DAY 258: Turkey Creek Roadhouse to bush camp 58km N of Hall’s Creek
113 km @ 14.9 km/hr
Tues 8th July 2008
Sunny, 30 deg C
Elevation of /destination 366 m
Distance to date 15379 km (9612 miles)
My caravan park jinx continued last night when some blackfellas turned up at 2330 and noisily put their tents up near mine, but after a while I blanked it out and must have fell asleep. They woke me again at 0530 as they got up again and dismantled their tents, so what the hell, it was starting to come light so I got up too. It was windy in the night, unusually, and it quickly strengthened with dawn’s light to fresh to strong.
Once underway I was pleased to find that the wind was just behind me, but only just, and a slight turn to the left negated any advantage. The advantage held for the first 80km so I made better progress than yesterday, however it was more hilly today. The road hardly ever staightens and is a series of long bends and Toblerone hills - small hills, but each descent was followed by a slightly bigger climb up which accounts for the 300m or so increase in altitude today. At 25km there is a steeper climb for 3 or 4km, around 4 to 6% I’d guess. I was feeling good though and just kept on going. The road topped out at 460m ASL.
A covered and seated rest area at 57km adjacent to the Bungle Bungle junction was very welcome, and I had tea and peanut butter and jam butties. I missed this yesterday. There was supposed to be another rest area at 97km or so but I never found it. In any case at around 95km the road direction changes from SW to S, so the SE/E wind was now a little in front, and as it was pretty strong this slowed me considerably.
The road is pretty narrow on this stretch, and I had to get off to let road trains through a few times. The surface isn’t too great either at times.
By 90km I was more than ready for a cuppa again, and finally found a shady group of trees by a creek where I could satisfy that need. After that with an hour to dusk (1730) I had trouble finding the right camping spot, but again a dry creek area had a decent site - only drawback is the large number of cattle around here - there’s as many outside the fence and on the highway as there is on the other side. Fingers crossed. At 1900 as I’m typing this it’s become very cold, and I’ll put extra clothing on tonight.
Tues 8th July 2008
Sunny, 30 deg C
Elevation of /destination 366 m
Distance to date 15379 km (9612 miles)
My caravan park jinx continued last night when some blackfellas turned up at 2330 and noisily put their tents up near mine, but after a while I blanked it out and must have fell asleep. They woke me again at 0530 as they got up again and dismantled their tents, so what the hell, it was starting to come light so I got up too. It was windy in the night, unusually, and it quickly strengthened with dawn’s light to fresh to strong.
Once underway I was pleased to find that the wind was just behind me, but only just, and a slight turn to the left negated any advantage. The advantage held for the first 80km so I made better progress than yesterday, however it was more hilly today. The road hardly ever staightens and is a series of long bends and Toblerone hills - small hills, but each descent was followed by a slightly bigger climb up which accounts for the 300m or so increase in altitude today. At 25km there is a steeper climb for 3 or 4km, around 4 to 6% I’d guess. I was feeling good though and just kept on going. The road topped out at 460m ASL.
A covered and seated rest area at 57km adjacent to the Bungle Bungle junction was very welcome, and I had tea and peanut butter and jam butties. I missed this yesterday. There was supposed to be another rest area at 97km or so but I never found it. In any case at around 95km the road direction changes from SW to S, so the SE/E wind was now a little in front, and as it was pretty strong this slowed me considerably.
The road is pretty narrow on this stretch, and I had to get off to let road trains through a few times. The surface isn’t too great either at times.
By 90km I was more than ready for a cuppa again, and finally found a shady group of trees by a creek where I could satisfy that need. After that with an hour to dusk (1730) I had trouble finding the right camping spot, but again a dry creek area had a decent site - only drawback is the large number of cattle around here - there’s as many outside the fence and on the highway as there is on the other side. Fingers crossed. At 1900 as I’m typing this it’s become very cold, and I’ll put extra clothing on tonight.
1 comment:
G'day David.
Joanne and I have been following your trip and reliving ours from back in 01-03. It's been great to see the scenery again. Reading your blog brings back so many good memories and makes us want to do it all again.
Well done and keep up the good work.
Regards
Andrew & Joanne
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