NQ 2 NT Journal Entry
Day 11
Georgetown to Croydon
By: Mark “Sharky” Smoothy
Daily statistics
Distance: 148km’s
Accumulated Distance: 2095km’s
Average speed: 28.6kmph
Total Ascent: 293 metres
Riding time: 5:09
Air Temperature: 36 degrees
Humidity: Low
Wind direction: South east.
Road Kill Count: Kangaroo’s 109, Unknowns 74, Pheasants 10, Pigs 4, Hawk 1, Lion 1. Scotty assured me that it was indeed a lion. When I suggested that Australia does not have any lions, he reminded me that if you believe in Gondwana (the name given to a southern precursor super continent) that Australia was originally part of Africa that a spare lion may have been floating around. Hard to argue with such logic...? While on the road kill count I would just like to add how impressed I am with the ‘Road Kill King’, Mr Schindler, and his ability to keep track of the exact numbers and different species in his head. Falcon and I share this role; I am the sighting man and ring the bell, (Schindi always rings a bell, attached to his handlebars, for every kill sighting) and tell Falcon what it was and Falcon keeps count until we report in to the road crew. I can see why Schindi needed 2 deputies when entering a kill zone, it is stressful work and my admiration for this great man has increased 10 fold.
Anyway on with the show, Anna last night told us to expect temperatures to get progressively hotter the further west we go. With the wind at our backs and low humidity Falcon and I are acclimatising well to the conditions. The gradual increase has really helped in this regard. With regards to our health we are all on the improve, Falcon is nearly 100% and both Kim and I are now sporting a head cold but the dry air up here seems to make the symptoms not as bad. I actually felt good for most of the day today, which hopefully means I am over the worst of it.
So we got away from Georgetown today at 8:15am and it was a bottler of a day. No thermals or wind jackets needed this morning as it was already a warm 28 degrees at roll out time. Once again the wind was at our backs and I thank my mate Adam every day for taking care of us. Kim and Kevvy saw us off and then paid a visit to the Ted Elliott Terrestrial Museum, promising to catch us for a water stop by 10a.m. We had a dream start to the day and averaged 31kmph before our dynamic road duo caught us just short of 50km’s. They told us the museum was well worth the visit and if it wasn’t for two thirsty skinny arsed cyclists needing water they could have spent hours there.
A quick water top up and we pushed out another 40km’s before having our first serious stop of the day for lunch. We were all keen to get into Croydon early today for some much needed R&R, and after lunch we punched out the remaining 60km’s to arrive in Croydon at 2:30pm, having averaged a great 28.6kmph for an awesome days riding. Falcon did some huge turns out front and I just sat on for the ride, unable to return the favour. Today Falcon and I passed a milestone when we reached the halfway point of our combined trip when we clocked up the 2000km mark just after lunch. With 13 days riding ahead of us and the start of 800km’s of dirt in two days time, we are relishing the tar while it lasts.
Each afternoon when we arrive in town it is a tradition to make our way to the greatest pub in town - which is usually the only pub in town- and down a couple of beers. David Gyte, Queensland General Manager of Bottlemart and fellow Smiddy rider asked me to make sure that I shout Kevvy a beer each night, to carry on his tradition when, throughout the main Smiddy ride, he shouted Kevvy a beer for eight straight evenings. Well Gytey I let you down the first two nights on this Darwin trip but made sure I gave Kevvy $20.00 this morning to cover the beers at the pub this afternoon.
The pub here is called ‘The Club’ and it is your typical beautiful old Queensland pub that oozes nostalgia, not to mention hundreds of old beer stickers and photos of bikini clad women from the seventies adorning the tongue and groove walls.
Croydon is an amazingly beautiful nostalgic town, full of history and as soon as we rolled into town Scotty and I rode around checking out the sites. The first thing we noticed was the incredibly tidiness of the place and how all the old buildings had been immaculately restored. We paid a visit to the tourist information centre and inside was wall to wall history of everything worth knowing about Croydon. It is a fascinating town, rich in history and in a nutshell this is what I learnt. Gold was first discovered here in 1886, now like all towns in that era where gold was concerned, the town quickly went from a quiet country town of a couple of hundred to a bustling crazily busy madhouse of 8000 people within a two year period. The story I like the least of Croydon is also the one that fascinates me the most. With so many people and not enough water to go around disease and fever ravaged the population. There were four undertakers in town and it was a good business to be in as when one hearse was going to the cemetery, another was on its way back.
The other thing worth mentioning is that at its height of popularity Croydon was a very thirsty town that not only had 122 official liquor licences, but countless sly grog shop come shanties and 36 pubs! Yes you read it right, 36. Australians loved a beer back then and really nothing has changed, we still love a drink now. Anyway Croydon, right at this very moment, has just one pub and that is where we are staying tonight. Steve Woolhead is the publican and after Kevvy did his usual magic trick Steve provided a hotel room at a greatly discounted rate. Thanks kindly Steve. This pub even has a pool and the water was such a welcome relief for tired legs after another hot and dusty day. Even Kevvy, who hates the water, puffed out his chest, strutted his stuff, donned in his best boardies and joined us for a dip.
For dinner tonight we used the awesome barbecue facilities in the local park and Kevvy cooked up a storm of steak, onions and zucchini, while Scotty pulled in the hot chips from the local store come cafe, come fish and chips, come bait shop, come anything shop. Kimmy, armed with her favourite Beveridge of Jim Bean, is sitting quietly, enjoying the great food, the awesome company of three great friends, and in general I feel she is only just now starting to comprehend and appreciate the immense beauty and amazing quiet and solitude of this immensely great land.
We have been taking a few photos over the past few days and Falcon has been working hard to get some of these up on to the Smiddy website. If keen to have a look please follow this link:
Kim asked me not to tell you guys this final story. While in Croydon we had time to do some clothes washing. After doing a full load of all her clothes she was hanging up her underwear and out crawled a tick. What hardy beasts are the great Australian bush ticks.
Until tomorrow.
Sharky.