Journal: |
I slept in to 4am and got up feeling particularly grotty, not
having washed for two days and having toiled into the dusty wind all
yesterday in very warm conditions. I quickly packed up and was
on the road soon after 4:30am. The highway was busier, with
many road trains, but it was wide enough to make riding relatively
safe. The road was quite hilly, passing through a mountain
range and, despite the following wind, I found myself fading on the
hills with legs tired from yesterday. The low mountain
scenery made for some good views and there were a number of long
downhill rolls to enjoy, but I still struggled to make good time.
I reached Mount Isa, a major mining centre, dominated by smelters
and smokestacks, around 10:30am and went to McDonalds for breakfast
before picking up my mail from the Post Office. By now it was
around 11:30am and I needed to make a decision about whether to
continue on to Camooweal (191km), which I would probably not reach
until about 9pm, probably too late to buy supplies for an early
start the next day. I decided that I needed some body recovery
time and booked into a motel on the northern side of Mount Isa with
plans for an early start tomorrow.
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