Mushypea

It’s all coming to an end..

Onwards to the Gulf!

With the end in sight we felt a renewed energy and were really getting the most out of the bikes, the cameras and the breath taking scenery.  We did lots more video as all of a sudden more and more wildlife sprung up on the side of the roads, in and around the creeks, and in the sky.

Leaving Normanton for the final 70km to Karumba felt great.  We woke up excited and were all smiles as we did our morning stretches at 5am for the last time as this was to be our final day riding – 22 days since leaving South Australia’s Spencer Gulf at Port Augusta 2600km away we would be riding to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpenteria in Queensland.

We climbed on the bikes that had looked after us so well for the past four weeks (thanks Favourite Cycles!) and cycled slowly today, wanting to soak up the sunrise one last time.  The head torch batteries were running out but it just made the ride better, relying on the bright full moon to shine on the road showing us the way north.

We crossed a large creek as the sun came up and saw two crocs laying in wait on the waters surface – they looked very much like logs on the water and we could imagine the amount of bird life that must have fallen for that old trick!

The final 72km of riding was very special.  We felt like we were riding in a wildlife documentary, huge monitors roamed on the side of the road in the scrub, and we saw our first snake!  We jumped off the bikes and grabbed the cameras hoping the lil Taipan would stay still long enough to get  a decent shot using the cheeky zoom on the GX200.

Well she stayed still and looked not really too bothered.  Although her head was raised she was staying very still so I got in closer with arms outstretched and grabbed a couple of shots of one of Australia’s deadliest snakes.  After a couple of snaps I just couldn’t help staring at her – she was beautiful and we were both comfortable with each other.  I got in closer and then she pounced, digging her fangs deep into my arm – just joking!  It was just another very special moment with the wildlife in this amazing part of the world :o)

We grabbed some more stills of the big dragons and continued on our way.  We started seeing traffic, at one point we saw two cars in one go!  We were starting to feel a bit hemmed in!

As we got closer to the finish line our minds drifted to thinking about the past month.  Loading the trailers with 40 litres of water and laughing at the weight of it all, riding in the Bunjeroo Gorge in the Flinders Ranges, pedalling in the storm at Wilpena Pound, the amazing sunset at Parachilna, staring at the stars every night and never getting tired of them, the heat and remoteness of the legendary Birdsville Track and the punishment the bikes got with sand surfing crashes at night and in the morning, dealing with the reality of heat exhaustion/exposure approaching Mungerannie (can I mention that Tim couldn’t remember my name for about 20 seconds at one stage – that was a bit scary) .  We were well hydrated, but the heat can play tricks out there.  My legs turned to custard the night before Birdsville and I had nothing left.  I hit a wall.  The Verofit powder really helped us in the heat of the day replacing lost sugar and salt in the heat, something that water alone can’t do.   Another great thing about about riding with a buddy, you can look out for each other in these remote places and it really gets you through.

Cycling into the Simpson desert was awesome, to be riding in a place that we had heard and read so much about was a dream.  The thunder storms blew us away and made us appreciate that mother nature really could have pulled the pin on the trip at any stage but she looked after us all the way.  Escaping the heat using cattle grids and rigged up shade using the MSR Footprint, eating pasta and soup every night, hot cross buns, XXXX, rum and boiling hot coke, dropping the bikes constantly, the flies and mozzies, the camels, the emus, the lone dingo, the birds and the very caring outback aussies who constantly look out for each other in this harsh land, it was all just so magic.

We were escorted in to Karumba by two Wedge Tails that flew over head as if guiding us in personally.  And there we were, all of a sudden presented in front of us was a sign..

We shook hands and climbed back on the bikes for the last time.  We reached the end of the road, we had gone as far north as we could go.  The turn off to Karumba Point got closer and the smell of the sea was in the air. We rode our bikes past the Sunset Tavern, a pub right on the waters edge, and pedalled our bikes to the waters edge and posed for a photo dipping our feet in the cool water of the Gulf of Carpenteria.

It was 09:30am and the pub wasn’t open just yet.  The bar staff were curious of our bikes and asked what we were doing there – we told them with big smiles on our faces that we had just cycled from Gulf2Gulf.

The pub opened and we sat at the same table for two days straight, watching the sea and reading books and drinking cool XXXX.  Job done.

Thanks everyone for reading the blog, it’s been great to share the trip.

Tim and Dave

Hang on, all this way and no croc photos? Did we get proof on film?  Well ok then, yeah this was taken from the same table we didn’t move from for two days – she’s a killer at at least 4ft! Bye!

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 19th, 2009 at 10:23 and is filed under Gulf2Gulf and tagged with Bob, Gulf2Gulf, Karumba, Trailer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.