Week 5 mileage
Day 29-31: Broome
Day 32: Broome to Warmun: 848kms
Day 33: Warmun to Timber Creek (with some beautiful detours): 505kms
Day 34: Timber Creek to Darwin: 603kms
Day 35: Darwin: 0kms.
Week 5 mileage: 1,956kms
Total trip mileage: 8,513kms
Hi all, happy Easter to you all, and welcome to the Week 5 blog.
Week 5 has been long, hot, but still a blast. I spent the first few days of this past week relaxing in Broome, and what a beaut spot that is! I bought myself a famous Broome pearl, explored the multiple beautiful white sand beaches that Broome is famous for, and was fortunate enough to witness the “Staircase to the Moon” phenomenon.
This phenomenon occurs when the full moon rises over the exposed mudflats at extremely low tide and creates a beautiful optical illusion of stairs reaching to the moon. It was truly amazing and photos cannot do it justice.
Staircase to the Moon in Broome - a beautiful sight.
I also visited the town markets that occur on these nights. I had met a fella at Sandfire Roadhouse some days back, who was on his way to Broome and runs a food truck. I tracked him down and got a feed, it was nice to bump into him again!
After some R&R in Broome, I took off on what turned out to be a massive day of riding! Passing through Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek, I had planned on stopping, but was confronted with some pretty dodgy scenarios. Unfortunately, the indigenous population throughout these areas are experiencing a bit of an ice problem, and both stop offs for fuel were met with some overeager characters trying to touch my bike and fiddle with my luggage when I was inside paying for fuel – forcing me to run out to ward people away!
These stop offs led me to decide to make camp at a site a bit away from Halls Creek, a lovely spot I had looked up that was on the river.
Alas, when I arrived, a man came sauntering up to me and explained that there had been a few big croc sightings at this campsite so if I was setting up a tent (especially my tiny one man tent) I might want to do it a bit away from the water!
Strangely, I suddenly felt a lot more energetic and decided to push on and keep riding!
At another rest stop, I met a lovely couple from the Netherlands, Bart and Ellen. We had a good chat (they were doing the drive from Perth to Darwin) and I got to share my journey with them. They shared with me a tragic story about some friends of theirs, who have two children who have BOTH been diagnosed with cancer, not too far apart from each other. I can’t even imagine how difficult that would be. I gave Bart and Ellen my details and they were excited to share my ride with their friends back in the Netherlands.
This interaction was just another reminder of a big aspect of my ride – meeting as many people as possible and really trying to get the word out there about supporting ill children and their families.
I made it to Warmun, which is another indigenous community. It had been a long and hot day so I decided to make camp there as the day was wearing on and I was starving! A roadhouse with hot food sorted me out, and I set up my tent behind the roadhouse.
It was unfortunately a very uncomfortable night of camping. It was extremely hot throughout the night, very humid, and there was absolutely no breeze! There were again a few overeager locals throughout the night hanging about my tent which required me to jump up and make some noise to keep them away from my bike/tent.
I felt lucky that I had spent such a long day on the bike and was exhausted, else I do not think I would have slept.
The next day I made it to Timber Creek, and was finally into NT!
Conquered the West Coast! Crossing into NT.
Timber Creek is a beautiful area. Another indigenous community, I stopped in at the roadhouse to organise a campsite for the night. I ended up watching Rocky II with some of the locals, got hustled at pool, and had a very enjoyable afternoon sinking beers with the locals while all the other residents of the roadhouse campsite were out competing in an annual Easter fishing competition!
The locals found it quite amusing that I was the only “white fella” in the bar drinking with them – the bar staff had originally asked me if I wanted to be drinking in the bar or sit around the other side in the restaurant! I was surprised when they asked me this, and was also surprised to see a giant whiteboard behind the bar, placing restrictions on certain patrons for what strength beer they can purchase, and whether they are allowed to take drinks outside/away from the bar.
Liquor restrictions are alive and well through the Kimberley – I had heard about them and seen the signs, but this was the first time I had seen some sort of restriction mechanism in action. The locals seemed to take it in good faith though, and I witnessed multiple attempts throughout the afternoon of patrons trying to trick the bar staff into bypassing these restrictions!
I also managed to wrangle my bike up a dirt track to a local lookout, and what a sight it was, a truly beautiful area!
Just out of Timber Creek, NT - Beautiful.
After a much better sleep with a bit more of a breeze about/cooler weather, I made tracks for Darwin! I was keen to arrive Darwin, having never been, and first impressions of the city are good. It is much smaller than I expected, but the people I have bumped into are friendly, and I am off to visit the Royal Darwin Hospital tomorrow to make my next donation.
I will spend a few days in Darwin, relaxing, before I make my way South to Alice Springs.
All the best for the week ahead.
James