Day 60: Galena Bridge - Kalbarri - Katherine to Perth 2022

September 16, 2022

Day 60: Galena Bridge - Kalbarri

I wasn’t in too much of a hurry today so packed up and was off by 7. I don’t understand how it takes me the same amount of time whether I hurry or not. I had seen stars last night but it was overcast this morning.

I made my first mistake of the day early, missing the opportunity to ride the old bridge across the river. The dots in the middle are black swans

I had been hoping that the rest area would be opposite the turn but I had to ride another few kilometres of the N.W.C.H’way, as it is referred to on roadsigns. Then I took a turn off down a dirt road.

I was a bit worried about road surface and getting lost.

But it was a vast improvement on the highway

And this chimney was on top of a hill so visible for miles

This area had one of the first mines in WA and the chimney was from a very early smelter.

The smelter was down here and smoke sent up through this tunnel

After a pleasant dirt diversion, I got onto the Kalbarri road. It has no shoulder but it was not busy and the wind was at my back. Unfortunately there were a few hills through farmlands first and the tailwind gave the flies the opportunity to be all over my face. I know flies can be terrible in southern Qld but for some reason I wasn’t expecting it here. They eased off once I was in the national park and it flattened out to coastal scrub.

I snuck into the national park without paying as I have no small cash. It was a very scenic roll down the hill to the Hawks Head lookout.

It feels like a long time since I was in the Kimberley gorges

It was much windier than it appears in the photo

I stopped on the way back up the hill to take photos of more flowers

The final 40k to Kalbarri went quite quickly although the wind and terrain wasn’t quite as favourable as before. There was an awesome descent into Kalbarri looking at the ocean and over the river.

I haven’t taken any “welcome” photos in ages cause I usually can’t be bothered but this one was easy

As I was stopped there, Mum and Dad pulled up as they’d been up to a lookout over town. It was quite gusty getting through town to the two level apartment Mum and Dad have rented! The view from the top floor is straight over the river mouth to the surf.

After lunch, we went out to the sea cliffs part of the national park. This is the way I will ride out but given the strong southerly winds this afternoon I will try to get as far as possible as quickly as possible on Monday. The cliffs are amazing.

Today's ride: 85 km (53 miles)
Total: 4,190 km (2,602 miles)

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