Day 22 - Hell's Gate Roadhouse to Calvert rest area - 85kms
I had dinner at the roadhouse last night. Instead of the usual burger and chips they do, here they make one big freshly cooked meal for everyone to share. You just need to let them know before 5pm that you are going to join them. Food was fantastic.
This morning is my last morning in Queensland. Took three weeks to get from Cairns to here. After a soggy start and few plan changes it has generally been great. The wind looks like it is going to help me across to Borroloola. The border between QLD and the NT is about 50km away. Road was generally good. Stopped at the border to enjoy a second breakfast and get a few pictures in front of the "Welcome to the Northern Territory" sign. As I continued the scenery started to change a bit. A lot more rolling hills. Even had a good couple of hill climbs to keep me happy. At the top of one I noticed my Garmin had switched itself off. No matter what I tried it would not restart correctly. This trip I have certainly broken a few things now, including one of the legs on my chair, a spoke on the rear wheel and now my Garmin. Will work out my distances when back home if I can't get it to work. I decided to stop at Calvert rest area. There is a nice bit of shade here. It was good to cool down a bit during the afternoon. Today's ride has been quite nice with the return of the rolling hills. Let's hope the road stays good. |
Day 23 - Calvert rest area to Robinson River- 115kms
Another nice campfire last night. I was able to get the Garmin working again. No idea what the problem was, but resetting the profile seemed to had fixed it.
This morning I was away at about 7.30am. I had a nice tailwind again to start the day. The first 45kms or so the road was really good. I came to my first water crossing, Calvert River. After I had crossed the river the road became pretty poor. If it wasn't corrugated, it was sandy. If it wasn't sandy, it was strewn with rocks and pebbles. So made for an interesting riding. I still got to Surprise Creek by 12pm. A perfect spot for some lunch. As the wind was still blowing and weather was not that hot I made a decision to continue on to Robinson River. In sections the road was good, but in others it was just plain bad. When I was having a rest for a couple of minutes a car pulled up and handed me a nice cold bottle of water. It was perfect, just what I needed. I got to Robinson River by 4pm. Considering the distance I covered and the quality of the road at times was not bad. There was a family camping at the river and I found a spot nearby. Once I was all setup I went for a splash in the water. So nice to get the red dust off from the last couple of days. When I got out one of the family members offered me a beer. Again perfect timing. Was not expecting a beer to end the day with. Sometimes it is worth pushing on for the reward at the end. |
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Day 24 - Robinson River to Borroloola - 105kms
It was a very pleasant evening last night sitting around the campfire with my hosts. The family are from Darwin and heading up to Cape York. The husband drives the big road trains you see out here. He was very familiar with the roads I had just ridden. Later we had a look in the nearby creek and saw lots of yabbies. The family put in a couple of traps and caught about 15 of them. They were huge. I think they were planning on having them for dinner the following day.
This morning I was away early again. After a few kilometres the road had just been graded. What a difference this made. The road was so much more rideable. It meant the kms drop by quickly. There were two more water crossings, which were well spaced, as it meant I could plan my breaks to be at the crossings. The last 5km into Borroloola the road for some reason was not great. I still got to town at about 2pm. Thanks to a mainly okay road and a good tailwind I had arrived a couple of days early. I decided to enjoy a rest day tomorrow and I am staying in a cabin at the caravan park. Borroloola is located on the McArthur River. It is home to a large indigenous community, is renowned for its' fishing (barramundi) and hungry salt water crocodiles. Thankfully the crocodiles haven't found me yet. I found that there is another cyclist staying here, Bob. I had heard of Bob last week when I was chatting to some travellers at Lawn Hill. He is travelling from Cairns to Darwin as well. He has been enjoying some extra rest days here and will be following the sealed road on Monday. I'll be leaving on Sunday and following the dirt for another 350kms. |
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