Day 17 - Darwin to Mataranka Homestead - 462 kms

They say "The best things in life are free" but apparently friendship doesn't fall into that category as it cost me $10,540 to get my friend Jason to visit me in Australia. $9,000 for the bike, $1,500 in accessories to make it "Adventure Ready" and $40 for his Crocodile feeding tour when he ran past the entry way like an excited schoolgirl.

After a nice mini-vacation with Alicia touring around Darwin Jason Wilson made it to Australia with a one day delay when his plane refused to keep the oil on the inside of the engine. We drove straight from the airport to Crocodylus Park where Jason got to hand feed a Salt Water Crocodile. The meat that he fed it was horse meat so I guess the glue factory jokes don't work down here.

We spent way too long getting the bikes packed and in working order so we only made it to Humpty Doo to check out the world famous Humpty Doo Pub around 11:30PM. Turns out a Sunday Night at the pub in Humpty Doo, NT, Australia wasn't as crazy as we expected so we made our way down the road to a WWII airstrip where we camped on the edge of an old taxi zone for fighter planes.

Jason's first night in a swag was successful and like me he was immediately hooked. Someday we will become disgustingly wealthy importing these to the US. We took off and after about 80kms we pulled into a WWII cemetery to have a look and check the bikes where Jason discovered I had a flat rear tire. Now I don't like changing tires in the comfort of my own garage so sitting on asphalt in the Aussie sun next to a cemetery was not ideal. During the tire repair Jason gave me tips while lying in his bikes shade sipping a Bearded Lady. Thanks Bru. Karma is live and well because when he stood up he burnt his arm on his exhaust the same way I did, (see day 13) but unfortunately his burn is far less phallic than mine was.

Our planned destination changed three times today and surprisingly we ended up with the easiest option. After a gas station attendant whispered the three secret words (Pub, Hot Springs & Camping) we canceled further travels and headed up the road 3kms and had a few behind us before the bikes were even cold.

Jason's Comments: I saw a Roo, I almost hit a dead Dingo, My boots rule, I hate road trains, I see a lizard, I am proficient at riding on the left side of the road, I spent $15 on two drinks and gave them a five dollar tip, Chris just told me you don't tip in Australia.