3rd – 4th of February, 2013:
With the bike loaded I
reluctantly don my riding gear and said goodbye. Since I had skipped Kakadu on
the way up, it was the destination for the night. The highlight by far was the
most north eastern tip (by road anyways) at a place called Ubirr. Ubirr
contains some of the best preserved aboriginal art, not to mention the most
spectacular lookout over Kakadu and Arnhem land… again the view was incredible!
The recent rains had caused the entire flora to turn bright, almost fluorescent
green which contrasted even more to the red and grey rock outcrops over the
landscape. A short but intense period of rainfall was enough to drench me and
also allow for some great pictures once up on the plateau. I left Ubirr and
headed off to find a campsite just a bit further south of Jabiru. The place was
deserted, but I was soon accompanied by a couple of Wild boar, and in the
morning a few Dingoes (which woke me up/scared the shit out of me with their
howling).
The next day I headed off before
sunrise to try and beat at least some of the heat. Early on I stopped in
Nourlangie Rock and sweated my arse off walking the tracks. Afterwards, I decided
it was time to just get on and ride to Katherine and back to the gorge, which I
had also skipped on my northward leg.
I didn’t realise at the time
there was more than one campsite in Katherine Gorge National Park so I ended up
staying at a caravan park. I think I needed a shower anyways, since I was the
new hotspot for Australia’s population of flies. Once I was set up, and had a
swim and a shower I headed off for a walk into southern parts of Katherine
Gorge. For anyone thinking of heading there, take good footwear… my old thongs
didn’t cut it and continued to break with increasing frequency. Despite this
little annoyance, I continued down to the southern rockhole where a beautiful
little waterfall was. The water was so clear, with a slight green tinge. I can’t
say I ever been so tempted to jump in the water, judging by its position I’d
doubt any crocs could get there anyways. I resisted the urge and soon a tour
guide and a couple of other folk arrive and I managed to grab a lift on the
return trip of the cruise. Not only did I get to see a lot more of the southern
gorge, but it saved me from more exhaustion and sunburn! Once back at camp I
decided I’d get dinner going. At the same time the local aboriginal community
who look after the land, as well as some of the teachers and staff were having
a big barbecue I think both the chef and the CEO of Jawoyn Preston Lee took pity on
my crappy meal and offered me a spot to join them. It couldn't have been a better
meal, with the choice of crumbed barramundi, steak, and every other type of
salad available… well, I went to town on it all! Thanks guys!
Ubirr.... absolutely amazing!
Overlooking Arnhem Land
Souther part of Katherine Gorge
Southern rockhole
Our curious visitor at the caravan park... a 2-3m python!
5th of February, 2013:
I left Katherine early today,
since it was a fair sized trip to Lake Argyle, just over the NT/WA border. The
trip wasn’t overly exciting, though the landscape around Gregory National Park
is quite impressive. I didn’t do any exploring as the main road cut through the
park and provided quite good views. That and the +45°C temperatures urged me to
keep on moving!
Once I finally arrived at lake
argyle I stopped in to set up camp at a caravan park which has spectacular
views over the lake, especially from the infinity pool! Though I could have
bush camped it somewhere the weather persuaded me to stay and take advantage of
the pool. Once set up an Austrian bloke by the name of Francis came over and we
got talking. It turns out he met Mark and Sanne in India back in March during
their round the world trip. Talk about a small world! Whilst here, I also
needed to get started on organising some new tyres for the bike. In the future,
I don’t think I’ll go cheap on the set, since the rear is almost bald along the
centre. Either that or I just need to find some dirt!
Within Gregory National Park
Just outside lake argyle
Lake Argyle
The Infinity Pool!!!
6th of February, 2013:
Today, I had two choices. Either
take the highway towards Halls creek and view the Bungle Bungles on the way in
Purnululu NP (which is apparently closed, despite having bugger all rainfall)
or take Duncan road down the eastern side of lake Argyle towards Halls Creek. I
went with the latter as it was 450km’s of pure dirt riding. The heat was pretty
intense and became drier the further south I went. At the same time it
super-heats the water that I carry, which isn’t the most refreshing beverage on
the road. I did manage to cool off a bit once though, not by choice, but it
happened. Coming into a creek crossing that has a concrete slab underneath, I
gave the bike a few too many revs to get up and out of the washout preceding
it… and as it turned out the surface is completely slimy. The bike went sliding
out from under me, but luckily not over the edge. Just trying to lift the bike
back up was a bit of a struggle, since the wheels just slid along the surface
everytime I attempted to do so. Eventually though, after removing the top bag
and water container, the bike was upright again and I was off, with only a
slightly bent gear leaver. As the road got closer to Nicholson station, the
landscape becomes quite flat and boring, and lasts for around 100km’s
afterwards too. As you get closer to Halls Creek however, the dirt road winds
through some spectacular ranges. After riding for what seemed eternity, I
eventually came across a 24hr camp ground around 40km’s outside of Halls Creek,
where I met Sean and Simone, who have been driving through the centre of
Australia from Brisbane to Broome. Fortunately, they had a esky full of ice
cold beer which they were more than generous with, and even cooked up some
damper over the fire. Given their generosity, I think I’ll owe them a few beers
when I make it too Broome myself!
Leaving Lake Argyle
Duncan Rd, no fuel, no people, just heat!
Around 50km's from Halls Creek
7th of February, 2013:
I set off a little later than
usual today, but took advantage of the freshwater spring to have a bit of a
wash and also checked out saw pit gorge which was near the camp ground. The
goal today, however, was to reach the infamous Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater.
This meant refilling in Halls Creek before heading just out of town and turning
off onto the Tanami Highway. The trip from here on basically contains horrible
corrugations, kamikaze cows and numerous washouts. Unfortunately, after I made
to the crater, I realised the front fender bag containing half of my tools had
been jettisoned over the rough road.
I back-tracked a little in the hope of finding it, but it was a 150km’s stretch
from Halls Creek, which I wasn’t too keen to do four times. Hoping luck would
be on my side, I decided I would keep an eye out tomorrow morning on the way
back into town.
Wolfe creek crater itself, is
850m in diameter, and the second largest in the world from which meteorite
fragments have been recovered. It only takes about a 5 minute walk to get up to
the rim, where you can view the entire spectacle. I decided I’d walk down
through the centre and around the ring back to where I started. For anyone who
plans on going there, it’s not worth that walk. You are simply bombarded with
heat and irritated by needle grass. Just go up to the rim and maybe up to one
of the higher points of the rim… though a picture from the opposite side during
sunset may well be worth it. After the hike, a couple of German (yes again,
more germans) blokes in an old Hilux came buy, inspired, or maybe intrigued by
the movie. Ironically, they had been having car trouble, and Wolfe Creek is
where it decided to die…again. Fortunately for them and much to their relief,
after letting the car cool down, it started again and they were off with no
troubles.
I waited until sunset to set up
the tent, so it would be a bit cooler. Eventually the temperature dropped a
little, and in the far distance you could see a storm brewing, which produced
an endless amount of lightning flashes. With a bit of luck though, it didn’t
make its way near my camp.
8th of February, 2013:
Today the plan was to get to
either Geike Gorge, or Tunnel Creek NP. Along the way, around 40km’s from
Fitzroy Crossing, I came across the same French touring cyclist by the name of Jean-Pierre Deguine who
was leaving Darwin as I was riding in. We stopped and chatted for a while, both
enjoying the rest… maybe him more than me. We talked about out plans and where
we had been, and exchanged details as to keep in contact and follow each
other’s adventures via our blogs. This poor bugger pushes himself to ride over
100km’s every day in the summer heat of the top end (he actually rode 180km’s
the day before!). After seeing and talking to him, he instantly made me feel
about 10°C cooler. With my sprits now lifted after comparing my struggle with
his, I headed forward to Fitzroy Crossing to get the low down on the park conditions
at the information centre. It turns out that whilst Geike Gorge is open, there
are no camp grounds. And whilst tunnel creek had camp grounds it is
‘officially’ closed. Despite this I talked to some locals, and they thought I’d
be alright. I skipped Geike and headed west to the tunnel creek turnoff on Leopold
downs road. The National Park itself is around 100km’s in from the highway.
Most of the ride is quite nice, and as it turned out the lightning I had seen
the previous night was a product of the storm here in Fitzroy Crossing. Though
there wasn’t a great deal of water on or surrounding the roads, I managed to
get myself bogged up to the rear axle after taking the wrong line. Not to worry
though… I unloaded a bit of gear and packed the trench full of rocks and I was
out in no time, on an absolutely filthy bike. I promised myself, that if there
was one more bog hole I’d turn around, not wanting to tempt fate. And as luck
would have it, there was, only 10km in or so from the park entrance. I decided
to head back, and camp in an old quarry around 15km’s from the highway and get
some rest.
9th of February,
2013:
The ride today was to be a quick
and simple blatt to Broome, just highway riding. After stopping in and
refilling at Willaire Roadhouse, I rode for a while before the rear end of the
bike began to feel ‘funny’… almost a floating sensation. I pulled over,
assuming once again it was my paranoia. But nope, a flat, again. I couldn’t
believe it, after the gnarly rocky, corrugated roads I had been riding the last
three days, I managed to cop one on the highway of all placed. It wasn’t the
best timing either, being right in the heat of the day. Initially, to try and
get a move on as soon a possible I attempted to seal what I thought would be a
small leak or something with my blue goo. With that failing, I bit the bullet,
removed the rear wheel and found that the super heavy duty tube in the rear was
completely shredded. From the look of it, the bike shop that had replaced the
rear tire in Townsville had had some trouble with the double bead locks and had
crimped the tube, where it managed to give way over 6,000km’s later! It was possibly
due to the heat as well. Anyways, I got on with the job and cleaned the mess
the goo had made before inserting my only spare tube. With just the bead to go,
a man who claimed to be king shit of this sorta work pulled over and proceeded
to tell me why, how and which way I had gone wrong with the shredded tube… as
if it was my fault. Despite his rambling I was pleased to have someone aid me
with putting the bead of the tire back on… what a bloody mistake. ‘King shit’
managed to pinch my one and only spare tube whilst levering it on, and to make
matters worse, this was only realised after ‘King shit’ had left! With some
cars pulling over, either not having mobile reception or tire sealant, and some
cars blatantly ignoring my waving arms (ps. Hope those pricks find themselves stranded
in the heat soon!) I finally had a family pull over with a trailer and graciously
give me and the bike into town to a caravan park. They wouldn’t accept any
payment, and continued to give me advice on places to visit, tides and a local
map of the area.
A huge thanks to Terry and Febe
for ending my 5 hour stint on the side of the highway!
A beautiful sunrise and start to a shit day...
Stuck in the heat!
Shredded tube.
Obviously, the tube has been put in wrong back in Townsville.
10th of February,
2013:
With a bit of a rest and a
shower, the next morning I headed out to try and get some supplies, such as
replacement tools and something to fix the pinch. Unfortunately, being Sunday, most places were shut. I did however
manage to pick up some of the basic tools from bunnings and scab a tube patch
of an old bloke in the caravan park. Eventually the bike was back in riding
form again, though it only had to get me around 3 km’s to the bike shop the
next day.
Apart from the work on the bike,
I enjoyed the view over Town Beach, and a quick dip. As planned earlier I also
caught up with Sean and Simone, whom I had met a few days earlier just outside
Halls Creek. With a few beers down (thanks again!) we headed to a small pub,
with its own brewery and famous flavoured beers. They include the usuals such
as your dark ales, pale ales, as well as lime, mango and even the brutal chilli
beer! Well, that gives the throat a clean out! Whilst there, a nice seafood
meal was enjoyed, followed by a few more beverages down on town beach, just to
cap the night off!
Where I stayed for a couple of nights, Town Beach.
Just enjoying the beach for once!
Sean and Simone... They actually made it through Tunnel Creek and onto the Gibb River Road
11th of February, 2013:
Feeling a little seedy from last night’s
simple pleasures, or possibly the sample of chilli beer, I had to pack my gear
up and head to the bike shop to check out a couple of sets of tires that had
been ordered in. Unfortunately, the choice was between the knobby style
Metzeler Karoo, or on the other extreme end of the spectrum, the Metzeler
Tourance… a rather road orientated tire. Not wanting an aggressive knobby due
to the amount of bitchumen ahead, and not able to mix and match front and
rears, I had to get the tourances… bloody expensive friggin tires. Whilst they
seem nice and smooth on the road, I can’t see any real sand riding to be had
down the coast. And, for the cost they will want to get me all the way home! To
limit the costs and what not, I removed the original tires myself, at least
being able to use their pneumatic tire equipment, though I didn’t have the
knowledge to take full advantage of it. Eventually though, the new rubber was
on, and I got out of there, with an aching back pocket. I’d like to make it
clear though, it wasn’t the shops fault, the price was actually in line with
online stores, but they are just in general bloody expensive tires!
Afterwards, I met Sean and Simone
again who allowed me to store my bike and gear at theirs, well at his sisters
anyways, I think, whilst I got a bed at a backpackers sorted. Afterwards, we
went for a drive to Cable beach for a short but incredible sunset, followed by
an amazing barbeque prepared by Sean’s sister. It’s great to finally get some
good meals into me!
Tomorrow’s plan though, is to
ride to cape Leveque and the surrounds…. Before returning to Broome for another day or two.
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