Day 22 – Sat, 31 Jul to Karumba Point

This is the first day I have had internet access since leaving Robyn in Cairns, so you will see posts for days 20, 21 and today.

Today was another transit day. The 60 odd km back on the gravel road was much easier then the ride in – possibly something to do with doing it first thing rather than the end of a long day.

Once I was back in Georgetown I was back on the Savannah Way heading W and the scenery was pretty much the same for most of the day over the 485km. Grassland with low scrubby trees. Lots of cattle as usual but and inordinate amount of kangaroo road kill.

This made interesting riding as the problem was the birds scavenging off the road kill. I am not sure wether I have mentioned this before, but I mounted roo whistles on the bike before I left. Now I don’t know whether these actually work for kangaroos, keeping them clear from the road, but one did pass about 50m ahead earlier today. But I believe they actually are amazing for the birds.

Previously birds would wait to the last minute to take off and you could be dodging them just as they launched themselves for the skies. But on this trip birds generally start to clear the road well in advance of my arrival (possibly 50m ahead) and it has been that consistent that I can only put it down to the whistles – really worth fitting even for local rides.

Well the birds that are feasting off the road kill have been something else. Yes they try to depart but their numbers mean that some are slightly slower than the rest and with me travelling at a rapid rate (yeah yeah I know travel slower, but you would never get anywhere) invariably one or two are a problem.

Also, they generally don’t want to leave their strip of meat behind so you have birds almost lifting the carcass off the ground – quite amazing. So the trick is to watch carefully for road kill and prepare for the flight of the birds.

So my trip took me through Croydon (lunch) then onto Normanton (which I found out later, the reason it was quite literally closed was that the local grand final involving Normanton was being played today).

I was lucky to get fuel here before travelling further. Well I crossed the Norman River, and about 20km further on the trees disappeared and it was dead flat grassland.

After seeing all the trees for so long it was just such a shock to see treeless grasslands out to the horizon in all directions. This remained until I reached Karumba at the head of the Norman River emptying into the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Tonight at the campground at Karumba Point it was barbeque night where the owners host a BBQ fish night. Everyone brings their own drinks, salad, plate and chairs and the hosts provide a fantastic serving of fish locally caught – wonderful after all the camp cooking.

So I joined my neighbours (from Coffs Harbour) and I provided the fresh bread rolls that I managed to buy and they provided some salad and a lovely cold can of beer – we all believed it was a fair swap as they hadn’t had any fresh bread for days and well I have been in a dry period.

Today was quite hot reaching 37C on the road and tonight is still warm and the humidity is extremely high. I just can’t believe how much rain they must get up here in the wet season. To see empty river beds full of sand and gravel some 50m wide (I understand that many have water flowing 1m beneath the surface even though they look dry). So to have this humidity in the dry (winter season) it must be hell in the wet (summer season).