Day 38 –Larrimah to Mataranka 83 K / 51 Miles
In this hot arid land it took our laundry less than an hour to line dry this afternoon. We wore our cycling clothes to Mataranka’s Bitter Springs and spent about an hour floating in the natural spring and mineral waters surrounded by the tropical forest. Of course there were probably a hundred or so others doing the same thing there so you can lose the thoughts that this is some secluded tropical paradise. Maybe 30 years or so ago it was, but like almost every thing today, there was a crowd. It was however a pleasant and relaxing activity. It was a welcome alternative to spending the afternoon cycling along some hot tarmac in the 90 F + heat.
We got our earliest start of the trip today. We have decided that if we can make our daily goals by noon or 1:00 PM we can sit out the heat of the day. At 6:30 this morning the sky was just getting light. There were high cirrus clouds and sky was a beautiful pink. Cool temperatures forced us to wear our gloves and fleece for the start. The highway like the winds was quiet. One bonus for the early start is that animals are still out, and within a few kilometers of starting we saw at least 3 wallabies hop across our path.
We stopped at a rest area for short break around 50 kilometers into the day. As we rolled out of the rest area, the canola farming couple from Victoria who we met last evening in Larrimah had seen us in the rest area and pulled to the side of the road just to greet us as we cycled back onto the highway. They passed us short distance down the road with waves out the window and friendly honks of the horn.
Joe and I rolled into the Bitter Springs caravan park just north of Larrimah at 11:15. We have a grill at the site tonight, and decided we would do steaks and veggies for dinner. Before heading to our refreshing dip in the mineral springs, we rode back into to town to restock our food and get our provisions for tonight’s meal.
After today, If all goes as planned, we have only 4 more days on the road before we arrive in Darwin.
Early morning start from Larrimah.
This was not the tallest we have seen, but Joe does provide some scale as to its height.
On occasion we’ll see these “dressed” mound that someone has taken the time to decorate.
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