Day: 090
Date: Tuesday, 29 September 2020
Start: Tarcoonyinna Rest Area
Finish: Cadney Park Roadhouse
Daily Kilometres: 134 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)
Total Kilometres: 9327
Weather: Cool early, then mild, overcast, periods of rain, and windy.
Accommodation: Motel
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pie & muffin/Egg & lettuce sandwich
Lunch: Ham salad roll/Chicken schnitzel roll & muffin
Dinner: Bangers & mash/Hamburger & chips, ice cream
Aches: Nothing significant
Highlight: Maybe not a highlight for us, but our bedraggled arrival in the middle of a downpour at the Marla Roadhouse at 8:30am seemed to be a highlight for other travellers. The driver of the Greyhound bus from Adelaide to Darwin, which was stopped in Marla at the time, had a good chuckle and advised us to call it a day at Marla as he considered the road further south too dangerous in the wet conditions and poor visibility. Three motorcyclists travelling north, thought they had it bad until they saw us, and also had a good laugh. Three contractors heading north, who said they had been unable to overtake a road train for many kilometres because they could not see what was coming the other way through the spray generated by the truck, offered to pick us up on their way back south later in the day. And various other travellers laughed, commiserated with us, and asked about our trip.
Lowlight: None really.
Pictures: Click here (yesterday's are here ... forgot to post them)
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
It started raining a little as we went to bed last night and it rained and was windy at various times during a night in which neither of us slept very well. When we woke at 5am, a moderate wind seemed to be coming from the south, drying the tent, but portending a tough day on the road. And just as we were packing up the tent, it began raining again and we rushed to get everything under the cover of the adjacent picnic shelter before it got too wet.
We finished packing and began riding in the pre-dawn gloom and light rain soon after 6am, aiming for the Marla Roadhouse, 54km away, for breakfast, and ultimately Cadney Park Roadhouse 80km further on.
We actually didn't mind riding in the rain, since it was the first time for more than two months and because we knew it was a rare and welcome event for the communities and cattle stations in this part of the world. It felt like a privilege to witness such an event, and as the rain continued during much of the morning, we watched endless puddles form and turn the red dust into soft red clay on the scrubby, often treeless, plains on both sides of the road. You could smell the wet earth and hear birds chirping in the scrub. The sky was different shades of grey with rain showers descending visibly from the darker clouds near and far. Later in the morning some low and long rumbles of thunder sounded above accompanied by some lightning, but not enough to cause us concern.
The road became quite wet, especially in the heavier downpours, and long puddles formed in the depressions where the heavy truck wheels travel, so we had to watch where we were going if we didn't want to get even wetter. All of the time, we were alert for traffic coming from ahead or behind, though there were long periods when there was no traffic at all and we had the plains to ourselves. When road trains passed, and there were plenty, we often got a big shower, but the only times we felt at risk was when vehicles coming from both directions passed us at the same time. There was little verge to the road and the edges were soft, so it was "white knuckles" time as we held a narrow line as cars passed close to our right elbows. In these cases, it's hard to understand why the driver approaching from behind doesn't slow down and wait until they have more room. I guess every second counts when you're driving hundreds of kilometres in the outback!
Most of the day was through unfenced cattle country, and we saw a few along the way. It's funny the way they are startled by us and run away, but cars and road trains pass by without disturbing them. No doubt this explained the carcasses we saw on the roadside in various stages of decay and malodour, presumably the result of encounters with road trains. Another common sight along the road has been the number of abandoned vehicles, most damaged/stripped/vandalised and some burnt out. Each probably with a story to tell.
We reached Marla Roadhouse in good time, having quite enjoyed the first few hours of riding in the rain, apart from the downpour in the last few kilometres that left us cold and saturated. After breakfast on the roadhouse verandah (see above) and purchasing supplies for the 80km remaining to Cadney Park Roadhouse, we left in light drizzle. As expected, heavier rain returned, along with a cold wind, and without good shelter anywhere en route, we kept riding the whole way apart from a very short break.
Earlier than expected, thanks partly to a tail/cross wind, we reached the roadhouse and checked in. The weather had cleared a little in the last hour, though dark clouds loomed behind us and to the east. Our afternoon was spent doing trip-planning, laundry and watching TV, as the weather steadily cleared. From our room we can see the Ghan train line, and earlier today saw two very long freight trains, one parked for a while in view at the Cadney Park siding.
Once again an early dinner and an early night.
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