(Written by Nancy)

We set the alarm for 5:45 so that we could get things packed and be on the road by the time it got light enough to ride. We made oatmeal in the room and had instant coffee to save time. Packing got a bit tense as we tried to fit the full water bladders on – Dave and I have different ideas about the best placement for the bladders to ensure they are not damaged but I guess we will work that out eventually. I ran over to the BP station to get a couple of muffins to eat for morning tea and we were off about 7:15.

It was very cold and windy when we left – we were wearing our raincoats for warmth and our wool gloves. The wind was a very strong crosswind – not very pleasant in the cold. The Northern Territory border is 13k from Camooweal so we stopped to take a picture of the border crossing into our third state – well, I guess that isn’t really right as NT is not a state but a territory. So, we stopped to take a picture of the border crossing into our first territory! NT is ½ hour behind Queensland but we didn’t pause to change our watches as we wouldn’t be anywhere it would matter.

Photos and crosswinds

NT border sign

The roads were pretty deserted – it was more than an hour before we saw our first car. As far as you could see it was grassland – very few trees. There was about a 25kmh wind from the south, and you guessed it we had to veer south a bit. Arrgh – a tortuous ride to the first rest stop at Avon Downs. We had to stop multiple times to fix the *!#*! bags as the strapping over the water bags was not working. Not fun in the cold wind.

We had initially hoped to get to a rest area today that was about 160k from Camooweal. Given the windy conditions it became clear pretty early that we were not going to make it that far as we were struggling to get our speed up above 20kmh. So we started aiming for another rest area near Soudan Station, which was about 125-130k from Camooweal.

At Avon Downs we ate our PB&J sandwiches and chatted with several of the caravanners parked there. From there we knew we had about 65k to go and it was about 11 or so by the time we left.

Nancy getting road info

We turned a little bit north which helped for awhile as the winds were strong from the south. But we shifted west again and so had to battle the wind for the last bit. We finally made it to the rest area about 2:45 (Qld time) and hunted out a spot to set up the tent. The wind was blowing a gale still – always fun to try to set up camp in that kind of wind.

Another caravanner staying in the rest area came over to chat – Dirk is a professional photographer who has done lots of motorbike racing photos but is now doing a tour of Australia taking photos for a book on Australiana. He said he had seen many cyclists out riding the roads and wanted to take our picture for possible inclusion in his book. So, we posed a bit for the photos and chatted a bit more with him and his wife Wendy.

Camp in Soudan (photo by Dirk Klynsmith)

Steve arrived a bit later, looking as tired as I am sure we did. It was a very hard day of cycling. We made dinner and a cup of tea for Steve, and then Dirk and Wendy invited us over to their motorhome for a glass of wine. It was nice being in a warm sheltered spot for a bit and great to talk to Wendy and Dirk about all they have seen. They are on the road for at least 2 years, criss-crossing the country. Sounds like fun and boy did that motorhome feel nice and comfy… But alas, we had to leave the comfort and head back to the tent to get some sleep.

We are dead tired now so hopefully will sleep well as we have another 130k to do tomorrow to get us to Barkly Homestead where there is a caravan park. Let’s hope we have a bit better winds than today.

Wendy, Dirk and nancy