Jun 16, 2011
Made it to Katherine today and am staying at Coco's. While traveling up the Stuart Highway a couple of people said to stay there. They give a discout for cyclists. Well got into town and met Garry again (met him down at Dunmarra) and he'd been staying there.. So went and checked in. Very nice place. Coco is a nice guy. Love the Bantam chooks wandering about the yard.
Shopped at Woolworths for the first time since the coast. Wow.. After the smaller stores, its soo huge. Fresh fruit!!! I'm in heaven..
Actually riding into Katherine, there is a bike path from about 10km out. Its lined with Mango trees for part of it. Pity there isn't any fruit on them at the moment.. Like all bike paths it vanishes at one point with no signs on where to go. A construction site is the cause. I rode on the dirt for a bit, then hopped onto the road. But that was the outbound two lanes from Katherine. Arrgghh.. Back on the dirt.
The ride from Tenant Creek to here has been for the most part uneventful. Highway riding - cars, caravans and trucks. (Over it for now. Looking forward to finding some dirt again.) Camping in the bush. One night, on a stretch of bush, I walked across about a km of hard clay to camp near a creek. The ground was so hard I couldn't get tent pegs in very far. That night about midnight it stormed. Wind, lightening and rain. Well the ground turned to mud. Tent pegs wouldn't stay in now.. So a long night of tent flapping. It was also cold. Being awake I started packing up early before daylight. But with the mud it was daylight before I went to lift the tent up. There was a small snake where I was sleeping. Reckon it was sleeping with me for warmth.(it didn't provide me with any!) Neither of us could get excited - it was too cold. I kept packing up and it slithered off slowly into the bushes. Since then I've been packing up later, and checking underneath earlier in the packup routine.. Oh and that km of clay, was soft as custard. It took a lot longer to get back across it with the wheels sinking to the rims..
Looking back on the Barkly Highway, when I didn't have enough food, the Stuart has been lots easier. Still got food left from Tenant Creek, so bought too much then. But I've been eating well. It certainly made the days easier. Actually some days I rode less than four hours, and spent a lot of time reading. Much better way to travel..
I have stopped at some historical sites along the way. But frankly most of them you'd never know it. World War II sites - seems to be nothing there except the sign saying its a historic site. There could be something under the thigh high grass, but I'm not tracking about in it to look. Others like the Tenant Creek telegrath station and the over land wire line did have things to look at. Actually you'd need a week at the Tenant Creek Telegraph office to read all the material there..
The Stuart Highway has a speed limit of 130km/hr. This time of year, the big migration is underway. So its busy. All the grey nomads and holidayers from down south heading north for the winter. Some of them are in such a hurry. I've heard that some of the places don't take bookings, so I guess people rush to get there in time for a space.
Me, I'm puttering along at my own pace.
Jun 16, 2011
Well Barkly Homestead, while nice, didn't do it for me for a good rest. I just couldn't sleep. Think I've been out in the paddocks too much. At Barkly Homestead, people walking, the generator changing tone, cars slowing or stopping on the road, trucks doing the same. Every noise I'd wake up. In the end was up and packed up early to get away. Found out then that NT is in a differrent timezone to QLD. I didn't know till I went to hand the key back.
The lack of sleep, made for a tough day. Struggled along. The good thing was that night I slept so well. My spot was right near the road behind some bushes. Very close actually. But such a good sleep.
Still was struggling with lack of food. Stopped twice to cook up pasta and peas. Reckon that it just wasn't enough though. The dire food situation has forced me to do something I've never done before - plan meals for x days ahead, and plan more than one meal. So, when I arrived and did the shop up at Tenant Creek, I knew that i needed 6 or 7 days food. Planned breakfast, lunch and snacks. (I don't do dinner. Last eat is late afternoon. I sleep better that way). Probably got too much food now. Will see how it works out over the next week as I head towards Katherine.
A big "Hi" to Terry in Tenant Creek. We met at the supermarket and he invited me back to his place for a cuppa. He also offered that I could stay the night, but I was wanting a paddock, so declined. (I slept out of town about seven km in a gully, which was good. Very windy night it was.) He has helped out other cyclists he's seen about Tenant Creek. Super helpful guy. The only person I really ended up talking with in Tenant Creek.
Random things so far:
All the budgies that escape head west. Seen flocks of them out here. I've never thought of them as birds that live outside of a bird cage.
Mining equipment on display at Tenant Creek looks like its for kids. Small dinky machines.
Carrying more than 10liters of water most of the time. Mostly leaving a town with 20 liters. There are rest areas with tanks, but sometimes the tank is empty. Been annoyed a few times arriving to find caravan people using the water to do their washing, or washing their cars. Grrrrr.
Been avoiding the caravan crowd for the last few days. Tired of their whinging. They complain about the cost of fuel (just shy of $2/liter, cost of food, traffic, everything.. Aren't they every happy?
Jun 06, 2011
Firmly in Northern Territory now - at the Barkly Homestead. Going to stay here the night. They have $10 per person camp sites. So had an easy day. Got in at 12:30 after and easy 100km. Done the washing. Had a shower. Wow. First in a long time. Been eating hot chips - carbs and fat. Yum..
From Camooweel to here there is heaps and heaps of country side.
My first night in NT I slept near the Kaima Creek. Interesting spot. When the breeze died down at night I could smell the sulphurous creek. Actually, the next day I wasn't certain if it was the creek or some plant. Smells to me like hydrogen sulphide. A rotten smell.
Also during the night I heard dingos? howling. Several times. Each time nearer to my tent. Eventually they were outside. Since I had the outer clipped up- they were very close. Smart animals they understand english. I told them to go away and they did.
The full belly at Camooweal didn't last long. Back starving again. So hungry these days. Inhale food time. Looking forward to getting to Tenant Creek so that I can buy up big.
Jun 04, 2011
I declined the $20 night camp spot in Burrketown and ended up camped out of town. My departure was delayed, when I stopped and talked with Frank at the information center. Frank knows so much. Stayed talking with him for hours. You must stop at the information center and talk with Frank.
Found the gps didn't match the roads. I reckon the datam is out, as the road was always half a km off were I was. Had me worried for a while, as I took a short cut and was worried I was on the wrong road.
In general I found the roads from Burketown to Lawn Hill rough. The section from Gregory Downs to Centenary Mine turn off was in better shape. Go the heavy vehicles!
Lawn Hill was for me a bit of a let down. Its a water spot in the middle of no where. But I thought that there were nicer creeks, rivers and rock ranges on the way. The Cascade walk - the cascades are tiny. I was told later that the recent rain had changed the water cause, and so their size has shrunk. There were other things that didn't sit right - like the aboriginal rock art. But in the end it was somewhere I rested for two nights and caught up again with Nic and Carrol. First met Nic and Carol at Gilbert River. They are English driving an english car. We've kept meeting up again and again. I thought I'd seen the last of them given my speed and route. So it was a nice surprise to find them at Lawn Hill. Had a wonderful meal with them.
A huge thankyou also to the Chris and Andrew for all the food they donated to me. I had thought to buy a top up at Gregory Downs, but there was nothing there.. I was then going to go back to Adel Grove and buy a bag of pasta to get me to Camooweel. But thanks to the donation, I had heaps of food leaving Lawn Hill. Lucky in a way, as it took me four days to get to Camooweel. I've still got heaps left. Thanks so much guys!!!
A thank you to Russel, Malcolm and Trever - the road work crew out of Mt Isa. Met them and shared a lunch break. They also gave me the run down on what was ahead. Their hard work had made the road easier for me to ride on. Keep up the good work guys.
Now sitting in Camooweal, full belly, thinking of where next. Decided I'm going to stick to the tar for a few hundred km. Have a rest from the rattling dirt road and get into the Northern Territory for a bit before tackling some more dirt.
May 28, 2011
Spent a couple of days about Croydon. Was a nice little town. Got a lift into town, then was sitting there thinking about the road that I missed, so rode back out to where I got the lift from, and cycled back into town the next day. It was worth it..
From Croydon to Normington, there is a railway siding at Blackbull. There are water tanks there, but get this - they are kept empty to discourage people camping there. The Normington-Croydon train stops there though for morning tea.
Normington was just a food stop for me. I didn't stay long before heading onto Burketown.
Leichhardt Falls are before Burketown. Spent the whole day lounging about there. And pretty much had the whole place to myself. A few caravans and camper vans went past, but only one lot got out off their car to have a look. You can't see the falls from the road. There is an access track that you can drive down - but didn't see anyone doing that.. They missed out big time.