Distance travelled: 692 kms
Cumulative distance: 3914 kms
Sponsored by: Alan Reece
Another long day in the saddle so we started fairly early. I left at 7.40 am and when I headed out on to the main street in Tennant Creek which is the Sturt Highway my GPS said the next turn will be in 690 kms ie Katherine. One long and winding road!!
It was a long hot day with the maximum temperature on the bike thermometer showing 37C. The heading was due north with the first stop being Renner Springs Roadhouse a pretty unpretentious place with a couple of pet geese wandering around.
 |
| The geese at Renner Springs took a shine to Paul. |
I refuelled and bought lunch, a sandwich of doubtful origins and an apple. I was about to head off when Tony said his rear tyre had lost pressure when he tried to use the roadhouse air hose. The compressor hadn't been turned on and instead pumping air into his tyre it was letting it out. Even after he'd asked the girl to turn the compressor on it still didn't work. I managed to inflate his tyre to 40 psi with my old Best Rest compressor. It was a close thing as I thought it was going to give up on me.
The next stop was going to be Daly Waters a quirky settlement just west of the Sturt highway. When I arrived there at the petroil bowsers there was a sign with instructions "We are watching you. Fill your tank, take a picture of the reading on the pump and show it to the staff in the store across the way". What a dumb-ass process!! I turned around and headed back to the roadhouse on the Sturt highway and filled up. The road to Cape Crawford was right beside the roadhouse. Colin and I took this road in 2010 on our round Australia ride.
 |
| They still have the helicopter on top of the shed in Daly Waters. |
After refuelling I headed on north to Mataranka to check out the place Colin and I stayed at when we had a soak in the hot springs. I tried to find it (The Mataranka Homestead) but took the wrong turn and ended up in some rundown motel. I was all hot and bothered so I went back to the highway and hightailed for Katherine where I arrived at 3.40pm. The only person there was Adrian the man with the broken air valve on his Goldwing. He had a tale of woe trying to get the local tyre company in Tennant Creek to fit the new valve. We sank a few cold ones whilst we waited for the cavalry to arrive.
