Nearing Isisford, Qld, AU
First a big Happy Birthday to my little sister, Barb! I woulda closed but I'm so remote and finally off the road train route that I have no signal. Good for me. Bad for you. But maybe tomorrow earn I get to Isisford, an itty bitty town. That's your birthday back home anyways!
I've had more toots and waves and oranges given to me out here then anywhere coming up the coast. And so many folks just pull up to hear my story. Yesterday was no different when Peter pulled up in his ute, on my left side, on the shoulder. I had trouble figuring where this sound of a truck was coming from:).
Where ya going?
Longreach.
Where ya come from? (Always a tough question. Today? In Australia? My home?)
From Melbourne.
Whoa!! On that?!?
Up! I smile.
How far ya go in a day?
About 50 kms, give or take.
And on and on it goes.
And then I ask about where he lives and the drought, and the cattle.
This whole area's been de-cattled. Sold, or slaughtered, or moved.
Which tree is a coolibah tree?
You want to see coolibah trees? How about I come find you tomorrow and I take you down to our billabong to see them?
I'd love it!!
So today, mid morning, Peter comes up the road, we load Blaze on the back for a rest, and head back to his place. He stops at the house to get his ipad to show me what this place looks like when it's not in a drought. So green and lush and beautiful!
Then we drive down these dirt farm roads through a gate onto really rough terrain.
If I'd a known you were coming I'd have grated this track.
Next time I'll phone ahead!
We get back to where there are greener trees and a bit of lush bushes growing on the edge of this billabong, a pond in the dried up river that will never go dry. It was about 10 feet deep and a kilometer long. It looked murky, the color of the soil but not icky like stagnant water gets. Totally drinkable. And you could see there'd been lots of roos here getting there water.
Wanna see a whole lot of kangaroos?
Do I?!?
So we drive to open paddocks and there were roos running everywhere. Running along side the ute. Running way off in the paddock. Roos running everywhere! Such powerful hind legs and thighs! And fast. About 30 mph. Felt like I was on an Australian Safari. That's what it told Peter he should do during the drought: give people an outback experience like he was giving me! I was watching this kangaroo running along side the ute that had a Joey in her pouch. And the Joey fell out! Tumbled along on the ground. Momma kept going. She didn't even hesitate or look back. She'll go back and get it later, Peter said. It was a bigger Joey anyways. Saw one stumble too as it ran and it did a forward roll, got up, shook itself off, and took off. Seeing how many there were here, I got a feeling for the over population of them. They are a pest here. And they are not affected by the drought one bit.
We then went and checked in done cattle that he didn't sell or move south. They were looking pretty good we thought. Maybe because there was so few of them...only about 20...on so much land, they were finding something to eat.
Last he showed me this tree he'd found that had rocks that had been placed in the notch of the the tree a long time ago and the tree had grown around them. It certainly was the oldest tree around. Maybe a marker many years ago.
Time to get a move on, so Peter dropped me back at the road about 10 kms further along with a bag of oranges, a banana, and a large cold bottle of water.
Thanks Peter for a great outback experience. It pained me to hear your story of how hard it's been to hang on through the drought. I understand when some days you feel like just throwing up your hands and walking away. The terrain is so dry and dusty and barren. My wish for you and all the ranchers in this area is for heaps and heaps of RAIN!! Then you'll have flooding, but I'm sure you all know how to cope with that. I can tell from the signs on the sides of the road and meter markers that it floods here often. It's time for one now.
August 24, 2015
Nearing Longreach, Qld, AU
Hardest day yet...perhaps ever. I whupped. Don't even know how I'm finding the energy to write this except I want to capture today, as if I'd ever forget:/
Started with a miserable night. Couldn't get to sleep until well after midnight. Too hot perhaps. The nights are warm although once I turn my headlamp off I can unzip the doors and let the breezes flow through. Too dry for mozzies.
But I awoke at my usual 6 am. And I had told myself "Self, get up and go in the morning to beat the heat."...so I did. On the road by 7. I'm usually a 9 am starter. I retired!! I don't need to get up early ever again, well, except for hot hot days. And this was to be another day in the 90s. Ugh. I don't do heat.
When I awoke the wind was blowing as a tailwind so it was stoked! That didn't last. By the time I pedaled off it had swung around 180* to a headwind. And so the grind began. Now I can handle headwinds. And I can handle heat, sorta. And I can handle flies. But I had it ALL today. The trifecta!!! And I kept pedaling. I dint stop for my usual breakfast break because I was making no miles. Just a couple of cookies. About 12:30 I found an isolated shrub and decided to take a break. I forced myself to eat something: chopped egg and avocado. And I'd been drinking, warm water. Yuck. It just doesn't quench the thirst. But thirsty I was, is sipping I was. One car that went by mid morning asked if I had enough water. And if this had been a normal day, my answer of Yes would have been correct. But I didn't know that I would be so thirsty or go so slowly, all day. So in the afternoon, I decided to try and get some water. One bloke stopped to chat and I asked if he had water. He was a local. He gets out and pulls out juice bottle repurposed as a water jug, but there were things growing in there. Nope, he said.
I stopped an RV and they filled 1.5 liter container with COLD water. I kissed the bottle and thanked them profusely. Then I drank a quarter of it. The water out here is mostly bore water, pumped up from the ground and it's not a refreshing aftertaste. But I had cold water, for a while. I try to put stuff on the side of the bike not getting blasted by the sun to keep it cooler longer. When I was heading west, that was easy because the sun was on my right all day...so I out my food on my left side. Now I'm going north and some days I've changed the swapped the panniers midday to keep the food away from the sun. I didn't today. Even my kiwifruit tonight was warm to eat.
About 2 pm I thought I'd try finding shade and taking a midday break for a couple of hours. The tree was sparse and the shade spotty. I had to keep moving to stay out of the sun's scorching rays. They hurt. Ssssss!!!! While stopped i made a phone cLl...to a dentist in Longreach because about a week ago one of my temporary fillings cracked and then a few days later a quarter of it fell out. This was the fix in Wellington that cost me $700. I want it repacked and repaired. There's no pain and no swelling. I don't need a root canal as he had told me. They're going to work me in on Wednesday. Yippee! Having that open tooth has had me quite nervous that it would start to hurt, really hurt. But it's doing fine. Good job, molar. You're on my team!
I stayed under the tree an hour , then decided to keep going. Even at 3 mph I was going somewhere.
The wind challenged my answer for riding in the sun: my umbrella. It kept blowing it so hard I had to hold the edge of it with one hand...the hand that steered the bike. The other was holding the handle of the umbrella. And at one point it flipped inside out and broke a stay. But it still works. And when I have more energy I have a plan for mending it.
I had a goal of 60 kms today. More than I usually do, but I have a rough schedule in my head for getting to Perth. I expected to be in Longreach tomorrow. And I probably will. But I pedaled until after 5 before quitting at 62 kms! Wahoo! And then I collapsed. My skin tingles. I'm brown as a berry. I'm exhausted. I'm weak from hunger, but not hungry...and these freaking flies won't leave me alone! The headnet is so hot and I can't see well. Arrgghhhhh! No patience left.
Time for well deserved sleep. I'll bet I sleep tonight:))
I closed up and turned off the iPad to go enjoy these brownies a mate gave me yesterday when he stopped to chat. They were in a ziplock sitting just outside my tent door. Zipped. I picked up the bag and brought it in the tent, but right away noticed a creature, long with lots of legs in the bag. Oh no! My brownies! I threw it back outside and managed to unzip it, and this thing about 6 inches long crawled out and scampered away! (I just squashed an ant crawling across my mat.). Getting my last taste of the outback, I guess. I'm eating the brownies!!! How bad can they be?
Goodnight, again.
A friend I found on the road. He was about 6 inches long. I'll be the never held a conversation with a human before. Then a car came along and almost squished him right in front of my eyes.
An eagle. There are lots of them. The soar over me checking me out!
I only wish!
The flies are so annoying!
Kinda flat out here. Even the road is red!
Livin' the life!
BagLady
