Letter 5 from Huw Kingston on his way to Darwin
Read Letter 1: Perth to Carnarvon
Read Letter 2: Carnarvon to Broome
Read Letter 3: Update from Drysdale River Homestead
PERTH2DARWIN UPDATE - 21 JULY 03
Hello All
Wayne and I are sitting on the banks of the Daly River, waiting for our canoes to arrive at the end of nearly 2000km of mountain biking since we last were last paddling along the Kimberley coast. Darwin is less than 400km away with an arrival scheduled for 29th July - a double celebration being also Wayne's birthday.
Claravale Crosssing here on the Daly marks a first for City2City - coming to a place that was visited on a previous journey. During Brisbane2Darwin in 1999 I paddled the Katherine-Flora-Daly rivers to this point. From today we will head another 120km downstream on what I recall as a beautiful river system. Although the further we descend the river the more of our old friends the saltwater crocs we're likely to encounter. We're hoping they will remain as old friends!
Since the last update, we enjoyed some spectacular walking through the Bungle Bungles before some 'interesting' riding, pushing and dragging of the bikes and trailers to the Northern Territory border. With not a track in sight for part of the way it truly was some classic pushwalking!
Once in NT we endured some mind numbingly tedious, vicious headwind riding on the Buntine Highway - highway in name only given we saw 10 vehicles in 3 days (and unbelievably 2 of them were people I knew from NSW!). After close to 100 days of travel I think I hit the wall on that section; the body and brain was saying 'stop the bike I want to get off'. The tonic was the riding through Gregory National Park - the best mountain biking of the journey so far (and there ain't much left!). Narrow, twisting, rocky wheel
ruts over hills, through rivers, past cliffs for 200km or so. It's amazing the hammer the bikes take and the terrain the BOB trailers get through. One added advantage of the trailer is it's damn near impossible to go over the handlebars!
Just out of Gregory NP we hit Timber Creek, our first (and last) town since Broome over 2 months ago and before Darwin. Town? A caravan park, 2 shops (with the most miserable staff in Australia), a bar, police station and National Parks office. Still it was good to spend a day eating and catching up with Wayne's parents who were 'passing through' en route from Broome to Cairns. Then 3 more days of excellent riding through primarily aboriginal lands to the Daly River.
With Darwin just over the horizon, thoughts move toward the end of the journey; looking forward to things like home, that special person there and some decent cold, wet, windy weather. And in reverse, rewinding to the journey that has been (nearly) completed.
Anyway the canoe has arrived; time to float off down the Daly...............
Cheers
Huw
PERTH2DARWIN UPDATE - 7 AUGUST 2003
Hello All
Here in Bundanoon the frost is down on the lawn, my fingers still tingling with cold from an early morning ride. How different from the past 4 months in Western Australia and the Northern Territory where a cool day was 28 degrees.
After 6300km and 112 days, I completed Perth2Darwin, the 6th leg of City2City ,on Tuesday 29 July, when Wayne and I paddled the final 10km across Darwin Harbour from Mandorah to the City. In the final washup it turned out to be the longest City2City journey in distance (by 250km) and time (by 1 day). Arriving in Darwin completed my somewhat circuitous circumnavigation of mainland Australia by foot, ski, kayak and mountain bike covering over 23500km. City2City is not complete of course - there remains the 'side trip' of Melbourne2Hobart (what a magical journey that should be).
Of course those figures are of no consequence. Over the past near 4 months I've once again been lucky to experience the best of outdoor Australia. From Perth up to Broome on my own - paddling the coastline north of Perth and the world heritage Shark Bay, riding remote tracks across the Pilbara with its surprising mountain ranges, walking and swimming through the gorges of the Hammersley Ranges. Then from Broome to Darwin, joined by my good mate Wayne Byard. A month kayaking the unbelievable remote Kimberley coast, threading a route on the mountain bikes through the Kimberley ranges via cattle stations and aboriginal lands to walk the stunning, unique landscape of the Bungle Bungles. Classic mountain biking through the Northern Territory - Gregory NP, Litchfield NP and a week paddling down the Daly River.
In addition to the physical challenges we faced there were times when we faced our own fears, playing with our minds, fuelled by comments of both those who had knowledge and those negative people who are so common in Australia. Fears of crocodiles and such like.
Below, for those of you who receive the City2City email updates, is one written on 21st July on the banks of the Daly River. For technical reasons it was not sent out when it should have been! Of course all the updates from Perth through to Darwin can be found on www.polarismtb.com.au/4w4s/perth2darwin <http://www.polarismtb.com.au/4w4s/perth2darwin> as well as fundraising
details.
Talking of fundraising, most of you will be aware that Perth2Darwin was raising funds for 4Wheels4Sean, a charity dedicated to providing for people severely disabled as the result of a cycling accident in Australia. Many of you have made definite pledges of money, many more have inidicated you would like to contribute. Now is the time. It is dead easy. You can go to the website address above and use your credit card to donate online. Alternately you can send your donations (payable to 4Wheels4Sean) to PO Box 218, Bundanoon, NSW 2578, Australia. Remember that donations are tax deductible. For those who have already pledged support, it would be great to get your donations without having to chase them - there's enough to do in the office when you've been away for 4 months!
The last week of the journey had us paddling down the Daly. I think Snowy, a mate from Darwin who provided the canoe, was having a lend of us. The canadian canoe was green on top with a white underside and two double paddles with white blades. I didn't actually check from under the boat but reckoned you couldn't get a canoe to look more like a croc. We certainly
saw quite a few on the river but maybe they were scared of our disguised canoe! Even the 'massive' one we were warned about by some fishermen near the Douglas confluence, went unseen. From the Daly we had 3 days of good riding up through a burning Litchfield National Park and on out to Mandorah.
To complete a journey such as this requires the assistance of so many people and organizations. For example moving bikes from Cape Leveque north of Broome, to Mitchell Falls where we would finish paddling a month later, involved 5 different organizations. We were amazed they made it! The logistics can get quite complex but everything worked out just about perfectly. Similarly people met along the way offered great support and hospitality.
A few thanks (by no means comprehensive): Mike and Jocelyn Young (Perth), Helen and Stuart Cooksey (Perth), Lee Wright (Carnarvon), Dave Whitelaw (CALM Karajini National Park), Ken Fitzgerald (Mangrove Hotel, Broome), Jules at Over the Top Tours, Broome, Peter Tucker (Broome), Malcolm Douglas (roving the Kimberley Coast), Cockatoo Island, Paspaley Pearl Farms (Talbot Bay and Kuri Bay), Robert Vaughan, Peter and Kay (Kimberley Coastal Camp), John Heywood, Vernon Wright (CALM Mitchell Falls), Paul, Owen and Emma (CALM, Bungle Bungles), Martin Wohling (Darwin), Mick and Joan (Gecko Canoeing, Katherine). Plus many dozens of people who did everything from put me up in a remote homestead, to proffering a cold beer or drink along the trail.
I'm also very fortunate to have the support of a number of businesses who provide equipment for the journeys. I get to trash it, they get test reports and piccies of the gear out there doing what it's supposed to (and sometimes beyond!). My personal thanks to Geoscience Australia, the commonweath government map agency (I must have one of the best private map collections in Oz by now), Outdoor Agencies (Scarpa, Sierra Designs, Ultimate Direction, Alpineaire foods and more), Sea2Summit (MSR, WXTex), Rohloff, Velo Vita (WTB, Sigma, Magura, Time, Serfas and more), BOB Bike Trailers, Perception Kayaks, BikecorpAnd of course to Wayne Byard - thanks mate for sharing some magic in the North West. Can't wait to see the paintings.Thanks to all of you for your support and interest. This office seems a strange place to spend a day.
Cheers
Huw