Day 13: Parry Creek to Kununurra

July 31, 2022

It was another chatty campground but I rode off by 7. I headed down the Parry Creek Road, the unsealed way to Kununurra and had it to myself with just the birds, lots of kangaroos and, once I was out of the lagoon nature reserve, lots of cows. The road surface varied from pretty good to corrugated or sandy but again could take whichever part of the road i wanted.

The only house I passed for at least 30k was missing some key parts

I stopped in to look at the Ord where two people were camped amongst a lot of woody weeds. Then I got overtaken by a couple from Brisbane who I’d talked to at the campground, in the second car in as many hours. They gave me the remainder of their packet of gingernut biscuits. I asked about getting a lift across the crossing with them but they’re car camping and couldn’t fit me in.

After another fishing camp, the road started to get a bit busier coming the other way. It wound through some low hills and along some lovely valleys to my first river crossing.

I balanced my bike across the handy edge and didn’t get wet at all

I had been feeling quite hot and tired and didn’t really know how far I’d come on a road without distance markers. I was counting down the numbered power poles. They started at around 430 at Parry Creek but I didn’t know where number 1 was.

But then I got to Black Rock Falls, which is very close to the Ivanhoe crossing. It had been about 4.5 hours for around 55k which isn’t particularly quick.

At this time of the dry season, it’s just a small pool at the base of a big black curve of rock but there’s a waterfall in the wet

There was only one other guy there who was a backpacker working in Kununurra. The Aboriginal name given was Thegooyeng which is similar to the name for Kelly’s Knob, presumably both refer to rocks.

It was less than a k in from the road, so I decided against taking the 4wd track to Middle Spring and went back to the road. The entry to Middle Spring was much longer and very sandy. Still there was a small water crossing at the end that I managed to risen across so that was something.

Mayiba, meaning food place. I had a cooling swim here in between brief visits by people in 4wds

Then the backpacker turned up, turns out he’s German called Johannes and working on a papaya farm. He shared the papaya he’d bought with me which was delicious. He also had too much stuff to fit me into his car.

It was not far to the turn off to the long way round. As I was stopped checking the map, another car pulled up to ask if I was okay. They also couldn’t fit me in. I decided three strikes and I may as well ride myself.

The road passed Valentine Spring which was also a pretty pool in black rocks. Going then long way also meant I found out that the power poles are numbered starting from a transformer on the highway. From there, they’re numbered again into Kununurra, a bit over 10ks. I had forgotten to call the backpackers to confirm I’d be back today but couldn’t get through. I was very tired but stopped for another swim at the beach before rolling into the backpackers about 4:30. Turns out I couldn’t get through cause the girl who works here broke her phone while drunk at the rodeo. The Finnish girls who were in my dorm told me no one else was there and they couldn’t lock the door. I had taken the sheets off my bed and left them in a pile which was still there so i remade the bed and moved back in.

Today's ride: 85 km (53 miles)
Total: 865 km (537 miles)

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