Month: August 2021

68km. A day of head winds and another puncture. A couple of cats passed during the night, but generally it was very quiet. I got going at 8:30 knowing that I had to make it to Moreton because I was going to run out of water. I left Archer River with 10l, used 5l the first day, I had 5 l of wayer to get me the 67km. The Bamaga road is not as busy as the development road, its really only tourist traffic. No road trains. It was flat for maybe 20km, then it started get a little bit hilly. The problem with the hills is that is when the corrugations are worst. The Bamaga Road is narrower, so I can ride on the other side of the road, which is the side with the least corrugations going uphill. I stopped for a break in the afternoon, to find a second flat tyre in two days at the front. I carefully inspected the tyre, but could not find the cause. I will have to patch the two innertubes I now have with holes tomorrow. Further than I expected I crossed the Wenloc river, and arrived at Moreton Old Telegraph Station.

62km. I got up at 6:30am cooked breakfast, and then rode up to Archer River roadhouse to top up my water, connect to the Wi-Fi. So by the time I had done that and packed up, I didn’t leave until 9:30am. I knew it was bitumen all the way 54km to the Weipa Junction. People might think I get sick of cars passing me all the time, but sometimes there are long periods of no vehicles. This morning was such an example, after pulling out of Archer River it was 20 minutes before the first car passed. It was a nice road. I had someone pull beside and ask if I needed anything, and someone else who pulled alongside and gave me a thumbs up, drove on. I must wave at 50 vehicles a day, people that beep, wave, of give me a thumb’s up. The wind built up and started coming from the north, making it a struggle to ride. So I stopped for lunch, and after packing the bike up found I had a flat front tyre. I pulled stuff off the bike, replaced the tube (I am carrying 3 spare tubes). That all slowed me down. About 5pm, I got to the Bamaga Road junction. The Bamaga Road is much smaller, some corrugations, but not too bad. One car passed me, then nobody until I stopped to camp just off the road 8km in at 6pm.

25km. It was a warm night because it was so cloudy. It even rained overnight, although it was so light that nothing got wet. I cooked breakfast, and rode the 200m to the Born Creek, and filtered some water. I rode the 25km to Archer River, some bitumen, some dirt. I got myself a $20 burger with the lot at Archer River Roadhouse, and internet for $5. A woman from Weipa came up to me and sshe had some bike touring experience, and gave good info on the route ahead. I then loaded up with 8l of water and headed off. I rode 500m to the Archer River where lots of people camped, and decided it was too nice to miss and decided to camp there for the day. I went for a swim, and washed some clothes, and rested the afternoon away.