Cycling Australia Diaries

Most of today was wasted running errands in town. Cycled out of town at 3:15pm on single lane sealed road with a tail wind. Were passed by many road trains.

Were up at dawn for breakfast and set off at 10:30 after a quick tire repair. Had another great tail wind and sailed along at 25km/h all day. Passed through some mountain ranges today, our first real hills since Victoria. Called into Dajarra at 3:30pm for some food and drinks then headed east, back on the unsealed road. Camped in a dry rocky creek bed and as we cycled through it, Tim's bike chain somehow got wedged behind the sprocket and bent some componentry. Repaired with the aid of a tent peg.

Rose before dawn again, then procrastinated for ages. The wind had turned head on and being back on unsealed roads, the prospect of cycling was daunting. Passed through some picturesque ranges just before Duchess (only 1 pub and 1 house). The ranges continued in the afternoon and the vegetation which consisted mostly of spinifex became quite dense. Watched the start of the sunset from the top of a small peak, then pushed on and found a prickly/rocky place to camp by a dry creek bed.

Our water supplies were down to 1 litre each and we still had 95km to cover to Cloncurry, so we rose at 5:30am in an attempt to beat the heat of the day. Hit sealed road after about 40km and we won't see another unsealed track until the Daintree! Were very dehydrated by the time we crawled into Cloncurry in 35°C temperatures. Checked into the Central Hotel, purchased a slab of VB and drank beer on the balcony as the sun went down (perfect for dehydration).

Finally a rest day, a chance to do some washing and all that sort of boring stuff. Called into the Cloncurry Fitness Center near the end of the day to get a hand with bike maintenance. The owner, Damian, invited us out for drinks and dinner with the locals and it turned out to be a very late night with many shenanigans.