After riding my mountain bike from Adelaide to Darwin in 2005, I was keen for another such adventure, but one that returned to the kind of back roads I travelled when riding from Sydney to Melbourne in 2004. I hatched the idea of riding from the southernmost tip to the northernmost tip of mainland Australia, and rather than riding along the main (coastal) highway, try and ride a straight-line route that would necessarily take me on back roads and through a variety of terrains and climates.

Round Australia by bike - Day 012 - Georgetown to Normanton

Day:012
Date:Tuesday, 31 July 2007
AccommodationMotel in Normanton
SummaryRiding from Georgetown to Normanton
Start Time:1:20am
Finish Time:3:20pm
Daily Map Kms:300
Total Map Kms:3,158
Map Kms To Go:11,253
Map Kms ahead (+)/
behind (-) schedule:		-192
Daily Odometer Kms:306.0
Daily Average Speed:25.43kph
Weather:Cool at first.  Warm and sunny later.  Light SE/NE winds.
Nutrition:Big Brekky for breakfast.  Hamburger, chips and yoghurt for dinner.  Various snacks during the day.
Encounters:A few kangaroos, a few eagles, and herd of wild boar crossing the road in front of me (having been chased by a wild boar on a previous trip, I did plenty of yelling as I approached and they took off into the bush).
Highlights:The first three hours riding at night under the full moon on a cloudless and windless night was fantastic.  I only saw two other vehicles and no other lights of any description.  It was like I had the whole world to myself.  The silence was palpable.
Lowlights:Very sleepy most of the day.
Daily Pictures:Here
Daily Podcasts:Here & Here
Journal:I got up at 12:30am and was on the road by 1:20am.  It was cool but pleasant and I made good time on what seemed like my private bike path through the brilliantly moonlit bush.  The countryside was mildly undulating savannah with occasional grazing cattle, which I had to watch out for on the road.

Around dawn I suddenly started feeling very sleepy, the product of two nights with little sleep and had to struggle to keep awake as I rode over the last low mountain range and descended into the little outback town of Croydon (148km) at 7:45am.  I found a roadhouse and ordered breakfast and two cups of coffee, and bought some drinks and snacks to see me through to the next town, Normanton (152km), my target for the day.

With a full stomach and the day rapidly warming up, I was soon dozing while pedalling again.  The countryside had flattened out with long straight stretches and light traffic, mainly grey nomads towing caravans.  There were occasional partly dry creeks and stock waterholes that attracted a variety of birdlife.  The temperature rose into the high 20s Centigrade and I distracted myself by listening to the ABC’s morning talkback show where the recently announced Queensland local government amalgamations was getting plenty of air time.

I broke the trip into 30km sections, stopping briefly at the end of each for a drink and snack, and although it seemed to take forever, I made reasonable time and got to the Normanton junction (7km south of Normanton), Eugen’s next checkpoint, just before 3:00pm.  I then rode into Normanton, checked into a motel 2kms south of town and rode into town to get some dinner and supplies for tomorrow.

I’ll leave very early again, and won’t see any settlements until the Burke & Wills Roadhouse (192km) so need to be reasonably self-sufficient.  I’m hoping to continue onto Cloncurry, another 181km, but it will depend on how I feel and whether I have favourable riding conditions.  Apart from the need for sleep today, I don’t feel too bad,  but don’t know how I’ll go doing another long day tomorrow.  I feel I’m near the edge.
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