Simply cycling around
After two and a half days doing nothing I’m back on the saddle! I still have 3 weeks to go until I fly from Darwin to Bali so I will surely stop in different other places like Mataranka, Katherine, Edith Falls and I don’t know yet. I wish I had more food with me because life is expensive around here. And every road house sell nearly the same stuff like: ice creams, beers, soft drinks, Chips, and spare pieces. How can I get food for my breakfast with that?! Anyway, I’ll make it!
Another lazy day today and I enjoy :-) I wish I would have some connection or Wifi here to update my blog. Steve asked to the roadhouse and the woman said it’s broken. In fact we can see the Wifi signal but we can’t use it. Rah! For once, I’m on a good spot, stay a bit longer and there is a problem with internet. Bad luck! Or maybe it’s good luck. It means I should not think about my blog and just do nothing!
It’s about nine o’clock now and my tent is under the sun but that’s fine because it’s not that hot yet. See, no one around here. This is a pretty nice day as usual up here. No clouds in the sky, more than 30 degrees during the day. The stuart highway is just behind these trees and we can hear and distinguish the traffic from here but I don’t really bother. Just behind my tent there is a big cage with five birds in it. They look like parrots. On the left side, outside of the picture (I like saying that as it’s very useful to describe something which is not visible :-) there is a tiny swimming pool. And the shadow coming from the bottom of the picture is the toilets and showers.
This is one of my worse cycling experience today. Everything was perfect until I had that bloody “puncture”… That single, tiny, blood, little hole made my day unforgettable. I had two solutions to fix it, an easy one and a tricky one: I’ve chosen the tricky one. It did work but not without pain in the ass (if I can say that).
I always feel better when I’m next to water. So I found the best spot here! My tent is pitched 2 metres far from that water tank :-) I could not be closer. Well, physically I could but it’s not mine :-) Yesterday night, this rest area was full! it’s now 9:30am and nearly every caravan has left but a couple arrived already. The turnover is quick! I’m not going anywhere today. This is a rest day. I’ve washed all my clothes using as less water as I could. I enjoy reading and doing nothing. This is holiday!
Today is the first day when I can ride some few hills. There is still some long flat bit but I can enjoy the view sometimes. I expect to ride at least until Eliott and then I will improvise. I will sleep there or continue a bit more. I’ve met another cyclist too today. An English guy, George. He decided to cycle when he was in Darwin and he is going down to Adelaide. It’s gonna be cold down there, good luck man!
Last night was very good. I’ve heard someone driving around maybe around 9, 10 or 11pm. I was asleep and heard a engine outside. The car disappeared and it stayed quiet the whole night. BIG day ever today! I’ve never thought I would be able to cycle 150 on day but that’s it :-) I remember the day I met a german motorcyclist back on the west coast of New Zealand. He told me when I would be in Australia I would do 150km to 200km per day with a good tailwind. It did not happen very often though. I’m not trying to be as fast as I can as I’ve got time but after that lazy day yesterday, I don’t know, I feel like cycling :-) And look at that landscape! Amazing sky! Amazing straight road! Everything is perfect haha :-)