June 1, 2021
Day 111: Hell's Gate to bush camp
Start: 7:45am
Distance: 73kms
Ride time: 4:22hrs
Average: 17km/hr
Max: 38km/hr
Finish: 1:30pm
The dirt road started straight away.
I left with 16 litres of water. I didn't need to carry this much in hindsight. I was just a little nervous that the river might be dry or full of ravenous attacking crocodiles.
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I saw Ruth setting up some road markers. She had her back to me. I said "good morning" and that accidentally scared her.
She was frightened of pigs attacking her. She said: "I thought you were a pig, they can kill ya, ya know!"
Once Ruth calmed we spoke for 10 minutes. She was a lovely person. She commented on some birds that were chirping or flying about and I was able to ID them for her.
We also spoke about how some caravaners travel too quickly on the dirt roads.
She used to drive 'the quads.' I thought she was referring to 4 wheel motorbikes but she meant the big road trains with 4 trailers.
I could have easily talked longer with her. I needed to do a lot more kms so off I went.
It lasted for a few kms before turning back to a normal bumpy gravel road.
This poor dead snake had just been hit by a car. This is a very light coloured tiger snake. In the south-east of Australia they are a lot darker.
(Edit: I now think this is a woma python.)
I think it's a type of rattlepod, probably a weed.
This is the only one I saw. It happens occasionally that I'll only see one plant or flower as I'm pedalling along.
At the 41km mark there was a 10km bitumen section. A nice surprise.
This is my first water stop at the 50km mark. I had already drunk 3 litres so I filled up my water bottles with water from here with the intention to use it to wash with at the end of the day.
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3 years ago
There are no border staff here. Just a cattle grid on the road and a couple of signs.
While I was in Hell's Gate Serena filled out an online permit for me allowing me to cross the border.
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I only needed to do 70kms today. I had been looking for a suitable camp spot for 3kms.
There was a track going behind it to an area for stock to drink and there was a little shade.
I made camp next to the water again with the hope of seeing some wildlife. Friendly wildlife, not killer feral pigs.
I collected some dirt on my trip today.
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The water tank had a roof on it with an inspection lid.
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I was a little afraid of the carbon dioxide levels or finding dead birds or bats or live spiders or snakes.
I jumped in the water and had a good wash and washed my clothes.
It was pretty amazing to have my own pool at a random bush camp.
(Edit: A friend thought this was a water tank for humans. It's not, it's only for stock water.)
Next I threw out the water I had collected from Branch Creek and refilled the water bottles from the water tank.
In hindsight I should have done this before I washed myself in it. Hehehe
Once I had done my chores, I used my sleeping bag as a cushion and sat on a log next to the water hole.
I was only 5 metres from the water and if I kept still the birds didn't mind me being there.
I saw a few different species of small birds coming in for a drink. These are the ones I photographed:
This is the first time I've been able to photograph a pigeon. Usually they fly away before I get close enough.
As always I'm happy to be corrected on these IDs. I also saw galahs, willy wagtails and lorikeets.
This is a great bush camp!
Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 5,201 km (3,230 miles)
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3 years ago