Day 26 25April 68kms

Last night is by far the best night sleep since leaving home. Not a bull all night! No generators or snoring. Bliss. Just one hiccup – at some ungodly hour I woke up to this terrible sound and decided to sit up to watch a big jet crash land. Well that is what it sounded like . Next thing there was a very loud horn and I realised it was the train which was about 3kms back. Better than a passenger jet lol.

I still was up too early for for light start and ended up reading my Kindle for 15mins waiting for sunrise. I will set the alarm for 6.15am tomorrow, that should work. The road has been a bit of a stinker today. It started out well with a nice headwind but after the first hour the corrugations got worse, and it has been a bumpy one all day. The bird life out here is amazing, finches and parrots abound. I have been listening to bird calls all day. I stupidly cut a finger last night and could have done with a stitch but I have strips on it and some fixomull, bit sore today but hope it’s OK. I settled under some trees at 10.30am today for my midday rest, just too hot to continue. I ended up putting my space blanket up for really good shade, and read and had a decent nap until around 3pm. The weather has really heated up again. It is after 4pm now and I have pulled up for the night. Just walked into the bush and found a clear patch. I also discovered that one for my 1.5lt water bottles has sprung a leak in the bottom of one of my waterproof bags. Wooohooo must be at least 300mls sitting there. Bathwater!!! I have prox 40kms to do tomorrow to get to Top Springs where I really need to assess what to do next. Would love to continue on to Halls Creek, am angry with myself for even considering changing plans but on the sensible side I probably should ride North on the Buntine Highway up to the Victoria highway and make my way back to Katherine where I can bus to Darwin, get a bikebox and fly home. It is pretty pointless going to Halls Creek as that was our plan originally but for me it just means more hours on buses and they are hugely expensive. We were to bus from there to Broome for a few days rest then bus to Port Hedland to visit Lyns family. I wish she had told me when we were planning all this that she didnt want more than a day in each of those places as I would have probably stayed home. Oh well, enjoying my ride here anyway.As it is I have lost money on my flight home from Alice Springs. So when I get to Top Springs I will see how it pans out. Beautiful sky tonight looking out from my tent.

Smoko, my little method stove boiling some water for a cuppa with my Arnotts Biscuits. Haven’t had time to boil up at smoko all trip until my solo ride

Airstrip in the middle of nowhere. Pussy Cat campdraft site

Attempt at a selfie at smoko time