Day 31 - Tomato Island to Roper Bar - 51kms
This morning I said bye to the wonderful camp hosts. I was away nice and early as usual. I try to do a good 40kms by about 10am. It sure helps when the roads are good. Today the roads were generally fine. On the corners there was usually a bit of corrugation, but if you take the high side you can avoid the worst of it.
I got to the junction for Roper Bar. I was not sure if I wanted to go down there. In the end the sign saying "beef burger" was too tempting! So I headed for the Roper Bar store, which is actually a couple of kilometres from the actual bar. Ordered a burger with the lot and grabbed a large drink. So refreshing. Got chatting to some of the other travellers there and noticed it was now 12pm. As I didn't want to cycle another 40kms in the heat of the day I decided to camp here. Well here is 2km back up the road towards Roper Bar. No idea why they didn't build their shop closer. Before going to camp I wanted to have a look at Roper Bar. Which is a long, concrete river crossing. It was actually very beautiful. It was again a shame that you couldn't swim without fear of being eaten. But I did paddle my feet! After paddling in the water I went to camp. Certainly not as nice as last night's. But it has showers, drinking water and plenty of shade. Also it is a short walk to the river. With my little detour today, I will still have about 40km of dirt tomorrow. If it was like today that will be fine. I should also be getting a good tailwind pushing me along. |
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Day 32 - Roper Bar to Mount Price rest area - 99kms
Last night was generator night. The footy must had been on the TV! Thankfully they shut them down by 9.30pm.
I was away around 6.30am. Only had about 40kms of dirt left to ride. The road made sure there was plenty of corrugation and soft stuff to keep me happy. I got to the first rest area where the road changes to sealed. At the rest area I put a bit more air in the tyres, as I had been running them quite low over the last couple of weeks. I was happy to be off that dirt road. It was, at times, a pain. You could not predict what the road would be like in 2kms time. But I am happy I came through that way as I really enjoyed the Lost City, the people I met through there and Butterfly Springs. When I continued on the sealed road it felt so smooth. Plus I was getting a nice tailwind pushing me along. The next 60kms flew by. When I got to Mount Price rest area. It was getting hot in the sun (was around 1pm). I stopped here for lunch and cooled down. Had a look around and found a nice spot to camp. As I don't like doing too many kilometres in the heat I decided to stop here for the day. I enjoyed some of the remaining rations for lunch. One thing I do like in the NT is that they seem to fill up their water tanks in the rest areas. I enjoyed the shade of the trees for the afternoon, played some music and read my book. At sunset I still had the place to myself. Yeah, no generators tonight. Tomorrow I'll be in Mataranka enjoying the warm springs. |
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Day 33 - Mount Price rest area to Bitter Springs - 85kms
It was very peaceful last night without all of the generators of the night before. I was away at 6.30am. Had to let a few road trains go through first. A lot of them gave me a friendly toot of their horn as they passed.
A few kilometres later I found where they were heading. They are doing a lot of roadworks on the Roper Highway at the moment. Making it wider in sections and fixing corners and gradients. So at times I had to follow a few diversions onto some temporary dirt roads. I was making great time and got to Mataranka by 10.30am. Mataranka has a couple of thermal springs. But first I needed second breakfast. I stopped at the roadhouse and grabbed the usual, a burger with the lot. Very tasty. After munching my way through the food I rode down to the campground near Bitter Springs. I picked a lovely camps pot which will stay shady all day. The campground is only a short walk to the springs. Later on in the afternoon I headed down to Bitter Springs. Before going down I hired a noodle for a $1 at the campsite. Which was handy, as when you get to the springs you just float down the stream relaxing on the noodle. I think I must had done it about ½ a dozen times. A great way to spend the Sunday afternoon. I had been looking forward to this since Borroloola! |
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