Julie and I were supposed to be hiking the 5,000km Continental Divide Trail in the US in 2020, but COVID-19 derailed that plan. Instead, we will have an adventure in Australia, circumnavigating the country on our bikes, a distance of about 16,500km taking approximately five and a half months. We will use minor roads where possible and occasionally catch ferries across rivers and inlets to avoid busier inland routes. We will camp some of the time and stay in motels, hotels, etc, at others. There will be stretches of up to five days with no accommodation or resupply available, so we will need to be self-sufficient.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 037 - Georgetown to Croydon

Day:  037

Date: Friday, 07 August 2020

Start:  Georgetown

Finish:  Croydon

Daily Kilometres:  148 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  3957

Weather:  Warm to very warm and mostly overcast

Accommodation:  Cabin

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg & lettuce sandwiches

  Lunch:  Ham, cheese & tomato sandwich/Chicken salad sandwich

  Dinner:  Chicken Kiev & vegetables, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant 

Highlight:  We reached the top of a long gradual climb at 12:20pm about 10 minutes earlier than our planned lunchtime, to find a lone picnic table under a little shelter which was too good to pass up so we stopped for lunch.  It was a very peaceful spot surrounded by the almost soundless forest, and there were long periods with no traffic at all.  After eating our sandwiches, we briefly lay down on the benches and savoured the restful moment, perhaps wishing we could stay there longer.

Lowlight:  It's a toss up between (A) being identified as a father and daughter cycling team by a passing motorist we later met at our caravan park, or (B) Julie misjudging her dismount (failing to release her cleat) in front of our cabin on arrival, and knocking me off my bike in a chain reaction, leaving us both in a tangled mess on the ground, much to the amusement of a passing fellow camper.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

In many ways, today was a copy of yesterday, except that we didn't pass any habitation all day, apart from the occasional side road signposted to a cattle station.  We left about 6:20am, made good time along a flat road almost devoid of traffic through the waking bush.  There were lots of kangaroos and wallabies about and we even had a dingo trot across the road in front of us.

We stopped at 8:30am after 50 kilometres and ate our breakfast, sandwiches purchased from the roadhouse last night, by the roadside entertaining a nearby herd of cattle who probably hadn't had as much excitement in months.  After breakfast, the road was busier, a little more undulating and the roadside bush varied between savannah woodland and savannah grassland.  We took a mid-morning break at 10:30am then continued on into a growing headwind that meant we got no pedalling relief on the flats and downhills.  It gradually wears you down, even though the hills weren't steep.

At 12:20pm we stopped for lunch (see above), with 107 kilometres done and 41 to go.  That remaining distance dragged in places, particularly as the temperature was now in the low 30°Cs, though there was an overall descent and the headwind became more fickle.  We took a short break with 21 kilometres to go and finally reached the old gold mining town of Croydon (which has clearly seen better days, though is neat and tidy) a little before 3pm and checked into our cabin in the local caravan park.  We were both feeling very tired and glad of the early finish.

After showers, we walked to the small nearby service station/grocery and bought overpriced supplies for tonight and tomorrow.  Like today, there will again be no habitation en route to our destination.

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