Cycling the Stuart E2E

Adelaide River to Darwin

The welcome committee of Fiona, Britta, Adam and baby Zara flew into Darwin (via Adelaide) and arrived in Darwin in the early afternoon. We picked up our hire car and quickly shed the winter clothes for something more suitable for the 34C of Darwin.
At 2pm Fiona received an anxious phone call from her dad, John Williamson (79yrs) who inquired where we all were. At the resort in Darwin we told him.

John had driven 5 hours in the car and then flown across three states, as a surprise for us all, to join in the welcome ceremony, only to find out at the airport, that the direct flight from Melbourne was seriously delayed til that evening. He thought he would be the only one there to meet Peter. While he wouldn’t admit he was already in Darwin, his anxious tone left us guessing.

At 3pm we drove into town, to the crosswalk outside the Darwin Post Office – the official finish line.

There we met a former work colleague of Peter’s from Australia Post, Brian and his wife Joan and daughter Melissa. They had picked up Peter’s arrival info from other friends and were happy to join in the preparations for Peter’s arrival.

With signage up, and balloons and streamers and whistles at the ready, John arrived in a taxi. Despite the heat, he insisted on walking about half a kilometre down the road to be the ‘spotter’ for Peter’s arrival. All cameras were trained in the one direction, everyone waiting for John’s call that Peter was nearly here.

At about 3.45pm a voice from behind said ‘Hi everyone’,

we all turned around and screamed. No one had seen Peter ride up until he was right on the line!
Instead of riding in on the main road, he had come in on the bike path which came into town on the reverse side.

But regardless of how many kilometres he had ridden, he was not getting off the bike without our little welcome ceremony! I instructed him to ride down the road until he went past Dad, then loop around and approach the finishing line in style, and from the right direction. This second coming only took about 5 minutes, and then the congratulations began.

We were all very excited for him to finish such a long ride 2722 kms safely and with such courage and enthusiasm. The phone calls from the family in the southern states all came in and added to the excitement.

We all decided to go to an Irish pub for celebratory drinks! Who would have thought there would be two Irish pubs in town ? Finally we all arrived at the same Irish pub !!! and the congratulations continued and many stories were told. Despite being weary, we all went out for a wonderful dinner on the deck at the Casino, overlooking the pools and the sunset.

For the next week we had a wonderful family holiday in Darwin, sightseeing, wining and dining and just relaxing around the pool in the tropical garden.

Gradually other stories of things that didn’t go so well emerged!
A huge bruise on Peter’s leg, told the tale of when he had a bad fall.
Two of his vital supply boxes ‘disappeared’ from their pick up points,
and there were other episodes that he probably knew would freak me out!!!
I’m sure there will be things we’ll never know!!

On arrival back in Melbourne, Peter’s other children had organized a surprise Welcome Home Party for him. They cooked many of his favourites, and lots of extended family and friends came to join in the celebrations.
Peter also made the front page of the Moreland Leader newspaper!!

Pine Creek to Adelaide River

When Peter rang at approx 6.30pm this evening to give his final ‘on the road’ report, the whole family were assembled to wish him well for the last day of cycling on the Stuart Highway. The phone was passed around, and everyone gave him great words of encouragement. We are all anxious that this great adventure end safely, so we urged him to ride safely into the much denser traffic as he approaches Darwin.
Today was very hot and humid, as Peter road the 117 kms from Pine Creek into Adelaide River. He was really enjoying the very beautiful tropical scenery as he rode along, with lush palms and the mountains off to the left. He said it’s the most beautiful country he’s ever seen. Maybe it is, or maybe it is the stark contrast to the flat, low, brown (boring) scenery that he has spent so many days riding through.

He stopped for a drink at Hayes Creek, and was surprised to see that the petrol bowsers were painted up as Jack Daniels Whiskey bottles!

On reaching Adelaide River, Peter went to the War Cemetery where there are 407 graves, all casualties from World War Two. There is a special memorial to the nine Australia Post personnel who lost their lives in the war. When we get back from Darwin, we’ll put some extra photos up on the site.

Peter said the pub at the back of the motel is magnificent!!! But surely, anything would be looking good, after what he’s been staying in!! After a day on baked beans and dried fruit and nuts, he was particularly keen to order the Barramundi and chips.

Today on the road Peter met four cyclists who were doing the Darwin to Adelaide River return trip in preparation for a new International Cycling Event to be held soon – The Tour de Timor. They thought the heat would help them prepare for the gruelling event.

After another night of not sleeping well, Peter said he really feels though every last drop of energy has been spent. So as we all said to him ‘You can do it. There is coffee and cake awaiting you in Darwin.’ Also of course the family, who is flying up to be there to welcome him over the finish line outside the Darwin Post Office.

Now only 117kms to go!

Katherine to Pine Creek

The road out of Katherine, travelling north is quite undulating, and the vegetation at the side of the road now is much thicker – Peter’s words ‘very beautiful tropical scenery’.

Also part of the scenery are the many large termite (dirt) mounds, some are over two metres high. Twenty kms north of Katherine is a Campus of the Charles Darwin University, Peter decided to take a short detour off the road to take a look.

I asked if having nine kilograms less luggage on the bike made much difference, and Peter said mentally, definitely. But today was a very still day, so it wasn’t that noticeable, any side winds would have had a big impact.

The temperature was 32C by lunch time, and it had dropped down to a balmy tropical evening of 22C by 6pm. Tonight’s accommodation is a motel room for $98 per single.
Peter said last night he was feeling so excited that he barely slept.
I said, ‘Tonight you had better get your $98 worth’.

From here to Darwin, Peter is on a ‘new’ piece of road. When we did our planning trip in April, we did the detour out to Kakadu National Park which is on a different highway, before we joined back onto the Stuart Highway.
He is excited to be seeing some country for the first time.

Good News!
On Thursday 6th August I wrote about a cyclist being sucked under the road train.
I assumed such an horrific accident would have killed the cyclist.

But today when I was talking to Dick (an avid reader of this site, because he also recently cycled from Adelaide to Darwin, raising money for the sinking of wells for drinking water for schools in Afghanistan) he informed me that he had done some research, reading through the back copies of the ‘Northern Territory Times’.

The cyclist was a young Tasmanian woman who was just setting off from Darwin to ride around Australia. About 25kms into her adventure, her bike was sucked under the road train, but amazingly she managed to jump out of the way. While certainly injured, she was not killed. I was so thrilled to hear this news from Dick, I thought I’d share it with everyone. Apparently the headlines that Peter read were at least 10 days old. I guess nothing much else had happened since.

Rest day in Katherine

The best cure for the pain of riding the bike for seven days straight is a mid morning coffee and cake at the Katherine Cinema Complex (which has one screen).

Nine kilograms of Bush Camp gear has now been posted home, so the bike will feel much lighter for the last three days of riding.

There was a fairly stiff head wind this morning, so Peter hopes it will have swung around by tomorrow.

He’s getting very excited about finishing now!

MATARANKA – KATHERINE

Leaving Mataranka this morning with a slight tail wind, enabled the average speed for the day to be 19km per hour for the 105kms travelled.

About 10kms out there was a large group of campers in a truck bay. They all gathered around Peter and gave him the celebrity treatment.

Further along the road were two other World War Two installations, an airfield and a fuel depot. And from the modern era – just out of Katherine is the operational Tindel Air Base.

On reaching Katherine Peter saw an internet café, so he parked the bike in a very obvious spot (don’t want to loose it at this stage!) and went in to read all his messages. He was very touched by all the messages of encouragement and congratulations. I guess the ‘big ant’ is going to be a topic of conversation for quite some time.

It was Centrelink Pay Day (Pension Day) in town and apparently the crowds were out.

Tomorrow is a REST DAY. The first day off the bike for seven days!
He plans to go to the Post Office and post home his tent, sleeping bag, mattress and pillow. No more bush camps!!
With just three sleeps to go, he is looking forward to lightening the load.

Larrimah – Mataranka

With another tail wind forecast, Peter had a lazy start to the day – cooked breakfast and on the road by 9am.

Fifteen kilometres north of Larrimah, Peter stopped to look at the Gorrie Airfield. This is one of a series of old airfields between here and Darwin that were used during the Second World War.
Yesterday he also looked at an old WW2 hospital out in the bush. Although they are all in a bad state of repair, Peter enjoyed looking at a part of our ‘unknown’ history.

Today’s ride was 76 kms of fairly straight road. Missing a rest day though, has made a big difference to how he feels. Tonight’s cabin accommodation is $95 for a ‘shoebox’!
But he said, compared to Elliott, it seems like 5 star.

The Mataranka Homestead is not on the highway, but a further 8kms in. The thought of an extra 16kms was too much, so it will be added to the list of things to see next time.

He met a couple at a truck bay today, and enjoyed homemade fruit cake (his favourite) and a cuppa with them, which was much appreciated. It’s amazing how open and generous people are with total strangers.

Now 428kms to go!

Highway Inn at Daly Waters – Larrimah
On today’s schedule it’s marked REST DAY!

But a tail wind was too hard to resist!
Despite the huge ride yesterday (146kms), Peter decided to keep cycling
and take his next rest day in Katherine.

Peter is getting very excited as the kilometres really start to decrease.

Larrimah is an unusual destination in that the whole town is painted (Breast Cancer) pink.

Now only 504kms to go!

Elliott – The Highway Inn at Daly Waters
Today was a long ride – 146 kms. Prayers for a tail wind were answered! So, with tail winds available, Peter was up at ‘crack of dawn’ and off up the highway. After the first 50km he had a half hour break, and then another break at Dunmarra (a Service Station at the 102km mark).

After his usual diet of dried fruit and nuts, and a small tin of tuna, Peter was pretty keen for a large steak when he reached the Highway Inn. I thought it was funny that he kept referring to the ‘Highway Inn’ as the ‘Holiday Inn’ when we were talking.

The Highway Inn is a great tourist set up/ rest stop on the Highway. The original township of Daly Waters is about 7kms off the highway. The photos, taken on our planning trip in April give you some idea of its current state!!

It’s quite a tourist attraction.

Now 597kms to go!

Renner Springs – Elliott

The ride to Elliott is 92kms. There was a slight tail wind to help Peter along.
The temperature today was 10C this morning up to 27C in the afternoon.

Today’s highlight is the appearance of some greenery along the roadside.
Up until now the landscape has been very brown with minimal vegetation.
The greenery is both uplifting for the spirit, and also a buffer for the wind if it comes up.
Another interesting feature along the roadside are huge (dirt) termite mounds.

On arriving in Elliott, Peter found the accommodation very disappointing.
It’s the only motel he has ever stayed in, where he has washed all the linen before he slept in it. When we planned the trip, I had recommended a Bush Camp as a better alternative!
Now 743kms to go!

Banka Banka Homestead Station – Renner Springs

Today’s ride on paper is just 65kms! In reality though, it was one of the toughest days riding, as there were the many ups and downs of the Ashburton Ranges.
After a ‘big breakfast’ at Banka Banka he set off at 8.30am and rode through til 3.30pm.
While it is still 3C at night, the day time temperatures are starting to climb.
Today was 27C.

The reward for reaching Renner Springs is the burgers! The best burgers on the Stuart Highway (and probably a lot of other highways too!) Made with homemade bread, and every possible burger ingredient, they are very good.
It’s a good, comfortable set up at Renner Springs,
So now only 835kms to go!!!