Week 1

We left Melbourne on a hot day in March and rode to Macedon 56 km and stayed with friends.
On to Heathcote 78kms really nice- set up a tent in a camp kitchen
Elmore 60 km with half of it via the O’Keefe rail trail was wonderful to be off the roads. It was raining so we set up in the old spidery shed
Echuca 44kms stopped for lunch at Rochester which is the birthplace of great Australian cyclist Hubert Opperman. Camped at an expensive caravan park in town. Met lovely campers and a great camp kitchen
MurrayBank at Picnic Point 44kms gorgeously perfect lovely owners of a little wild park
Nathalia 55kms Noisy lots of French fruit pickers playing doof doof music  all night
Barooga 65kms Nice owners & friendly Malaysian pickers. 84 km and two nights in beautiful Corowa. By the Murray River – perfect rest day.

Week2 

Rode 66 km to Ettamogga pub and free camped out the back it was great but have heard it’s closed now!
Holbrook 47kms off the highway via back roads
Tarcutta 90 km free camped next to the Hume thank god for earplugs
Gundagai 62 km
Jugiong 42kms beautiful  free camp and lovely meal at the pub
Yass was a hard 62kms along the Hume Highway into a headwind with some big hills

Week 3

Rode off through the hills to Canberra 61Kms and we enjoyed 2 days exploring Australia’s Capitol City.
Back to Yass 61 km
Yass to Boorowa 58kms
Cowra 77 km was an interesting place there was a Japanese  prisoner of war camp there during WW2 and some prisoners escaped, but many were hunted down and killed
To beautiful and peaceful Canowindra (pronounced Can- ow-n-dra) 47 km

Week 4

Molong 70 km camped right next to the highway- not a wink of sleep!
Wellington Caves 58 km was a lovely place to camp on the edge of a national park.
Gulgong 80kms
Spent Easter at Mudgee for the Mudgee Bike Muster 33kms

Week 5

Returned to Gulgong rode along the Henry Lawson Way 37kms
Coolah 75kms
Free camp at Binnaway via the Black Stump Way 73 km
Coonabarrabran 58kms
A big day to Narrabri through the Pillaga Forrest 125kms
Free camp at Belatta Golf Club was fantastic – great meal and peaceful camp.
Moree to take a dip in the hot springs 54kms rest day

Week 6

We decided to get off the highway and headed west to Boomi 99kms into a headwind – tough but they have springs there and that was lovely. Next stop Talwood it was raining heavily 36 km of free camp
Westmar 79kms free camped at a trucker stop.
Meandarra is 74 km lovely beside the creek and we met great campers there.
Condamine 53km
Possum Park is 90 km worth pushing on after lunch at Miles
Wandoan 71kms

Week 7

Taroom 61Kms camped out the back of the pub it was great
Theodore 97 km free camp on the river and met campers we had met previously.
Moura 59kms
Dululu 99kms free camp
Rockhampton 73kms

Week 8

Marlborough 107 free camp at the back of the pub
St Lawrence 83kms is a beautiful community camp with lots of animals and birdlife.
Clairview 42kms it was lovely to be at the beach- had a rest day
93kms to Sarina
51kms to Blacks Beach for a few day’s rest just past Mackay

Week 9

Calen 62kms
Proserpine 78kms
Bowen 70 km where we hunkered down in a cabin for 2 days. Caught a fish for dinner before the rain came. Then we had a tropical storm for 2 days 400mms
Molongle Creek 71 km caught fish for dinner lovely spot to camp.

Week 10

Ayr 58 km
Woodstock 78kms stealth camped at a recreation reserve
Mingela 44kms stayed out the back of the pub for $5 lovely people there and friendly locals. Charters Towers 50 km
107kms Pentland Pub was a great free camp
Stayed at a quirky and historic Prarie pub 96kms and then a short 46 km ride into Hughenden

Week 11

left Hughenden and arrived at Richmond for a rest day of 116 km. Lovely spot with lots of fossils, even in rocks on the side of the road used for edging! Millions of years ago it was the sea here.
Wednesday rode to Corella Creek Country Farm staying 103 km. Lots of free-range ducks, chooks, guinea fowl, goats and a darling rescued Brahman called Millie.
Julia Creek 51 km – it’s a friendly little town. Janine in the Marwill store gave us a new tube for free! They have a triathlon there so had emergency bike gear.
A big day’s ride to Cloncurry 140 km. As we rode into the caravan park exhausted some workers asked us if we’d seen an accident we said we’d seen the police, fire and ambulance go by. One guy said he was glad we were safe “They were talking about you guys on the CB radios, thought it might have been you.” It’s nice to know people are watching out for us.
On a hilly ride, 2 lots of travellers stopped and offered us goods and water. We turned off the highway to get to the amazing Clem Walton Park 56 km. It’s a lake in the outback!!! Free camping at its best.
A tough hot and hilly 69 km ride to Mt Isa: Rest day tomorrow to prepare for some remote outback cycling and camping as we head into the Northern Territory.

Week 12

We left Mt Isa after a rest day and after 102 km we camped at a rest area on the side of the road. We met some fantastic travellers who made us great coffee for breakfast- thanks Rosa and Mick. Rolled into Camooweal after a lumpy 91kms and stayed behind the pub and enjoyed a meal and some great company with Tam and Marco!
Woo hoo, we crossed into the Northern Territory and stayed at Avon Downs rest area 70 km, opp an outback police station literally in the middle of nowhere. Sargeant Robyn stopped us on the way for a chat. Then it was 66 km into a headwind to Soudan Bore rest area: no water no nothing there except a beautiful sunset and incredible full moon and night sky!
We have become acutely aware of the importance of carrying extra water as our supply diminishes with coffee, noodles and just drinking it, and there is not much about it.
Yesterday, we had a sweet tailwind and managed the 120 km to the gorgeous oasis that is Barkly Homestead Roadhouse. Onward today towards Threeways with a bush camp in the way.

Week 13

Sunday took off early from Barkly Homestead rode 116 km and made camp off to the side of the road. The next day’s ride into Three Ways was 71 km and I must admit we were thinking of having a rest day there, but it wasn’t great so we camped there overnight and then headed to Banka Banka Station 77 km, where we were greeted by some new friends we had made back in Qld. They invited us to their campsite for a delicious vegan, Sri Lankan curry. OMG, I had 3 helpings!!! We then went and listened to a morbid country and western singer who sang depressing songs that no one knew so we couldn’t even sing along with him. This didn’t stop our friends from entertaining the crowd with some incredible ballroom dancing which was fantastic. Afterwards, we had our own sing-along back at the camp.
Onwards to Renner Springs 70 km, Elliot 92 km and Dunmarra 108 km, where we woke in the night to dingoes making their ghostly howl.
Travelling through the beautifully wooded country with lots of different trees coming into flower: Grevillea, bottlebrush, wattle and flowering gums. The birds are too quick to photograph and identify, but we have seen lots of chats, finches, budgies, cockatoos and eagles.
A short ride on Saturday 52 km to be at the famous Daly Waters pub, where we met Tasmanian Graeme. Nick asked him about eating mutton bird and Graeme just happened to have some in his fridge and shared it with us. It was delicious kind of like fishy chicken!!
Then we rock and roll the night away to some good old country… and western., and rock… and roll outback style!
We up early and rode the 93 km to Larrimah where we were staying out back of the pub.
We are mostly out of internet and phone range this week and it’s quite nice to digitally detox. It’s also getting hotter so we are trying to start at daylight and get some kilometres done early.

Week 14

Left Larrimah early on Monday morning and got to Mataranka around lunchtime at 81kms. We spent all afternoon in the warm river at the beautiful Bitter Springs where we floated to an endpoint then walked back and floated again… and again… and again! The restorative powers of the hot spring water worked wonders on our weary cyclist bones and muscles. We decided we needed a rest so spent the next day doing the same- it was fantastic!
Rode a big, hilly 113 km day with a headwind to Katherine. It is a really beautiful country! Katherine is the first big town we have been to since Mt Isa 2 weeks prior so we did some much-needed shopping. We then tried to check into a campground who refused us due to our “tent” status. We ended up going another 7 km to another park on the outskirts of town.
Pine Creek 95 km was another hot and hilly day but the scenery is breathtaking. Saw buffalos, donkeys, horses and a couple of snakes sunning themselves on the edge of the road. Riding along the road between Kakadu and Litchfield it’s beautiful.
Decided to have a short day to Hayes Creek 55 km. That was a great decision because after checking there were no Crocs, we spent the afternoon swimming in the river- could have stayed a week but took off the next morning and rode through floodplains and over river beds, both wet and dry, where we looked for crocs but didn’t see any. Got to Coomalie Creek 83 km and camped on a farm.
A smokey 65 km victory ride into Darwin- they are burning off and the smoke just sits in the air and that made it a tough ride.
Nick and I share a real sense of achievement that we got here to Darwin- Yippee.

Total so far 6029 km