Trans Oceania 2014 - Katherine Rest Day | Sunday, October 26 - 0km

Great to have a rest day after a good night's sleep waking up at 6.15am for a continental breakfast!

A stark difference between the campsite and the rooms at 6.30am! Hot out there..

After breakfast I headed back to the room and caught up on some work I brought with me. I also paid all the taxes due on Tuesday just in case I don't find a signal as we head further south.

By 4pm the temperature was 39C so it made sense to stay indoors and keep cool before heading to the restaurant for a nice steak dinner.

Trans Oceania 2014 - Pine Creek to Katherine | Saturday, October 25 - 92.3km

After a very restful night in air conditioned comfort, I took my bag down to the van, handed in the room key and had a cup of coffee and a banana before heading out in the lunch van with Doug around 6am.

We arrived at the lunch spot around 7am, some 31km from our campsite, and I had a leisurely 90 minute ride in to town, stopping along the way for photos and breakfast of a coffee scroll and cappuccino at Brumbys!

Katherine's claim to fame!!



I checked into a nice hotel room to share with John, washed my cycling clothes, showered and had a bit of a rest before cycling the 3km along the bike path back into town with John in search of lunch. There are 3 pubs none of which does a counter lunch so we settled on Coffee Club where I had a fairly tasteless mango frappe but a quite delicious burger with chips!

I glanced at the local paper over lunch and it had many high level notices for the young man who lost his life last weekend at McDonalds St Kilda Road in Melbourne. Such a waste.

The hotel restaurant is closed tonight of all nights so a group is heading to the Country Club for dinner. Woolworths stop on the ride back from lunch for snacks will see me through to the rest day tomorrow.

Trans Oceania 2014 - Adelaide River to Pine Creek | Friday, October 24 - 131km

Yes, I laughed at 131km too after yesterday's poor performance. So, after a lousy night's sleep, a banana for breakfast and a queasy feeling in the stomach, I headed out to a glorious sunrise and made it to 33.5km before conking out at around 9am and in unrelenting heat! Unfortunately, there was no cell reception there so Chelsea, a Canadian nurse riding sweep, cycled ahead to relay a message to tell the lunch van to come get me. That process took a couple of hours unfortunately so, after arriving at the lunch spot to collect 2 riders who had finished for the day, I ate some left over spagbol from last night and settled into the van. We stopped for 5 more riders and Doug, who was driving, managed to squeeze all the bikes and people in.

Another tent night was not inviting so I booked a cabin with air conditioning. fridge, tv and a desk (from where I write this blog) and I asked John Waterhouse, my old TDA room-mate to join me.

Dinner of chicken drumsticks, mashed pumpkin and beans salad followed by 1.25 litres of cols solo!

I am vanning to the lunch spot in the morning and then cycling into Katherine. Let's see if that works out better..

Trans Oceania 2014 - Darwin to Adelaide River| Thursday, October 23 - 107.4km

Back into the TDA routine. Bags down at 5.30am, breakfast at 5.45am, ride out at 6am to beat the heat. Only problem is that at 5.30am the humidity was wettening and the temperature was already 25C! And, of course, I could not force myself to eat porridge for breakfast..

I took the opportunity to hand off the Aussie Torah for a few days to Henry Gold, the founder of TDA and a member of the tribe.

The directions for the day were a left and right at 10km and then straight for the rest of the day. The sun rose shortly after 6am and then beat down mercilessly...I managed 61.5km to the lunch stop and then took the van into camp where I treated myself to a refreshment.

Put up the tent, sweated profusely, riders meeting at 5pm followed by dinner. Spaghetti bolognese and green salad, Very nice.

The pump up mattress is a nice addition to my tent this trip and was quite comfortable to sleep on. I left the fly sheet off the tent for a bit of ventilation but it was not a great night's sleep...way too hot.

TDA Trans Oceania 2014 - Darwin | Tuesday, October 21- Wednesday, October 22 - 34.6km

After an incident free flight from Melbourne, I arrived at Darwin Airport with bike box intact and luggage all there. I noticed another bike box waiting to be collected and met Doug who will be the bike mechanic on this tour. Lucky he was there as TDA sent the crew car to pick him up and gave me and a Canadian rider David, who flew in from Brisbane, a lift to Hidden Valley Tourist Park, about 13km out of Darwin. TDA founder Henry Gold was in the welcoming committee!

The TDA group thqat cycled across Indonesia arrived the night berfore and it was nice to see some familiar faces.

Old friends John and Chris from previous TDA tours.

I had dinner with Chris on the first night at a restaurant about 600m from The Hidden Valley. Not bad food.

On the second night I had dinner with Bob, an Australian on his first TDA tour, at the same restaurant.

I had booked a room at The Hidden Valley for the first night so I didn't have to go straight into camping mode. As it had two bunks as well, I offered a bunk to David, my new airport friend, and he booked the room for the second night so it all ended well.

Doug the mechanic fine tuned Al (my bicycle) for me as the headset was wobbly so on Wednesday I rode into Darwin for a look see. Didn't take very long and I missed the museums.

Wednesday afternoon was taken up with new arrival riders meeting, group riders meeting and then an early night ahead of a 5.15am wakeup call.

Coming up in October 2014: TDA Trans-Oceania Tour

Tour D'Afrique Trans-Oceania Tour
23 October - 5 December, 2014

Here's the itinerary for my next cycling adventure. Full details here: Trans-Oceania Tour

Bike the Outback

 

October 23 - November 5, 2014

Darwin to Alice Springs 

1,490 km -12 days riding - 2 days rest

The 2nd half of our Epic trans-Oceania ride begins in tropical Darwin, which has evolved from “brawling frontier outpost” to cosmopolitan small city, fuelled by mining, tourism and crocodiles. After stocking up and making sure we have plenty of Fosters in the “eskie” (cooler) we’ll head off on the Stuart Highway and into the Outback, a vast tract of “scrublands, red desert sands, and galloping roadside Emus.” 300 km down the road our first rest day will be in the town of Katherine from where riders can visit the picturesque sandstone gorges at Nitmiluk National Park or the Cutta Cutta Caves. Continuing south we’ll encounter the fascinating ghost town of Newcastle Waters before arriving in Tennant Creek, which services the region’s remote cattle stations and aboriginal communities. Further on we’ll pass by piles of gigantic boulders known as the Devil’s Marbles and camp at roadhouses en route to Alice Springs, known to locals simply as “Alice.” Here, a triple rest day marks the end of this section and will give our intrepid cyclists plenty of time for the 450 km side trip by bus or by plane to astonishing Uluru (Ayers Rock).

Opals, Missiles, and Vino

 

November 9 - November 23, 2014

Alice Springs to Adelaide

1,565 km -13 days riding - 2 days rest

Continuing south from Alice through Australia’s desolate “red heart”, with road trains and kangaroos as our companions, we’ll eventually arrive in the opal mining center of Coober Pedy, which has been the base for “end of the world’ movies including Mad Max. Then it’s across the government-owned Woomera Prohibited Area, the western world’s largest ground and airspace weapons testing range, to the eerie village of Woomera, home to rocket scientists and a Missile Park. Our trans-Outback “rideabout” ends at Port Augusta, the “Crossroads of Australia,” at the top of Spencer Gulf. From there it’s a 3 day spin through South Australia’s fabled wine country to the sophisticated city of Adelaide, which is renowned for its many festivals and culinary delights. After our month long journey down the Stuart Highway, Adelaide may feel like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Here you can spend your rest day visiting the superb central market, wandering thru botanical gardens and art galleries, or imbibing Shiraz and Riesling at the National Wine Centre.

Great Ocean Road

November 25 - December 5, 2014

Adelaide to Melbourne

1,080 km - 9 days riding - 2 days rest

This 12 day section highlights the South Australia and Victoria State coastlines. Our reluctance to leave Adelaide’s wine bars behind is quickly forgotten, as we cross the Murray River and cycle along the Limestone Coast through the fertile lagoon landscapes of Coorong National Park. We will wind our way past Discovery Bay to the whale watching centre of Warrnambool. The incredibly scenic 250 km Great Ocean Road, an Australian National Heritage, begins at Allansford, and takes us along the rugged Shipwreck and Surf coasts, through rainforests, and past sheer cliffs, waterfalls, and fantastic rock formations including the 12 Apostles. This stretch of our expedition ends in Melbourne, Oz’s 2nd largest city and the centre of its rabid Aussie Rules Football (footy) culture. Melbourne is packed with attractions, and you’ll have a rest day to explore its vibrant atmosphere, from laid-back laneways and lush parks to grand museums and sumptuous restaurants.