- Left – 1.45pm
- 11th July 2015
- Miles rode – 96 (154km)
As I was heading into some remote areas over the following days I fitted a new rear tyre, battery, replaced the broken power / charging socket and went shopping for supplies (pasta, tinned food, water…) before I headed the short distance to Lichfield National Park, the start of the Australia leg of my travels.
I had been wondering for a number of years if I could or would make it to Australia overland, it looked so far on the map and there were so many potential reasons why I might not. At 1.45pm the bike was loaded and I was ready for a new adventure. My plan was to end up in Sydney but the route was still undecided, I was heading for Lichfield National Park and would work out a plan day by day.
As I rode out of Darwin I felt strange, not excited as I might have expected but flat, I didn’t really feel anything which was odd as I had dreamt about it for so long. As I headed south the road got more and more deserted and the terrain larger and larger, this is a massive country I thought. I had been given so much advice about riding in Australia form many people, everything wants to kill or eat me from snakes to giant pigs! I was told not to ride at dawn or dusk as kangaroos will jump in front of me and as they can be taller than me it won’t be pleasant! This meant my cut off time for riding was 4pm. I arrived at Wangi Falls at 4.03pm in true English style paid my £3.30 and pitched my tent up before heading to the waterfalls for a swim in the cool pool. It was refreshing and beautiful with lush trees everywhere and beautiful birds.
Back to the camp site to set everything up before darkness and at 6pm I was all set up with a plastic cup of vin rouge and the stove was prepared for a feast of pasta and chilli later.
What a great end to a rather dull ride.
