Tuesday 4 November 2014

Australia 2014 - (24) Broome to Halls Creek

Have I mentioned how hot it is? I was up at 4.30 am yesterday and on the road by 5.30 to do the 400 km to Fitzroy Crossing and it was like an oven by 8 am. And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. I tried, for the first time, not wearing any tights under my riding trousers, but, as suspected, this only resulted in my much thicker and stiffer trousers sticking to me and making it very difficult to move, so I was back to tights again today.

But the early start did have me in Fitzroy Crossing by 11.30 am. There were 3 caravan parks to choose from – the first looked pretty rough, the second, I was advised by the tourist info guy was equally bad, so I went for the third, the Fitzroy Crossing Lodge. It was full of little wallabies bouncing about so I pitched my tent and retreated to the camp kitchen to try and cool down. It was no use though, the temperature just got hotter and hotter. I knew I was in a bad way when I started shaking and eventually I walked the half km back to the Lodge and spent the rest of the afternoon in the air conditioned bar.

When I got back to the tent at dusk, everything I owned had been infested by ants and the campground itself had been invaded by a herd of cattle. It was too much – I was outta there. I moved all my stuff onto a picnic table, took my ant infested tent down and made a bed for myself on top of the picnic table.

After dinner, it was still sweltering. I climbed into my sleeping bag atop the picnic table but couldn’t sleep. The table was only a couple of inches wider than my air mattress and I kept worrying I would plummet off the table onto the concrete plinth below every time I turned over. After sweating profusely for an hour I moved the whole assembly onto the concrete and eventually got to sleep.

I was up at 4.15 this morning and on the road for 5.15. Today’s destination was Halls Creek, only a short hop of 291 km away, but my god, it took 5 HOURS to get there. The first 100 km I did in one go but after that it all went pear shaped and I had to keep stopping every half hour or so. Why would that be? Oh yes, because of the bloody heat!

There was no way I was camping today, especially when I’d arrived in Halls Creek at 10.15 and had the whole day ahead of me. The Tourist Office advised there were two hotels in town, one was full and the other was $150 per night. Damn, I was going to have to camp after all. I checked into the local caravan park, took one look at the pitiful, un-shaded camping area, and checked straight back out again. Back to the tourist office where I said, “Give me the room at the motel.”

And that’s where I’ve been ever since – sucking up the air conditioning and spraying everything I own with ant killer.

I knew this section to Darwin was going to be hard, but this is ridiculous. At least there’s a youth hostel in Kunanurra tomorrow night, then hopefully just one last night camping in Katherine before hitting Darwin and staying with another Postie Biker and his wife.

And what’s the scenery been like? Well, I’m now travelling through an area called The Kimberley. If I’d gone to Derby, I could have taken a famous dirt track called the Gibb River Road which takes you past lots of gorges and swimming holes, but as the last two petrol stations on the track were closed, I had to decide against it, and take the Great Northern Highway instead, which apart from all the cattle and the odd escarpment is pretty dull. Does it sound like I’m getting fed up? Oh maybe just a tad. Ruby hit the 10,000 km mark today, which means I’ve done about 13,500 all in, which is a very long way. Plus, everyone is heading south, away from the heat, so there’s no-one to talk to again. Let’s hope things pick up in Kununarra.