Day 108: Burketown to bush camp

May 29, 2021

Start: 6:20am
Distance: 114kms
Ride time: 6:11hrs
Average: 18km/hr
Max: 29km/hr
Finish: 2:45pm

I slept well and wasn't harassed by any salties.

I was up before the sun, ready for a big day.

I had to backtrack the 7kms to Burketown. I saw about 20 wallabies on the ride to town.

I was filling up with water in the park when a car pulled up and someone called my name.

It was the nice information centre man from yesterday. He asked if everything went well.

I forgot to mention yesterday that he also offered to drive me and the bike in his Troop carrier to the campsite. A kind man.

These steers ran over to the fence to check me out. Usually cattle run away.

I saw several wedgies today. All were feeding on roadkill.

This is the best pic of the day. I thanked him for being so awesome. It made me smile lots.

Bill supplied this link.

First mention of Darwin. Wahoo! I'm almost there.

After 40kms I stopped in at the Tirranna Roadhouse.

It was small and I managed to score some salad sandwiches. A real treat.

A car pulled up as I was about to depart. They had come from Doomadgee and warned me that it 'wasn't safe' and was 'rough.'

I asked them for details and was wary when they didn't provide any.

I thought this gum tree was interesting because all the of flowers were at the top.

Two tree pics today. I liked the smooth white bark of this one.

This interesting grey bush was on the roadside. It looks a little like a salt bush.

The Nicholson River just before Doomadgee had a small weir.

I saw 6 brumbies near this spot.

On the outskirts of town a car pulled up and beckoned me. It was a local called Allen and his family. He just wanted to say hi and find out what I was doing. He was friendly and shook my hand twice.

I went to the roadhouse which was small. I bought a pie for second lunch, a couple cookies and some milk.

I couldn't see any water taps outside so I asked the lady at the till. She directed me to a tap where I could fill up.

She was kind and helpful. I don't understand the comments from the people I spoke to outside Tirranna Roadhouse.

There is no campground at Doomadgee.

I rode 6kms out of town, found an unused track and went down it 200m to find a suitable camp spot.

The flies have been getting worse the last few days. I put on two layers of insect repellent but it still didn't deter them.

The road was bitumen today and the terrain flat. It was a warm 31C.

It was a busy day on the road as I saw 45 vehicles.

There was phone reception in Doomadgee but here it keeps dropping out.

After sunset I heard horses splashing about in the dam. They were neighing and snorting.

Today's ride: 114 km (71 miles)
Total: 5,051 km (3,137 miles)

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