Relaxing! Rest Day in Carnarvon

Had an undisturbed sleep in our lovely unit. Enjoyed a good continental breakfast in the restaurant, then took a walk around town.

Carnarvon is a large, coastal town, not a city as I first assumed. With 7 caravan parks and 5 motels, I suspect that the number of visitors outweighs the residents. 

The central shopping precinct consists mainly of Woolworths, a pharmacy and a few shops, with several cafes near the waterfront. A compact CBD and easy to get around. 

We indulged ourselves with drinks and a Paris Brest (correct spelling! ) for morning tea. 

An attractive town with very reasonable house prices ($150,000 - 250,000) but so far away from anywhere. 

Bought essentials from Woolworths, then spent the afternoon trying to fit it all into the trailers!
 

A strong southerly wind today. Hope it improves by tomorrow!
Approximately 900kms to go!!! 

➽ TO DONATE to our chosen charity, the Neurological Foundation of NZ via our GiveALittle Page    

 

Bloomin' Lovely! Bush Camp to Carnarvon - 56kms

Slept well and woke at 4.30am to a fog and a soaking wet tent fly. A little frog had wandered into the annex where Del fires up the camp stove, much to our excitement.

Packing done, we pushed the bikes and trailers out of the bush, along a track that Del had carefully prepared the day before.

Had a good run until the last 20kms when a headwind developed and slowed us down.
Lots of mass wildflower plantings on the roadsides - whites, yellows and purples being the predominant colours. So pretty!

Occasional signs of recent rain/flooding.

Carnarvon is heavily horticultural. 

20kms from the CBD are hectares of outdoor grown vegetable farms - like Pukekohe but growing behind waysides of native bush. 

Banana plantations everywhere.

Located our motel (Carnarvon Motel) by 11.30am and settled into our room straight away. Then off to nearby Carnarvon Central (shopping centre) for today's food and a well earned lunch.
Chores and a rest planned for this afternoon. 

We'll take a rest day tomorrow, stock up on essentials and investigate our surroundings.

➽ TO DONATE to our chosen charity, the Neurological Foundation of NZ via our GiveALittle Page    

 

Pesky Flies! Minilya Roadhouse to Bush Camp - 85kms

Minilya is a nice little roadhouse - neat and tidy with friendly, helpful staff. None of our staple foods were available to take with us, so rations will be a bit scarce until we get to Carnarvon.

Left at 6.15am and made good progress with a tail wind.

The landscape is changing daily - trees and big shrubs with healthy foliage, green grasses and mass wildflower plantings on the waysides. 

Signs of recent floods which would explain the greenness of the scenery. Saw another large, recently killed, red kangaroo on the verge. Big blood stains on the highway where it was hit. Road teams patrol the roads and remove the road kill to prevent further accidents.

Also spotted a couple of large emus emerging from the bush but too elusive to be photographed.

Flies have become a major nuisance as we move southwards. Regularly wearing our fly nets while cycling now, but they make a bee line for arms and legs, especially on any scratches or abrasions.
Particularly bothersome when setting up camp, until the sun goes down, when they disappear.

At 80kms we began to look for a camp site. Finally found a unique one - covered in wildflowers.
Out of condensed milk, so sweet, black coffees, noodles and sardines tonight. 

Will need to stock up on everything when we get to Carnarvon tomorrow. 

➽ TO DONATE to our chosen charity, the Neurological Foundation of NZ via our GiveALittle Page   

Dream Run! Bush Camp to Minilya River Roadhouse - 56kms

Rode hard for the last two days in order to have a short ride to the roadhouse today. Packed up in the dark, pushed the bikes and trailers through the bush then out onto the highway by 6.30am.

A tailwind at last!  We made fabulous progress. The legs whizzed around with minimum effort which reduced butt pressure enormously. 

We even had time to linger at our 10km breaks.

Crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. 

The road developed roller coaster humps and dips which became long, flat, straight runs - with a tail wind, a cyclist's dream!  Roadside verges are beginning to show colour from wild flowers and shrubs planted and seeded by each shire.

Arrived at the Minilya River Roadhouse at 10.15am and got into a budget room immediately. 

Manager Kathy generously donated water, coffee, sugar and milk that we were in need of. Thank you so much, Kathy. Much appreciated. 

Our early arrival allows us to do our washing and plan the next two days' run to Carnarvon.

Looking forward to a good shower and a comfortable night's sleep.

➽ TO DONATE to our chosen charity, the Neurological Foundation of NZ via our GiveALittle Page       

Bushed! Bush Camp to Bush Camp - 76kms

Reappeared from our bushy hideaway and on the road by 6.30am.

Always take our rubbish with us and drop it off at the rubbish bins in the next parking area. "P" areas provide resting spots for travellers and appear quite frequently on alternate sides of the road.

Left the hills of the Pilbara behind us today and entered the Gasgoyne region, famous for its coral reefs and fishing, but there's no glimpse of the sea from the highway. 

Saw our first big, red kangaroo - road kill unfortunately. Most bodies have been of wallabies and small kangaroos up to now. Didn't expect to find that, otherwise, this is  a flat, treeless, barren region covered with low lying scrub as far as the eye can see.

With its long, never-ending, straight roads it's very reminiscent of the Nullarbor Plain.

Planned another bush camp tonight but began to get a little concerned with the serious lack of bush.

Eventually found an area with enough foliage cover to put up the tent. 

Fought the flies, made the coffee, set up camp and fought the flies again in that order. Swarms of small, black flies landed on our skin - faces, ears, eyes, arms and legs. Followed us into the tent, too. Eventually chased them out, then did our journal/blog then lay back in the shade of the tent and listened to the songs of the bush - not bird song as we know it. More like very repetitive, musical morse code - beautiful all the same.

Heading for a bed in a roadhouse tomorrow!

➽ TO DONATE to our chosen charity, the Neurological Foundation of NZ via our GiveALittle Page       

Range Rovers! Nanutarra Rest Area to Bush Camp - 98kms

Slept well in our little donga. Dongas are offered as cheap accommodation, but, in the outback, they rarely are - cheap, that is. They are usually small, windowless, metal boxes with a bed, air conditioner, fridge (sometimes a TV if you're lucky) and a tiny en suite bathroom. No luxuries here but priced as high as a motel unit in town.

Ours came with a continental breakfast which we made the most of. What a treat!
Left the roadhouse at 6.45am.

The winds that bothered us before had eased and we even had a few kilometres of tail window.
The road wound through the ranges with a steady series of gradual hills and dips. Saw some stunning formations of crumbling hills and peaks along the way. 

Rode over one of the Flying Doctor's 1 km long runways.  

Many thanks to John, circumnavigating Australia on his BMW motorbike, for stopping and making a donation.

Reached our rest area by lunch time and decided to keep going for 20kms or so in order to reduce the long ride tomorrow.

So it's another bush camp tonight.  Tent's up, had our condensed milk coffees, now writing our  journal/blog while fighting off the usual pesky flies and watching the big, black ants scurrying in front of the entrance.

Del tells me that, with today's ride, we are half way between Broome and Perth! Wow! Getting close now!

➽ TO DONATE to our chosen charity, the Neurological Foundation of NZ via our GiveALittle Page       

Battling on! Bush Camp to Nanutarra - 76kms

Ready for sleep last night. Road trains roared past for several hours, then wonderful, undisturbed silence. Up at 4.15am, ate and packed by torchlight. 

Del's bike seat was oozing gel from the several knocks it's had recently. Quickly rectified with a bit of duct tape! 

To avoid punctures to the tyres, we carried the bikes and trailers through the bush and onto the road. Off by 6.30am.

Instant headwind slowed us down, doing only 10kms in the first hour. The conditions continued for the whole ride. We quickly tired and sore rear ends bothered us both throughout the ride. 

We crawled  up endless hills through several ranges - between them a barren, tree less, scrubby plain.
Eventually reached the roadhouse at 1.30pm. Took a donga for the night. 

Did the washing, bought 12L of water to add to our collection and had a simple salad tea.
Early bed tonight. Can't wait to lie down!

➽ TO DONATE to our chosen charity, the Neurological Foundation of NZ via our GiveALittle Page