Day 42 – Adelaide River to Darwin to Nightcliff 127K / 79 Miles

Derek and Elizabeth Gadd have a small guest-house on the back of their property. Their front lawn is a well-kept garden of tropical plants, large and small. Their home is we suited to the tropical environment with wide porches and an open floor plan. The back yard pool is an essential element. Derek and their two children, Samuel and Emily greeted us when we arrived. It was about 3:15 in the afternoon. Joe and I had already ridden into Darwin proper taken our pictures at venues in Bicentennial Park overlooking Darwin Harbor. Derek and Elizabeth are our Warm Showers hosts for the evening. I was in contact with them before the trip and had forwarded some of non-essential clothing items before we started from Torquay.   As members of the Warm Showers Cycling host network, Derek and Elizabeth had spent a year touring various parts of the world by bicycle before having children. Now on occasions such as today, they are host to other cyclists.

From other trip journals I read, I was aware that traffic would be heavy nearer to Darwin. Out of Adelaide River it was really very quiet. We passed thru two construction areas with traffic signals controlling the alternating one-way traffic. The first 50 kilometers were uneventful as a tailwind built upon the rather calm start. The next 20 kilometers we experienced the building of traffic. Just when it seemed that the road could little additional traffic, it divided and became a four-lane affair. It was truly a relief to be able to only have to concentrate on traffic coming from behind. A more generous shoulder was also welcome. At the turn off to Howard Springs, we found access to a rail trail/cycle track that would lead us nearly all the way to downtown Darwin and the harbor. We passed the turn to Nightcliff, a northwest suburb of Darwin on our way to the Harbor and had to backtrack from downtown.

This evening Joe and I walked to the cliffs at Nightcliff overlooking the Timor Sea. We started processing our trip, the good parts and bad, the fun and not so fun. We started making plans for the next few days and what we could take in with time we have. There are some things we would have done differently, and things we are glad we had the opportunity to experience. Like our trip across the U.S. it will take time to process. Distance in time will provide a different lens thru which to view our experiences and more than likely change the perspective thru which we now are viewing them. Most importantly we arrived safely and in good spirits. We wished David had the opportunity to experience that with us. He has committed to renewing his journey next year, starting from where he left off in Alice Springs. We wish him the best in getting his back problems managed to where he can set off again on his goal.

The work on the well projects in Malawi will continue as well. A partnership team from Copper Creek Church is leaving today for time with our sister church. That the work is never finished, lead me to think of one of my favorite quotes about success… “We thrive not when we have done it all, but when we still have more to do.” Sarah Lewis from her Ted Talk, “Embrace the Near W in.”