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 068 - Mataranka to Daly Waters

Day:  068

Date: Monday, 07 September 2020

Start:  Mataranka

Finish:  Daly Waters

Daily Kilometres:  168 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  6929

Weather:  Hot! Damned hot! (and sunny and windy)

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Bread rolls & apricot jam

  Lunch:  Bread rolls & apricot jam/peanut butter

  Dinner:  Bangers & mash/Beef schnitzel, chips & salad, ice-creams

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Riding out of Mataranka by moonlight in cool and calm conditions to the sound of waking birdlife in the trees along the road.

Lowlight:  The wind wasn't as bad as yesterday, but still made life difficult at times.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

With a long day ahead of us, we got up at 4:30am and were on the moonlit road about 5:20am.  There was no sign of the sunrise, but there were plenty of birds singing in the trees as we pedalled out of Mataranka.  Our plan was to ride 37km to a rest stop where we would have breakfast, but when we got there the only table was occupied by campervan driver, so we continued on a little further and found a spot by the road.

Our next stop was Fran's Tea House in Larrimah, 40km later, where we had fresh scones, jam and cream for morning tea.  We had stopped here on our way north three weeks ago, and Fran's grandson, who is running the place, was very happy to see us again.  We had a nice chat and the scones were excellent.

It was heating up by the time we left at 10am, with 93km to go to Daly Waters, our goal for the day.  We put our heads down and just got on with it, taking two further breaks along the way.  The wind was either against us or across us, and the heat seemed to radiate up from the road as well as beating down from above.  For almost the entire day, the vegetation on both sides of the road was arid woodland, and although there were a couple of roads signposted for cattle stations, I didn't see any cattle (but Julie says she did).  The endless woodland likely continued for many kilometres to our left and right, emphasising the vastness of the country.  The traffic was predominantly caravans and campervans, with a sprinking of road trains and other vehicles, but it wasn't busy.  One couple in a vehicle slowed and drove alongside Julie for a while chatting through the passenger window.

At 3:30pm, we finally arrived at the historic (1930, so not that historic) Daly Waters Pub which has turned itself into an outback tourist attraction (there's not really anything here apart from the pub and its associated caravan park and other accommodation).  We went to the bar and checked into our motel room which was in an adjacent building.  We were both hot and tired and Julie quickly headed for the nearby pool, while I chose to shower and watch some TV current affairs in our air-conditioned room.

We went to the pub for dinner, along with everybody else staying here.  It was all a bit cute, with humorous risqué signs everywhere and collections of bras, number plates, hats, thongs, etc, inside, but it had atmosphere, and the live entertainment and food was excellent, so it was a good night.

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