Day 26 - Borroloola to Batten Creek - 82kms
Yesterday I had an extremely relaxing day. The only touristy thing I did was go to the old police station which is now a museum. Very interesting displays about the history of Borroloola.
This morning I was riding nice and early to enjoy the cooler part of the day. Unusually it was very foggy until about 8am. The first 25kms was along sealed roads before I took the turnoff towards Limmen National Park. The dirt road in was at times a little rough but generally really good. The temperature was rising quickly, so about every 30-40 minutes I would take a 10 minute break in the shade to cool myself down. At one of the stops a car pulled up and offered me a ginger beer and homemade cake. Nice couple and very yummy cake. I got to Batten Creek at around 1.30pm. I was enjoying lunch in the shade near the water when a caravan pulled up. Will was looking to walk his dogs. He was a bit concerned re the closeness to the water and crocodiles. I agreed, as the water did look a bit too croc friendly. So we agreed to move up the hill and share a site. My camp buddy used to be a farmer in Victoria, but has since sold it and is travelling around with his van. We shared dinner and a couple of beers over the evening. It was great to have a bit of company today. |
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Day 27 - Batten Creek to Southern Lost City - 75kms
This morning Will insisted on making me a cook breakfast before I left. Thanks to Will I got to enjoy eggs, bacon and sausages with coffee before my departure. Will is a fantastic guy. We exchanged details, I hope to keep in contact with Will.
I was on the road around 7.30am. For the first couple of kilometres the road surface was great. After it changed to varying levels of crap! If it wasn't corrugation, it was a sandpit! The sand was the most annoying, sometimes it was quite deep and I would come to a complete stop. So I was, on occasions, pushing my bike through the sandpits. This, along with the number of dry creeks (e.g. Going down and then back up) slowed my progress somewhat. In the first two hours I had travelled no further than 20kms. People are so nice. When I'm resting near the side of the road most people will pul up and ask if I'm okay or need anything. If I'm offered water I'm always going to say yes, even though I'm carrying enough for the next three days. As I think you can't have enough water out here, as the creeks are dry and it does get hot. One of the stops a stockman pulled up, said he'd been out the last week rounding up bulls on the station. Whilst I was chatting to him a couple of his mates turned up on quad bikes. Great people. In the end I got to the Southern Lost City at about 2.30pm. Found a nice campsite. When I arrived Steven and Lynn passed me earlier and offered me a coffee. Once again so many nice people around, i might be a long way from town but not far from people making sure I am okay. The Lost City is a collection of unusual rock formations. I was tired after dealing with the road today, so I will have a walk around tomorrow morning. For the rest of the day I just relaxed. |
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