Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 060 - Mary River to Darwin

Day:  060

Date: Sunday, 30 August 2020

Start:  Mary River Wilderness Retreat

Finish:  Darwin

Daily Kilometres:  117 (click for Julie's Strava and photos and click here for her Strava and photos from our walk)

Total Kilometres:  6234

Weather:  Sunny, hot and breezy

Accommodation:  Hotel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg, bacon & tomato roll

  Lunch:  Chicken & bacon melt sub

  Dinner:  Pad Thai, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Reaching Darwin, which is a major milestone, and the northernmost point in our travels.

Lowlight:  None really

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We left the campground at 6:30am, just as it was getting light enough to ride without lights and headed west towards Darwin, crossing the quiet Mary River almost immediately.  The first kilometres were through the scenic Mary River National Park, winding between low forested hills in the early light, after which the country opened out and became flatter.

We reached the Corroboree Park Tavern roadhouse after 25km and just over an hour, and enjoyed breakfast at a table on their shaded verandah.  From there, we rode into Darwin's rural area, where there were more signs of civilisation (and more traffic), cattle grazing and mango orchards.  The road was flattish and we had a nice following wind for much of the time, so the kilometres were passed easily.  We crossed the wide Adelaide River floodplains then the Adelaide River itself, and before we knew it had rejoined the Stuart Highway and the final run into Darwin along the busy road.

We stopped at a camping store in Palmerston in late morning to get a few things and then again, 10km later, at a Subway to get some lunch.  Although it was very warm, I was still surprised when Julie (the girl who loves warm weather), suggested sitting inside in the air-conditioning rather than on the shaded verandah outside!

After lunch we found a bike path paralleling the Stuart Highway and followed that into the centre of Darwin, stopping at a carwash en route to wash the worst of the caked red dust off our bikes in case our booked city centre hotel balked at storing them or letting us keep them in our room.  We reached the hotel (best value accommodation of the trip so far - 4.5 stars and $81pn) soon after 2pm and checked in.  I persuaded the receptionist that the bikes were clean and not too big, and she agreed to let us keep them in our room.  We took them up one-by-one in the small lift.  Julie then went for a swim and caught up on some phone calls while I spent time formally applying for an entry permit into Western Australia in ten days time.  I'm not optimistic.

Soon after 5pm, we walked north from town for 3km to Mindil Beach and the famous Sunday sunset markets.  It was packed with a very multicultural mix of all ages enjoying the spectacular sunset from the beach (made more so by bushfire smoke in the far sky) and/or some of the delicious food from the large range of cuisines on offer at the stalls.  Many were enjoying the music provided by a band and others were browsing the craft stalls, though there weren't many of those.  Social distancing seemed to be a thing of the past.  We bought some Asian food for dinner and ate it on the beach, before a final look around the stalls and a walk back to the hotel.  A very pleasant and relaxing evening.