August 8 Nomanton to Bang Bang Camp

Today I rode from Normanton to a campsite (no water) called Bang Bang about 107k away. I had a great morning ride and covered 60k in the first 3 hours easily. I stopped by a large River for lunch after crossing a narrow bridge. The cool thing is there was no place a car could have stopped- no pullouts and a very narrow two lane road, but it was no problem for the bike!

In the River were three huge storks or cranes swimming along. Each must have been easily 6 feet tall with stilt legs. Two took off while I watched them and they were slow and very graceful for the biggest birds I have ever seen flying.

After lunch the riding was much much tougher with 30 k of single lane road with just red dirt beside it when cars came. Also there was a large gravel section that was tricky riding and slow and to top it off my tailwind turned into a headwind and really wore me out!

Today was gradual climbing and the land changed again. All of a sudden the trees disappeared and it was open fields of grasses with very few trees! It looked like the pictures of the African plains. This is the real Savannah Country now.

Every day holds surprises, some good and some just a bother but I am under the stars tonight and content to be still.

Tomorrow on to Burke and Wills Roadhouse 100 k away.

written by  Mike_Veine on August 9, 2012 from Normanton, Australia
from the travel blog: Mike's Magical Mystery Tour
Send a Compliment

comment on this...