Wednesday 5 November 2014

Australia 2014 - (25) Halls Creek to Kununurra

Okay, I take it back, the Kimberleys are not all dull. Today’s ride out of Halls Creek was lovely, the road bending and twisting through rocky mounds and outcrops. Being dawn, the wildlife was out in force as well. Cattle were everywhere, strolling across the road without a care in the world. A kangaroo bounced out in front of me and herds of wild horses frolicked in the lush green scrub.

It was cooler too. Last night, as I ate my hamburger outside my room, I noticed huge hammerheads building in the near distance with flashes of lightning illuminating the sky. In the morning I noticed Ruby was covered in splashes of dirt so I guessed it must have rained during the night.

The first three hours were very pleasant riding, but after 8 am, the heat got up and, despite the beautiful scenery around me, it got harder to ride. I made it to the junction with the Victoria Highway by 11 am and as I pulled into a parking area for a rest, I hit some soft sand, went into a wild wobble and almost went over. I’d become so confident about riding into dirt parking areas, I hardly even looked at the surface anymore. Fortunately, Ruby proved to be as stable as a Postie Bike and we both stayed upright, but it gave me quite a fright and I was shaking for sometime afterwards.

Kununurra is an interesting town. Back in the 1940s it didn’t really exist, save for a handful of cattle stations nearby. By the end of the dry season the farmers were finding their cattle were losing their form due to a lack of foodstuffs, so they lobbied the government to help. In the 1960s the Diversion Dam was built to block the River Ord and provide the necessary irrigation to grow crops to feed the cattle. However, this never really took off and since then, various crops have been tried in Kununurra of which sandalwood seems to be the most successful. The man at the Kununurra Historical Society Museum advised me that the Chinese are currently proposing planting sugar cane there instead. Despite all this uncertainty, the town is now quite well established with all the amenities you would expect, including another Picture Gardens (which are now closed for the wet season).

Another big ride to Katherine tomorrow (503 km), but it’s listed as Ride 196 of my Top 200 Rides in Australia book, so hopefully it will be another good day.