Dead End in Paradise
Spent a very satisfying 1,000+ Km burning petrol all over the Whitsundays region of Queensland doing my part to prepare our DR-Z’s for the outback.
Since engines, clutches, and brakes need to be “broken in” for a few hundred kilometers before hard use, I’ve been puttering around keeping RPM’s low and shifts gentle. A perfect excuse to get familiar with the Suzuki and take in the scenery.
While exploring the Shute Harbor region, I found a single-lane road that wound around the airport. After half a kilometer it turned to gravel. Then rocks. Then dirt. Then… ocean.
Usually a dead end is bit of a let-down on an exploration ride, but when the road stopped here I was anything but disappointed:
Didn’t see anybody around but I felt like a dick breaking the serenity with my exhaust, so I keyed off real quick. For a bike with a stock muffler the DR-Z farts like an elephant after Taco Bell.
Besides having a postcard-tacular beach to myself, this had all the makings of an epic moment- I didn’t know where I was, it was only accessible by off-road vehicle, and Jimmy Buffett would have loved it.
And just in case you bastards think I Google-imaged that parking space:
And this is just in our backyard- we haven’t even left for our first tour yet.
Speaking of which, I’m heading out tomorrow for a month in the Cape York jungle. Better charge my camera…
