Day 41 – Thu, 19 Aug to Wyndham

Earlier today I posted Days 39 & 40 so catch up on those before reading this blog post.

I was in a blissful sleep when I heard this wonderful sounding music – I woke and it was still carrying through the morning darkness. It was a bird, it was fabulous, but bloody early – it was 4am. I managed to doze until 5:30 at which time I rose and started to break camp.

I thought this would be a good idea, to do it in the cool of the morning. I had the tent down and the bike packed and then had breakfast. A family group setup camp beside me last night, and they are doing the rough roads together – mum, dad and 20 something daughters and son. All travelling light and all in a Toyota Hi-Lux. I suggested it may be a bit squeezie but they were having a ball. I did have to ask which one was raising the tent walls with their snoring, and it was the son.

I rode out of Lake Argyle around 7am and the temperature was already in the high 20’s – I think we are in for a warm day. Into Kununurra to restock – 8am at the local Coles store and there were plenty of people around. I said goodbye to Dave, another BMW GS rider doing a trip from Urunga (near Coffs) as he was heading for Halls Creek.

 

I headed for the town lookout to get a perspective – Kelly Knob – and saw some of the irrigated areas, and the black soils of the region. Met and talked with an SBS crew filming for a co-production with the BBC, on a female Scottish doctor working in the local aboriginal health centre.

Then I headed further W then N to Wyndham, being the most northerly town in WA. So it is all downhill to Perth from here. Well Wyndham is nothing to write home about. An old port town which is well past its best. The town of Kununurra, a little over 100km away is now the main regional town.

What Wyndham does have is the Bastion Lookout which overlooks the junction of the 5 rivers – the King, the Durack, the Pentecost, the Forrest and the Ord all joined by the Cambridge Gulf. The Bastion  separates all these from the Ord and overlooks the Wyndham Port. The flood plains are enormous, surrounded by high escarpments.

The sign I did see was that we were All Clear for Cyclones – a good thing to see in the dry season. So I had lunch at the lookout and a number of other visitors came and went.  I was approached by a Frenchman who could not speak English, and I can’t speak French. But we managed for about 10 minutes, and he has the same bike back in France – but without ESA. A few minutes later he came back with his daughter (who is residing in Oz for a while) and she acted as translator and we then spoke for at least 40 minutes. He was interested in all aspects of riding in Oz, and he was real surprised to find that the nearest BMW dealers were Darwin or Perth. Back home people don’t want to travel any further then about 60km to their service – so he was real interested in road side assist.

This was a treat for me and also I truly believe for him. We parted, but then he was back again about 10 minutes later and we found the translator again.

Today I am camped about 10km S from Wyndham town, in a camp site beside a lagoon where the bird life is allegedly amazing. Nothing seen yet, maybe tomorrow morning – probably another early rise. There was the local goanna grazing in the grass next to a huge Boa Baobab tree.

Oh by the way the riding temperatures were high today, generally in the high 30’s, often hovering around 39C. As I rode up to the the Bastion Lookout it reached 41C. It is however surprising comfortable whilst on the move, but when you stop you feel the heat immensely.