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Published: August 13th 2013
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9th August 2013 - Day 17
Distance Traveled today : 167km
Total : 1567km
Almost got wiped out by an older lady who ignored a Give Way sign in town. Fortunately I blinked first and stopped as she stopped half a car length too late. On the way out of town I used the library's free Wifi to check emails and upload this blog. So ended up being on the road at 7:45am, concerned about the distance still to be covered. Spotted four emu's in the morning, one crossed the road ahead of me. Had strong gusts of wind pushing me along for the first 4 or 5 hours, so by midday I was half way. Came across some colourful hills, similar to the ones around the Lark Quarry, welcome change to the constant grass plains. Also had a motorcyclist slow down to chat and later a car, all seemed excited with what I was doing. The grass plains are a lot drier here, with just dirt in places, and they are brown here same as the ground. There isn't even much road kill, the lady at the Caravan Park said there hasn't been descent rain for 8 months. I
made the Caravan Park in Kynuna with lots of time to pitch the tent in daylight.
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10th August 2013 - Day 18
Distance Traveled today : 124km
Total : 1691km
Kangaroo hooped past my tent at night. Saw a Brolga close up at the Caravan Park, huge bird almost as large as an emu. Wasn't afraid either as I go within 1m to photograph it. Fairly late start didn't get on road till after 8am. Initial it was just the wide open plains but with hills in the distance. At McKinlay I had a beer at the Crocodile Dundee pub even thought I haven't seen the movie. Next early lunch / dinner at 1pm as I would be camping between towns. Out of Mckinlay there are a lot more dry creeks / rivers crossing the road so a lot more scrub / trees. Out of town also came across the first termite mounds, some dressed up as people! Arrived at the rest stop just over 40km out of town just before 5pm and setup camp. Other Caravan people also here. Night sky here is spectacular. Unfortunately noisy from trucks going past, sleeping 10m from the highway
sounds like doom is about to descend every time a truck goes by..
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11th August 2013 - Day 19
Distance Traveled today : 65km
Total : 1756km
Fairly early start on road by 8am. Came across the wreckage of a 4WD on its side. Skid marks could be seen going off road, a small tree knocked down, and the 4WD on its side. It looked fresh so I double checked that someone wasn't inside, but there was police tape already on the car. Closer to Cloncurry the road got a lot more hilly with sharp turns, the soil here is also reder, and there are rocky outcrops. Wasn't as easy a day as I expected. Arrived in Cloncurry by around noon, the sign into Cloncurry says that the town gives you a warm welcome and it sure did, it has been the hottest day of the trip. By the time I got to an ATM and booked in a Caravan Park it was pretty much too late to visit the flying doctor museum, so decided to just laze around. Cloncurry is a lot smaller than I had expected.
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12th August 2013 - Day
20
Distance Traveled today : 123km
Total : 1879km
The Caravan Park is right next to the highway so it was no different to the rest area in terms of noise - so didn't get the best nights sleep. Off to fairly early start as sun rises at 7am here and it takes me about an hour to pack and set off. Stopped at the Chinese cemetery on the way out of town. They came here during the gold rush in the late 1800s, many worked as market gardeners and sadly most couldn't afford a proper grave stone, so there are only 3 graves with grave stones. I passed many spectacular, colourful, rocky hills. Unfortunately I also had to climb hill after hill all day, and to make things worse the wind was against me most of the day. A policeman told me I was going the wrong way in terms of the wind yesterday, and he was correct. To make things worse the road has many turns and overtaking is mostly not allowed so I was not given much room by many trucks and caravans. I stopped by the ghost town of Mary Kathleen, it was once a
mining town but in the 1980s the resources finished and the town was auctioned off, unfortunately there are no buildings left just empty space. I finally made it to Mt Isa at around 6 pm first seeing the Chimneys in the distance (glad to do so!). Staying in my own room at the Travellers Heaven, was told to hide and lock bike or otherwise it won't be around tomorrow. McDonalds for dinner for the first time in a while.
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13th August 2013 - Day 21
Distance Traveled today : 0km
Total : 1879km
Day off today, so did the laundry first time in a while, had my bike serviced (adjustment to the gears and rear wheel had to be re-aligned), had a hair cut and did some shopping for the next couple of days. Also visited Outback at Isa which has a run down of the history of Mt Isa, as well as fossil display from the Riversleigh area. Finally ended the afternoon watching the sun set from the lookout, which has spectacular views in all directions.
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Janusz
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Podziwiamy Twoj wysilek.Zyczymy osiagniecia celu. Zycza Dziadkowie i cala rodzina.