Day 103: Blackbull to Normanton

May 25, 2021

Start: 7:30am
Distance: 102kms
Ride time: 5:02hrs
Average: 20km/hr
Max: 32km/hr
Finish: 1:35pm

A few caravans pulled in to stay last night. One offered me water and another offered me coffee. I was too hot for coffee.

My alarm went off at 5:45am so I could start my big day early. Unfortunately when my alarm went off I was too lazy to get up and I went back to sleep for an hour.

While I was packing up, at 6:40am, just as the sun was rising, a camper started playing his violin.

He played for 30 minutes. It was nice to have some live music in the morning.

My tent was dry to pack up. There was no rain or mildew. I think it will be like this for the next few thousand kms.

I've been seeing kites every day for a long time. They are in groups of 2 or 3.

They mostly glide along the road looking for roadkill. Sometimes they are only 10-20 metres high. They are so focused on the road that they don't see me until they are really close. Then they freak out and fly off to the side.

It's entertaining to see how close I can get to them.

This morning I came across an unusual sight. There was a flock of 150 kites flying together.

I've never seen more than 3 together. They were flying at different heights and zooming around. It was pretty awesome to watch.

There were 5 crows nearby and they were voicing their displeasure at all of the kites.

This sign was in the middle of nowhere. Not many folks in these parts.

This week I will enter an even less populated area as I head further west.

When I say to people that I will continue west on Savannah Way, some of them gasp. They don't even want to drive their cars that way.

They call me brave but look at me like I'm mad. Hehehe. Time will tell.

Crossing Norman River. There was a big distance between the two rivers.

Today I had a small tailwind for some of the time. The road was flat and straight. The traffic was few and far between. The temperature got to 32C.

I listened to podcasts, an audio book and music.

After a long day on the bike I arrived in Normanton.

I was hungry. I went to a one shop and ate 3 dim sims and a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich. And a juice.

This shop had almost no food items on their shelves.

I went to the Foodworks supermarket and it's shelves were two thirds empty.

This started to concern me greatly as I can't continued my ride west unless I fill my panniers with food.

The next town with normal supplies is Katherine at 1,375kms away.

I was still hungry so I went to the bakery and ate a pea pie and had another juice.

I went to the hardware shop and was fortunate to buy a torx multi tool. It's a little heavy but has all the sizes I require to service my rohloff cables. It was a lucky find in a small town.

I checked in to the Normanton Caravan Park for two nights. I need a rest day and time to plan the next few weeks.

It's a dirt site but it's shady in the afternoon.

I rode my bike to the last supermarket in town and was amazed and relieved to find it well stocked.

I bought 2 shopping bags worth of food. I'll probably return there tomorrow and buy more.

I saw many rally cars coming through the town.

Mum, David and Simon later corrected me. It's a Morris Minor, probably from the late 1950's.

They were all participating in 'the shitbox rally', raising money for cancer.

The crocodile was shot in 1957. This is meant to be an accurate replica. I think some artistic licence has been used.

This sign was up when I returned to camp. Luckily I checked in in time.

Today's ride: 102 km (63 miles)
Total: 4,692 km (2,914 miles)

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