What a difference a day makes...
A chilly night meant an early start. Last night it was too cold to stay up, so I retreated to my swag. I was warm enough, but the inside of the swag was rather cold when I woke at 5am. So I made the difficult decision to stay put, rolled over and dozed until 6.
Once I finally steeled myself to the inevitability that I had to get up, it was just starting to become a beautiful dawn. Yes, I know "Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning", but sunset was beautiful as well. So do they cancel each other out to make an OK day?
If you read yesterdays blog, you'll remmeber I said the track was getting worse as I approached Rawlinna? Well I was still 23km north, and the Station owners had told me the track south was more of the same. Allow 4 or 5 hours they said... And they weren't kidding! It took me 7 hours to cover about 120km, and I didn't loiter in Rawlinna this time. I was also mindful of he warnings printed on the maps about the number of station tracks criss-crossing mine, so I zoomed in on the Hema App to give me a metre scale, verified the map to recent vehicle marks, and didn't take a wrong turn! Very happy with that.
Just as I was leaving Rawlinna, one of the trains came through. The size of these things is amazing. You can't help but pause and watch.
Finally, the track started to ease off as I approached Arubiddy and became wide and smooth so that the last 45km was covered at about 60km/h.
At last, Cocklebiddy! The allure of flushing toilets and hot showers is tangible, but mixed with the sadness that the desert tracks part of the trip is over. For a while I did consider the track along the coast to Esperance, but the forecast says there's some bad weather coming through. Plus after nearly 6 weeks, I've done what I planned to do, so it's time to go home. But not by the most direct route... I was looking at the map a few days ago and decided that if I just head to Esperance, then along the coast to Denmark, then home, I'll have done a lap of the State. It would be a shame not to... It's only another couple of days (and not in a swag!)...
A chilly night meant an early start. Last night it was too cold to stay up, so I retreated to my swag. I was warm enough, but the inside of the swag was rather cold when I woke at 5am. So I made the difficult decision to stay put, rolled over and dozed until 6.
Once I finally steeled myself to the inevitability that I had to get up, it was just starting to become a beautiful dawn. Yes, I know "Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning", but sunset was beautiful as well. So do they cancel each other out to make an OK day?
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| Early morning sunshine at camp |
If you read yesterdays blog, you'll remmeber I said the track was getting worse as I approached Rawlinna? Well I was still 23km north, and the Station owners had told me the track south was more of the same. Allow 4 or 5 hours they said... And they weren't kidding! It took me 7 hours to cover about 120km, and I didn't loiter in Rawlinna this time. I was also mindful of he warnings printed on the maps about the number of station tracks criss-crossing mine, so I zoomed in on the Hema App to give me a metre scale, verified the map to recent vehicle marks, and didn't take a wrong turn! Very happy with that.
Just as I was leaving Rawlinna, one of the trains came through. The size of these things is amazing. You can't help but pause and watch.
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| A flying visit through Rawlinna township |
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| While there are a lot of station tracks, these signs help keep you pointed in the right direction |
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| The rough, stony tracks continue... |
Finally, the track started to ease off as I approached Arubiddy and became wide and smooth so that the last 45km was covered at about 60km/h.
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| Open tracks again. Bliss! |
At last, Cocklebiddy! The allure of flushing toilets and hot showers is tangible, but mixed with the sadness that the desert tracks part of the trip is over. For a while I did consider the track along the coast to Esperance, but the forecast says there's some bad weather coming through. Plus after nearly 6 weeks, I've done what I planned to do, so it's time to go home. But not by the most direct route... I was looking at the map a few days ago and decided that if I just head to Esperance, then along the coast to Denmark, then home, I'll have done a lap of the State. It would be a shame not to... It's only another couple of days (and not in a swag!)...
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