DAY 252: Bush camp to Kununurra
NB/ yellow flowered tree is the Kapok...
Weds 2nd July 2008
92 km @ 18.8 km/hr
Sunny, 31 deg C
Elevation of /destination 55 m
Distance to date 15063 km (9414 miles)
After a peaceful night I managed to get away by 0815. the SE tailwind was just striking up and would stay fairly fresh for the whole day. The road was much more undulating than yesterday, but nothing steep. The landscape is intersting; a large variety of trees, larger trees than has been the case as a rule, and red mountain backdrop. There's clearly more water in the ground around here.
I stopped at a creek bridge with a little shade after 35km and had a cuppa and jam butty, and as I was leaving Alistair rode up. He thought he saw a cyclist pass him yesterday whilst having a rest stop, and it must have been me. I had heard someone shout but didn't see anyone. We rode the rest of the way together and compared ideas about the Gibb River Road and had a good old natter - Al is delightfully chatty, although I have trouible understanding his NZ accent sometimes!
Some 15km later we reached the Northern Territory / Western Australia border (I'm back in the same state I started in, although a long way from Perth yet!) and quarantine checkpoint, so as Al had some fruit and veg which would have to be confiscated we stopped at the rest area just before the border and had a feed. Another couple came to do the same and gave me a lovely fresh sandwich so as to use the lettuce, tomatoes etc. up. No fruit, veg, honey or nuts with skins are allowed into WA. Processed food such a bags of cachews is OK though thankfully.
From the border to Kununura is around 40km, and we flew along in the strengthening wind, until with 15km to go I punctured again. I just pumped it up again (rear tyre) and managed to get away with this a couple of times until there was just 3km to go, but by that time the tyre was deflating very quickly so I stopped at a shady spot and changed the tube, and also put the spare tyre back on in case there was something embedded in the original one, which seemed likely.
After that I soon landed in town and did a quick shop before following Al to the Hidden Valley Caravan Park ($11 pppn). The site is quite busy but looks ok, with a stunning backdrop of red craggy mountains very nearby. As the sun went down these rocks turned a dramatic deep red colour; amazing. I had a glass of wine or two (OK, a bottle then), and chatted with Alistair.
92 km @ 18.8 km/hr
Sunny, 31 deg C
Elevation of /destination 55 m
Distance to date 15063 km (9414 miles)
After a peaceful night I managed to get away by 0815. the SE tailwind was just striking up and would stay fairly fresh for the whole day. The road was much more undulating than yesterday, but nothing steep. The landscape is intersting; a large variety of trees, larger trees than has been the case as a rule, and red mountain backdrop. There's clearly more water in the ground around here.
I stopped at a creek bridge with a little shade after 35km and had a cuppa and jam butty, and as I was leaving Alistair rode up. He thought he saw a cyclist pass him yesterday whilst having a rest stop, and it must have been me. I had heard someone shout but didn't see anyone. We rode the rest of the way together and compared ideas about the Gibb River Road and had a good old natter - Al is delightfully chatty, although I have trouible understanding his NZ accent sometimes!
Some 15km later we reached the Northern Territory / Western Australia border (I'm back in the same state I started in, although a long way from Perth yet!) and quarantine checkpoint, so as Al had some fruit and veg which would have to be confiscated we stopped at the rest area just before the border and had a feed. Another couple came to do the same and gave me a lovely fresh sandwich so as to use the lettuce, tomatoes etc. up. No fruit, veg, honey or nuts with skins are allowed into WA. Processed food such a bags of cachews is OK though thankfully.
From the border to Kununura is around 40km, and we flew along in the strengthening wind, until with 15km to go I punctured again. I just pumped it up again (rear tyre) and managed to get away with this a couple of times until there was just 3km to go, but by that time the tyre was deflating very quickly so I stopped at a shady spot and changed the tube, and also put the spare tyre back on in case there was something embedded in the original one, which seemed likely.
After that I soon landed in town and did a quick shop before following Al to the Hidden Valley Caravan Park ($11 pppn). The site is quite busy but looks ok, with a stunning backdrop of red craggy mountains very nearby. As the sun went down these rocks turned a dramatic deep red colour; amazing. I had a glass of wine or two (OK, a bottle then), and chatted with Alistair.
No comments:
Post a Comment