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 049 - Bulwaddy to Daly Waters

Day:  049

Date: Wednesday, 19 August 2020

Start:  Bulwaddy Picnic/Camping Area

Finish:  Daly Waters

Daily Kilometres:  91 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  5218

Weather:  Cool early, then hot and sunny

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Muesli

  Lunch:  Corned beef & pickles sandwiches

  Dinner:  Rissoles, salad & chips, ice creams

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  The last 50km for the day was mostly flat and directly into a moderate headwind that, though it may have taken the edge off the temperature, made cycling very hard work.  We were very happy to reach Daly Waters.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Fortunately, our loud drunken fellow camper began losing steam around 9pm and we had a quiet restful night until our alarm went off at 5:30am.  We packed in the dark and began riding at 6:30am when it was just light enough to see without lights.  Having completed 181km of the 272km from Cape Crawford to Daly Waters yesterday, we only had 91km to ride today until we reached our booked motel room, so were looking forward to an easy day and an early stop.

For the first few hours, the riding was easy and the temperatures ideal, as we continued on through the savannah woodland, taking a break for breakfast 8am.  Around 9am, as the sun developed some heat, a westerly wind sprang up and the riding became much harder.  This was exacerbated by the very long straight stretches of road that allowed us to see many kilometres ahead.  As we crested each low ridge, more kilometres of straight road revealed themselves ahead leading up to the next low ridge, yet we never seemed to benefit from any downhill.

The kilometres dragged, but we still made reasonable time, and were very happy to reach the Hi-Way Inn at Daly Waters at noon.  Our room wasn't ready, but we were happy to buy drinks and sandwiches and have lunch on the roadhouse verandah watching the world go by and anticipating a recovery afternoon.

By the time we had finished lunch our room was ready and we spent a quiet afternoon enjoying the air-conditioning, and both feeling very tired after a long day yesterday and a hard morning today.  We had an excellent early dinner (the Grey Nomad's Special) in the roadhouse and went to bed early, planning a very early start tomorrow for a long hot day on the road north.

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