Thursday 30 October 2014

Australia 2014 - (22) Port Hedland to Broome

I’d been dreading today ever since I left Perth – 606 km from Port Hedland to Broome in the horrible humid sun. Now 606 km is by no means the biggest distance I’ve covered in a day, but after the mid-point at Sandfire Road House there are no further service stations until Roebuck, 291 km later. That meant (a) I’d almost certainly run out of petrol and (b) I wasn’t going to be able to get out of the sunlight for about 5 hours.

Knowing I’d run out of fuel, I bought a couple of stainless steel drinks canisters and filled them with an additional 1.5 litres of fuel, giving me a full tank, my 5 litre jerry can and these.

I set off at 6 am and got to the Pandoo Road House by 8 am. Those first two hours were quite pleasant – a relatively cool breeze and lots of cattle and road trains on the road to keep me on my toes. I even started trying to take some photos of a road train coming up behind me whilst I was riding along – something I would never have dared do before this trip. A serving of bacon and eggs for breakfast and I was back on the road for 8.45 am and immediately the temperature was up. By the time I got to the Sandfire Road House at 10.30 am it was 40 degrees C and I was seriously starting to wonder about the sanity of continuing. A man came up to ask me about the bike but I could hardly speak and just had to wave him away as I stumbled into the shop to pay for my fuel.

I’d been so worried about running out of fuel, I left with only a half fill water bladder. Now I was really going to be in trouble if I ran out of water. As I headed north I seriously considered turning back and leaving the remaining 300 km until the next morning when it would be cooler, but it was only 11 am and I was determined to get there.

An hour later I stopped for a break and half an hour later I came across a proper rest area so stopped again. As I headed over to the toilets I saw a dingo heading for my abandoned kit. “Oh no you don’t”, I thought, and raced back to my picnic table. The dog didn’t run off, so I grabbed my camera and took a few shots. “Yes, just mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, eh?”, I said out loud to my four-legged friend.

Leaving the rest area, for the first time I suddenly had the sense that I was going to make it. I rationed my water and took a break every 50 km and by 3.30 I’d made it to the Roebuck Road House. I topped up my water bladder and knocked off the last 33 km to Broome where I checked into the Youth Hostel and collapsed in a cool air conditioned room.

But I’d done it. I’d made it up the west coast of Australia and was still alive and kicking – whoohoo! Inland to Darwin next.