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Nobuhiko Kdouh
from Japan
rides to the rock

It was Mid-winter as Nobuhiko left for his trip with one of our Touring DR-650. Nobuhiko didn’t realise he was about have the most fantastic ride and punch out 7000km in the process.
Nobuhiko took the back roads to Byron Bay he thought the views were beautiful but his goal was to head into the outback and ride all the way to Uluru.

As Nobuhiko’s journey took him initially in the direction of south western Queensland, on the way he discovered many small outback towns. This was not the scenery he was used to in Japan.

It was dry, dusty and it was rare to see people along the way.
He camped out every night under the stars in his one man tent, this was also a great way to escape the flies and the cold nights.

His route took him up the Boulia/Birdsville development road heading into Boulia a place to get any last minute supplies before crossing the Donohue and Plenty HWY which was all dirt road eventually leading him to the Stuart HWY some 660km west.

Nobuhiko refueled at Tobermorey Station and everything was going fine, no problems. After riding some 20 kilometers from the Station his rear tyre punctured. He had a couple attempt to fix the rear tyre but to no avail so he decided to ride the bike back with a flat tyre to Tobermorey Station to seek help, in doing so he shredded the rear tyre. He was helped out at the station but there were not any tyres in stock for his motorcycle so he had to wait for a tyre to be trucked in from Mt Isa, which took a couple of days.
After the tyre arrived and was fitted he was able to get going again on the Plenty HWY.

The plenty is the main road that connects the majority of the cattle stations in the area, it is mainly corrugated with a couple of dust holes thrown in for good measure, he also had to be very careful of kangaroos on the side of the road especially late in the afternoons and early mornings.
Nobuhiko encountered road trains (Cattle trucks) which he thought were absolutely enormous, he soon learned that with an oncoming road train on a dirt road it is better to get off the road due to all the rocks and dirt being thrown up which absolutely peppered him.
Nobuhiko arrived in Alice Springs with no more dramas, he didn’t stay too long as he wanted to make up for the time lost at Tobermorey Station.

Nobuhiko left Alice Springs with a short run down the road of 310km to reach Yulara resort near Uluru.
Once here he discovered it was a good place to meet other people of many nationalities all wanting to do the same thing visit the rock.
He stayed at the resort for a couple of days before heading back taking a southern route.

Nobuhiko followed the Oodnadatta track south, this bought him in contact with the old Ghan railway line and large expanse of dry lake beds, the track for most parts was OK with some sand section thrown in. The further he traveled the more the country side seemed to flatten out for many hundreds of kilometers especially on the Strzeleki track.

Once again heading north in the direction of Cameron’s Corner, Nobuhiko found himself in a fierice sand storm that lasted for 123 km. Cameron’s Corner is the intersection of 3 states New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, the dingo barrier fence also runs along the NSW border.

Over the next couple of days he headed through northern NSW passing many small dying towns such as Wanaaring, Bourke, Brewarrina, Walgett and the likes.
Nobuhiko was surprised to see that many a shop fronts had security iron bars placed in front of their windows. Many houses where damaged and had holes smashed through their walls, Indigenous drinking was rife and seemed to be a big problem in these small towns.
Even though he didn’t feel threatened he camped further out of these towns for peace of mind.