NQ 2 NT Journal Entry
Day 12
Croydon To Normanton
By: Mark “Sharky” Smoothy
Daily statistics
Distance: 148km’s
Accumulated Distance: 2243km’s
Average speed: 29kmph
Metres Climbed: 71 metres (Nearly a dead flat day)
Riding time: 5:22
Air Temperature: 39 degrees
Humidity: 40%
Wind direction: East south east. (Hitting us from right hand side but still behind)
Road Kill Count: Black Pigs X 4, Pheasants x 4, Skippy’s X 3. Never before in the history of road kill have the Skippy’s taken a beating, well today was that day. I wish Schindler was here to see it happen. A very quiet day indeed, never seen or heard anything like it. To be honest, I have to admit, I needed a slow kill day, as the pressure was getting to me. How does the great one do it consistently for eight days straight I will never know? Schindi I bow before you.
Just before I begin with today’s journal I wanted to thank a couple of special people. First Danielle Dobson and Wayne and Kirsty Hicks for their help in designing the flyer and for paying for the printing costs in involved in producing the flyers. There is also a special young lady out there reading this called Eliza Craig, daughter of Smiddy road crew member, Shane Craig. The header that you see above was designed by Eliza and she did this at school for us. As well, the whole Craig family helped come up with the name NQ to NT over dinner one night at their home in Bardon. Falcon and I think of you guys often and how you helped us make this possible. Thanks heaps and we look forward to popping over one night when we get back to show you our sore bottoms!
And on that subject I would like to categorically state that both Falcon and my bottoms are taking a bit of a bashing. Each morning is always the hardest as we search for that sweet spot that gives us the least amount of pain. On a brighter note Kim and Kevy’s bottoms are coping well with the bumpy tar sealed roads in their plush wide 4WD seats. Kevy complains sometimes that his accelerator foot gets a little tired and Kim’s right index finger and thumb is a bit sore from adjusting the air-conditioner all the time!
So onto the road report for today; we managed to get away right on 8a.m. A small miracle for sure as each morning is always progressively harder to get going- for me at least. Kevy is brilliant in that each morning he exerts a gentle but firm pressure to get us moving through our morning ritual without sucking up to much of our limited and valuable cool morning ride time. (From 11am it is getting close to max temp for the day)
Anyway the wind that we have had at our backs for so long was still there but also hitting us from the side. The roads now are dead flat and incredibly long and dead straight. There is very little vegetation or sights to see to break the tedious monotony of riding in a straight line for up to 20kms. When we sight a curve it is with much excitement for 30 seconds and then back to the mind games of dealing with the next straight. I am not riding with my usual enthusiasm and efficiency due to the old body trying to fight this cold while cycling up to six hours each day. That is where the ‘Falcon’ has been earning his keep, and earning my utmost respect. Today he did some incredibly long turns, up to 40km’s at a time, sheltering me from the wind and protecting me as best he can. I need to put this into perspective and then I will drop it; if we are riding side by side our average speed is 28kmph. With Falcon out front and me just off to his back wheel on his left-hand side we are able to average 32kmph! It is a massive difference and it gets us into our next stop up to an hour earlier.
Cameron Single rode the Cape trip with me last year, Cam I know you will be reading this; you were great last year at taking care of me but the ‘Falcon’ ultimately rules as he is twice the size of you and blocks more wind, so you are sacked from any future Sharky adventures! Cam was actually invited to do this epic ride with us this year and I can’t write what his response was...
After leaving Croydon the two K’s went and paid a visit to Lake Belmore, just four kilometres out of town. At capacity it holds 5000 megalitres of water, it is huge and inviting and safe to swim in. They then went on to visit one of six known cemeteries in Croydon; there are two more but their location remains unknown to this day. Now every cemetery contains sadness but none more so than cemeteries at Croydon. There are literally thousands of unknowns buried across these 8 cemeteries. So many infants, children and adults died during plague time in the late 1800’s. Back then government officials were lax in keeping records, hence the reason that most of the sites are only marked with a small stake and a number on top. When Kim recounted her story to me I could see that she was visibly moved by her experience.
Today’s highlight for all of us was when we stopped on a bridge that had a gorgeous view of an exceptional river, exceptional in that it actually had water in it. Most of the rain here falls, and falls hard I might add –up to 50 inches of rain- from January to April and then nothing until the same period the following year. Anyway the road crew had caught us just as we were crossing this bridge and we spotted not one croc but three crocodiles lying in the water, just waiting for two unsuspecting hot cyclists to put their spindly legs in the water to cool off, and then whammo, lunch time for Mr Croc and his kidlets.
Speaking of crocodiles, in 1957 the world’s largest salt-water crocodile was shot on the MacArthur bank in the waters of the Norman River, which ironically is perilously close to Normanton and where we are actually sleeping at this very moment! Anyway my old mate was christened with the name of Krys the Savannah King. In the L.E.W. Henry Park at Normanton lies an exact replica of Krys and he measures 8.6 metres or 28 feet long. Of course Kim and I took turns to take photos of each other lying inside its huge cavernous mouth.
Just a few quick facts of Normanton to finish with; it was established back in the late 1800’s, has a population now of 1100 people, and just for something different it came about because of the gold rush, fancy that, I can see a bit of a pattern here... The locals are friendly and the indigenous population increases the further west we go. Kim and I had a good chat to an aboriginal bloke in the pub tonight who had lost his Mum to cancer and he said what we are doing is a nice thing and he wished that his mother had the chance to be saved.
Incredible acts of kindness today came in the way of two caravans pulling up within 10 minutes of one another and donating a small amount of cash. They heard what we were doing via chatter on the truckies channel UHF 40. Also tonight, when eating at the Central Motel, the crew listened to our story and donated a generous amount of $100.00. When we asked who to send the receipt to we were told to send it to Kim, not our Kim, another Kim, third one this trip, c/o Kim at the Central Motel Normanton, so thank you Kim.
Tomorrow we have about 30km’s left of tarmac before hitting the dirt and I for one am nervous but excited. My health is improving all the time but I still lack the special Sharky gas that ignites my energy levels and passion, no not that kind of gas!
Until tomorrow take care and thanks for following our journey.
P.S. Falcon and I would like to say a special hi to Jae Marr and all the gang at UQ Aquatic Centre and all our mates at the Triads tri club. We know you guys are following our progress and it is appreciated all round.
P.P.S Tonight we camp and won't have internet access until Sunday evening when we reach Burketown, but the journals will catch up then!
Sharky.