding which makes things a lot easier. Feels like we’re nearing the home stretch now and when we turn left at Bunbury towards home, we’ll be starting to think of seeing family. Man, I’m looking forward to that!

Easy: We are well over halfway through our night shifts. It took a while to adjust but all the boys are flying, doing it easy. Having an absolute ball. We are all riding some good strong k’s. Our average since we left Melbourne is 35 kms/hour and the highest temp has been 51 degrees registered on my Garmin computer. We will fly home across the Nullarbor on one leg. Love youse all, Easy.

Normie:  Hi. This is possibly my favourite 24 hours of the trip. After the thousand km trip through the desert we laughed our heads off at the Woomeral accommodation. A clever ploy by Caribou to humour us so much! Actually, my best daytime sleeps have been at the worst accom. Even got to exercise, thankfully. Nice to see the scenery change and watch the cricket over breakfast (or is it dinner?). How good are these riders and support crew. I seriously doubt most people could stay sane through this, let alone RIDE AROUND AUSTRALIA!!!

All images courtesy of Shane Goss. www.licoricegallery.com

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