Day 53: Carnarvon to Wooramel Roadhouse

September 9, 2022

There was some rain forecast today but it was clear, if overcast, when I woke up. I enjoyed Mum and Dad’s cereal and tea for breakfast before heading off about 9. I went around the back of the airport on a nice quiet road.

And enjoyed the silhouette of the telescope in the early morning

Mum and Dad went to the space museum but I didn’t get the story of what happened there, only that you could stand in front of a green screen and get a photo like you were on the moon. The skies would definitely not be polluted with light I guess.

The quiet road couldn’t last as I had to turn back onto the highway.

I felt like it was constantly uphill, as well as into the wind which has picked up again today. Mum and Dad passed me about 50k out of Carnarvon, heading for Hamelin where I’ll hopefully meet them tomorrow.

I stopped to read a historical sign (not like I was going fast anyway), at the 40 mile tank. In the 30s, the government put in water tanks along the dusty road from Geraldton to Carnarvon, which were maintained until the 60s. In 1961, the water tank was also the refuge for Carnarvon residents evacuated from a big flood. So I felt justified in thinking it was all uphill to there.

Was once a lonely tank, is now a lonely picnic table

Just as I thought I was getting close to the rest area for lunch, I heard the bad popping and hissing sound of sealant leaking out of my tyre. I stopped cause I thought it was my plug fallen out. It was not, it was a different hole. I tried to keep riding in the hope it would seal but it did not. I don’t really know what’s best but I decided to put a tube in so that there’s an extra layer to hopefully see me through. I know I chose the bike based on the off-road stuff but I thought it would hold up better on the sealed. Anyway, it was reasonably straightforward to change, just annoying to have to try and scoop fresh sealant out of a tyre on the side of the road for a second time this trip.

I then rolled onto the rest area for a quick wrap with the banana that I smuggled through the Carnarvon agricultural area.

I was paranoid about losing air from my tyre for the afternoon but it was actually just a head wind that made it a bit hard! It also was spitting with rain for a while, not enough to make me wet, but it didn’t really lift my spirits either. Finally I reached the Wooramel River.

Fallen over windmill and probably the tallest tree of the day near the Wooramel river

I checked into the campsite and sat undercover in the camp kitchen as it rained a little bit. I called the bike shop in Geraldton again, and they said there’s a company that does daily freight runs to Kalbarri so I’ve bought a new tyre and will get it delivered to Mum and Dad in Kalbarri. Hopefully I can get there too!

The resident feral goats seemed to be enjoying it

Today's ride: 125 km (78 miles)
Total: 3,805 km (2,363 miles)

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