Day 28 - 26062015 - Broome to Cape Leveque and return

We picked up our hire car at 8:30 and headed out to Cape Leveque.  It's about 200km north of Broome.  We hadn't heard of it before but the tourist centre reckons it's good.

We had to get a 4WD to get there and ended up with a Prado.  Good car.  The road to Cape Leveque was very, very sandy, very corrugated and narrow at times.  Couldn't of done it in a conventional car, in fact we saw wrecks of normal cars along the road.

Long drive and slow going in the dirt, but there was along stretch of bitumen after about half way.

Some good beaches and a few resorts up at Cape Leveque.  We went to the Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm and had a look around.  They had  large, near round pearl for $25,000 that I was going to get Janelle, but I had left my wallet in the car.

We had lunch at the Koolijman Resort.

Stopped off at Cable Beach to have a look on the way back.

Headed back and went to Broome Cycles to pick up some bikes boxes to pack the bikes in for the trip back to freezing Melbourne.  Great service from Moe who told us about the Gibb Challenge,  a bike race that covers the same route we have done, but without the panniers and with support.  Soft.  Mind you they do it in about 5 days.

Stacked the bike boxes in the room and chilled out for awhile.

Had a few phone calls from Prashed, Phil and Peter, but they were incoherent as usual, especially Peter who despite his advanced age, still hasn't learnt to hold his drink.

Joe and I cooked dinner and had a few beers.

Beer of choice at the moment James Squire Nine Tales.

Day 27 - 25062015 - Roebuck Plains Roadhouse to Broome - 34 km

Had a late start, but then pumped it.  Did the 34 km to Broome in about an hour.

Stopped at the tourist info centre to wait for Joe and then we hit Maccas for the breakfast of champions.

We had intended to drive up to Cape Leveque, but had trouble getting a car at a reasonable price so we ended up cruising around Broome to have a look, then booked in at the YHA Kimberley Klub for a few days.  Shelby took a picture of us out the front.

Saw this sign and signed Joe up immediately.  I've got money on him winning if only he doesn't wear his string bikini.  Would have gone in it myself, but I will be in Melbourne by this time.

Great YHA

Did the washing and organised ourselves a bit, had a bit of a read then walked downtown to have a look.

Had lunch and did some shopping and came back to the YHA.  Just trying to update the blog with sloooooow internet at the moment, but not doing much good.  This would drive Prashad and Phil crazy.

Happy hour at 7:00 In time for YHA Bingo...can't wait.

Big turnout for bingo, but it was a bit boring.  I didn't last long.

Day 26 - 24062015 - Willare Roadhouse to Roebuck Plains Roadhouse - 130 km

Off early because we wanted to do at least 90 km today, but we shouldn't have worried.

About 6 cows had decided they wanted to sleep close to us at the roadhouse.  Not sure if you can see them in the photo.

Conditions were really good and got better.

I caught up to Sandy and Jennifer after about 10 km.  What great riders they are.  I rode with Sandy for about 30 km.  He is 71 yo, on a mountain bike with fat tyres and we were sitting on 28 km having a chat and he's doing it easy.  What a great athlete.

Meanwhile, Joe was struggling to get past Jennifer who was also flying.

We stopped with them at a big rest stop at about 60 km and had some sandwiches and a cup of tea.  Biscuits from the lady in a camper van topped it off.

Joe and I left Sandy and Jennifer there and pushed on.  Wind had really picked up and was going our way.  We were flying and when we reached the 90 km Mark, decided that we might as well push onto Roebuck Plains Roadhouse, another 40 km away.

We wouldn't normally do this distance touring in this heat, but the wind made all the difference.  

I got to the roadhouse about 2:30.  Drink and booked a caravan site.  Set up and went for a swim.  People at the pool were talking sh1t about caravans, generators etc.  that we could only cope with for so long so we headed back to camp for a 2 Minute noodle.

There seems to be a real hierarchy amongst caravanners based on the car you pull the van with, the caravan you have, the places you've been, the gadgets you have and how long you've been on the road.

Had a shower and read for awhile, then off to the roadhouse for a few ales to cut the dust from out throats and a meal.

Our longest day today, Lenard River to Derby was 124 km but most other days have been shorter.

34 km from Broome.

Day 25 - 23062015 - Derby to Willare Roadhouse - 56 km

Up early and packed.  Saw this white peacock near the front office.

Raises the question: if I own a peacock and it lays an egg in my neighbours house who owns the egg?

We went for a ride down to the jetty to have a look and then back to Bake My Day for a Brekky Roll.  Took even longer today.  Good roll, but took forever to get it.  Slow food at its best.

Finally ended up leaving Derby about 8:30. Very late for us, but we have decided to only go a short distance today.  It is 220km to Broome, which could be done in 2 days, but we thought it better to do a short day followed by 2 80 km days.

Went and had a look at the Prison Boab Tree.  A very old boab tree that was used as a rest point for police brining in prisoners and it is also an Aboriginal site of significance.

 

Saw this dead snake on the road.

Willare Roadhouse is basic, but has grass, showers and toilets.

Sandy and Jennifer were already there when we got there so had a chat and a cup of tea.

Had a swim in the cold pool. And then read or cruised the Internet.

Entree of cheddar cheese on biscuits supplied by Subie and Helen we shared with Sandy and Jennifer then had dinner of sausages. Good night.

Day 24 - 22062015 - Rest Day Derby - 0 km

Slept in till 6:30.  Got up and was going to do the washing, but every machine had queues so went for breakfast at the Bake My Day cafe.  You've heard about fast food? Well this was slow food.  Took forever to get our big breakfast.  When it came if was BIG and good.

Went back to the camp park and managed to get the washing in a machine.  We then went to see Subie and Helen who are leaving today and had offered to make us coffee at 8:00 with Sandy and Jennifer.  Had a good chin wag for a few hours.

 

Hung out the washing and went for a walk to get Joe another hat.  He lost one while crossing the Pentecost River near El Questro, bought another one and then lost it.  Got the hat and a new clothes line for me.  I had left my old one hanging between 2 trees at the Durak river crossing.  I'll get it next time I'm up here.

I went to the library and used their internet to update the blog.

We didn't have lunch because the breakfast was so big, but kicked back for the afternoon and read.  

Met another cyclist Luke from Belgium who is about to start doing the Gibb River Road but from Derby to Kununurra.  

Great sunsets up here, and we just caught it as it went down.

Went to the pub for tea.  Steak with blue cheese sauce. Yum.

Went back to the campsite and met with Luke, Sandy and Jennifer and we explained to him the best camps, where to get water, how to fight crocs etc.

Day 23 - 21062015 - Lenard River to Derby - 124 km

Headed off early as usual.  Tough dirt, but only for 10 km and we hit the bitumen.  Was flying along.

Then hit a 10 km section of dirt. Corrugations and sand. Yuk.

More bitumen then more dirt and then onto bitumen not for good.

Don't know what it is about Joe, but people keep stopping and offering water, drinks and food. I'm lucky if I get one a day.  What's going on?

Scenery pretty damn boring today too.

At about the 45 km Mark I stopped to help Tom who had broken a spring on his  tandem trailer.  He was the support person for 3 motorcyclists who had just done the Gibb River Road.  

He was going to get someone passing to get a message to his mates and to get some assistance.

We brainstormed solutions and then decided to strap the axle up and just run on the rear axle/tyres and drive slow since there was not much weight in the trailer. 

I left him to do all the hard work, but he caught up with us and it worked.  Slow trip, but at least it got him into Derby.

Slogged away for the rest of the distance.  Surface was good and sun was hot, but 30 km from Derby head wind picked up and just got stronger the closer I got to Derby.  

Eventually got there and headed straight for Woolies for a few Gatoraides.  Rode into town and went to the caravan park.

We are camped beside a couple of 70 year olds. Sandy and Jennifer who have just cycled from Kununurra to Derby on the Gibb River Road.  Incredible effort.

Met Helen and Subie who we had met on Day 16 when they had a flat tyre and no spare and had to be towed.  Arranged to meet them for dinner.

Good feed of pizza, wine and beer.

Day 22 - 20062915 - March Fly Creek to Lenard River - 84 km

We started off going through the King Leopold Ranges today.  A big hill as soon as we came out the gate.

After that the surface was rubbish and we suffered for the next 30 km or so.  Surface gradually got better and we were making better times even though a lot was uphill.  Through the Napier Ranges and the spectacular rocks beside the road.

We stopped for lunch at a creek and had a 2 minute noodle for lunch and a rest.

As soon as we headed off my tyre went down. Put a new tube in and we were ready to go again turned out not to be a puncture, but a repair I must have done about 3 years ago that was leaking.

Some guys pulled up to see if we were OK and gave us some water and a Golden Pash drink.  Great.

Headed off again with 20 km to go to Lenard River.  Sun was hot, bum was sore but we covered the distance fairly quickly.

Not sure why, but this was the first sign I saw warning people about cyclists.

Set up camp, cooled off in the river although there was not much water there, rested until about 4:30 when we cooked tea.

Cockatoos in plague proportions here.  Noisy buggers.

Joe went and got some water from some other campers.

All going well will hit bitumen after about 10 km tomorrow and maybe Derby tomorrow night.  124 km to Derby so we'll see how we go.

BTW, I have come to dislike words on maps like mount, jump up, rise and peak, preferring words like flat and plateau.

Day 21 - 19062015 - Galvans Gorge to March Fly Rest area - 82 km

Got up, had breakfast, packed up and went for a swim in the gorge.  Great way to start the day.  Rode out to the main parking area and had a chat to the backpackers that I met on the way to the gorge yesterday.

Big hill to get the heart going first thing, but not a problem with the legs fresh.

Briefly stopped at Over the Range Tyre Repairs which is in the middle of nowhere because I heard the guy liked to get visitors even if they didn't need anything fixed.  Big Melbourne flag flying at his front gate.  Go the mighty Ds.

He was on the phone so we didn't hang around and pushed on.  Had a brief stop at the 30 km Mark and then pushed on to the Imintji Store.  

On the way up a hill a 4WD pulled up next o me and asked me if I was Tony and did I want an iced coffee.  Who could say no to that?  It was some people that had stopped to see if Joe wanted water and gave him an iced coffee.  Murray and Sally made my day.  A big iced coffee and they topped up all my water bottles and put ice in them.  Super stuff.

 The Imintji store is no longer operational because of a problem leasing the land off the Aboriginals, but we were able to kick back on their seats, top up our water bottles and use their toilets while the sun was up.

About 3:00 headed off for March Fly rest area where we intended to spend the night.  Surface was crap, bum hurts and a few big hills.  Flew up them though.  

No one at the rest area.  Had a paddle and a wash in the creek. Dinner of pasta with herring in tomato sauce, just for a change from sardines.

In striking distance of Derby now.  Looking forward to a shower, can't do a thing with my hair.

Just listening to some animal stalking through the undergrowth and around the camp at the moment.   Need to get Joe snoring to scare it away. 

Joe's snoring didn't work so I shone the torch on it and shouted. It was a dingo.  There are a few of them about, and close, You can hear them howling. Joe spotted one with his torch a bit later.

Day 20 - 18062015 - Gibb River Station to Galvans Gorge - 84km

Anne made us bacon and eggs this morning and we had a fascinating talk with Richard about the many problems in the community.  Even though it is one of the better Aboriginal communities there are issues with politics, fraud, training, money etc.  Richard is project manager of a joint partnership between the Aboriginal community and an Aboriginal group in the Pilbara who are putting up money to make the Gibb River Station sustainable.  He has some really practical approaches to many of the issues.

Could have listened to him all day but had to go and we were already very late starting.

Better surface today and we made really good time.  Passed Hann River, Snake Creek and eventually got to Barnett River where we saw these guys cruising down the road.

Got to Mt Barnett Roadhouse and kicked back during the heat of the day talking to people, updating the blog and having lunch.

There was no camping at the roadhouse, but at Manning Gorge 7 km off the main road, so we decided to push onto Galvans Gorge another 16 km on.  Road surface was pretty horrible and because the sun cast shadows on the road it was very hard to read the surface.  Not a great experience.

About 5 km after I headed off I came across 2 cars of European backpackers with a shredded tyre.  I offered to tow them but they had it changed and were heading back to Derby to get another.  

I got to Galvans Gorge about 4:30 and there was a 4WD tour bus there.  They had just been for a swim at the gorge and all came over to talk to us. Great guys, they got us fruit and 2 beers from the icebox.  Fantastic.  Nothing better than a Heinie after a tough day riding in the sun.

 After they left, we rode down to the gorge as far as we could and then hiked in.  Spectacular place.  Wish we had been here earlier.  Went for a short swim, but had to get back because it was getting dark.  

Camped back were we left the bikes and without my reading glasses I had a bit of trouble reading this sign.

Day 19 - 17062015 - Gibb River Rd/Kalamburu junction to Gibb River Station - 42 km

While I was updating the blog at Mt Barnett I lost all my notes for today so I will try and re create them.

Left the junction early aiming for Hann River to get water and then onto Snake Creek for the night. Surface was pretty good.

Joe reckons he saw a camels hoof print, but I don't think he would recognise a camel toe if he saw one.

After a few hours we came to the Gibb River Station and their shop.  This was not on any of the maps and booklets and as it was only 2 km in we decided to have a look.  

Gibb River Station was bought by ATSIC in the 80s and is run by An Aboriginal community.  Rode in there and shop was closed but a nice young lady, Marcia got her husband, Warwick to open up and we got some Coke and a few other essentials, including sausages for tea. We sat under their veranda and more tourists came along and we chatted to them and the shop manager for quite awhile.

Warwick offered for us to stay and used the communal kitchen and showers in the workers hut.  Who could knock back an offer like that?  So we spent the rest of the day kicking back and reading, showering, washing and setting up camp.

The station is in the middle of doing a complete muster.  The first for 27 years.  They reckon there is over 7000 cattle on the property.  The project manager Richard Paterson and his wife Anne were staying at the workers hut with us and we talked to them a lot during the day.  They are busy.  Richard was organising a dozen things all at once.  Trying to ring people and the phone constantly dropping out.  Jumping on the motorbike and running of to deal with an issue and neck again.

Anne was just as busy running cattle through stockyards, training half trained horses, scavenging bolts etc.  The stockyards were broken, but where do you get bolts out here??? Bunnings is 500 km away.  You scavenge them from other equipment, the huts...

I had seen 3 little Aboriginal kids riding a small quad bike and in the afternoon they came over to the hut because their quad bike wasn't working. The rear cog had come loose from the axle. They had 4 unmatched bolts and no tools. Between Joe's shifter and my considerable mechanical expertise we got them going again with the cog attached by 2 bolts.  Pretty dodgy, but it worked.

They were really funny, cute little guys, but the funniest part was watching them push start the bike.

Had a super tea of beef sausages( we have been missing meat) and Continental Pasta.

While we were having tea Richard came rushing in as one of the stockman had crushed his hand catching a bull.  Richard sent photos and organised the air ambulance that came and got the guy about 9:30.  At one stage Richard was going to have to drive the guy into Derby 5 hours away as the ambulance was not able to come.

Some Aboriginal women came over to copy some movies from Anne but the HDD would not work even after a technological guru like me had looked at it.  I said I would send them some movies when I got back.  We chatted to them for awhile.

Once they left Anne offered us a XXXX.  It is a voluntarily dry community, but it is OK if you don't advertise it.  Even though it was XXXX it tasted great.

More talk and off to bed.  We have to be up early to make up for the short day today.

Day 18 - 16052015 - Ellenbrae Station to Gibb River Road, Kalamburu junction - 72 km

Day 18 - 16052015 - Ellenbrae Station to Gibb River Road, Kalamburu junction - 72 km

Early start and we battled the 5 km of red dust, corrugations and creek crossing to get out of Ellenbrae Station.

Good going once we were back on the Gibb, but had a steep climb after about 4 km.  Had lots of red dirt today which is fine powdery dust and is very hard to ride through and when you hit it at speed can easily slew the bike around.  You work twice as hard and get half as far.

We see the odd car body along the way where people have decided its not worth the expense of taking the car back.

We made good timing and had covered 40 km by about 10:00.  I thought we would easily cover what we thought was 60 km to the junction.  At about the 60 km mark I went up a big hill and as I reached the top a car pulled up and asked if I wanted some water, so I stopped and chatted with them.  

They said Joe was about 3 or 4 km back and was resting under a tree.  (I can understand that, he used to sleep under his desk at work.).  I had some water with the oldies and then after about a km pulled over to wait for Joe.  While I was waiting I checked the map and found that the junction was 75 km from Ellenbrae and we still had 15 km to go.  Bugger.

We rested for half an hour then got going.  The grader had been doing this next stretch so we made good time, although the surface was deceptive at times.

Got to the junction and a Kimberley Wild tour was having lunch near the shelter and table.  We hung around and spoke to the people and as they were leaving they gave us some chocolate cake and orange juice. Yum.  Good lunch.

A lady Yanni got us some mandarins, water and a muesli bar.  Good onya Yanni and Geoff.

The tour left and we set up camp.  Dinner finished by 5:30, when it was dark, so we hit the sack.

Listening to the sound of mosquitoes and insects trying to get into the tent at the moment.  Gotta love the bush.