Day 43: Cossack to Fortescue River Roadhouse

August 30, 2022

I stayed in my bed last night which was a relief for all.

There was a beautiful sunrise as the tide was rushing out

I enjoyed the breakfast again then set out about 7:30. It was not too strong but there was a little headwind and it was busy on the Wickham - roebourne Road. Mum and Dad passed me just before Roebourne.

Once I turned onto the highway I basically got blown to Karratha. I didn’t go into town, the highway is about 7k south, but I stopped at the servo at the eastern entrance for an iced coffee and bought a potato, cheese and onion pastie and a Powerade. Then I sailed into the Miaree Pool Rest Area to enjoy them. They were roughly the same temperature even though it only took an hour.

It was a very nice rest area, a bit off the highway on a lovely stretch of the Maitland river

But it wasn’t yet 12 and I wasn’t going to sit in a tailwind, not riding, all afternoon, no matter how nice it was. I hung around eating for about an hour then pedalled on across some lovely plains.

And found another massive gas plant on the other side

This was at Devil Creek, where the guy who serviced my bike said there was a nice camp spot about 5k off the road. But it was still only 1pm and the wind was still good so I kept on. About an hour later I passed another rest area that was just three picnic tables on the side of the road. I can never pass up on opportunity to sit at a table so I stopped for a wrap.

This was about 40k from Fortescue River Roadhouse. Having 40k left to do at 2:30 is much better than 60. The country is starting to change to more low, grassier hills. Still nothing too challenging to ride but there weren’t the same grassy plains this afternoon. The wind died down and seemed to switch around a little to the west? We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Hills and clouds coming into Fortescue River

I was quite tired, not my legs, just kept yawning, on the way to Fortescue River. I arrived at the roadhouse around 4. They can’t let people stay in tents cause they don’t have a camp kitchen but they make an exception for cyclists. The guy was like: or you can camp at the river for free. I opted to pay for a shower, although perhaps I should have checked out the caravan park first. It’s a bit of a dump. Perhaps because they tell people to camp at the river there’s only one caravan here. I’ve found a picnic table with some grass but there’s obviously a heap of burrs in between it and the toilets cause I keep getting them in my thongs. This’ll be a test of the new tubeless tyre. But the shower was nice, and I’ve set myself up pretty well to get to Bullara on Saturday even if the wind or weather turn.

Clouds made a nice sunset but it’s not as scenic as sunrise

Today's ride: 150 km (93 miles)
Total: 3,025 km (1,879 miles)

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