Ride for Water II Journal

Day 43 – Darwin Reflections

You probably thought we were done when we finished the ride. The ride is done, but before we leave Australia we know we have more to do to. That was only part of the point of the quote I shared in yesterday’s entry: “We thrive not...

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...

Day 41 – Pine Creek to Adelaide River 113K / 70 Miles

Second to the last, penultimate. We are almost to Darwin. Another 110 or so Kilometers and we will be rolling down to the Esplanade and to Bicentennial Park on Darwin Harbor. Not sure how I feel about it. Three weeks ago battling into the incessant...

Day 40 – Katherine to Pine Creek 92K / 57 Miles

Last evening when I asked Joe if he would cook supper for us, he replied, “Sure, you’re always working too hard.” He was referring to my ritual of journaling our ride, posting the entry to Rideforwater.org and then posting it to another site, Crazyguyonabike.com. As...

Day 39 –Mataranka to Katherine 111 K / 68 Miles

Another early start got us on the road in the cool of the day. Our destination was Katherine at about 105 kilometers. Out of Mataranka, the road proceeded on a pronounced northwest course that we will follow all the way into Darwin. While the sun...

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....

Day 37 –Daly Waters to Larrimah 92 K / 57 Miles

Meeting complete strangers who share of themselves with us in different ways is one of the things I love about these cycling trips. In Glendambo, a couple in their caravan stopped Joe as we were arriving at the roadhouse and offered him a meat pie,...

Day 36 – Elliot to Daly Waters 155 K / 96 Miles

I know Barb would have refused the accommodations at Elliot’s "most exclusive" hotel. Not sure I should post the picture but the inside was quite a bit better than this book’s cover.  Not to say it was great, just better. Other options were actually less...

Day 35 – Renner Springs Roadhouse to Elliot 92 K / 57 Miles

From here north, we can rely on roadhouse locations for our nightly stops. Unless we have some sort of difficulties that delay us, bush camping is only an emergency option. The winds were from the East Southeast and again providing a boost for our efforts....