June 26, 2024 to June 29, 2024
Cowley Beach
Wednesday the 26th of June 2024
The rain had held off until late yesterday afternoon but it rained throughout the night and was raining steadily when we woke up this morning. It was no better by the time we started cycling at about ten o'clock but thankfully we were able to avoid the Bruce for all but three kilometers out of the first twenty.
This brought us to the village of El Arish. Here we stopped in at the local butchery to buy some meat for this evening. The butcher, who raises his own beef, has an excellent reputation in these parts. It took us a few tries for us to understand him when he told us he was making boerewors. His mangling of the Afrikaans word was almost as bad as our pronunciation of Australian place names.
Just north of El Arish the route suggested by Komoot ended up in a cul de sac so we reluctantly made our way back to the Bruce. We endured eleven tense kilometers in the rainy conditions before turning off towards the coast. At this point the rain stopped!
Eight kilometers later we arrived at Cowley Beach which is a seaside village quite unlike what we have seen so far in Australia. There are a few houses, forty three residents and a simple caravan park plus a newly built community centre. In many ways it took us back thirty or forty years in time.
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We're probably going to spend a few nights here.
Thursday the 27th of June 2024
Once again it rained throughout the night but it started clearing soon after sunrise. A walk around the village and a longer walk southwards along the beach yielded a few birds. The two walks bracketed a brief and weak attempt at raining but it has remained dry for the rest of the day.
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Friday and Saturday the 28th and 29th of June 2024
It was an easy decision to spend two more nights here. Les and Debs, the couple running the caravan park are lovely people who are really making a go at getting an old facility up to scratch again.
It has rained on and off during our entire stay and the forecast is for it to remain this way until we fly back to South Africa in ten days time. Luckily the kitchen area here has been a comfortable place to cook and eat and I have had the tarp up so we have had a shelter under which to sit at our tent as well.
We've spent our time taking walks along the beach and reading but mostly doing nothing. Access to the internet is far less hit than miss here so we have had a good electronic detox.
We had hoped to see Southern Cassowories and Beach Stone-Curlews here but have had no luck. I must admit that we have tried very hard.
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Tomorrow we head for Etty Bay where all reports suggest we will have a better chance of seeing Cassowary.
Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 4,546 km (2,823 miles)
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