Why Not?
From the Cycle Touring Association of WA (who thought I might not be seen again)
A Desert Odyssey
Our esteemed ex CTA Ride Coordinator, Stuart Crombie, is planning a cycle crossing of Australia through the Great Central Road. …
Category: 2016 Great Central Road Perth to Cairns
Day -2 Perth to Cairns
2016 Perth to Cairns
This is my story of a solo unsupported bicycle ride across Australia.
The ride was mostly on dirt roads through the desert centre of western and central Australia and then on more dirt through the great …
Day 90 10 July Cairns and this is the finish!
A dawdle over rolling hills to the cafe at the top of the Gillies Highway for a morning coffee and cake. Never too much cake.
Then it was over a few more hills, seemingly getting steeper, before starting down the …
Day 89 9 July Milla Milla to Malanda Crater Lakes
Out of Milla Milla the worst way. With a 2km climb up a hill.
Then 20 km of rolling hills and a dangerously narrow main road to Malanda.
Malanda was having its annual agricultural show so took the opportunity to …
Day 88 8 July Milla Milla
A day off in lovely Milla Milla.
Bacon and eggs at one cafe, a walk up the street to the museum and coffee and scones at another.
Some of the locals gave some background on why the old Milla Milla …
Day 87 7 July Inot Hot Springs to Milla Milla
A good road and a more of less continuous gradual climb up the western fall of the Great Dividing Range to Ravenshoe (the last climb into town was a grind).
Ravenshoe is pretty much at the highest point on the …
Day 86 6 July Mount Garnet and Inot Hot Springs
Last day on the dirt.
Packed up and headed north.
The road kept getting better and after about 40 kms just past Minnamoolka Station it even became bitumen!
Then it was just a grind into Mount Garnet at about 4pm. …
Day 85 5 July Valley of Lagoons
At three in the morning a four wheel drive ute growled and bumped its way past my camp. Bloody hell, some farmer is keen to get to town!
Anyway the ute took the western fork in the road so that …
Day 84 4 July Kangaroo Hills and Melissa, the National Trail Legend
Struck camp after drying off the light rain.
Downhill ride for twenty kilometres to Hidden Valley Resort (For Sale) but the road got progressively rougher so the thirty kilometers to the Ewan iron ore mine (closed) took four hours!
Popped …
Day 83 3 July ‘Go somewhere else!!’
Time to wrap it up.
I ring Robyn back in Perth ‘hello sweetie, I have finished and am ready to come home’.
Robyn to Stuart ‘no way, I am not ready, go somewhere else!’
Hmmmm. Not what I was expecting.…
Day 81 & Day 82 1-2 July Townsville Rest and Relaxation
After a welcome beer on the beach at Townsville after arriving the next two days were spent at the CWA hall in central Townsville.
As always, one has to see “The Saint” a stick figure from the credits of the …
Day 80 30 June Townsville! and the Pacific Ocean!
The last day of crossing Australia!
Last night’s camp was tucked awkwardly out of sight between the road and a barbed wire fence. Not much traffic but one ute was out spotlighting (night shooting with a high powered light) which …
Day 79 29 June Charters Towers to the Hervey Range
A very relaxed morning.
On the bike about 10am and tootle off northward on the Gregory Highway aiming for the Hervey Range road. I reckoned this would be a more peaceful if slightly longer road to Townsville than the main …
Day 78 28 June to Charters Towers
Just a blast along the Gregory Highway to Charters Towers – the rocky ‘towers’ of weathered granite were interesting but not enough to make you want to live there.
Charters Towers is a nice town with lots of buildings left …
Day 77 27 June Yarrowmere to the Gregory Highway
Soon after getting going I was overtaken by a local grazier taking his daughters out for a driving lesson in the farm ute.
Nice chap. I asked if the dying trees around were the result of poisoning with Graslan herbicide …