PART 3: PERTH (FREMANTLE) - SIDNEY
Fremantle, the first settlement on the West Coast, kalgoorlie, the golden twon, the desolate, neverending and hot Nullarbor Plain, superb Sidney and Bondi Beach - the Australian San Remo.
The confidence of being able to ride such long distance on our mythical scooters without any mayor problems arose when we reached North Cape some years ago, during our first long trip, and it was at
During these raids with our Lambrettas we have never lost the awareness that our scooters are an extension of our bodies, as the destination could only be reached by keeping a close understanding and a careful relationship towards such a generous means of transport.
After replacing the oil seals of the shaft of my "A", which had caused some trouble 70 kms from Perth, we thoroughly clean head and cylinder of deposist, replace the rear tyre and gear rods, which had got an excessive clearance, and we also replace Vanes 150 D's fork, damaged by a ruinous accident. After checking all the oil levels and adjusting the points our Lambrettas are ready to set off.
THE GROUP
The column will be composed of Vanes with the 150 D and Jean Claude, well-known dentist from Cannes and President of the Lambretta Club of France, who will ride Nadia's Lambretta to the end. She will not be able to be with us this time for professional reason, but she will ideally follow us. Maria with Honda Spacey completes the column. After hearing of our trip through Australia, Maria, an electronich engineer at Telstra (Australia's telephone company), contacts us to share her experience of long range scootering through her country.
After learning that our cruising speed would be much slower than hers, she accepts to be with us all the same. Maria was a careful, precise, patient, humourous "companion", and enthusiast of being part of the clan. She will be helpful on many occasions, and always when choosing a wine.
DEPARTURE, AND A BREAKDOWN AT ONCE
After sealing our union with a nice fish dinner with John, Mat and their partners, who had kindly hosted us in their atelier to prepare everything, we are ready to set off.
Some scooterists of the Centurion Scooter Club in Fremantle and their president Vince, after cutting the departure ribbon, escort us through the traffic to the edge of the town. The column seems to have started well and safe, but we hardly reach Perth's suburbs. We notice problems with Vanes' 150 D's ignition. After replacing the condenser, we are guided by Vince, who, to make sure that everything works, will follow us for a hundred kms across the mountains which separate the coast from the plain. We will reach Southern Cross at nightfall; Maria, closing the column, thanks to her well-working headlights, lights up the road in front of us and stops us from being run over by trucks which can't see us.
We will sleep in the Grand Hotel of the mining town.
In the style of the 1920's, the hotel was built to accomodate many miners. Now the mines have dried up and the rooms are mostly deserted. However, we come too late: the kitchen has already closed, still we managed to eat what is left in the buffet. The hotel's management kindly offers everything.
The heat makes itself felt and the temperature is slightly beloe 40°C. We reach Coolgardie in the late afternoon. A mining town of about 20,000 inhabitants, 600 kms from Perth, it is the queen of the "Golden Mile". Its importance has decreased with the working out of the gold mines at the end of the 1920's but has recovered after the discovery of nichel in the 1960's. Here, too, shops and hotels in the style of the beginning of the 20th century maintain the fascination of the frontier town.
The very good road, after overcoming the hills east of Perth and reaching the plain, continues eastward to Kalgoorlie. From here on the Lambrettas go with no trouble southward to Norseman.
EYRE HGW AND NULLARBOR PLAIN
From Norseman we follow the Eyre Hgw which, crossing the never-ending, hot and desolate Nullarbor Plain, reaches Port Augusta.
Eyre Hgw is named after the explorer who, with his mate Baxter, crossed this region in 1841, gathering useful infortmation for the colonisation of the place. What is now an important communication road was at the time just a muddy track during the rain season and dry dusty trail during the summer.
It was followed by bicycle in 1909, then by car in 1012 by Francis Birtles; later, in December 1926, by a group of brave bikers in a famous Rally organised by the Western Australian Harley Club.
The Eyre Hgw was only made reliable for all season in 1976. Works started back in the 1940's for strategic and military reason. In 1951 a transportation system Sidney-Perth and back was established: 9,600 kms in "just" 27 days. In 1968 daily traffic was estimated at 80 vehicles per day!
We will our tanks and take a snack, as until Balladonia we will not have any other chances. Length 146 kms, all without a single bend, not even the slightest curve.
A light rain which will freshen our journey unexpectedly breaks the dryness and the hot weather; but we have to remove the mud flaps to avoid blocking the wheels. Along our ruote we see groups of emus and kangaroos which, out of curiosity, turn when we pass, doubtful whether to cross the street or not!
In Cocklebiddy, where we stop for the night, they inform us that unfortunately there will be trouble as the generator isn't working. In this isolated station, everything, or nearly everything, depends on the generator. When , for some reason, it does not work, it is impossible to fuel or cook. Above all, if the damage is prolonged, all meat and food supplies could be lost forever, and it is only possible to use water from the reservoir.
OVER-50 KIDS
My mates are soon enthusiast about the trip we have undertaken. Sometimes, bent over the bars, we launch our Lambrettas at top speed, like kids in a race. Maria, who follows us, watches and does not understand.
We got past Madura pass, following the old abandoned road. From the top of the pass we enjoy a wonderful sight of the unendingand desert Nullarbor Plain: Nullarbor means "with no trees".
From Madura Oasis the road gets close to the ocean and we will be able to enjoy the fresh breeze of the southern winds. The four scooters continue with no problems, but we must stop briefly to fix the A's accelerator's cable. Maria patiently follows with her scooters which looks extremely comfortable and fast. Good for her!
We reach Nullarbor Roadhouse, named after the plain.
The signs have the distances toward east and west. It really is like being in the centre of the world!
We realise that Maria is no longer with us. She had stopped to get some petrol and she had signalled that she would catch up with us. Twenty minutes pass but she still does not appear on the horizon. We tell some jokes on Japanese scooters' unreliability, and a driver tells us that our friend is stuck 15 kms behind. We turn back; just a false electric contact which we immediately repair.
IN THE GROUP EVERYONE HAS HIS OWN TASK
Jean Claude, "the Captain", a seaman with great experience on sailing ships, will deal with the business with hotels/motels. That means that he will pay the bills with his credit card.
Vanes, "oil manager", will look after lubrication and will be the supervisor as far as eating is concerned.
Maria and Pierre will deal with the relationships with the locals and will follow the cultural aspect of the trip.
I, owner of the road maps, will have to plan the route and, as "petrol manager", fuel the scooters. Eucla, our next goal, can be seen from a distance, on a plain sheer to the Great Australian Buch. It is a comfortable place to stop, you can spend the night in a welcoming motel and taste the "fisherman's basket" (a mixed fry).
A country road takes us to the old telegraph station. Eucla's telegraph station, now a ruin half covered in the coast's sandy dunes,
became in 1877 'an important point for connecting Perth with the rest of the world'. About 50 people worked at the station which got supplied from the sea every 3 months, while the telegraph line was kept in order by workers who travelled continuously with camels.
Once we leave the Lambrettas, we must hike a little on the dunes. An enoumous whale in the square in front of the hotle, a favourite background for photos, reminds us that these big mammals, which are common in this part of the ocean, can be seen from the Cliff.
From the places which can easily be reached from the street we can enjoy wonderful views both of the ocean and the cliff on the sea.In the evening the meeting for dinner is a pleasant occasion to exchange impressions, spend the last part of the day together and plan the following leg.
The 150 D ridden by Vanes is really indestructible, even if the leaking of the sump forces us to fill up continuously.
We reach Ceduna, famous for its oysters, and then Streaky Bay. The road runs alongside the ocean and a signs reads "Pardubie Bay, halfway between dream and paradise". Nothing could be more striking, the beach and the sea invite us to stop. We leave the Lambrettas and dive into the trasparent water separated from the ocean by an island.
In Port Lobatt, about 30 kms from Streaky Bay, we can see sea lions, but the idea of riding off road for 60 kms is not appealing. Our Lambrettas have by now travelled more than 40,000 kms and we do not feet like running other risks. We will see the large rookery of sea lions (about 200) escorted by a kind local car driver who, successfully turned into a tourist guide and with some diversions, lets us visit other evocative places along the coast.
When we leave the ocean the temperature is really high: we therefore aim to reach Port Augusta in one day, crossing the Eyre peninsula, and indeed we reach Port Augusta at sunset. The evening at a Chinese restaurant and a good bed will end the day. We will go back up to Adelaide along the same road we have travelled on some time before coming from Melbourne and going to Darwin.
MARIA LEAVES US
Sadly, our partner leaves us to go towards Melbourne. She is forced to go back because of business. Alone, we will reach Adelaide without any trouble.
Adelaide is clean and tidy, with a lot of green areas, restaurants, night clubs; it has the right atmosphere for those who come from the Outback. We afford us a day's rest to visit the city, and obviously, after such a long abstinence, the Italian restaurant "Pasta House" in an uptown street.
Just as we leave Adelaide the clutch disks of the A glue to each other and force me to perform magical tricks to proceed in the traffic, while the exhaust, literally exploding, needs some repairing.
Going northward we will cross Barossa Valley with vineyards everywhere. Last year a single vine-grower planted 50 square kms of vineyard. We also pass Renmark with its citrus groves. Vegetables alternate with wheat and orchards. We ride along the Murray River, the river which will throw itself into the Indian Ocean crossing Sidney.
We feel the end of our journey approaching. The villages and towns we cross era settlements which date back to the first years of the European colonisation: Mildura, Grenfield, Cowra, Bathurst.
We will not miss the chance to visit the Motor Museum in Bathurst and rice on Mt Panorama circuit. When we arrive the museum's manager is curious about our scooters and says he is interested in having them in his museum... but how could we get to Sidney?
THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
The Blue Mountains are between us and the sea: they are the only range of some importance. A steep and winding road takes us to the top crossing green woods and isolated cottages. The Lambrettas trudge but in the end they reach tha pass. Then, in the late afternoon, we reach Katoomba. From Katoomba you ca make a lot of excursions to the surrounding mountains, both on foot and by horse. From a rock we catch a sight of the Blue Mountains National Park, an immense green lung still not polluted.
THE END OF OUR JOURNEY: SIDNEY
From here the road goes down towards Sidney. We are surrounded by the traffic of this big city which has a diameter of 70-80 kms. Used to the plains and the immense spaces, we do not feel at ease in the city traffic.
Some days in advance, we reach the end of our Australian Journey. The arrival could not be better than Bondi Beach, Sidney's most exclusive, elegant and beautiful beach.
Beautiful women come here, boys meet on Saturday nights with super-chromed, Formula 1- wheeled cars, loud exhaust s and blasting stereo. They challenge one another, controlled at a distance by the police, ready to prevent all excesses. On the promenade both the young and the elderly observe our Lambrettas with interest.
Maria will reach us from Melbourne to spend the last days with us. Infected by us, she is planning long scooter trips, maybe "solo" or with other scooters, but faster!
We spend the last days of our holidays visiting Sidney and the outskirts, Paul's shop, Scooter Centre, newly opened, the beach and the local food.
We have reached and overcome our goal of travelling the Equator's length, and more importantly, with no great problems either to our Lambrettas or ourselves. In this long journey across three continents we have had a chance of visiting enoumous countries, knowing different and interesting peoples and traditions. Above all we have have got to know our Lambrettas and ourselves a lot better.
We can say that this experience, taking 142 days of travelling, has let us evaluate the workmanship and durability of the mechanical parts of our scooters. As we have already noted, our lambrettas have showed a strength beyond expectation and above all an exceptional endurance on long routes. Very important, in the last kms we have checked the following top speeds:
Lambretta A 78 kms/h, Lambretta 150 D 84 kms/h. Not bad, is it?
As scheduled, the Lambretta have come back to Italy and will continue to be part of the history of this wonderful scooter, an example of a manufacturing genius, shy, but one of the protagonists, with his talent, of the Italian reconstruction: Ferdinando Innocenti.
May these pages remind you of this man and this scooter.
Nadia and Tino Sacchi, Vanes Pinardi, J.C. Mazzella di Bosco, Maria Moryto