The last two days have been shorter rides- one of 93 k to Larramiah and one of 80 k to Matarinka.

Larramiah had nothing to recommend it except The Pink Panther Pub which is pink and has a zoo with exotic birds including emus, a salty crocodile and thats about it.

They did have a meatloaf special that was good, but not a good as Mom's.

The heat even at night is tough...could not get to sleep easily and didn't use the sleeping bag until after 3 am when I woke up and my legs were a little cool.

Matarinka is better. They have a beautiful natural hot water River in a National park that is free and amazing. When you get in it and let the current carry you it is like riding the jungle boat ride at Disneyland minus the Hippos and Crocs! Tropical plants and trees ae all around you and several types of Dragonflies fly around you just skimming the water and alighting by you on Lotus Flowers. Magical.

I went for two swims and took a bunch of pictures. The water was Crystal clear and not too hot, just a very comfortable and refreshing temperature.

Left there and I am at a small caravan park by the main road. Sunday dinner tonight is Pork Roast and sounds delicious. Mmmm.

Getting closer to Darwin every day now.

written by  Mike_Veine on August 26, 2012 from Mataranka, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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Going to sleep by a somewhat cloudy sky.... First clouds I have seen the whole trip. Today was an epic day... Rode 160 k from Elliot to Daly Waters old town pub which is a place every top ender told me I had to see.

It was pretty hot today, from noon til 2;30 I had to stop every 1/2 hour to 45 min. To get in the shade and drink. Went through almost all the water on the bike including my 2 liter drom bag and I was still thirsty. 

But I made it. Now under 600 k to Darwin and 300 k to Katherine whoohoo!

The pub here was awesome as well, great food and entertainment and I made fast friends with people who passed me and said, "no way is he going to make it to Daly Waters". 

They ended up buying me some beers!

Hard day, but good, I know that I am strong enough to go 16o k without the wind helping if I have to and I have an invitation for a place to stay in Darwin when I get there. Cool,

One more thing about the pub- when I finish riding I always like to set up camp and take a shower, so when I got here I did my usual routine. Most camps have a block of showers and toilets for men and one for women kind of like single wide Mobile homes with jut bath facilities. The pub was different with seven small individual buildings that had a toilet, sink and shower in very close confines.

Anyone who knows me knows that I would pick number 7 (lucky number) so in I tromped. I had a great shower and my Surprise came when I flushed the toilet and a green frog the size of my fist appeared in the toilet bowl like Harry Potter had conjured him there! I screamed "Holy Sh*t" and then burst out laughing so hard!

When I left I ran into two couples who had seen me riding and greeted me when I rode into camp. I warned them about the toilet guest in number 7. They all laughed and assured that that happens frequently (!) in Darwin where the green frogs get into the septic tanks. The wonders of the animal kingdom...

written by  Mike_Veine on August 24, 2012 from Daly Waters, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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When i left Tennant Creek I rode 100 k to a place called Banka Banka Outback Station where I met up with 4 other cyclists. Everyone there was amazed to see 5 bikes in one so out of the way place. Two of the  bikers were a couple from Belgium rising with another man from Denmark. They were heading south to Adelaide. The 4th rider was a 22 year old bike racer fr the Netherlands who was telling us about riding 230 k days at a 30-33kph average speed. He is headed to Darwin also but our riding styles and my mechanical issues meant that we could nor ride together. 

Banka Banka was graat... The men who ran it let all the cyclists stay for free and they had nice showers and a big camp kitchen. They had a night bonfire and a funny older fellow playing 70's songs on a standup organ. Fumny!

Left there early for Remner Springs and invited the Danish rider to stay with me in Melbourne when he gets there in  October. I also signed up with a group called warmshowes.org that help bike tourists find people who will let them couch surf on their trips. Very cool. I will try to find someone to put me up in Darwin and open the Melbourne House to a few riders as well to help out.

Aug 23

Today I rode the 100 k from Renner Spings to Elliot and my bike fix failed after about 20k. When it became too horrible to ride I chances trying to fix if again and this time I had success! I rode the last 60k with no problems or few because it is always in the back of your mind.

Unfortunately the part had not arrived yet so I will check tomorrow am and hope it is here. If not I will probably ride on and  forward the part to Matrinka or Katherine even just to get down the road. I am within 720 k of Darwin now so very anxious to move on.

It oz noticeably warmer here tonight and more humid and the trees are getting taller and greener and I went North today.

We will see what tomorrow brings.

written by  Mike_Veine on August 23, 2012 from Elliott, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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Lots has happened in the last few days- I am now staying at a camp in Renner Springs Roadhouse while I wait for a new downtube seatpost clamp to arrive from Melbourne.

The various fixes I have tried all failed and most of the bolts sheared or deformed so badly they would not hold the seat and I would end up riding like I was 5 foot tall with my knees I'm my chest. Not fun. 

I've made 163 k out of Tennant Creek though and tomorrow I will cover 100 k to Elliot where the part is being mailed. Big thanks to my support team, my friend, Carl here and Louisa in the States and a shout out to Bruce the REI shop guru for his advice and assistance. 

I am making the best of this time out, doing laundry and resting up for the last push, but I am anxious to get on the road again. 9 or 10 more days should finish this trip and then on to other things.

There is a windmill and a pond here with geese and cormorants, eagles and hawks and a bird people call stupid gullahs. The gullahs fly around madly in the morning squawking a horrible squawk and are a general nuisance.

Starting to miss home and bed, but still more to see and do before then. 

I will post more pics when I can.

written by  Mike_Veine on August 21, 2012 from Elliott, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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I just had two great riding days- one of 150k and one which would have been 160 with the wind at my back on pretty flat terrain. FUN!

Yesterday near the end of my ride I had a mechanical failure that forced me to get a ride about 90k to Tennant Creek- my seatpost clamp bolt and nut stripped and I could not control seat height or right to left movement so pretty much the bike was unrideable. I did not bring anything suitable as a spare and I am not a bright enough mechanic to kludge something up on the road so I stuck out my thumb!

The funny thing is, I was picked up by a guy I'd met 90k back the road at the Barkley Homestead when I had a late breakfast. He had no intention of going my way originally but some transportation issues forced him to drive to Tennant Creek and he said he was looking for me along the way. He was surprised to find me 90k down the road flagging him down for assistance just as I was surprised to actually have someone I knew helping me!!! Small world.

He gave me ride to Tennant Creek and it was too late to go to the hardware store to fix the bike so I got a motel room and took my new friend out to dinner for hauling me around.

Today is Sunday so I am staying over at the Motel, maybe get a swim in- it is really windy here though and warm, but not hot, eat some pizza later and pack up to leave tomorrow.

I still need to hit the Post Office when they open to see about my packages, then if all is good I am off North now 990k to Darwin on the Last Leg of the Journey!

I will post some more pictures and some of my kludgey repair job for the shop guys to laugh at....

written by  Mike_Veine on August 18, 2012 from Tennant Creek, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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I am camping behind the pub tonight and will probably have a drink or two- thenext 4 days will be difficult with a 120 and 140k day respectively and I may ignore the campsites on my plan and ride 130 and 130 instead or some other combination.

Wish me luck and don't expect to hear from me for awhile! Email Carl if you need to send me a message please!

written by  Mike_Veine on August 15, 2012 from Camooweal, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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There is a Mc Donalds here so I used the WiFI to update this blog thru the 9th of August and I used an Inet Cafe to add some pictures. Getting lonely and a little tired of riding but my friends buoy my spirits and so off again after another rest day to the real savannah lands and due west!

Mt Isa post service is incompetent and could not locate my food drop so I will miss my special power foods and have to substitute heavier alternatives.

Off to Cammoweal(pop.300) or rather the bush east of Cammoweal because it is 198 k away from Mt Isa. I will find a bush camp 100k down the road or so and sleep there for the night of the 14th.

written by  Mike_Veine on August 14, 2012 from Mount Isa, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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I've seen huge beautiful cranes or Storks our here several times. Today it was 6 foot tall stilt legged birds with Stork like beaks. The beaks were yellow like a goose's and their feathers were mostly white with some black and grey on the wings and about the face. 

They are so big when they fly but graceful in a languorous way with their long legs dragging behind them.

The other type I've seen is all black with only Circle of white on the wings. Black heads and black long beaks and looked to be 7 feet tall or taller! They were standing in a small lake fishing.

Other cool birds I've seen are hawks hunting and a bird with powder blue feathers on it's wings. Tonight at bang bang camp I saw three birds that may have been parrots with pinkish red underwings flying at sunset.

There are some crows or ravens and some mockingbirds with black and white wings that are very noisy in the morning.

Other animal notes 
Kangaroos- I've seen Grey and Red. They look very much like the termite mounds which are everywhere when they stand still
and the termite mounds are grey in some areas and red in others where the dirt is red. Isn't evolution amazing!

I've seen dead wild pigs by the road but never a live one. They are black and the biggest was about 6 feet long.

Today I saw feral cats two grey tabbies.

And what about termites anyway? Their mounds are so many here- just where I can see they are every 10 feet or so apart as far as I can see! How many billions of billions of them must there be out here?

written by  Mike_Veine on August 13, 2012 from Cloncurry, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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Made it to Cloncurry finally but so very tired...will take a rest day here tomorrow.

Burned out!

written by  Mike_Veine on August 13, 2012 from Cloncurry, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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Mike's folly and a brutal day.

Today I learned a valuable lesson.

The day started off well- I have loaded two days plus reserve water on the bike to see what riding with all that weight is like and I left Burke & Wills camp on  time at about 7:15. The bike felt heavy, but balanced, and I was slower than yesterday out of the gate.

A helicopter pilot named Dale that I met the night before told me to expect some climbs today and he did not lie- it seemed like the whole day was a very gradual long climb.

I decided to experiment today since I have had so much trouble making mileage in the afternoon and to take a long rest during the hottest part of the day. I would pick a shady spot, put down the ground sheet and inflate my air mattress to have a comfy nest against the sun. I would also change out of my road  shorts and air them and take the  bike shoes off and rest my feet. 

I did this for two hours between 11:30 and 1:30 and I felt very smart. The problem that developed while a rested was a 8-10 mile an hour headwind! That was when I remembered the Tortoise and The Hare Story and realized I was the stupid Hare and the Tortoise was kicking my ass!

When I got back on the bike I was in good shape but an hour of long climbs directly into the wind on the heavy bike soon fixed that. My average speed plummeted from 20 kph to 15 or even 13! I was back in the little chain ring again spinning for all I was worth and my feet and seat started to ache and complain seriously.

The day broke my spirit once and left me humbled at how fortunate I've been so far. I go only as far as Australia lets me and she can cut me off at anytime.

I very fortunately found a camping/ picnic area to bed down in for the night so I didn't have o sleep in the bushes and I could make some hot soup and tea!

I feel very low now and looking forward to sleeping tonight. Hopefully things will be brighter tomorrow.

written by  Mike_Veine on August 11, 2012 from Cloncurry, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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