DAY 194: Bang Bang Jump Up to bush camp 41.5 km S Burke & Wills Roadhouse

Mon 5th May 2008
132 km @ 16.4 km/hr
Location S 19 deg 32.781’; E 140 deg 14.400’
Sunny, mid-20’s deg C
Elevation of destination 123 m
Distance to date 11642 km (7276 miles)
Utter peace and quiet in the bush last night - and a long, long deep sleep left me feeling very fresh this morning. I awoke gently as the sky started to lighten (I was sleeping under the mesh inner only having left the outer shell in the bag as there was no chance of rain) and just lay and watched the red and orange develop until the sun finally peeped over the eastern horizon. This kind of camping beats Caravan Parks hands down; no drunken or noisy humans to spoil the peace either, and much closer to nature where I love to be.
I set off around 0750 and just a few hundred metres down the road was a rest area - this wasn’t marked on my map so it must be new - and toilets, but I would still have sooner beenwhere I was. I did hear the odd lorry stop last evening come to think of it. I was another 15km south when I saw my first vehicle, and even after that there was little traffic - what there was was mostly caravanners / tourists.
There was considerable bird and ‘Roo activity for the first hour or so - I disturbed a Wedge-Tailed Eagle devouring some roadkill, and flocks of Little Corellas, plus the usual numerous groups of Apostlebirds. Roo’s bounded away with a staccato thump of their big back legs. There are still plenty of cattle too, though what they find to eat out here I don’t know; the vegetation is sparse and thorny - lots of Spinnifex and other coarse grasses, completely devoid of moisture in this very arid region.
Again, absolutely nothing in the way of habitation / buildings. Burke and Wills Roadhouse, the midway point in the 380km stretch between Normanton and Cloncurry is the only place there is, and it’s my first target today - a great incentive / treat!
After 30km I stopped at another rest area with table and roof, and enjoyed a shady billy-boil coffee break and a couple of peanut butter and jam muffins. Thereafter the wildlife was less apparent as it heated up, well, live stuff anyway, but I was quite content and going very well. The wind was slightly behind or on my left side, coming from the east. The road heads SSW for the first 90km today then SSE thereafter.
I got lots of waves and toots from motorists probably glad of a break from the monotony in the form of a mad cyclist. It wasn’t as hot as recent days, quite a pleasant 25 or so. The kms to Burke and Wills came down pretty quickly on the 10km marker signs - 90, 80.......30, 20, 10, yesssss! Walking into the roadhouse was like stepping into another world from the solitude of the road and bush camp - music, chatter, glasses clinking, kids screaming, pots crashing....and about 20 pairs of eyes turned to scrutinise me, but nobody spoke to me at all! Anyway I was more interested in the chilled drinks cabinet, and joy! They had 750ml bottles of Dare Double Espreesso....beautiful, wonderful....

I ordered a steakburger and blueberry muffin and by the time the former had arrived 25 minutes later the coffee was just about gone. The burger bun was dry and not very nice unfortunately, but I wasn’t going to waste it. I also bought myself a rather tasty Burke and Wills Roadhouse momento sleeveless T-shirt; something else to haul lol.
I topped up all my water bottles to the max, in fact they were all empty and I am using more water than I thought I would now that I’m in the hot Outback cycling longer days - somewhere around 6 litres a day altogether, including cooking water, everything. I’ve got another couple of bottles so in future I’ll be able to carry the following:
6 litre Sea to Summit bag (rear carrier)
4 litre Sea to Summit bag (rear carrier)
1.5 litre PET bottle (cage under down tube)
0.75 litre drinking bottle (cage above down tube)
1.25 litre iced coffee bottle (rear carrier)
2 x 0.75 litre iced coffee bottles (secured on top of front pannier)
That makes 15 litres in all i.e. 15kg, but at a pinch this would just about keep me going for 2 nights / 3 days riding if need be. In fact there aren’t many stretches where I’ll need to do that so I won’t always have them all full.
I spent about an hour at B&W RH then left feeling revived. After 10 km or so the road bent to SSE and the light E-SE wind was slightly in my face, enough to slow me down a little, nevertheless I put in another 42km, riding until 1730. I scanned the side of the road for wild camping spots for a while but nothing felt right, until I came to a telecomms mast and substation, and I was able to lift the chain on the gate and go in (I found that most of the gates to these places and to field access gates were not locked; they just have a mechanism for hanging a chain to stop it opening accidentally - this is useful to know. There’s no chance of anyone complaining about accessing these points - there’s nobody out here! I just make sure I get in without being seen for security’s sake, and I never leave any mess or any trace that I’ve been there.
All day again today there have been lots of bush flies, and I have to wear the net most of the time. They were particularly bad as it approached dusk and there were thousands around me as I set up camp. Last night lots followed me into the tent and were a pain to kill / get out, so tonight I was very careful by backing into a small opening in the flap, and when it was time to get my head in (this is where most of the flies like to land) gave my head a good shake to get them off for a second as I drew my head in. I still managed to introduce half a dozen, but they soon got the chop. I didn’t start cooking until darkness fell, since the flies are in bed by then. After dinner I sat outside and watched the stars, having applied mozzie repellant first. I now know where the Southern Cross constellation is - this can’t be seen from Europe, though Orion is clearly visible here in the northern sky, except that it’s turned 90 degrees - effectively on it’s side compared to what we see in the UK, as is the crescent moon.
And now, perfect peace again....lovely.

DAY 193: Normanton to Bang Bang Jump Up bush camp

Sun 4th May 2008
109 km @ 15.5 km/hr
Location S 18 deg 31.397’; E 140 deg 39.456’
Sunny, 28 deg C
Elevation of destination 10 m
Distance to date 11510 km (7194 miles)
The good thing about travelling as I am is that if you don't like where you are you can just move on to find somewhere better / more peaceful, and after breakfast in the campers kitchen off I went at around 0715. I took a pic of Kris, a replica of the biggest croc ever caught (and he was immediately shot of course as was (is?) the way (:-<)), who is in the main street in Normanton, and also had a look at the very nice old railway station, before departing for the vast and remote wilderness of North West Queensland. There is again nothing whatsoever between here and the Burke and Wills Roadhouse 200 km south, apart from bare, cleared land and some Savannah woodland here and there. Not a building, nothing, just road and elecricity lines. I was carrying 12 litres of water because I knew I would have at least two long hot thirsty days and a night’s camping in the bush, with no water to be had for 200km. I also took a litre of milk that I bought yesterday and had not drunk, and I downed this in the first 20km. The road is pretty straight and dead flat for the most part, and is single track for about 50% of today’s ride. It soon got up into the upper 20’s, with a clear blue sky all day. There were 2 good rest stops, at 30 and 75km approx, both had one concrete table with a good-sized roof so nice and shady. I stopped at each for enforced rest; this helps me recouperate and remotivate for what is not the most exciting riding to be honest. At the second I spent almost an hour, getting the billy on for a good, strong coffee, and lying stretched out on the bench for a while. I dug out the radio and placed it in the bar bag so I could listen whilst riding - unfortunately the only station I could tune into out here was ABC Queensland, which today was wall to wall sport; however it did take my mind off the tedium of the landscape for a while. The wind was fairly strong but usually right on my left side - a SSE-er methinks. I found myself watching for the next bend in the road (which was sometimes a very long time coming) to see if it went left (bad) or right (good)! Just a small right turn meant a slight tailwind and considerable increase in speed. The cranks / bottom bracket is squeaking quite a lot, which is a bit annoying. Only significant feature was the Flinders River crossing - I was amazed how many raptors there were in this area - literally hundreds - in fact for most of the day I was ‘shadowed’ by several raptors, mostly Black Kites, which are in abundance around here. At one point they were stacked up into the air, one above the other, like planes waiting to land at Heathrow. In my case they’re probably waiting for me to peg out so they can fight over my eyes or other tasty bits. I saw a few ‘Roos this morning too, and plenty of stinking roadkill throughout the day whereupon I attempt to hold my breath until I passed. After 105 km or so there is a little hill - oooohhhh! - and I had a look a round for a likely camp site. It was pretty rocky and no good at all, however just further on, 300m from a lorry lay-by, some land had been partly cleared for mining / prospecting or something judging by the boreholes, and I pulled off to a shady spot well away from the road. No-one saw me pull in (traffic is still very light on this road) but a few thousand bush flies were on my tail and chose to join me for tea. Today was the worst day for flies for months, and I has to eventually resort to my headnet. It was virually impossible to get tent pegs in the hard ground, but this MSR Hubba Hubba can be pitched without as long as you get some weight in the tent asap when it’s windy. So after cooking pasta it went dark and I have utter, dark silence except for a magnificent display of stars with the Milky Way smeared across the heavens, and the odd wandering unseen creature rustling around in the undergrowth. Nice. The Bush.

DAY 192: Day off in Normanton

Sat 3rd May 2008
Sunny, 28 deg C
Elevation of destination 10 m
Distance to date 11401 km (7126 miles)

You'll note that this page is out of order - this is a bug in Blogger, and to correct means deleting all the other posts above it! Sorry about this. The pics are the correct ones for that day though.

Had a very restful day and probably needed it. I caught up with lots of chores, but the main thing was that I managed to get my current account topped up by phone after Lyn got me the international phone number for the bank, which I didn’t have. I then ordered new transmission from Rohloff stockists St.Kilda Cycles in Melbourne, for delivery to Mount Isa post office. Hopefully the parcel will just about be there in a weeks time when I am due to arrive there. I had to order the special sprocket removal tool also, in case the bike shop in Mt Isa doesn’t have one - in fact I’m not even sure there is a bike shop there - although one is listed in Yellow Pages when I phoned them there was no such number. I had been hoping that this bike shop would help me fit the transmission, but I’ll probably have to sort it myself the way it's looking.
I went out for a large Iced Coffee and cakes and took these to the pool where I spent most of the afternoon, in and out of the pool and spa - wonderfully indulgent and relaxing - hot/cold - hot/cold - mmmmm. I also bought meat for a barbie tonight for a change. Late afternoon 2 young German guys arrived and pitched their tent next to mine, and I went chatting to them, and I gave them some brochures about the Burketown route, but not too happy that they were pretty drunk by dinner time. I’m starting to get a sixth sense for these situations....
I went to the Purple for a couple of XXXX Golds, and met the same man as last night there - he’s got a 4x4 with caravan - and had a weird conversation. Now this guy doesn’t listen very well and keeps on pontificating about things, so he’s hard work, but I persevered, and asked him about his Oz background. "How long have you got?" he said - go on I said, alarm bells starting to ring. "Well, I’m related to the British Royal Family". "Oh, right" I said, smiling interestedly. He then told me his aunty or someone was related to Queen Victoria. He then went on to add that he has a Knighthood (it was all kept very secret at his request) for throwing himself onto a gunman who was trying to get into Princess Margaret’s car in London. Call me an old sceptic if you like, but.....my eyes glazed over at this point and I looked into my glass to see it was nearly empty and confirmed that it was time for my barbie dinner and I was very hungry. Exit stage left. I can’t think of anyone who looks less like a knighted royal than this rather obese Australian, bless ‘im. One revelation would have been enough.
The 2 German guys were chatting to an Australian woman travelling alone at the table near my tent, so when I’d cooked dinner I joined them. Unfortunately the guys were so drunk they were just rambling and slurring and any attempt at communication was futile, so after a short while I excused myself and went to the tent. I was very tired so as it was fairly quiet now and I fell asleep early, but woke at midnight to lots of talking loudly and banging of car doors. I stayed awake for quite a while until it went quiet again and I assumed they’d turned in, however at 0200 the noise started up again and I was wide awake now. After a while of this I asked them to be quiet but they just ignored me, and I lost it a bit and asked them to STFU, and they still ignored me at first, but then started deliberately making as much noise as they could, upon which I’d had enough, and packed up and took the bike and all the gear over to the pool entrance, then got in the sleeping bag on the poolside and, eventually, slept for a couple of hours, managing not to roll into the pool. I felt very angry, especially as I had decided to stay another night here as it is such a nice CP - but now I just wanted to get away.

DAY 191: Karumba to Normanton

Fri 2nd May 2008
70 km @ 13.4 km/hr
Sunny, hot, 28 deg C
Elevation of destination 10 m
Distance to date 11401 km (7126 miles)

A nice relaxing start to the day after a very quiet night. Not quite so cold last night either, perhaps due to the proximity of the sea. I had toyed with staying in Karumba another night, and I feel as though I need a day off after 7 straight days riding, but I’m not overawed with this place, nothing much of interest for my tastes - it’s OK if you’re a fishing fanatic though I guess. The camping area is dry and dusty, there are tiny ants everywhere (my food bag was full of them this morning), and it’s a long way to the loo, and the prospect of the very nice CP at Normanton calls; I’ll have my day off there instead.
I said goodbye to Dave and Lynn (lol) who have another 6 weeks here (hmmm, no accounting for taste is there?!), and hit the road warily, watching for which way the wind was blowing. As expected it was as yesterday, east with a little north, therefore it was going to be a very hard slog for the 40km to where the road bends around from east to south, especially on the 25km that is completely open with no wind breaks.
From the first few km the wind was right in my face, I’d say it was around 25 to 35 knots, and I resolved myself to a speed of 10 or 11 km/hr. It’s amazing what tricks you can play with the brain - rather than feel down about the extreme slowness I thought "well, at least I’m going faster than if walking"...and all was well. I have been spoilt these last few weeks with all the tail winds. I stopped after just 20km for a short break whilst the sun was obscured a little by high cloud, but then after another hour the thin tree cover reappeared and my speed went up miraculously from 10 to 14 km/hr, then 18 as the road bore to the south again. This is a good omen - after Normanton I have to head south for 400km down to Cloncurry - lets hope this wind direction holds for a while. I know I shouldn’t have said that!
Once back in Normanton I found a 750ml iced coffee, egg and bacon burger, and slice of Millionaire’s Shortbread, and felt somewhat revived after a hard ride today. I then tentatively visited the library for another shot at the internet - I forgot to move some more money into my current account yesterday at Karumba Library - bit I needn’t have bothered. I typed in the bank address and waited....and waited....but nothing happened. This internet system is utterly useless, and after having a moan at the librarian (she offered no answer, or expressed any need to get someone to sort it out) gave up. I think she thought this ‘city Johnny’ expects good communications everywhere - well, I have had that as it happens all over Oz, even in very remote places, but clearly not in Normanton. I tried to get across to her that it might just be a physical fault with the computer network, as the other, regular, local, user thought too, but she didn’t register any interest in that conclusion. It will be several days from now then that I can next get online unfortunately, so my groupies will just have to be patient.
So I tried to phone my bank, but the number appeared as an expensive type of call that I didn’t have enough credit for on my GoTalk cheap call card - there must be another, international number that I don’t have, so stymied again. I need to order a chain and new cogs, but I don’t think I have enough in this account at the moment to pay for them, what a drag...I have deliberately kept as little as possible in the current account so as to leave the bulk in my savings account gathering interest - not enough clearly!
So I forgot about that for a while and went for a swim in the superb pool here at the CP, and a lie in the spa for a while. Around 1730 I rode down to the Norman River 1km away to watch the sunset and see what was doing in the river. I was rewarded with the spectacle of some ‘flying fish’ that kind of skimmed on top of the water catching flies, by some Kites and Herons close-up, and finally by another nice sunset over the river. Idyllic and beautiful setting, so peaceful, and an image I will treasure after this jaunt is over. That calls for a pint, so off to the Purple Pub for that. This CP is so handy for everything, it’s just the job.
I wasn’t too hungry this evening so settled for Vegemite and tomatoes on toast. I’m looking forward to a nice relaxing day pottering around tomorrow.

The spider by the way is 75mm across.

DAY 190: Normanton to Karumba

Thurs 1st May 2008
80 km @ 17.0 km/hr
Sunny, hot, 30 deg C +
Elevation of destination 5 m
Distance to date 11331 km (7082 miles)
Earliest start ever this morning, away by 0630. I had woken up early and decided to try and catch the early birds in and around the River Norman, before continuing north then west to Karumba. Birds were plentiful too both by the river and in various waterholes and creeks all the way. Main birds seen were the 1.4m tall Brolga (lurking furtively in pairs in the background, and once they were on the road ahead); Small, Intermediate and Great Egrets, Magpie Geese, all the Ibises i.e. Glossy, Straw-necked and Sacred; Storks, and so on. There were hundreds of Black Kites and other similar raptors that I’m not sure of, sometimes flocking together in trees, which I haven’t seen before - we usually see them in 1’s and 2’s in the UK. They were continually flying over me, casting their sinister shadow over me as I rode along. This bird spotting helped break the tedium of yet more Savannah.
The first 30km was into what must have been a NE headwind - I haven’t seen anything other than SE for 2 months - until the road turns to the left 90 degrees, whereupon I had a tailwind for the last 40km. 35 km into the ride the trees disappear as the land has been cleared for crops - but there was hardly any soil, presumably eroded and blown away leaving a sad lunar landscape. Cattle rearing is still the main farming activity, mostly beef I think. At one point I passed 6 black cowboys replete with Stetsons, herding up a few hundred beasts, and each one waved at me.
The road is good quality surface and very quiet traffic-wise. By 1100 it was very hot though, and the sun beat down mercilessly, especially when I stopped to use the binocculars. I rolled into Karumba around 1130 but couldn’t find an iced coffee, so ice cream and lime pop had to do.
The actual town of Karumba (pop 750) is to me a bit of a dry, dusty place, and on this dog-day afternoon it wasn’t a comfortable place for a redneck hombre like me to be. I rode off in search of a riverside path (the Norman River is some 600m wide here) or some kind of scenic walk, or something interesting to see, but didn’t find anything, other than the Barramundi Research Centre, where the hatchling fish are developed ready for release into the river - I’ve seen plenty of this kind of thing in the salmon farms of N Scotland. There’s no interpretation and no signage of use to tourists, and to be fair it’s really a little industrial place based on being the only port in the area. I couldn’t see myself staying here, but happily some 8km back down the road is Karumba Point with 2 CP’s, decent cafe, and a nice pub looking out to the west across the sea and famous for sunset-watching whilst drinking beer.
Before I left Karumba ‘town’ I managed to get the blog up to date at the library, which has a fast Broadband connection, but at a price - $8. I hope you guys appreciate the sacrifice I am making to bring you these exciting glimpses of this wonderful country of Oz! I saw Dave and Lynn (from Mount Surprise) again and we agreed to meet for a pint at the ‘sunset’ pub for Happy Hour at 1630.
We did just that, after which I dashed back to check in at the CP ($10 pppn), shower, and get back the 1km for the sunset, but unfortunately I was too late, it had slipped below the horizon. Whilst down there I bought a fish and chip supper at Ash's, which was absolutely huge (a good double portion), cheap ($8.50), and very good too. And I got my iced coffee at last, so all was well with the world. I fancy a day off, as I’m feeling a little weary, but I’m not sure what I’d do with myself here. It's really just a place to come and fish for Barramundi.

Maybe I’ll wait until I get back to Normanton tomorrow.

DAY 189: Black Bull Siding to Normanton

Weds 30th April 2008
94 km @ 17.8 km/hr
Sunny, up to 30 deg C
Elevation of destination 10 m
Distance to date 11251 km (7032 miles)

This site was quite noisy in the night - the generator running all night and a lorry stopping in the big lay-by close to - but with earplugs in I managed to sleep fairly well. Erik was away by the time I got up at 0700, probably 100km up the road! I went to fill my water bag at the rainwater tank near the house before leaving, and invoked the extreme ire of the resident Rottweiller, who rushed at me, snarling, only to nearly have his head nearly jerked right off by a chain. I’m glad it was a strong chain. It doesn’t look as if this place will continue to be a camping site in the future judging by the present lack of facilities; funny how they charged Erik $5 but me nothing too....
There was no wind for the first hour or so but it was nice and cool, however by 9 it was pretty hot and not a cloud in the sky. Everywhere is so dry, demonstrating the lack of rain here recently. When you walk on the grass it crunches as if frosted - it breaks rather than bends, and bread goes crisp in a few minutes. Last night was pretty cold too and I was forced to add extra clothing - well, some clothing lol.
Scenically we could be riding 3 days ago - no change, Savannah skinny forest wall to wall. My mind wandered off somewhere; still conscious, but not really present as it were. Lots of birds again early on; I’ve never seen so many raptors - mostly Black Kites but some others with rounded tails which I think may be Whistling Kites, although they haven’t whistled for me yet. The Apostles were numerous again, scratting about the ground in groups of 12 lol until I susprised them and scattered them screaming up into the trees. There were a few ponds near the road, and muddy creeks where Herons were lurking, one of which was a pinkish colour (?).
I knew this was the day that the old Gulflander train runs from Normanton to Croydon, and as the line parallels the road all the way, I worked out when our paths would cross and waited for it, to get a photo, but for some reason the close-up failed. I had fancied a trip on this train on Saturday, but as it only comes up this way to Critter’s Creek, and as it’s pretty samey Savannah all the way, I’ll give it a miss despite the billy tea and tucker.
Some 10km from Normanton the road crosses the wide Norman River which is very low at the moment, but there are plenty of fish in there, and as I silently approached some Herons scattered, and something big that I didn’t see crashed into the water - a croc maybe. The rivers are full of them around here but you rarely see them.
Before long I was riding up the gentle hill into the town, the first 'hill' of the day. The place reminds me of Cooktown a little - old rambling buildings with a frontier feel to it. There’s no concentrated town centre really, the shops are well spread out. I had a pie and iced coffee then went to the VIC, where they have the only internet in town. Unfortunately it was running dead slow, and I didn’t even try to upload images, I just posted the text and answered a pile of e-mails. I will be riding the 71km to Kuranda on the Carpenteria coast tomorrow and I was told internet is quicker there.
I checked in at the central CP and it’s very nice ($11) - a beautiful 25m pool, fully-equipped campers kitchen, and only 200m from the Purple Pub, where I enjoyed a couple of welcome pints after showering and a few laps of the empty pool.
I had a wander around the town just after dusk, thinking about eating out, but plumped for self-catering instead in the empty CK (the CP was pretty full though). There is a high predominance of Aboriginal people around the town, more so than anywhere else I’ve been to yet. I find it difficult to acknowledge them as they often avoided eye contact with me, and my not-too-earth-shattering impression so far in Oz is that for the two races ‘rarely the twain shall meet’.

DAY 188: Croydon to Black Bull Siding

Tues 29th April 2008
83 km @ 18.8 km/hr
Sunny, up to 30 deg C
Elevation of destination 49 m
Distance to date 11157 km (6973 miles)

Despite a lot of noise from a lorry with the engine running, and from many neighbourhood dogs (why can’t they be quiet and aloof like cats?) late on last night, I was wacked enough to fall asleep anyway. When I got up for the loo in the small hours there were dozens of ‘Roos / Wallabies grazing the CP. I had a nice lazy lie-in - I don’t have so far to go today so can make a slow start to the day - and had decided to have breakfast out. I only have one breakfast left in my food bag and as prices are high and choice low in these little towns I wanted to save that for tomorrow, my last morning before arriving at the bigger town of Normanton - where there is a supermarket - yessss!
So after packing up I went and had a bacon and egg roll at the famous General Store here in Croydon - it claims to be the oldest store in Oz! To see the inside of the store is like stepping back in time to the 19th century. Most of the grocery produce is behind the counter on old-fashioned wooden boxed shelving, and you have to ask the lady assistant for what you want (even though you can't see it). The roll and pot of tea went down a treat too, and as I was sat on the verandah at the entrance everyone and his dog asked after me - very friendly lot - oh and I was also offered a dog by the bloke next door to the store, whose recently-littered mother and pups were established comfortably and awaiting inspection under the floor of the old wooden Queensland-style house. Nice try but no thanks! I have enough of a load as it is.....
After brekkie I went to have a look at the Croydon historical buildings in what is now the VIC - the old police station, jail, courthouse etc., and the interpretation is very good . This was a big boom town after discovery of gold in 1885 which at that time supported 37 hotels and 122 liquour licences - there is only one hotel / pub now. Talking of which I feel bad about not going back for a meal or even a pint last night after they were good enough to give me cash on my card (there’s no working ATM here as with Georgetown). Truth is I had the trots something awful again last night and just couldn’t think of going out....I was never more than 25m from the loo! Anyway I digress - in short Croydon is well worth a few hours wander, a very nice place in the old style.
I discussed with Savannah Ranger Chris, who is based at the VIC, the grey and black birds I saw yestarday that I couldn’t identify - there were hundreds of them in the trees as I left Georgetown, screeching around just like the Noisy Miners do, and we decided they were definitely Apostle Birds. As usual the VIC people were excellent - very knowledgeable and enthusiastic - they are a great asset to Australian tourism.
I decided to have a look at Lake Belmore, just 4km away, to see what bird life might be lurking there, but after crawling up 2 very steep hills and then seeing another big descent down to the lake which would have to be reclimbed, and as the lake looked pretty much devoid of life at this late morning hour, I turned back after the obligatory photo and set off for Black Bull Siding.
BBS is the mid-point on the railway line between Normanton and Croydon, a line just used for a weekly tourist train - the Gulflander - as far as I can see. I would have liked to have taken this trip but (a) it runs on the wrong day, and (b) having seen the line running alongside todays route there isn’t very much to see from the train - the landscape is the same Savannah Scrub / Woodland as the last 2 days. What I would like to do though is to take the 1931 RM60 train on Saturday when it goes for a 2-hour run from Normanton to Four Mile Hill - which includes morning billy tea and (apparently) delicious mango fruit loaf. To this end I will probably firstly factor in a quick trip from Normanton up north to the Gulf Coast town of Karumba, a 70-odd km side trip for me - this would be the last chance to see the sea before Darwin.
The road from Croydon west is all modernised so no more single-track. Scenery is just the same Savannah woodlands and traffic is still very light indeed. It was a hot and sunny day but I had a strongish tail wind, so could average over 20 easily once the Lake Belmore attempt was over with. A lorry stopped ahead of me for the driver to have a word - he was concerned that this morning he nearly didn’t see me in the dark......not me I said when he gave more details, and we realised that there is another cyclist right behind me! The driver meant well, and is a cyclist himself; he was concerned for the cyclists sake. We had a chat about cycling stuff and then went on our way.
I arrived at BBS around 4 to find no-one around the house there, so I just set up anyway as you do. The facilities were basic I knew, but good enough for me - later on the folks came home and I wasn’t charged anything for the pitch - probably because the loos and showers were not working - no problem, Wet One bath for me tonight.
I had a nice relaxing late afternoon under a shady tree reading the paper, drinking tea and watching the birds. There was no-one else staying here until - someone behind me said “Hello - David”!!
How does he know my name? I thought as I looked around to see a cyclist beside me - and it turned out that he had seen my website - and moreover when we exchanged details I realised I had seen his website too when I was researching this trip! He is Erik Straarup from Denmark, a very well-known cyclist who is currently trying to break the record for lapping Oz for the third time, having failed on the first 2 occasions. The record is held by Australian Eugen Schilter, who has offered to pay the Australian Red Cross $50,000 if anyone beats his record of 55 days 17 hours and 8 minutes which he set a couple of years ago. It puts my 340 or so days to do this in stark contrast! Anyway Erik is ahead at the moment by 1.5 days - incredibly, today he cycled 302km from Mount Surprise to BBS! He left at 0200 today, as he always does, and the lorry driver I’d been talking to saw him at 0500 or so wayyy down the road to the east. Erik told me he gets to sleep when the sun goes down so he can get up at that early hour. He is carrying much less weight than me and has no stove, relying on buying food instead. He has numerous home-made attachments to his bike which hold small bottles, and just a kind of plastic box on his rear carrier. He’s set himself a target of 54 days for the attempt and this is day 32. What a guy! If you care to have a look and maybe check his progress over the next 3 weeks his website is www.lonebiker.dk .I promised to send the pic by e-mail to his wife, and I filled in a page in his little notebook to verify that I had seen him here today, for official verification purposes. It’s a shame we can’t spend a bit of time together, but he’ll be gone when I rise in the morning, way down the road and over the horizon! We actually only got a short chance to converse, unfortunately.
I cooked dinner and drank lots of fluid - I did drink more water today during the ride but obviously still not enough - it was a very hot day though and I was cycling at the hottest time, midday. I don’t feel the heat when riding though due to the moving air cooling me down. I just can’t stop guzzling. I have left the tent outer layer off tonight as there is virtually no chance of rain in this dry place - what a contrast to the wet tropical coast and Atherton Tablelands, which is only a few hundred km away! Everything here is bone dry, the creeks are just dust and there is no dew at all. Washing dries easily though!

DAY 187: Georgetown to Croydon

Mon 28th April 2008
150 km @ 18.0 km/hr
Sunny, 30 deg C
Elevation of destination 115 m
Distance to date 11074 km (6921 miles)

I slept lightly and woke up a few times, so at 0530 I got up so as to get an early start - this will be a long day unless I bail out and camp in the bush, which I am allowing for re water etc. just in case.
I was on the road at 0645, my earliest ever I think, and it’s a nice time to be riding - cool, colours look more vivid, and more wildlife. Birds were plentiful with Galahs everywhere, going around in packs of a dozen or two, and I saw the odd Roo / Wallaby. Black Kites were stalking me continually - I kept seeing their shadows on the road as they hovered above me - maybe they hope I will soon be a meal. I also noticed some Yellow Robins, and almost every tree contained a flock of birds I haven’t identified yet - the voice is similar to Mynahs i.e. startled screeching, but they have a bigger tail and are mostly grey and black.
For the first 20km the road undulates somewhat but then settles down to almost flat (actually it descends very slowly). The wind was light and variable for much of the day and not a great deal of help to me. The sun blazed away all day with no cloud cover. For the most part today it is fairly easy to find some shade and somewhere to lean the bike - even a log or stone to sit on if you’re patient and wait a few minutes. I had taken 8 litres of water in case I camped in the bush, so I had plenty to keep wetting the sock-covered drinking bottle to keep it cool. However late in the day I detected a funny taste to the water from the 6 litre bag, and I remembered that I hadn’t rinsed it out before filling this morning - that’s very careless, especially as I already have the trots, and I don’t want a double dose thank you!
After 21km the Cumberland ghost town ruins lie just off the road so I went to have a look, but only the chimney stands, and there’s no interpretation to inform what it’s all about. Behind the chimney is a small lake / wetlands, where a flock of Magpie Geese were nesting, as were the Egrets and some Herons.
From here there’s nothing to see of significance until the Gilbert River, which is about 300m wide in the wet but reduced to a trickle today. I stopped to take a couple of pics but it was very hot and I soon got back on the bike for the cooling breeze. There are no houses or other building visible from the road anywhere in this section, although there are some farms well away from the road judging by the few drives I saw. Just near the Gilbert River was a fruit stall sign and I got all excited at the prospect of a fruit ‘treat’ but it was closed (:-<) - cruel. I only had biscuits as I was unable to buy bread in Georgetown and forgot to look for some nuts, which always make a good snack. After Gilbert River the scenery is all the same, mile after mile, and it takes a special brand of concentration to avoid this getting tedious - I tend to think about what I want to do in the future, or tonight even...that kind of thing. The odd wave from a motorist helps. Funnily enough, I rarely get a wave from anyone towing a boat, but usually get one from someone towing a caravan - why is that? Some 75% of today’s road has been modernised; the rest still single track. Still less than 15 vehicles per hour I’d say, so pretty peaceful. My saddle sores were not so painful today thankfully. I went through a bad patch after 100km when I still had another 50 to go, but rode through it and got motivated again with only 20 to go. Camden looks much like Georgetown - 1 pub, 1 store etc and first thing was to get an iced coffee that I’d been dreaming about for hours, before setting up in the CP ($11/nt for 1 person). There’s a nice 25m pool here and I was in as soon as the tent was up, but boy was it cold - refreshing though. It has been getting quite cool at night lately - probably down to 7 or 8 degrees - and I’m glad of my 3-season sleeping bag. There’s no heavy dew though like there was on the Atherton Tablelands; it’s much drier down here. All the smaller creeks are bone dry and only 2 rivers had water, and not so much at that. I managed to get some cash at last, from the pub bar, and hads intended to go and have dinner there with a couple of beers, but my digestion system was in overdrive and I just didn’t feel like straying far. I have to get this sorted, but there’s not even a chemist for another 150km at Normanton, so unless I can get to see a doctor here I’ll probably have to wait a couple of days. The water in the CP tasted awful after the water co. had done something, and no way could I even drink tea made with the stuff - but the manageress showed me her rainwater tank so I helped myself to that, which was a dramatic improvement.

DAY 186: Mt Surprise to Georgetown

Sun 27th April 2008
93 km @ 15.2 km/hr
Sunny, 27 deg C
Elevation of destination 294 m
Distance to date 10924 km (6827 miles)

Up sharpish and away by 0740 in bright sunshine, with blue sky for a change. There was very little cloud today and it felt pretty hot when stationary in the sun, but OK when moving. The wind was pretty fickle today - not much wind at all but when it blew lightly it was from the west i.e. in my face. The road hardly flattened out either - continually undulating between 300m and 550m at the highest point, in the Newcastle mountain range - so much draggy climbing had to be done to make up for all the descents. Traffic was very light in the morning but a bit busier later on - maybe up to a vehicle every 5 minutes lol.
There was quite a bit of twist in the road in places adding a bit of interest, but on other occasions you can (despondently) see the climbing road ahead for 2 km or so! There is quite a nice view back from the Newcastle range summit, looking over the treetops to the few volcanic-looking mountains beyond. Apart from this I kind of like the bush scenery anyway - red and pink soil, bright blue sky, matt green eucalypts - very Australian. Some 75% of the road was double carriageway, the rest the usual single with wide dirt verges. Anyone reading this a few years after 2008 and planning this trip will probably find all the highway has been modernised to double.
There was plenty of fauna earlier on - Kangaroos, Blue-faced Honeyeaters, Wedgetailed Eagles, Black Kites, Butcher Birds, Magpies, Black Cockatoos, and more of the red and green parrots that I think may be one of the Rosellas. Quite a bit of roadkill too though.
Motivation is a bit harder to come by for me when I can’t stop for a ‘treat’. A substitute ‘treat’ could be a nice shady stop where there’s somewhere to sit and somewhere to lean the bike, but places fulfilling all these crtiteria were few and far betweeen today. At one point around 1100 I started looking in earnest but went fully 20km before I found a spot - a pile of hardened subsoil at the side of the road, and that wasn’t in the shade, the sun just happened to go behind a cloud for a while at that time so I took advantage of it. There is usually either a deep drainage ditch or a steep slope running away from the edge that prevents access to any shady trees, tantalisingly out of reach. I did think about getting the brolly out to provide the shade, but didn’t get around to trying it today.
Anyhow it was a bit of a plod at times, but I made it to Georgetown by 1430 and had iced coffee and a Cherry Ripe chocolate bar at the BP. I also learnt there that there is no ATM in this place, which is a bit unfortunate as I have less than $20 in cash - I will have to use the card as EFTPOS to buy stuff and pay for the CP.
The good news is that TerrEstrial - a state of the art Visitor Info Centre / library / internet cafe combined is open today, Sunday - I hadn’t expected that; I was planning to catch it open in the morning. This meant I could do all my uploading this afternoon, which I duly did, and the internet connection (by satellite dish) was pretty fast too. Apparently the place won the 2005 Gulf Savannah Business Awards Business of the Year.
Georgetown is a tiny town but this place cost a cool $1.2M! The council paid most of that sum. The uploading cost me $10 ($6/hr). I also e-mailed a few Rohloff dealers to get a price for the replacement transmission. Lyn had e-mailed me and was nice and positive, so I appreciated that.
I checked in at the Mid Caravan park ($11) which was OK, but on rinsing my white Assos top I discovered the water was brown, and had made it the same colour. I went to see the owners and they confirmed there was a problem with the colour, and they gave me some powder to dilute in the rinsing water, and that did the trick, making it white again. I’ve got a bit finnicky about this shirt being nice and clean for some reason (perhaps because the rest of me is a bit scruffy lol). My Shimano sandals in particular are looking a bit sad - they are OK, still quite functional, but the black is peeling off the Velcro straps revealing white leather underneath which looks a bit naff. I need to borrow some black boot polish somehow.
I cooked for myself again, and made a good pasta with salami again, but this time, using a tip from Jorg, added some sun-dried tomatoes in canola oil, which adds a nice texture and oily base for the sauce - very nice. I was very thirsty again this evening and it’s clear I’m not drinking enough during the ride - I only had 2 litres in 5 hours today, far from enough. I’ll add ‘some Gatorade powder tomorrow to see if that makes it more attractive, but I do miss my coffee treats. Still, the Outback has plenty of compensations - another great sunset tonight. There were lots of mozzies around so I sprayed myself and lit a coil, which did eliminate them altogether while I cooked, ate and did my diary in the dark.
The saddle sores were very painful for a while today, then went OK, weirdly. I still have the trots too, which I will have to seek attention to I think.