A delayed start as we sifted through our accumulated detritus from the road ditching water bottles, plastic bags, old resort brochures, old food and so on.

A final few photos of us and our rigs and then on to the Stuart Highway for 12 uncomfortable kilometres up to Palmerston (the road is virtually a suburban commuter route and drivers of cars and frequent construction trucks are impatient and pushy).

At Palmerston/Yarrawonga we were able to get on to the cycle track built on the old Darwin to Larrima Railway formation all the way to Darwin! This track is great and the Northern Territory government needs to be acknowledged for building it. It is straight, flat, wide with a high quality surface, has some historical interpretive signage and some bush reserves, some drinking fountains and gets slow loaded cyclists off the busy Stuart Highway. Love it!

Closer in to Darwin the cycle route gets a little confused as it jinks from side to side of the highway and just on the edge of the city the lack of signage left us making a few wrong turns and taking odd street crossings on a few occasions.

After some discussion over where to end the trip Brian led us around the Botanic Gardens and showgrounds to Mindel Beach where the turquoise waters stretch out through the entrance to Darwin Harbour and on to the Timor Sea.

A celebratory banana and biscuit and a few more photos and we felt great.

More slowly we rode into the Darwin city centre and confirmed our lodgings at the Melaleuca on Mitchell backpackers and YHA.

Then we rode through the Esplanade gardens down to the revamped Darwin waterfront for a final final photo. For a celebration we picked an upmarket eatery and had gourmet hamburgers. Strangely no-one felt like having a beer. Brian shouted us a lemon-lime-and-bitters each.

We had a bit of a swim in the filtered, Irukandji jellyfish and crocodile-free waters of the waterfront sea pool and that was it.

The trip from Cairns was over, 66 days which included the hardest dirt road riding I have ever done, and remember that I have pushed through the bulldust on the Plenty Highway between Boulia and Alice Springs and bounced over the boulders and through the sand from Perth to Oodnadatta.

There had been crocodiles and ants, heat and clear cooling streams, testy motorists and helpful motorists, great locals and National Park Rangers, and ever more road.

My riding companions were the best! Brian always carried more than his share of water and food, he and Christine were the first in setting the campfire and getting dinner ready, Bruce documented the trip on his stragglingstuetal.wordpress.com blog and Chris O’B entertained us with his energy in regularly pulling his bike to bits and putting it back together.

Thanks guys.