- Jason: Triumph 800XC
- Tony: Trumph 800XC
Left Jason's house (Coomera) at 1700 and headed toward Beaudesert. Took a detour down Flagstone Creek Road[^1], which is an fun, wide gravel road that is regularly traversed. By now it is getting dark and the insects are tasting great. Hit Beaudesert soon enough and head south along Kerry Road[^2].
By now, we have reached Duck Creek Road[^3] and the sun is over the horizon good and proper. We start the ascent up the rocky hill toward O'Reilly's and the recent rain leaves the air fresh and the track with no dust. We encounter a herd of cattle that refused to get out of the way. Jason is behind me with a calf in between us that has left the herd but refuses to get out of the way, running along the track instead.
We clear the cattle and, I shit you not, out of the pitch blackness, there is a giant bloody camel on the track. Not standing there, just sitting down chilling out. Soon the headlights make it clear that actually there are two camels and while there is a path around them, their size is a bit startling should they choose to stand up and move in front of the main track. We pass with no indicents but giggles.
The track gets tighter and steeper from here and well, more fun too. A few ruts and rocks make the challenges of throttle control fun, while I remind myself that I really should do something about that shitty rear suspension. We pass a couple of 4x4s in the opposing direction and then we get to a chewed out ascent, with me in the lead. It was that slimy, greasy mud with poor traction and I was well committed to the shittiest line before I realised how poor the wet track was for traction. I soon found myself in a bog and Jason idled on by on the nicer main track. Soon after, he'd push me out while I mustered the throttle discipline required to not fill Jason's face with mud cake. I'm too nice sometimes, I swear.
Anyway, we get to the top of the hill[^4], 890m above sea level, and stop to look out over the O'Reilly's farm house. The stars are awesome and we see a couple of meteors. The Milky Way is clear, Jupiter shining bright and we can see Sirius, Canopus and Betelguese against the backdrop of stars. Jason also decides that the local wildlife was not suitably quenched by the recent downpour. We can also see 4 or 5 flights in the distance and since we have a 3G connection, we are able to identify them on FlightRadar24. That was neat.
We jump back on and head the last 600m to the main road and turn right toward O'Reilly's Guesthouse[^5]. We park up and head to the restaurant where we have a drink and feed and talk shit about shit.
Back on the bikes for the twisty descent down the main road, we are told by a couple that on the way up, the road was being closed due to rockslides. We were dodging rocks all the way down that had fallen onto the road and finally came across a road that was two lanes this morning, but is now one. We figure that the road has been reopened at this point. However, after dodging a few more rocks (and pademelons and possums), we encounter a large roadworks gig and we prepare to turn round for the 90 minute round trip back around Duck Creek Road. Phew, the workman waves us through the narrow track around their roadworks -- good luck to the buses that usually go up that road.
A bandicoot and a couple of possums cross my headlights, but live to tell the story and we are at the bottom of the hill hooting along at about 90kph. We hit Canungra, then Yatala and it's time to part ways. Jason heads back to Coomera and I prepare for the hour ride home.
Heading north on the highway, I see the brightest flash of light streak through the sky, directly in front of Jupiter. It was bloody awesome. Then, not two minutes later, another meteor in exactly the same position! And it was even brighter! The entire sky lights up as the bright streak of a tail sizzles for a brief couple of seconds. It is at this point that I realise I am doing 70kph in a 110kph speed limit zone, but then, so are all the cars around me. It was right in front of all us.
I arrive home at about 2300 and check my camera footage. Most of it is dark because my camera was rear-facing. I assume Jason's forward-facing camera tells a better story.
The End.
[^1] Flagstone Creek Road http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-27.9321&mlon=153.0792#map=16/-27.9321/153.0792
[^2] Kerry Road http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-28.0011&mlon=153.0039#map=15/-28.0011/153.0039
[^3] Duck Creek Road http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-28.1468&mlon=153.0425#map=15/-28.1468/153.0425
[^4] Duck Creek Road (pinnacle) http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-28.2112&mlon=153.1184#map=14/-28.2112/153.1184
[^5] O'Reilly's Guesthouse http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-28.1468&mlon=153.0425#map=13/-28.2320/153.1377