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.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 059 - Jabiru to Mary River

Day:  059

Date: Saturday, 29 August 2020

Start:  Jabiru

Finish:  Mary River Wilderness Retreat

Daily Kilometres:  141 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  6117

Weather:  Hot, sunny and breezy

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Peanut butter & pita bread

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Soup, macaroni cheese, ice-cream

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  As we neared the South Alligator River around 9am, but sometime before we reached it, we could smell its damp swampy aroma, and then, suddenly, the forest ended and we were crossing its vast, mostly treeless, floodplain.  The river itself, which was bordered by trees, was wide, opaque green, and flowing strongly northwards.  We had a look for crocodiles, but couldn't see any, though there were some clear tracks up the muddy bank into the undergrowth in one place.  It was interesting to see the same river we had taken our Yellow River sunset cruise on two days ago, completely transformed as it neared the sea.

Lowlight:  The only two roadhouses along our route today were closed because of COVID-19.  We weren't counting on them being open, but it would have given us some cold drinks and food options on another hot day's ride.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Having had another late night, by our standards, we slept in a little and didn't leave our Jabiru campground until 7:15am.  Our goal for the day was the Mary River Wilderness Retreat, 140km to the west along the Arnhem Highway, and we were hopeful that at least one roadhouse along the way, the one where we hoped to buy breakfast, would be open.

Most of the first two hours riding was through dry woodland, with the occasional dried up creek crossings, and a couple of recently burned sections which we could see (and smell), two of which were still smoldering close to the road.  Later in the day, when we looked back along the highway, we could see a plume of smoke rising on the horizon.  Maybe the fires we had passed were worsening.

We reached the South Alligator River (see above) around 9am, and a couple of kilometres further on, the South Alligator Roadhouse.  It was disappointingly closed, though was clearly still being looked after, with sprinklers watering nice lawns outside.  We had been hoping to buy some breakfast, and maybe lunch to take with us, but settled for a break on the grass in the shade.  While we rested, the roadhouse owner came by and had a chat, telling us he planned to reopen soon (but too late for us!).

Back on the road it had become hot with a fickle wind that was mostly from behind or across, but occasionally against.  The roadside was cleared of vegetation for a good margin on either side, meaning there was zero shade, and we baked as we rode, going through our fluids quickly.  Along the way, we exited Kakadu National Park, marking the end of a superb visit.

Fortunately, despite the conditions, we were making good time on the relatively quiet undulating road, and after a couple of routine breaks, and one more closed roadhouse, we reached the Mary River Wilderness Retreat around 3pm.  We toyed with the idea of riding a further 25km to another roadhouse with camping and cabins (would have phoned first to make sure it was open!), but we were hot and tired and decided this was far enough.

We checked in, asking whether they had any cabins available (they did not), and settled for a grassy tent site.  The place is a little upmarket, and quite busy (Julie was told by another guest that Northern Territory (NT) residents are eligible for a $200 matching government grant for money spent on NT tourism, which may explain it), with spacious lawns, recreation facilities, bar and bistro, and bordering the Mary River, another we had crossed upstream in Kakadu when it was just a creek.

We were early enough to do laundry and for Julie to have a dip in the pool before microwaved dinner in the camp kitchen and a welcome earlier night.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 058 - Cooinda to Jabiru via Ubirr

Day:  058

Date: Friday, 28 August 2020

Start:  Cooinda (Kakadu National Park)

Finish:  Jabiru (plus return trip to Ubirr)

Daily Kilometres:  150 (click for Julie's Strava and photos and click here for Strava and photos from the walk)

Total Kilometres:  5976

Weather:  Hot, sunny & windy

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg & lettuce sandwiches

  Lunch:  Egg & lettuce roll/Chicken salad roll

  Dinner:  Spaghetti & meatballs/Bangers & mash, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  The 360° views from the lookout atop a rocky butte at Ubirr were breathtaking.  Green floodplains, blue wetlands, jagged improbable rock formations, distant escarpments and forests as far as the eye could see. No signs of civilisation bar one nearby vehicle track, no sounds but the wind, and only Julie and I up there to savour the moment.

Lowlight:  Not a biggie, but the couple of kilometres into Jabiru at the end of our long day were uphill and into the wind.  Not fair.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 5am, but for some reason it took a little longer to pack up (in total darkness) and it was 6:15am by the time we pedalled out of Cooinda, past the tourists boarding the shuttle bus for the dawn Yellow Water cruise.

Originally, our plan for the day was to ride the 60km to Jabiru, a small tourist (and uranium mining) town with a supermarket, then continue on another 40km to Ubirr, another of Kakadu's great attractions, camp there and visit the sights.  However, we would have to return the same 40km to Jabiru tomorrow and we had heard the mosquitoes were bad and drinking water quality questionable at the Ubirr campsite.  It seemed a more attractive alternative might be to find somewhere to stay in Jabiru, leave our gear there and make the return trip to Ubirr with unloaded bikes.  Maybe we could even find a half-day tour to Ubirr from Jabiru, or get a hire car for the day, and leave our bikes behind.

The morning ride to Jabiru was excellent, with quiet roads and the usual superb bush sunrise, but it was already quite warm and the wind was picking up by the time we reached the town.  Our first stop was at the caravan park, where we were able to get a tent site and set up, even though it was only 9am, and confirmed there were no tours to Ubirr, and was nowhere to rent a car.

After setting up camp and unloading our bikes, we rode the 2km into the supermarket and bought food and drink for today and tomorrow and returned to the caravan park where there was a camp kitchen and fridge to store some of the food.  After eating a late breakfast and working out what we needed for the ride to Ubirr, it was nearly noon by the time we set out, somewhat unenthusiastically, in the hot gusty weather.  The Northern Territory is experiencing unseasonably hot temperatures (high 30s Centigrade) which, combined with days of strong winds, have created officially "catastrophic" fire danger, with a number of bushfires already burning and some National Parks (including Litchfield, where we hope to be early next week) closed.  There are no fires near us, but conditions are extreme.

Anyway, about 10km into our hot windy ride to Ubirr, I was beginning to regret not staying near the camp pool and fridge back at Jabiru.  But, gradually, the country became more interesting, with high rocky escarpments to one side and lush wetlands to the other, with some shady sections through creek valleys, and my mood improved.  We reached the Ubirr carpark at 2pm, and had lunch in a relatively cool shelter, though anything that wasn't tied down was getting blown away.

After lunch, we set out on the Ubirr loop walk that passed by multiple indigenous rock art sites, some dating back about 5,000 years.  They were very impressive, with great detail, and located beneath magnificent rock overhangs or in natural rock galleries.  There was even a drawing of the extinct thylacine {Tasmanian tiger) which disappeared from this area 3,000 years ago.  We took the detour that climbed up to the superb lookout (see above) before visiting the final few rock painting sites and returning to our locked bikes in the picnic area.

By now it was 3:30pm, so we began our return journey to Jabiru, via a short detour to the nearby Cahill Crossing, a causeway across the East Alligator River that leads into Arnhem Land and a number of indigenous settlements.  It was a tranquil scene, with the opaque green river just high enough to flow gently over the causeway into the tidal river estuary below and some locals fishing from the causeway, while others hung out nearby.  However, the tranquility was fragile, with a number of crocodiles visible in the river, including a very large one which had been chomping on something on the river bank not far from the fishing locals, who were keeping a close eye on him.  When he did leave the bank and begin swimming directly towards them, only some 30 metres away, they unhurriedly lobbed a few rocks in his direction and he disappeared under water.  A sign by the road warned there had been a recent fatal crocodile attack at this crossing.

Enticing though it was to stay and watch life at the river crossing, it was getting late, so we got going again. The scenery on the ride back to Jabiru was made even more pleasant by the rays of late afternoon sunshine, and the unloaded bikes made the rises and headwind sections more tolerable.  We finally returned to camp around 6pm, and after a much-needed shower, had a late dinner.  It had been a good day, but a long day.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 057 - Cooinda

Day:  057

Date: Thursday, 27 August 2020

Start:  Cooinda (Kakadu National Park)

Finish:  Cooinda (Kakadu National Park)

Daily Kilometres:  0 (click here for Julie's Strava and photos of our walk, and here for Julie's Strava and photos of our cruise)

Total Kilometres:  5826

Weather:  Hot, sunny and windy

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Peanut butter & Ryvita

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Chicken roll, lasagne, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Difficult to choose, but possibly seeing a 4+ metre crocodile resting on the bank with what looked like the remains of a young bullock in its mouth.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Last night, Julie was chatting with some ladies in the camp kitchen/laundry about our plans in Kakadu, and soon afterwards we were generously invited to join them - Fiona, Elaine and Kelly - on their 4WD trip to the remote Jim Jim Falls today.  They are on a week's vacation from their jobs in Darwin.  Our original plan had been to lounge around the campground until our booked Yellow Water sunset cruise at 4:30pm, so the chance to instead spend the day visiting one of Kakadu's big attractions was too good to pass up.  (I had tried, a week ago, to book a commercial 4WD tour that included Jim Jim Falls, but they have ceased operation during the pandemic.)

We met them at their cabin at 7am and set off on the 1.5 hour drive (during which we saw two dingos), much of it on rough unsealed road and track to the JIm Jim Falls carpark, from where we hiked/scrambled into the magnificent gorge through a boulder-filled rainforest.  Sheer cliffs towered high above the gorge catching the early sunlight but where we hiked remained in shadow.  It took nearly an hour to reach the plunge pool, about 100m across and bordered by sheer cliffs on three sides.  We were dwarfed and awed by our surroundings, thinking about how ancient this place must be and wondering what it must be like during the wet season when water would be thundering from high above down into the pool.  The water was clear, deep and inviting, and eventually we all took the plunge, despite it only being about 9:30am, and the sunlight still absent.  It was cold, but not freezing, and it was exhilarating to swim out and look up.

After our swim, we rock-scrambled back up the gorge to another pool bordered on one side by a sunlit and warm beach backed by cliffs which supplied a small amount of shade. We hung out there for another hour or so, sunbaking, chatting, swimming in the beautiful water, and trying not to burn our feet on what had become very hot sand.  It was idyllic.  Eventually, it was time to leave and after hiking back to the car, our new friends delivered us back to the campground soon after 2pm.

After buying some food for dinner and storing it in the camp kitchen fridge, we relaxed for an hour or so, then caught a shuttle bus a short distance to the dock for our sunset Yellow Water cruise which toured the wetlands around the confluence of Jim Jim Creek and the (misnamed) South Alligator River.  It's hard to describe how good the cruise was (or how many pictures we took!).  We saw plenty of crocodiles, buffalo, wallabies, wild boar, and a fantastic range of birdlife and vegetation, along with an incredible sunset.

We got back to the campground at 7pm, enjoyed a late microwaved dinner, and after a shower got to bed around 9pm after an excellent day.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 056 - Pine Creek to Cooinda

Day:  056

Date: Wednesday, 26 August 2020

Start:  Pine Creek

Finish:  Cooinda (Kakadu National Park)

Daily Kilometres:  167 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  5826

Weather:  Hot, sunny and windy

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Peanut butter on Ryvita

  Lunch:  Jelly beans/Peanut butter on Ryvita

  Dinner:  Chicken roll, lasagne, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant, but both exhausted

Highlight:  The first 60km, riding into rising sun through the waking bush along the very quiet Kakadu Highway (five vehicles in three hours) was very special.   When we finish this trip, our fondest memories will be of the early morning riding in the bush.

Lowlight:  It's tough to choose between the wind, the flies, and the closed roadhouse.

1.  After breakfast, it was one of those days where when the road veered left we cheered, and when it veered right we cursed.  The hot wind was strong and there were places where it felt like we were fighting for every inch.

2.  Whenever we took a break, or our cycling pace slowed, flies descended on us, getting in our faces, eyes and ears, despite the insect repellent we were using.  Julie resorted to her headnet on our breaks.

3.  Our plan for the day was to ride the 60km from Pine Creek to the Mary River Roadhouse, the only place to resupply during the day, have breakfast there, and buy lunch and drinks to take with us.  Alas, it was closed indefinitely, presumably a casualty of the pandemic downturn.  We did manage to get some water, though, and are carrying enough extra food to survive such disappointments.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

It was to be a long day's ride so we rose early and left Pine Creek in darkness at 5:45am, soon joining the Kakadu Highway and intent on riding the first 60km to the Mary River Roadhouse without a break.  The riding was beautiful along the winding and undulating road with an increasing number of rocky outcrops scattered through the forest bathed in the orange light of the rising sun, and the occasional buffalo grazing in the woodland (see above).

Sadly, when we got to the Roadhouse, it was closed (see above).  We stopped on a picnic table out the front and I walked into the caravan park, which was still open, though sparsely used, to get four litres of water to add to the four we were already carrying.  I was stopped by the caretaker on the way out, but he was happy for us to take the water.  We only had about 105km to go, which we thought we could accomplish with two breaks, so this seemed like plenty of fluids, but as it turned out, Julie used all of hers and I only had 600mls left by the time we reached Cooinda at the end of the day.

Soon after leaving the Roadhouse, we entered the famed Kakadu National Park, and encountered our first granny-gear climb for some time.  It didn't go on for too long, but the wind had become quite nasty by the time we reached the top, and stayed that way for the rest of the day.   We made a short gravel road detour from the road to the Bukbukluk Lookout which gave views over the tree-carpeted park to the west, north and east, with low hills and rocky escarpments in the distance.  The forest has a tropical feel to it with tall palm-like trees mingled among the more usual forest trees and small tree-ferns on the forest floor (I apologise for my extremely poor botanical knowledge).

After the lookout, though the forest and road remained very interesting, we were in survival mode, battling the wind, heat and hills, barely able to get off our bikes when we stopped for our two breaks.  We were going through our fluids fast, and our conversations were monosyllabic. We were both done.

Nevertheless, we persevered and eventually reached Cooinda, a main tourist centre in Kakadu just after 4pm.  We checked in, buying some cold drinks and ice-creams at the same time, which we inhaled at a picnic bench to help our recuperation before we went to find a tent site and set up camp.  After showers, we found some microwaveable food in the store and ate at another picnic table in the campground.  Then it was off to bed and more recuperation.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 055 - Katherine Gorge to Pine Creek

Day:  055

Date: Tuesday, 25 August 2020

Start:  Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk National Park)

Finish:  Pine Creek

Daily Kilometres:  119 (click for Julie's Strava and photos and for our walk here)

Total Kilometres:  5659

Weather:  Hot and sunny

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Fresh fruit salad, peach-passionfruit danish/chocolate croissant

  Lunch:  Chicken, avocado & bacon sandwiches

  Dinner:  Chicken schnitzel, salad & chips/Rump steak, salad & chips, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Very nice following wind for most of the day that made riding the hills in the heat much easier.

Lowlight:  The Stuart Highway between Katherine and Pine Creek was quite busy with trucks, road trains, caravans and other traffic, yet despite being a major highway, had a very narrow road edge (25cm/1ft wide, or less) for us to ride on to get out of the traffic lane.  We had to constantly watch our rearview mirrors for overtaking traffic, especially when there was oncoming traffic, and assess whether we needed to get off (drop off) the road edge onto the soft/rough gravel for safety. 

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We packed up in the dark and left the Katherine Gorge campground before the sun rose to retrace our steps (tracks) back to the town of Katherine, 29 kilometres away.  It was pleasant riding, despite a few hills, with the sun rising behind us and lighting up the hills and escarpments ahead and to the sides.

Katherine was busy (relatively) with weekday morning traffic when we arrived at 8am and rode to the supermarket and bakery to get breakfast and other supplies.  We ate breakfast sitting on the grass at a nearby park before buying some sandwiches for lunch at a service station on our way north out of town on the Stuart Highway around 9am.

With only 90km to go, and a following wind, we made good time along the busy road (see above) which passed through dry, and sometimes burnt, savannah woodland dotted with some very big termite mounds.  To the right, out of sight, a couple of times we heard the sound of heavy locomotives on the Adelaide-Darwin rail line (home of the famous Ghan train).

We took our usual 30-minute breaks every 90 minutes, sheltering from the fierce sun in the shade of trees, and attracting the usual toots and waves from passing traffic.  Around 2pm we pedalled into the sun-baked old gold mining town of Pine Creek and found our way to the hotel-motel and checked in.  We always enjoy an early finish for the day.  It gives us time to loaf around for a few hours, and no doubt for tired muscles to recuperate.

In the late afternoon we went for a short walk around the historic town and up to a lookout overlooking the town and one of the old open cut mining pits now filled with water.  Gold was first found here in 1870 and was still being mined late last century, though the town seems very sleepy now.  We stopped in at the pub for dinner on our way back from the lookout.  Whie the meal was OK, the nearly hour wait for it to arrive was not.  Then it was back to our room for another early night.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 054 - Katherine Gorge

Day:  054

Date: Monday, 24 August 2020

Start:  Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk National Park)

Finish:  Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk National Park)

Daily Kilometres:  0 (click here for Julie's Strava and photos from our canoe trip)

Total Kilometres:  5540

Weather:  Hot and sunny

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Toasted ham, cheese & tomato sandwich/Toasted chicken & avocado sandwich 

  Lunch:  Trail mix, ice-cream

  Dinner:  Soup, macaroni cheese

Aches:  Julie cut her toe when she slipped on a trail in the gorge

Highlight:  Our five-hour excursion up through the Katherine Gorge by boat and canoe was excellent.  It started with a boat trip, along with about 30 other participants, through the spectacular first part of the gorge, accompanied by expert guide commentary, including information about the unlikely-to-be-dangerous freshwater crocodile inhabitants.  We disembarked at the end of the first gorge and hiked a few hundred metres across a rocky bar to reach our canoes in the second gorge.  We then had about four hours to explore as far up the gorges as we cared to go.  For most of us that meant paddling the length of the second gorge, portaging the canoes 100m across another rocky bar, then paddling the length of the third gorge.  The walls of the gorges were generally sheer rock cliffs, but it was amazing how individual trees, especially pencil-thin palms, and small hanging gardens had grown in the most unlikely places.  Here and there were feeder canyons to explore.  We hiked up one, at the end of which was a beautiful big pool that Julie swam across (on the way back she slipped and cut her toe), and at another we clambered up to view some ancient aboriginal rock art.  At other places, we beached our canoe to sit and admire the view and/or Julie went for a dip.  The other canoeists did similar things while one family with children spent time scaling high up the cliffs to then jump into the river (memories of recklessly taking young Aaron, then about 8 years old, jumping off the cliffs at Johnson's Shut-Ins in Missouri).

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Our booked boat/canoe excursion didn't depart from near the Katherine Gorge Visitor Centre until 9am, so we were able to sleep in a little before wandering down to the Visitor Centre around 8am to buy some drinks and toasties for breakfast, which we ate on their magnificent shaded deck overlooking the Katherine River valley.

From there it was a short walk down to the river and the start of our very enjoyable excursion (see above).  After the excursion returned to the dock just before 2pm, we hastened back to the Visitor Centre cafe, scheduled to close at 2pm (COVID-19 hours), and bought an ice cream as a reward for all of our paddling, which we enjoyed on their deck.

With nothing else on the agenda for the day, we returned to the campground to read (and swim/sunbake, in Julie's case) for the rest of the afternoon.  Dinner in the camp kitchen followed in the evening then an early night.  Pedalling instead of paddling tomorrow!