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NT Rally - Day 3 - Port Augusta

Date:
By Officer Hardass
Category: H.O.G. Rides
Leaving Broken Hill we had perfect blue sky, which was great to see.  It only took 5 minutes to hit the outside of town and straight away you were in the outback.  The scenery now was getting very remote.  Very few trees, just spindly little things and lots of rocks.  Interestingly there were heaps of emus out this morning.  As I rode along I really couldn't help but notice the dirt becoming a lot redder than the last few days and the landscape was so flat you could see for days.  It was all simply stunning.

Our first stop was the NSW/SA border for an obligatory photo.  Everyone knows you don't cross a border without taking a photo!  I thought it would be funny to take a photo of everyone taking a photo.  Turns out it was.  I even got a couple with my pretty head in them—for posterity of course!

Pressing on we stopped for fuel and a snack at Cockburn.  Word has it this town was named after a very unfortunate man or perhaps I just made that up.  Either way, Cockburn isn't the best place for a town if you want to keep a straight face while saying it.  It reminded me of a town near Moree named Gravesend, "everyone's ultimate destination" I thought.  Poor humour, I know.

Any way, all fuelled up we made a run for Orroroo.  Many of the club threw rain gear on as did I and I'm glad I did.  About 50kms out of Orroroo it started to piss down and didn't stop.  We pulled up at the pub and made a march for the bar.  I grabbed a XXXX Gold and damn it was good.  So cold!  A few members yelled out from down the street.  They found a bakery with awesome pies so I shot down and grabbed one.  With full bellies it was time to make the final run to Port Augusta.

For the next section I was really hoping for clear sky and dry road as the corners are epic.  Unfortunately, this was not to be.  We all kept a fair distance apart and took our time as the rain was flogging down.  I had to stop and remove my sun glasses as they were completely fogged up.

Arriving at Port Augusta we all stopped and fuelled up before heading to the motel.  Along the way there was minor flooding across the road so we had to be really careful.  I was later told they'd had an incredible amount of rain, which explained the flooding.

Not long after arriving at the motel we turned it into a Chinese laundry.  There was stuff hanging everywhere trying to get dry!  I sat outside and wrung out everything.  I swear a goldfish could have survived for a month in my boots.

For dinner we all threw in and had a massive BBQ and a few beers.  Thankfully the BBQ area was all undercover so we could hide from the rain.  Hopefully tomorrow would be blue sky as was predicted, but we will see.