#5,#20

Darwin to Perth ... a quick ride across the continent

In between some more riding in high mountains I decided to try a different thing: a ride on flat ground, with high dayly mileage and no rest days. I wanted a test to see how far can I go without being fed up or uncomfortable.

General information

ROUTE: From Darwin south to Katherine on Stuart highway, then to the west on highway 1 to Kununurra, on unsealed Gibb River road to Derby, south to Broome and Port Hedland, then inland on Great Northern Highway (#95) to Newman, a 160 km detour to Karijini national park, back on #95 and down to Mt. Magnet, a 400 km detour toward Geraldton (on #123) and back to Mt. Magnet, and then on #95 to Perth through Wubin and New Norcia.

ROADS: Asphalt most of the way, except 640 km on Gibb river road and 100 km in Karijini natinal park. Asphalt is of rough variety, with a bit smoother sections from Port Hedland to Perth. Unsealed roads with corrugations, stones, loose gravel and clouds of red dust are a real tester of how much you can handle.

MAPS: I ride without the map nowdays (see more about that approach on weight page). This time also I made a card with riding directions taken from 1:4M Australia map and from some guide books, but I didn't make much use of it. If there is a ride in the world where you don't need a map, then it's cross-Australia ride. You can check your progress on the maps that hang on the walls of roadhouses, and there you can also get great selection of the maps and road atlases if you are a map lover.

TRAFFIC: Australia is famous for its road trains - big trucks with up to 4 trailers - which can be more then 50 m long. I counted the traffic on some sections: on an average bussy section 6 road trains and 19 cars passed in my direction in one hour. They all took a wide path arround me. In 4700 km there were only 3 road trains and a couple of cars that passed irritatingly close. The ride in Perth - and other big cities, I presume - is a different story: the cars are passing too close to have an enjoyable ride.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: I flew with Quantas which allows 20 kg of free check-in luggage and I easily complied with that. In Perth airport I got a bike box for 16.5 AUD.

ACCOMMODATION: I slept in a tent 31 out of 34 nights, half of that as a "wild" or free camping and half in camps ("Caravan parks"), where I paid from $5 to $15 for a tent site. Caravan parks usualy have also rooms (cabins, "dongas") for about $50 with common bathroom.

FOOD AND WATER: Food is readily available in roadhouses, stores and supermarkets. Water can be taken from roadhouses and caravan parks, on Gibb River road you can take it from rivers with some treatment. In the hot north I drunk up to 4 liters per day (but usually less then 3) and carried up to 5 liters, much less in the south.

COSTS: With the exception of food bought in supermarkets Australia appeared expensive to me. In restaurants coffee is $2.5, beer $4.5, steak with chips $26. I spent $32 ($27 US or 20 EUR) per day.

VISAS: You can get Australian visa through the internet. To me it was also cheeper, as the Australian embassy demanded almost 3 times as much as I paid through the net.

WEATHER: July is dry and not too hot in the north - that's why the caravaners from all Australia gather there at that time. The temeratures in the north were from 10 deg C in the morning to 27 deg C midday. In the south the mornings were colder, down to 5 deg C, and days up to 23 deg C, but there were some rain, most of it fortunately falling by night. I recorded temperatures over one day in Gibb river road (north) and around Kumarina Rh (south). Daylight 11 hours (6:30 to 17:30). The wind can be strong. I had faworable wind most of the way, with the exception of a stretch Darwin-Katherine and some parts on the road #95. See wind map for Australia to plan the direction of the trip - it can mean a big difference.

SITES: I am fond of vast spaces which extend to the horizon, but this time I was a bit disappointed to find that the bush that starts at the edge of the road confines the view to few tens of meters. In that regard Stuart Hwy is a better riding choice. Gibb river road has some more varied scenery and some superb gorges, as well as Karijini NP. The Pilbara region is also very nice as is the final few hundred kms of cultivated and slightly hilly land before Perth.

ANNOYANCES: Flies are probably the worst annoying element of this ride. In winter I didn't use the fly net, but in hotter months it is a must.

EQUIPMENT: Road bike and very little more - the least so far for a camping trip in fact, only 6200 grams. See the weight page for a list of items on similarily light-weight trips.

REPAIRS: Nothing really happened, but there was a potential problem: the back tyre started cracking at the wire bead, so I pathced it with duct tape, and that hold good for 1500 km. No punctures in 4700 km.

LINKS: One year by bicycle is a usefull page for planning this kind of trip.

Od Darwina do Pertha ... brez dneva počitka
Že od nekdaj so me živcirale izjave svetovnih kolesarjev, a la "Jaz raje kolesarim po hribih, v ravnini mi je tako dolgčas!", zato sem zanalašč izbral tole dolgo, ravninsko in "dolgočasno" turo v upanju da zgoraj omenjeni mojstri ne bodo brali tega poročila.
Splošne informacije
POT: Pot se je začela v Darwinu in nadaljevala po Stuart hwy do Katherine, nato proti zahodu po cesti #1 (Victoria hwy) do Kununurre, sledil je 700 km dolg makadamski odsek po (kar znameniti) Gibb River road, nato pa spet po asfaltu skozi derby, Broome in Port Headland, potem sem skrenil proti notranjosti po cesti #95 (Great Northern hwy) in po njej vozil do Pertha z nekaj stranskimi vložki (100 km do Karijini NP in 400 km v smeri Geraldtona po cesti #123).

CESTE: Večinoma asfalt, ki pa je veliko bolj grob kot smo navajeni in zato precej "bremza". Okoli 800 km makadama se lahko ponosno postavi ob bok najbolj zoprnim svetovnim makadamskim cestam (a la Tibet na primer) - ima pa še dodaten šarm, ko te konvoji 4WD s prikolicami zavijejo v rdeči prah.

ZEMLJEVID: S temi otroškim boleznimi sem opravil - sedaj ne vozim več z zemljevidom. Zakaj in kako glej na strani "weight". Kdor pa za vsako ceno želi imeti karto, priporočam, da počaka do prihoda v Avstralijo in jo kupi na kaki bencinski postaji - tam imajo karte in atlase za najbolj izbirčen okus.

PROMET: Za Avstralijo so značilni "road train"i, kamioni z do 4 prikolicami. Čeprav se okoli njih spleta veliko mitov in srhljivih štorij, so po mojih izkušnjah za kolesarje dokaj nenevarni. Prometa ni veliko. Na primer, na srednje prometnem odseku sem v eni uri naštel 6 road trainov in 15 drugih vozil, ki so vozili v moji smeri. V 4700 km so me le trije road traini na tesno obšli, toliko, da sem moral zaviti na bankino. Kolesarjenje v Perthu (in drugih večjih mestih, predvidevam) je druge sorte zgodba - tam lahko gre zares in ni prostora za napako, ko avto tiho in brez opozorila švigne par centimetrov mimo tebe.

JAVNI TRANSPORT: Letel sem s Quantasom (in Adrio do Frankfurta). 20 kg ček-in prtljage lahko prepelješ zastojn, ob prejšni najavi kolesa. V Avstraliji se da kolo peljati z avtobusom: to sem naredil nekajkrat na turi iz leta 1997. Lahko se pa tudi v kakem caravan-parku narediš nebogljenega (npr. imaš razcefrano gumo, nimaš rezerve) in počakaš, da ti kak voznik ponudi prevoz.

PRENOČIŠČA: Kampiral sem 31 noči od 34, polovico od tega zastojn, polovico pa v kampih za 5 do 15 AUD. Kampi imajo tudi sobice brez kopalnice, za kar sem palčal 45 in 60 AUD.

HRANA IN VODA: Hrano pač kupiš v supermarketih (Woolworth) in štacunah, lahko pa ješ za nekoliko več dolarjev po kaloriji v restoranih (oz. roadhousih). Vodo dobiš tudi v roadhousih in kampih, na Gibb River road pa jo lahko natočiš iz rek in primerno obdelaš. Na severu sem pil 3 do 4 litre na dan, na jugu pa precej manj.

STROŠKI: Z izjemo supermarketov, me je Avstralija presenetila z zasoljenimi cenami. Kava je 2.5 AUD, pivo 4.5, zrezek s prilogo 26. Porabil sem 32 AUD na dan in hvala bogu, da sem imel šotor, drugače ne bi zvozil.

VIZE: Australisko vizo dobiš preko neta. Stane 70 AUD, preko ambasade bi pa stalo skoraj 3x več.

VREME: Julij pomeni sredino zime. Tedaj celo na severu ni prevroče - sredi dneva do 28 stopinj, jutra pa so celo nekoliko neprijetno sveža - do 10 stopinj. Na jugu je zjutraj mrzlo (do 5 stopinj), čez dan pa kar prijetno (23 C), če ne dežuje. Registriral sem temperaturo tekom dneva na Gibb river road (north) in okoli Kumarina Rh (south). Dan je dolg 11 ur (od 6:30 do 17:30). Veter zna biti kar močan. Jaz sem imel srečo da sem izbral to smer potovanja in imel ugoden veter večino poti, z izjemo odseka Darwin-Katherine in še nekaj kilometrov na jugu, ko je cesta zavila proti vzhodu. Oglej si karto vetrov ko načrtuješ pot.

KRAJI: Jaz sem nekoliko nor na odprte prostore, ravnine, ki segajo do horizonta, zato sem bil kar malo razočaran, ker precejšnji del poti grmovje zakriva pogled na daljavo več kot 100 m. Na Gibb river road se scena nekoliko odpre, predvsem pa južno od Port Hedlanda (vzhodna Pilbara), ki je najlepši del poti. Posebno mesto seveda prestavljajo rečni kanjoni in tolmuni; nekateri od njih so eden od najbolj fantastičnih krajev kjer sem bil.

NEVŠEČNOSTI: Muhe. Pozimi so sicer še kar znosne, tako da mi ni bilo treba uporabiti mreže, a v toplejših mesecih brez nje ne nje.

OPREMA: Cestno kolo z nekoliko širšimi gumami (32 in 28 mm) zaradi pričakovanega makadama, sicer pa minimalna oprema - 6200 gramov vsega skupaj je pomenilo najlažjo turo doslej, ki je vključevala kampiranje. Glej detajle na zdaj že znameniti strani "weight".

POPRAVKI: Zgodilo se ni nič, lahko pa bi se, ker se mi je zadnja guma začela cefrati. Zakrpal sem jo z "duck tapom" in to je zdržalo do konca, tj. 1500 km.

POVEZAVE: One year by bicycle je uporabna stran za planiranje ture kjerkoli po Avstraliji.

Cycling data


Day Date Trip Time   Speed  Total Accom Notes (daily end-stop) ***
                    Avr Max            
    d/m   km  h:m  km/h km/h    km
1  22/6    0  0:0   0.0  0.0     0   a   Ljubljana->Frakfurt by plane
2  23/6    0  0:0   0.0  0.0     0   a   Frakfurt->Darwin by plane
3  24/6   42  2:08 19.5 33.5    41   c   Darwin +40km
4  25/6  153  7:46 19.6 33.5   194   c   Adelaide river
5  26/6  142  7:45 18.3 33.3   335   w   Katherine -70km
6  27/6  160  7:52 20.3 36.7   495   w   R/A
7  28/6  179  8:22 21.4 40.5   674   c   Timber Creek
8  29/6  146  6:50 21.4 40.5   820   w   Kununurra -80km
9  30/6  103  4:27 23.2 44.0   923   w   Kununurra +23km
10  1/7  102  6:04 16.7 44.5  1025   w   Home Valley +3km
11  2/7  110  6:59 15.7 52.9  1135   w   Dawn creek
12  3/7  118  7:49 15.0 49.5  1252   w   Hann river
13  4/7  100  6:28 15.5 51.4  1352   w   Mt. Barnet +55km
14  5/7  110  6:13 17.7 47.7  1462   w   Lennard gorge +50km
15  6/7  156  8:13 19.0 33.5  1619   c   Derby
16  7/7  115  5:30 20.9 32.6  1734   w   Broome -100km
17  8/7  145  6:45 21.4 33.8  1878   c   Roebuch Rh
18  9/7  283 12:38 22.4 37.4  2162   c   Sandfire Rh
19 10/7  155  7:24 21.0 29.9  2317   c   Pardoo Rh
20 11/7  168  7:33 22.3 32.6  2485   w   South Hedland
21 12/7  157  8:30 18.5 29.1  2642   w   Yammu river
22 13/7  130  6:53 18.9 30.2  2772   w   Karijini NP -25km
23 14/7   93  6:00 15.5 35.7  2864   w   Karijini NP -20km
24 15/7  142  7:28 19.0 41.6  3006   w   Newman -95km
25 16/7  100  5:40 17.7 25.6  3106   c   Capricorn Rh
26 17/7  147  7:06 20.6 40.1  3253   c   Kumarina Rh
27 18/7  203  8:21 24.3 35.0  3456   w   Meekathara -50km
28 19/7  164  7:09 22.9 37.1  3620   c   Cue
29 20/7  140  6:50 20.5 30.5  3760   w   Yalgoo -70km
30 21/7  101  6:09 16.5 24.0  3861   w   Yalgoo +30km
31 22/7  148  7:19 20.2 34.4  4008   h   Yalgoo
32 23/7  150  7:09 21.0 28.5  4159   w   Mt. Magnet +20km
33 24/7  117  5:56 19.7 29.6  4276   h   Paynes Find
34 25/7  153  7:57 19.3 36.0  4429   w   Wubin
35 26/7  141  6:36 21.4 44.9  4570   c   New Norcia
36 27/7  110  4:32 24.3 59.3  4681   h   Midland
37 28/7   42  2:16 18.7 31.0  4723   h   Midland/Perth
38 29/7   23  1:18 18.0 27.0  4746   a   Perth -> Singapore by plane
39 30/7    0  0:0   0.0  0.0  4746   a   Singapore -> Ljubljana by plane

Days   Trip   Time   Speed
                    Avr Max
         km   h:m  km/h km/h    
39     4746 239:57   -   -       Sum
33     4640 234:15   -   -       Sum, cycling days
-       283  12:38 24.3 59.3     MAX, cycling days
-        93   4:27 15.0 24.0     min, cycling days
39      122   6:09 18.2 34.0     average per day
33      141   7:06 19.8 37.5     average per cycling day
25      148   7:09 20.7 35.2     average, only asphalt roads
 5      108   6:42 16.1 49.2     average, only gravel roads

*** Legend
4  25/6 - cycling day
1  22/6 - non cycling or rest day
Trip    - daily cycling distance
Time    - daily cycling time (while in motion)
Speed   - daily cycling speed (while in motion): Avr - average; Max - maximal.
Total   - cumulative distance
Accom   - accommodation: a: airplane; b: bus; h: ho(s)tel; f: at a family; c: camp; w: wild camping

#5,#20:

Darwin to Perth ... a quick ride across the continent

General information

Od Darwina do Pertha ... brez dneva počitka

Splošne informacije

Stuff

Stvari

Cycling data

Travelogue

Potopis