Forgot the antibiotics

Riding to Lake Brockman

08/10/2020

Day Six?

I think I've been out here on the track for about seven days, but I've only ridden about half of them. I realise I've got no idea how long I've been out here. I could get used to this pace. It's about 75 km to the next hut, but only about 35 km to a public campground at Lake Brockman, my goal for the day. Three women from Geraldton, all a bit younger than me, arrived at the hut yesterday afternoon and were off again at first light. Two were finishing at Lake Brockman and the third was riding through to Albany. They mostly rode road bikes on tarmac, but they certainly could cover a lot of ground on dirt tracks without difficulty, too. I got a 0800 start and the young Aussies were about half an hour behind me. We played tag throughout the day; neither of us saw the Geraldton trio.

The huts all have the same format: picnic tables one end, sleeping platforms in the middle, bike storage and water tanks at the other end. The long drop toilet, an undercover bike storage shelter and the overflow tent sites are a short walk away.

Open to the world, you can ride your loaded bike right through the hut, but I think quite rude to do so.

The Parks and Wildlife department is in control of the Munda Biddi track placement and puts in "diversions" when requested by Alcoa and the FPC. Today, we were diverted around a couple of Alcoa's strip mining sites - another little bit of the track lost forever. And just before Lake Brockman there was one particularly difficult hike-a-bike section following a farm fence line / firebreak where I had to unload the bike again and Sherpa my bags and bike to the top.

It may not look it, but this pitch is far too steep to ride up. I had to Sherpa bags and bike separately. The pea gravel makes it difficult to get traction, even when scrambling up it on foot. If you look carefully you can see my bags down the bottom there.

The Lake Brockman caravan park has a friendly cafe with a good menu, and I certainly enjoyed my late lunch. I set up my tent amongst the holiday makers and settled in. I had to make a rushed trip to the camp loo. I know that you should always filter the water at the huts, there are plenty nuff warnings on all the rainwater tanks, but I must have not paid enough attention to my filtering technique because the bug certainly found it's way to my gut. I went to my first aid kit only to realise that I failed to pack my antibiotics (Doh!!). When I ride overseas I always travel with the full range of antibiotics, but I foolishly thought I wouldn't need them here at home. I did have some Gastrostop though, so dosed up hoping that the shits wouldn't come back to haunt me in the middle of the night.

Everyone in the campground went to bed early, the Gastrostop did its job and I had a peaceful night's sleep.

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