All photos © The Flying Banana, 2005.
November 11&12 2005 saw the merry crew off on a trip to the Stirling Ranges (south-west of Western Australia). Actually the excuse was to 'initiate' Joe who's getting married in December. A top weekend of motorbikes (along with the Saab 'transport & recovery' vehicle) barrelling along country roads, spartan camping, topped off by an exhausting climb up Bluff Knoll, the highest point in WA at 1095m above sea level. Simply sensational.
And now a few photos...
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Destination in the distance: the Stirling Ranges.
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Unfortunately not all of our company were completely sane...
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Getting set for the hike. The summit is 656 metres higher than the car park down below, and the walk distance is just 3.1 kilometres up to the top. That equals an average gradient of... ah, you do the maths. Anyway, it's steep.
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Definite overtones of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' here, eh. The spring in my step, at least, did not last for long.
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Before fatigue set in.
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Up we go and she's starting to get misty. That's the carpark way down there, and we've hardly started.
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Totally misty now. Roughly center of shot is an Australian grasstree (Xanthorrhea sp.); the things take ages to grow, and are scattered all over Bluff Knoll.
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And this was about as good as the view got! On a clear day you can see for miles, etc.
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Well there was no point in taking another shot of yet more mist from the summit, so I got a shot of my weary feet instead. Plus one of Warwick's hoofs also. We made it. Very tiring stuff, thousands of steps and rocks to clamber over. You have been warned. Why they call it a 'Knoll' and not a fully-fledged Mountain has me stumped. But perhaps the real clue lies in the other half of its name: "Bluff"...
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Gorilla in the mist? No, it's proof I got there. Actually I almost gave up about 1/2 way, but plenty of brazen lies from descending climbers (eg. 'It's not far now') helped enormously.
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And here's young Warwick as we were making our descent. Not sure what he's yapping on about, so supply your own caption. eg., 'Quick, pass me the pig gun — there's an abseiler!'
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Distance to base camp is now 2,000 kilometres...
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Looking back up to Bluff Knoll as we walked down. One huge lump of rock, folks, and that's a long way up.
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And looking out over the rest of the Stirling Ranges as we made our descent. Late afternoon, with thoughts of 'bivouac' not at all in mind.
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It's not hard to take postcard-quality snaps around here.
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Another shot looking back at Bluff Knoll. The cloud had just about cleared by the time we got back down.
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Our campsite near the Stirling Ranges. Taken early morning when no one but my insomniac self was up and about.
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Adrian the mad Saab pilot. Unexpectedly the man safely transported all the camping gear, eskies, food, etc. Registration plate obscured to protect the guilty.
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I think the hiking has driven him stark raving bonkers. Actually he is normally like this.
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The merry crew. Left to right: Mike (moi), Warwick, Mick, Adrian, & Joe — the man whose impending marriage was the excellent excuse for this little jaunt. Bikes left to right: ZXR 750 (Warwick's), GSX-R 1000 (Mick's), Kat1100 (mine), FZR 1000 (Joe's). Adrian's Saab is obscured by our collective butts.
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