Joe's Wrap

Tony is back at work and I have just spent 3 days in Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks with my family. Cairns to Darwin was great fun and probably harder than anything we have done previously. I was slower than Tony and he was very patient waiting for me at the rest stops. He is also totally responsible for the blog (he was obsessed with keeping it up to date). Most of the photographs are his as well as he takes lots more  than me. He is a great partner for this adventure

29 June - Darwin

Got up late today because I had nothing else on then headed off to look at a bit of Darwin.

Went to the casino and then onto Mindil beach and Fannie Bay.

I wanted to go to a few of the markets, so headed over to Nightcliff where there was a market that Patrick had taken me too many years ago.  Lots of great food and crafts, but mainly food.  Then went onto Rapid Creek market that also had heaps of food, vegetables and fruit many that I have not seen before.

I got hold of Greg, my second cousin and we hooked up with his wife Leah at the Fannie Bay Cool Spot.  great to see them.  i have not seen Greg for many years and it is the first time i have met Leah.  They are doing well up here and enjoying the lifestyle.

Went back to the backpackers and hung around until about 4:30 when I headed off to the Mindil beach market.  This is an iconic Darwin market held at sunset a couple of times a week.  Food is the main attraction − Thai, Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese and Malaysian to Brazilian, Greek, Portuguese and more but there is also heaps of arts and crafts stalls with handmade jewellery, fabulous rainbow tie-died clothes, Aboriginal artefacts, and wares from Indonesia and Thailand. 

Many good bands and performance artists there as well.  This band EmDee was just a drummer and a guy with 4 didgeredoos and they were fantastic.  So good I even bought the CD.  You would have loved them Brent.

This was a great act too.  Drumming monkeys.  Turns out any monkey can play the drums.

The market was packed.  It seemed like half of Darwin was there.  And so many nationalities.

While the market was packed, people also go for the sunset and the beach was also packed well before the sun started going down.

Beach volleyball on the go...they've got to be better than the sorry effort put in by the AIMS team who really needed me and Joe to get them over the line.

 But the real star of the show was the sunset.

I had to rush off as soon as the sun went down because I was meeting Joe and his family at the Darwin YHA for dinner.  Good feed of spaghetti bolognaise by chef Joe followed by Cold Rock ice cream.  

Early night as they are heading off to Kakado and Litchfield on a tour.

Day 30 - 28 June - Adelaide River to Darwin - 110 km

Up early for our last big day and the final leg to Darwin.  Egg and bacon sandwich from the servo and we were off by 7:00.  Slow going first thing as usual, but the morning s are the best time of the day.  There is less traffic, no wind, its quieter, more wildlife and all the smells of the earth are more distinct.  The sun was rising and there have not been many good sunrises this trip, but this was great.






Did the first 40 km quickly and then pedaled on to Noonamah at the 70 km mark for lunch.  Not much here, service station and the pub.  Road surface has been good, but there is so much traffic we are not used to. Less road trains and more cars flying past with people so focused on getting to their destination they couldn't give a toss about how close they come to 2 little cyclists plodding along.

40 km to go which brought us to the outskirts of Palmerston, an outlying suburb of Darwin.  Wind has been varied all day with mainly crosswinds and very little tailwinds, making it one of our tougher days on the blacktop.

I waited for Joe at the information stand rest stop before we did the last 20 km into Darwin.  We decided that we would each head straight for our different accommodation and then catch up later tonight.

Did the last slog into Darwin.  I must have missed the sign that said "No bicycles, farm machinery etc. " so I rode the freeway straight into town...wondered why I got a few toots.

Got into town about 1:45 and went to the Banyan View backpackers.  They would not let me in until 2:30, so I went for a bit of a ride around Darwin CBD.  Many changes since Janelle and I were her 30 years ago like high rise buildings and more traffic, but the beaches and parks are as good as ever.

Checked in and organised myself.  I rang Tim and Nick who we had met on the dirt when we were riding to Borroloola (I think) who are working in Darwin and we caught up for a few quiet drinks at Shennanigans.  We owed them a few drinks because they were so generous with their food and water when we met them in the bush.

Great to see the guys.  They have got work building up here while they save money for more travel. Women in Darwin should be worried because these 2 guys are dangerous but alot of fun too.

After Tim and Nick left Joe and I hit the waterfront and had a feed at one of the restaurants down there and then back home for the night.  Great to sleep in a real bed again.

Day 29 - 27 June - Pine Creek to Adelaide River - 111 km

Left the campsite early.  Joe picked up some sandwiches for lunch at the general store then we ate our muesli out the front.

Wind has been pretty much from behind lately, so although it took awhile for the legs to start working, once we got going we were making pretty good time.  Undulating hills, but nothing too major. Did have another grass fire beside the road as we were riding along.  Did the first 40 km quickly and decided that as Hayes Creek was only 14 km further on we would stop there for morning tea.

Had pies and a drink for morning tea while chatting to a lovely backpacker from California who had been there for 4 days and loved the place.  Had a chat with a truckie pulling 4 trailers for the Crocodile Gold Mine and taking ore to their crusher near Pine Creek.  He gave use some info on the road between there and Darwin.

Joe asked him if cyclists were a problem but he said not, that the grey nomads and camper vans were a bigger problem.

After morning tea it was 23 km to Bridge Creek rest stop, which we did quickly.  I got there about 15 minutes before Joe and as I was waiting at the rest stop 3 young Belgium girls came over to ask about where we were riding etc. while we were talking more of their friends came over.  There was 3 car loads of backpackers from a variety of countries, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France travelling around together.   Good to see multiculturalism working.  They were pretty impressed and while we were talking, Joe turned up.  I asked them to give him a round of applause as he rode in.  The best reception he has had for awhile.

I made sure I got a few photos, one with the Belgium girls and the other with the whole group.  They were a good bunch and having a great time travelling around.

After they left we got stuck into our lunch and another guy from a van came over and wanted a chat.  Brian was a retired school teacher from Apollo Bay travelling with his brother and he was also submitting segments for Apollo Bay Community radio.  He wanted to interview us for his radio show.  He has a massive audience of about 80.  The interview will probably be aired about 10:00 on Saturday.  Search the web for Apollo Bay radio if you are interested.

After lunch we only had 34 km to go so we rode it without a break and got into Adelaide River about 2:15.  We got some drinks when we first pulled in and while we were having them another cyclist, Jim came over and we had a chat about the road, bikes etc. He has been on the road for 4.5 months and had come up through Wilpena Pound and the Centre.  Had a lovely swim in the pool and then rested doing not much.

Met Jim for a beer and a feed at the Adelaide River Inn and while we were eating another lady Sandra came over and sat with us and we discussed places we have been.  It definitely sounds like Edith Falls and Litchfield National Park are places to go to.  We had to miss them off the itinerary as we did not have the time.

Had an ice cream for dessert, Maxibon and heading to bed to read.

Day 28 - 26 June - Katherine to Pine Creek - 90 km

Up early and had breakfast.  Had a chat with Nikki who had got up to take a photo of us because we are very handsome or because she wants to put our photo in her updated book, or perhaps she just had nothing better to do.

First 30 minutes today were slow as we got out of Katherine, but after that we made good time with the wind behind us most of the time.  About the 40 km mark  someone shouted at me from the bush, and it turned out to be Boogy, a German cyclist from Frankfurt who is cycling from Darwin to Alice Springs.  Mind you he has also spent 10 month cycling in Indonesia and also Portugal on another trip so he is very experienced.  He had a BOB trailer and was carrying heaps of food.  Not the way I would travel.





He must have been in the bush for awhile, because he wanted to talk and talk about tyres, food, mosquitoes, you name it.

Good talking to him, but we eventually had to leave and cycled another 20 km where we stopped for lunch.  Then a quick 30 km to Pine Creek.  Nice little town, but not much here.  We are staying at the Lazy Lizard Caravan Park and looking forward to a restful afternoon.

Day 27 - 25 June - Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk) to Katherine - 30 km

Up late, because we had nowhere to go and so decided to do one of the many walks.

Before we went this kangaroo wanted to have a chat.

We walked to Pat's Lookout, 3 or 4 km from the campsite.  A short but tough walk going over rocks and often walking over rocks like in a creek bed, but what spectacular views.  Well worth the walk.

Headed back and had a relaxing breakfast of poached eggs, smoked salmon and Hollandaise sauce on sourdough on the Visitors Centre deck overlooking the river and about a thousand bats.

Finished breakfast and went back to the campsite, packed up and rode the 30 km back to town.  Into the wind at first, but after awhile the road changed direction and we had a quick trip back to town. Headed back to the quirky backpackers Coco's we stayed at last time.


Ran into a woman. Nickki who was interested in our ride because she had done something similar about 14 years ago.  In fact she wrote a book about it.  More recently she has been running a program at one of the Aboriginal settlements teaching them how to repair and maintain bikes.

We went for a swim down at the Katherine Hot Springs (should be called Luke Warm Springs)  they are pretty good, but do not compare to  our swim at Bitter Springs.

We had tea with Nikki while she picked our brains about the outback riding we had done and attempted to update her book with our info.  We cooked a great feed of BBQ Shapes (not much cooking required) Flat head fillets, Barramundi steaks, salad followed by fruit for dessert.  Great.

Day 26 - 24 June - Katherine to Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk) - 30 km

Headed off from Coco's straight to Maccas to get the breakfast of champions.  Then off down the gorge rd to Katherine Gorge.  Hard going.  Wind against us, legs feel like lead, a few hills and a bad surface.

Got to Nitmiluk by 11:00 and booked into a campsite and onto a tour of the first 2 gorges.  There are 13 in all.

We set up camp, showered and did the washing.  Had lunch and then sat by the pool and read.  Sounding all very domestic.

Walked to the Katherine River to get on the boat for the tour.  Took off at 2:00 with about 30 others and 2 Aboriginal guides.  We saw a small croc soon after we started but that was all for the trip, but the scenery was magnificent.

The guides pointed out the croc breeding areas and provided helpful advice like, if you jump in the water and the croc attacks you its a salty, if it runs away its a freshwater croc and you are OK.

When we got to the second gorge we walked about 400 meters across rocks to get to it and boarded another boat.  More spectacular scenery.

 

   

 





Tour finished about 4:00 and so we walked back and read by the pool sipping a few Belgian Blue Moon beers.  Great stuff, I haven't had it before.  About 5:00 we were invaded by about 60 school kids off a tour who kept us amused for awhile.

Left to get tea and while I cooked tea, Joe got shanghaied by some people from Western Australia who were riders and wanted to know all about the trip.  I eventually got him away from them as I was starving and we had sausages and salad for tea.

Bed by 8:00, listening to small animals nibbling at stuff outside the tent.

Day 25 - 23 June - Mataranka to Katherine - 110 km

A cold night and a colder morning.  We were up early and packed. Joe headed off into town for breakfast and to pick up sandwiches for our lunch.  I finished packing and headed after him and on the way ran into Jimmy, a Taiwanese guy who is cycling in Australia.  He started in Melbourne and has already done lots of Australia.  He is heading in the opposite direction to us and was going to Larrimah today.  Communication was difficult as my Taiwanese was almost as good as Jimmy's English.

He had his bike on a stand and I managed to knock his whole bike over.  A Frank Drebin moment.

Met Joe in town and got some breakfast.  He was looking more suspicious than normal and the local constabulary took him aside and gave him a full body search.  As you can see from the photo he obviously enjoyed the experience.

I did ask the constable to handcuff and taser Joe, but he wouldn't be in it.

Off we go again.  A quick 60 km and we stopped at the King River rest stop about 11:00 for lunch.  We had a great tailwind all day today and I reached Katherine before 2:00 pm.

Our first stop was to say Gidday to Chris Righton, Simon's son at Katherine Camping and Fishing.  Second stop...McDonalds for a thick shake.  You know you have reached civilisation when you find a Maccas.

We decided to go to a backpackers rather than a caravan park because I was sick of sleeping on my Thermarest and wanted to sleep in a real bed, and we also wanted to charge up our devices and cook our own food.

We got a 4 bed dorm at Cocos.  We have stayed at some strange places, and this is well up there.  Its like living in a 3rd world community house.

Quirky.












Katherine is a biggish town and even has a Woolies so we could buy food for tea and breakfast.  Lots of Aboriginals hanging around the streets, on many street corners, behind buildings, in parks etc.  We met a bloke after leaving Chris who told us not to leave the bikes unattended and to always lock them up and still keep an eye on the.

Had a great porterhouse and salad for tea washed down with a few James Squires.  Didn't think I would be able to get it up here.  You can usually only get XXXX Gold, Coopers or some of the Hahn products.

Coco came and had a chat with us while we were eating and showed us a large folder of all the bike riders that have been through his place.

We are riding out to Katherine Gorge tomorrow and will stay at the caravan park and take some kayaks down the first gorge.

Day 24 - 22 June - Larrimah Pub to Mataranka - 76 km

On our way before 7:30.  Covered the first 40 in under 2 hours.  Stopped at Warloch rest stop at the 40 km mark.  Good spot for overnight camping and cleaner dunnies than Larrimah pub.  Had a short break at 60 km and then pushed on to Mataranka.

We did pass the turn off we would have come out if we had of gone the Roper Bar route.

Nothing much open here because it is Sunday, but we got a good pork roll from a servo for lunch.  Lots of people in bathers who have obviously come from the springs.

We decided not to go out to the Mataranka Thermal Springs as it was 9 km out of town, but went to a caravan park that was next to Bitter Springs.

As we were going to the caravan park we saw another cyclist and caught up to him so say Gidday.  He was Carlo from Italy near Venice.  He is travelling around Australia and had started in Melbourne and had already done a lot of the east coast.  He looked very fit.

If you are confused about which is Carlo, he is the one in the flesh coloured shirt.

Set up camp beside the Little Roper River and then went to Bitter Springs to soak our aching muscles.  Caught up with Carlo again as he was leaving.










 The water was great, hot and clear. We sat around in the water and then floated downstream.  Lots of wrinklies and quite a few backpackers.

We went back to Mataranka and ordered some sandwiches for our lunch tomorrow as we will be doing a 120 km day to Katherine and will need heaps of energy.

 We had dinner at Territory Manor caravan park just down the road from where we are staying.  They have a restaurant and a 60s rock show.  Show was good but I cannot believe I was sitting there listening to Kenny Rogers and Neil Diamond covers with a bunch of 70+ year olds.  Not a bad show though and I knew all the words.

We had met a lady Maureen at the Daly Waters pool and had a few chats with her.  She got the singer to mention our names and the ride.  Good of her to embarrass us like that.  Here is Maureen and I doing a bad selfie.

Headed back to our campsite in the dark and managed not to run into any thing.  It was freezing riding on the bike so we are in for a cold night.