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Journal: |
After a fitful night’s sleep on the grass in my bivvy sack with
the sound of mosquitoes constantly buzzing in my ears, I got up at
1:15am and was on the road by 2:00am heading south on a mild and
very dark evening with a brilliant display of stars. My
initial goal was to get to Warmun Roadhouse, 90km away, soon after
6am in the hope that they would be open and serving breakfast.
Without my usual strong coffee before setting out, or my coffee milk
for my first break, I was struggling to stay awake around 5am and
took a No Doz to get some caffeine into the system. I only saw
two vehicles in the first three hours, but as it became light the
traffic increased considerably as road construction crews headed out
from Warmun Roadhouse to begin work on the various road upgrades I
had been negotiating in the dark.
The sunrise was spectacular, lighting up the red bluffs and bush
in front of me and I enjoyed the last hour’s run into Warmun where I
arrived at 6:30am. I got a big brekky and ate it while
watching breakfast TV. As I packed the food and drink I had
bought, a guy came up to me very interested in my trip and was a bit
of a cyclist himself. He had met the driver of the van who
knocked me off last year. Small world!
From Warmun I had a hot hilly 162km to my target of Halls Creek.
I knew it would be a tough day in the heat and sun and was
determined to maintain a reasonable pace, which I did with some
assistance later in the day of a tailwind. The road was quite
busy with trucks and tourists and I passed the access road to the
fantastic Bungle Bungle range off to my left, but out of sight.
Generally the road passed through arid cattle grazing land although
there was some water in the creeks.
I reached Halls Creek at 3:15pm and checked into the expensive
motel in the regional, predominantly aboriginal, town. I
bought take-out chicken and chips for dinner and drink and food for
the trip to Fitzroy crossing tomorrow, a 290km haul with absolutely
nothing in between. It’s going to be hot again, but the road
is flatter. Hope the wind is blowing the right way. My
chronic right knee injury was playing up big time today, so I’m
hoping a good night’s rest will improve it, or I’ll have to get out
the anti-inflammatories.
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