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Report of a self-supported and self-planned bicycle tour on the famous Birdsville Track, Australia. Monsoon rains added an unexpected degree of difficulty...

Summer, Sun, Sand and Mud - cycling the Birdsville Track, Australia

Waltraud
2004-03-05 13:53:55

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fight our way on an old fire management road through a gorge. The dried out river bed has its special challenges. The rocks make cycling almost impossible. But we are impressed by the gorge with its water holes and old Eucalyptus trees and the many colorful birds. The mountain range abruptly is over. The country now is flat, without trees. We have reached the desert – we think. But at a closer look, there still is plenty of vegetation. The annual rainfall still is higher than what it would be for deserts. Only in summer, many plants are already dried out, giving the desert-like impression.

In the distance we see a RoadTrain, one of those large trucks with up to three trailers. That's were the paved road is leading to Marree. That's where we need to go. Since hours we fight against the wind on a totally corrugated gravel road. We want to reach Parachilna today, a roadhouse – that's where we can refill water and have a cold drink. But it takes us two hours to cover the 22 km. The wind is increasing, so that we have to protect ourselves against the dust, by covering our faces, but this is highly unpleasant at 40°C. We reach Parachilna totally exhausted at eleven o'clock, and we wait until six o'clock in the afternoon before we decide to continue. We have not waited so long on the days before. Even now, as we are back on the road, we still measure 35°C and the heat is reflected by the asphalt.

Storm and dust

It did not seem to cool down at night. In the morning, half an hour before sunrise we measure 29°C. We wake up sweated wet, even though we are already naked. How should it be possible to regenerate?

Today we reach the end of the paved road in Lyndhust. We passed Leigh Creek and Coperey, two towns in which there is big time coal mining. The mines seem huge, covering the landscape to the horizon. We feel the dust in our faces blown there by the strong headwind. During the morning, the wind ...