Gulf!

We made it to the Gulf!
Have just had a lovely few days in Normanton and Karumba.
I hope my previous post hasn't turned anyone off cycle touring- it was an exceptional day, probably our toughest yet.
Ryan has new tyres which are proving good and tough (thanks to Atherton Bike shop and the Normanton coach/courier service!), I continue puncture free thanks to the bargain Schwalbe Big Apples from the good folk at Bicycle Revolution in Bris.

So many highlights! Almost everything is a highlight. We're trying to get to bed to get up early tomorrow and start our longest stretch (205km) between water to Burke and Wills Road House.
So won't try to describe them too descriptively, but once again resort to list form:

• Normanton state school fete! How lucky we were to be in town for one of the biggest social events of the year!
• Watching the sun set over the gulf of carpentaria (although no, we couldn't swim in it)
• Riding a 105km day.
• So many birds, I'm at around 110 species for the trip (despite myself I've become one of those list makers)- including a bustard, burdekin ducks, rufous throated honeyeater, pied herons in the past few days...
• Spending long hours chatting with the lovely Mark and Erika, our amazing Normanton hosts (who also picked us up from Karumba, saving us riding back the 70km into a headwind and got us back in time for the fete- thanks a million guys!).
• Picking up an amazing package (contents pictured) from Dad at the Normanton Post Office- it was better than Christmas! Dried fruit and veg, quinoa, macadamias, crosswords thanks to mum, anything we could have possibly thought of and more! Yum yum yum we will most certainly be well fuelled on the next leg, and we may well need it more than ever as we turn south into possible headwinds, eek!

Ryan did a blind test of hot chips claimed to be the best in the southern hemisphere. The jury is still out but it made us pretty happy anyway.









Getting blown away by our first strong crosswinds. Note my caravan-park-chic helmet hat (version one, as that one was quickly destroyed by wind and cats)




Sunset and beer at the Gulf.
Pretty stoked to have made it this far.