Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005
From: “Michael Ayers” <michael@terminalia.org>
Subject: Gondwana - Outlandish Quest in Outback Queensland
G’Day Phreds,
Today I’m in Camooweal, Queensland, deep in the Outback, and just a few kilometers short of the Northern Territory border, and there have been a couple of milestones in recent days. Right now, or in a day or two at least, I’m at the halfway point in the Stage through Australia. It doesn’t really seem like it has been that long already, but it has. Also, back on August 6, out in the middle of nowhere, this became the longest tour, in terms of distance, that I’ve ever done. The previous record was my very first tour, way back in 01993, which was my cross-North America trip. It’s a little hard to believe it took me 12 years to best that one, but that’s the case. With this stage only half complete, and the whole tour just a little over 10% done, I think this record will stand for a while.
Once again, this section of the route presented a complete change of feel from the earlier sections. There is a good reason they call this part of the country the Outback. It’s quite different in most respects from the eastern coastal areas. First, however, after leaving Cairns I had to make my third, and final, crossing of the Great Dividing Range towards the town of Atherton. It was a rather easy climb, despite rising to 1,150 meters, but the low clouds that day, which were below that level and being blown across my path by some rather fierce crosswinds, made me and my gear soggy once again. Fortunately, that will be the last time I will get wet for quite a while, as dust is the dominant feature in these parts.
Once over the mountains, it did not take long for the scenery to change into the dry savannah that covers the covers the generally flat terrain of the northern interior. I found it to be rather interesting, with many types of eucalyptus trees, which have evolved adaptations for dry conditions, scattered around. The route cut straight across the base of the Cape York Peninsula, which is the “horn” on the top of eastern Australia, along the Gulf Development Road. I was a little worried that a road with such a name would imply an unpleasant amount of traffic including numerous trucks carrying out the spoils of the area’s “development.” However, I pleasantly found this to be the quietest road of the tour so far. In fact, there were long stretches where it consisted of only one lane, a sure sign that traffic would be light. There was the occasional large truck, of course, but, even on the one-lane sections, their passing was not as unpleasant as the way they would blow by, one after the other, on the coastal highways.
One things for sure, I am reaping the benefits of suffering through the cold and wet down south at the beginning of the tour. It’s been a pleasant 25-32 ºC high temperatures for the last several days, and I can only imagine how oppressive it would be to be out here in the heat of summer when it reaches 45. It’s hard enough staying hydrated as it is with so little water available. In the summer it must be close to impossible.
Continuing west, I passed through Normanton, one of the only towns in the region, which consisted of only a couple of shops, the only bank in the area, and a hotel. I should have stayed there for a day to rest, but didn’t because the easy road, and a few days of tailwinds, made me feel less tired than I actually was. That changed the next day as the route turned toward the south, and more into the wind. Despite the flat terrain, I wore out rather quickly because of the wind and the lack of any extra food or water available on the way. So I took an unplanned day off at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse. Roadhouses are stations spaced out along the Outback highways where motor people can get petrol, and are often the only services, or the only buildings at all for that matter, for hundreds of kilometers. There is always a restaurant, some minimal groceries, and occasionally accommodations as well. In this case the rooms were pre-fabed metal enclosures, resembling large freezers that had obviously been simply slid into place off the back of a truck at some point in the past. Worked well for me since all I planned to do the following day was sleep and eat.
Further to the west, I reached the only long stretch of gravel road, about 350-km of it, that I will use in this Stage. The first 40-, and last 90-km were fairly hard and smooth. The rest, however, were highly corrugated and soft in places and quite slow going. It wasn’t as bad as the terrible end to the Highlands Highway in PNG, but definitely a couple of slow, bumpy days. With that, and the day I lost at Burke and Wills, I almost decided to skip the stop I had planned at Lawn Hill N.P. and the Riversleigh Fossil site. That would have shortened the route on gravel by 80-km, or so. However, I decided to go anyway, and am rather glad I did. Lawn Hill is like an oasis in the Outback. There is a spring-fed river whose clear water has cut a pretty gorge through the limestone hills and nourishes a band of lush greenery along its banks. The park has canoes, which you can use to see the gorge, and there are several places to take a refreshing swim. That may be the only swim I will have taken for the next 6 weeks, so it was well worth the detour.
Probably the best part of riding through the Outback is the splendid ease in finding a place for free camping. Usually, I need to spend the last half hour before sunset scouting out a good place, which can often be a challenge. Most of the time on this tour, I have been able to find a nice spot without too much trouble, except for a few days in the south, where there were no side roads to get off the main road and the fence lines crowded to within a couple of meters of the roadside. Up here, all I have to do is wait until the Sun is just below the horizon, stop, and then decide whether to go to the right or left side of the highway. Then I can just walk out into the savannah, which contains an abundance of flat, open spaces perfect for getting a good night sleep. With the light traffic in these parts, it is not even necessary to get very far away from the road, 50 meters, or so, is plenty. Then it is a blissfully quiet night under a star-filled sky not washed out by city lights.
Probably the only bad thing about this section has been my first encounters with the notorious Outback flies. Rumor has it that people in the Outback don’t talk very much because if they do too many flies will fly down their throats. I suspect that there is some truth to that. They really are quite pesky and may yet drive me insane in another couple of weeks. However, they do cause me to ride a faster pace, since they can keep up with me unless I’m moving at a good clip. Perhaps that will help in the next few weeks, as there are some long, isolated, stretches ahead.
Up next is a visit to the Red Center, towards Uluru, which, as we all know, is the center of the Universe.
No worries,
Mike
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The Tour of Gondwana
May 02005 - Oct 02007
http://www.terminalia.org/tour