Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB

Well gents the bug bit deep a few weeks ago and, well, you know how it is :thumbup1:

I won't bore you with the finer details.
The bike: 1991 XT600e fitted with a kickstart for emergencies (hope to never need it)
The goal: 2014 March, April, May, Brisbane to Japan.
The gear: buy and test as i go, for the next 18 months!
The tester: Many short rides to test gear and then working up to weekly rides and finally a 2 month ride to the tropics during summer to proof the full kit!
Finally: forget everything I've learnt and just wing it :clap:

So the first overnighter
New tent, never even been out of it bag.
New 3/4 self inflating mattress, unrolled and sat on once.
Trusty ex-defence sleeping bag (in Khaki green).
Hexamine stove and ex-defence cooking gear, proven over 26 years.

Things to forget.....

Any form of fire :(
Any way to recharge the i-devices
Insect repellent
Mid Night snacks :thumbdown:

I did my first test day on the Friday before the school holidays hoping that the Gods would favour me with a sparse camping ground with few children and even fewer Knobs in huge 4X4.

I left home at around 10 o'clock hoping to do some dirt rides through D'Aguliar range National park.Which was a great plain as there was no one on the back roads and i spent most of the day getting used to the bike on loose dirt, gravel, steep climbs and some scary down hill sections ("A break" road is a hoot).

I stopped at a place called "Dianna's Bath" which i had truly hoped would be a refreshing dip after several hours riding, oh how disappointed was I, the creek was as dry as a dead Dingo!

I stopped a the Western lookout only to see far off lighting and hear the thunder roll across the distant valleys, reminding me of a forgotten fact, i was camping, shit, 25 K's of dirt was between me and my tent site!

Well Brisbane has had 53 day without rain and as you have already guessed, by the time i reached my tent site the sky was black and thunder was very near, NOW I remember that the tent has never been unpacked and i can smell the rain a'coming!

To say that the tent went up with out a hitch is an understatement, less than 5 minutes later i was throwing all my gear into the tent and praying to the Thunder God to spare me.

Now the wind hit, completely demolishing another campers HUGE dome tent and tossing it into a tree, I didn't find this out till later as i was lying hard up against the windward side of the tent hoping that my 110kg's and all my gear would hold the tent in place....at 192cm i only just fit into the $99 special from BCF!

So the aftermath was that the tent DOES not leak and is now officially rated to SEQ Storm!
That night the dew was very heavy and not one drop entered the tent and i stayed HOT and dry...Hot because the sleeping bag i have is 100% goose down and rated to -15. You don't notice these things when you're sleeping in the desert under a hoochie The bag is to be changed.....

More to come in the mean time, here's the bike on the day :thumbup1:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...psfdb116e0.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps5dee1111.jpg