August 1

I am staying over a day in Mt Surprise today, been riding for five days so now I will take one off. 

Yesterday was the first day I actually got into The Outback and the riding is definitely easier  now with more gentle rolling hills. Long ride- I finally topped 100K with a 112k ride. 

It seems to be cattle country out here with large ranches. Ian told me that there were two ranches larger than the entire state of Texas!

This is Savannah Land with stunted trees and long grasses predominant. I've only seen birds and cattle out here alive, but many dead kangaroos or wallabies on the side of the road victims of collisions with road trains.

I've been passed by many road trains now and the drivers are very professional and honk sometimes when overtaking me. I hear the cars and trucks behind me from very far away and it is no problem getting over for them.

I left at sunup to get a jump on the heat and took a 1/2 hour nap at noon after eating and hydrating before continuing on. This and the easier terrain made the afternoon ride better than the day before. Once when I felt too hot I just dumped a water bottle out over my head to cool off and rested in some roadside shade for 10 minutes and then back at it.

When I was riding at about 4pm the sun angle lit up the tall grasses around me and I could see the grassheads reflecting pinks and purples as they waved in a gentle breeze. A small herd of cattle all turned their heads together to watch me ride by- guess they'd never seen a bike before!

I heard from several local residents that there is a woman ahead of me who is walking to Darwin. She is from Siberia and started walking around the world when she was 17 and she is now 42- pretty amazing! I hope I will catch up with her around Croydon a couple of days and hear her Story.

Resting, reading and eating today, catch you all later! 

written by  Mike_Veine on July 31, 2012 from Mount Surprise, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
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