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 045 - Robinson River to Borroloola

Day:  045

Date: Saturday, 15 August 2020

Start:  Robinson River Crossing

Finish:  Borroloola

Daily Kilometres:  108 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  4834

Weather:  Mild early then warm to hot and partly sunny

Accommodation:  Cabin

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Muesli

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Pizza, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Completing the 317km ride from Hells Gate Roadhouse to Borroloola.  We suspected it would be tough, but it was even tougher than anticipated.  Bikes, bodies and bags were all given a very good workout over three days by the rough road in very warm conditions.  Though we survived, and gained a great sense of satisfaction from the physical accomplishment and from experiencing such a remote part of Australia, not sure we would want to do it (by bike) again anytime soon.

Lowlight:  Knowing we had 108km to Borroloola, where showers, ice creams and cold drinks awaited us, and knowing we had only managed 94km yesterday, we were keen to make a good start.  However, almost as soon as we left camp we struck sand so deep we were pushing our bikes, and we continued to regularly hit similar patches of sand for the first 10km, severely denting our optimism.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 6am and were riding (I use the term loosely) by 7am with a brilliant dawn lighting the sky behind us.  We knew we had a challenging day ahead and were hoping for some early good fortune with the road conditions, but were soon disappointed (see above).

However, there was no alternative but to just keep riding as much as we could, and after 10km the road quality did improve, relatively.  Our pace picked up and we kept going, with almost zero traffic, until 9am when we stopped for breakfast by the road, with 27km done.  While we were eating, two 4WD vehicles towing camping trailers, and carrying three generations of a family from Port Macquarie, pulled up for a chat and to see if we needed anything.  They said they had been following our tyre tracks in the sand for two days and wondered who would be riding a bike on this road.  They kindly gave us some cold water to drink (the water in our bottles is always warm), and we wished each other well.

We caught them again at a creek crossing a few kilometres down the road where they had stopped to let the grandchildren have a play in the beautiful clear running water.  Larger lagoons were up and downstream, and I wouldn't have been keen to swim in them.  Crocodiles!  Other people were also stopped at the pretty creek and one told Julie that we were a topic of discussion amongst travellers on the track.  As we were leaving, the grandparents offered us a cold Tim Tam biscuit each, which was gratefully accepted.

At breakfast, I worked out that if we could manage at least 20 kilometres in each 90 minute spell of riding, we would get to Borroloola by 5pm, in time, hopefully, to find a cabin or motel room, though it was Saturday night in a remote country town and there had to be a good chance all accommodation was taken.  The average road conditions did gradually improve all day, but there were still frequent stretches of sand that required walking, and corrugations slowing progress.  It was also getting very hot, and we took the opportunity to have a splash at the next creek crossing, another beautiful spot, which coincided with a scheduled break.

As the day wore on, we seemed to be just staying in front of our schedule, though it required constant effort.  Nearer Borroloola, I turned on my mobile phone in the hope that as soon as we got reception I would be alerted by notifications, and that's what happened just before our last break at the top of a hill.  I called the caravan park in Borroloola and booked their sole remaining cabin for the night.  It was bigger than we need, and a bit pricey, but beggars can't be choosers.

Knowing we now had somewhere to stay, and with the help of a nice following wind and better road, the last hour flew by and soon after crossing the Macarthur River we were riding into Borroloola.  We stopped at the small service station on the way into town and bought some cold drinks which we took to the caravan park about 500m up the road and checked in around 4:30pm.  Some police were there for some reason, and one of them commented that they had seen us 150km back down the road yesterday.  He was impressed. 

Our cabin, which we have booked for two nights (a recovery day is warranted), is very nice and after showers we walked to a nearby cafe to order take-out pizza, and a small supermarket for some other supplies.  That makes it sound like a normal little town, but what we have seen so far is very dry, very spread out, and a bit rundown.  However, we are very happy to be here (see above).

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