NQ 2 NT Journal Entry
Day 13
Normanton to Leichardt Falls
By: Mark "Sharky" Smoothy
Daily statistics
Distance: 157km's
Accumulated Distance: 2370km's
Average speed: 19.8kmph
Metres Climbed: Less than 100. (Another nearly dead flat day)
Riding time: 7:56
Air Temperature: 42 degrees
Humidity: 40%
Wind direction: Tailwind for first 50kms, cross to head wind last 100km's.
Road Kill Count: Until further notice road kill count is on hold. The amount of cars that passed us today amounted to six, six cars all day means very little road kill. Besides that it is extremely difficult to count and suffer at the same time. Schindi my friend, I know if you were here you could handle it but this Shark down for the count.
Welcome to day 13 report on our ride to Darwin; two words spring to mind on yesterdays experience; 'adventure' and 'reality'. Adventure, because for the first time in over 2000km's we hit the dirt. And reality, because it hit us hard just what we are in for in the days ahead. We rolled out yesterday at 8am and arrived to our camp in darkness at 7pm. I was so stuffed that this journal had to wait until this morning to be written. As we arrived at night Falcon and I had no idea of what the campsite looked like. Kevy and Kim assured us in the morning, when we first lay eyes on it, that the ride here would be worth it. How right they were.
I awoke this morning at 5:30am, determined not to miss this sunrise. Kim and I are sitting at an elevated advantage, overlooking a beautiful shallow gorge, a small 20-foot waterfall flows gentle over a rocky ledge, into a slow moving stream. I bathed in the shallow waters here last night washing the redness of the dirt and dust off my overheated dry skin. Crocodiles are present in every body of water; my wash was a quick one. The sun is just starting to peek its orange hue over the horizon and the hint of another warm day threatens in its warming glow. It is so easy to write out here when inspiration comes from Mother Nature herself. Yesterday I was thinking we were insane trying to crack out a 150km day on the dirt, now all that matters is this amazing site before me and the lows of yesterday are already a distant memory.
What began as a great day on our road bikes for the first 30km's quickly deteriorated as the greatest reality check of all time hit us that the dirt roads up here are not to be taken lightly. The corrugations and soft sand hit fast and hit us hard. The best way of getting this message across without me harping on about it all morning is to compare our average speed from the first 50km's where we sat on 30kmph, to the second 50km's where we averaged 21kmph, to our third 50km's where we not only had the dirt to contend with but the wind swung around, hitting us face first, to drop our average further to 18kmph. And that is all I am saying about that!
It was definitely a day of suffering; even the great Falcon had his moments today and the last three hours there was very little chatter left in both of us. Out of the doom and gloom of our reality check came a gentle reminder of why we do what we do. The greatest thing about these trips, besides raising money for a worthwhile cause, is the human element and the generosity complete strangers will offer to people in need. We made the decision to stop at the 100km mark, set up the tarp to provide some shade and wait out the hottest part of the day. Out here there is no shade, there are no trees, there is no water for 100's of kilometres. Kevvy was scratching his head trying to find a suitable spot and just short of 100km's he spotted a working ranch called 'Inverleigh West'. He drove right up to that ranch, the only human establishment between Normanton and Burketown and asked the owners if we could borrow their huge undercover carport for two hours. The owners name was Rebecca and her husband Wayne was out mustering cattle. She was home by herself, did not know us from a bar of soap, and yet had no problem providing that hospitality. She then turned around and made a donation of $20.00.
There is a funny thing about this story, half hour prior to this happening the two K's were parked watching the muster go on while waiting for us to catch up. The muster involved a 4WD, a motorbike and a helicopter. It was fascinating to watch that chopper come within 20 feet of the ground and make a steed turn back in the direction of its herd. Next thing the 4WD makes a bee-line for Kevvy, who is outside our 4WD and watching the muster, he pulls up next to Kevvy and asks, "hey if you are with that 4WD with the blue tarp, then get the f*#k out of here," before Kevvy could respond, this guy said, clearly agitated "and start jogging!" Now the funny thing is that bloke was Rebecca's husband. Good old Wayne would have came home that night and Rebecca would have told him the story about this 4WD with a blue tarp needing help.
Rebecca shared some facts about this station that I think you will find interesting. The property covers 100,000 acres, they have 12,000 head of cattle and the property has been in the family since 1979. Most years when the rain falls this property is cut off for up to seven weeks. Helicopters are used to bring in supplies. Thank you Rebecca for your time and friendliness to four weary travellers.
Camp is getting packed up and it is time for me to eat and prepare for what is supposed to be our rest day. We have just 73km's to travel today to get into Burketown.
Until then
Sharky.
P.S. Hi to all my workmates at AllSports Physio back at Indooroopilly. I know you guys are shaking your heads at my insanity but at least it means you are reading these journals. Would be great if you hit up all your clients to donate a gold coin in the Smiddy collection box.