Day 134: Rest day

June 24, 2021

It was great to sleep in a nice bed.

This morning I headed to Casuarina, a suburb 13kms from the hotel.

My haemoglobin was a little low and the nurse said I should eat a steak the night before I donate. Need to get more protein into me.

One convenient thing about donating is that I have to weigh myself each time I donate.

When I stepped on the scales I was pleased to see I had lost another 5kgs since Cairns.

In total I've lost 11kgs on this trip. I hope to loose another 14kgs to get me back into a healthy weight range.

Less weight on my body also means less total weight I have to pedal around this gigantic country.

The food parcel Serena mailed for me has been stuck in Melbourne for 7 days and Australia Post's only advice is to wait. It could take another week.

I can't wait around for it. I went to a camping store and bought 21 dehydrated meals.

The post office did have my water bladders and pillow from Adelaide.

The person I spoke to at the post office said it's better to address a parcel 'care of' a post office instead of using the Australia Post App to create a parcel locker address.

Using a Co address, they will hold it for 28 days. The parcel lockers are only held for 10 days.

My phone parts arrived and I left my phone at the repair shop for 2 hours for them to replace the charging port and one of the cameras.

The end result was a marginal improvement yet the images in the middle ground were still blurry.

I was a little devastated. Apparently it's a common fault with my model of phone. The owner of the shop had had a similar problem with his phone. I don't want to continue this trip with a substandard camera.

Perhaps in a moment of impulse and extravagance while furious with my circumstances, I went to a phone shop and bought a new phone.

Problem solved.

In amongst all of this cycling around town I had to don my rain jacket as the skies opened up and torrents of water fell for a couple of hours.

It washed most of the red dust off my bike. The colour of the dirt in the Northern Territory is a beautiful ochre. I never thought dirt could be so pretty.

I ended the day with a Nepalese dinner of chicken, goat, chilli, spices and a masala tea.

Today's ride: 33 km (20 miles)
Total: 6,597 km (4,097 miles)

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Rita McCarthyDoesn’t hurt to have a spare phone.
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3 years ago

Vince McCarthyIt's extra weight and volume on the bike to have a spare phone. I'll give it to Serena to pass on to someone who needs a phone.
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3 years ago