Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - Old Laura to Hann Crossing

Day: 028
Date: Thursday, 24 August 2006
Summary: Riding from Old Laura to Hann Crossing.
Start: Old Laura
Finish: Hann Crossing
Daily Kilometres: 85
Total Kilometres: 3534
Weather: Warm, partly cloudy and humid with easterly winds.
Accommodation: Hann Crossing National Park back country campground, Lakefield National Park , Queensland.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli
  Lunch:  Peanut butter roll and apple
  Dinner:  Muesli and muesli bars
Encounters: A dingo pup on the road and a wallaby.
Highlights: Eating my dinner (bowl of muesli) sitting on a rock at sunset overlooking the deep and peaceful North Kennedy River (there’s crocs in there!).
Lowlights: I found the rough road physically very draining and began wondering if I might be sick.  I stopped early.

Journal:
I packed up in the pre-dawn gloom and hit the road about 7:00am.  I had hoped it might be in better condition, but I was very disappointed to again encounter almost non-stop corrugations, interspersed with sand and rocky bits.  The best speed I can manage on the corrugations is about 12kph and everything, including me, is being shaken vigorously.

I stopped around 8:30am and had breakfast next to a beautiful lily and lotus covered lagoon and then continued on the bone-jarring way.  At this rate, I knew I had no hope of reaching Musgrave (170km away) today.  About an hour later, the road changed into baked mud which, while still rough, allowed greater speed and I once again entertained the idea of getting to Musgrave, although I could only do it if the road did not deteriorate again.  At 11:30am I deviated 3km off the road to the Kalpower Crossing Campground to have an early lunch and refill my water bottles.  I needed to be prepared in case I had to camp out again.  The countryside is mostly flat savannah with long dry grass and a reasonable number of trees and endless castle-like two metre plus anthills and/or termite mounds.  The road also frequently passed lagoons and creeks with water in them and lush vegetation surrounding.

After lunch the road deteriorated again, and I began to feel very tired.  I think that using every muscle to maintain control and concentrating hard is taking its toll.  I began to think that I might be better to aim for Musgrave tomorrow night and use up one of my spare days to have an earlier night, rather than push on and end up having to camp by the road.  I decided to stop at the Hann Crossing campground which I reached about 3:00pm and, after a bit of looking around, found a site.  I retrieved some water from the river, watching carefully for crocodiles, and had a wash and set up camp.  I followed this with a bit of a walk and an early dinner of muesli, yet again. Something else would have been nice, but I didn’t bring enough bread.

I have 85km to get to Musgrave tomorrow which I should be able to manage, regardless of the road condition.  If I’m lucky, and the road improves, I will be able to have an early stop and, hopefully, get a motel room (which Musgrave is supposed to have, but who knows).  I went to bed soon after 7:00pm, looking forward to a long night’s sleep.