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Journal: |
As testament to my stupefied state the previous evening, I didn’t
set my alarm correctly and overslept, not waking until midnight.
However, it felt good to get about 7.5 hours sleep. I rode
quietly out of Port Hedland, counting my good fortune at having just
got through a level crossing before one of the interminable iron ore
trains began crossing. The road seemed to climb gradually out
of town and the wind was a slight head/crosswind, making the cycling
a bit laborious under a cloud covered sky. Away from the town
lights it was very dark. After a couple of hours it began to
spit with rain, occasionally getting a bit heavier, but it wasn’t
cold.
Dawn revealed a fairly barren landscape of tussock
grass, red soil and rocks, and some low hills which the road
occasionally crossed. The wind began to swing round to a
cross/tailwind and the mainly level road allowed me to make good
speed. The scene looked bleak and not unlike some of the
bleaker moorland in the UK, but the temperature was around 16C and
it probably doesn’t get much colder this close to the coast.
There was plenty of mining-related traffic on the road and for the
whole day signs of mining activity could be seen here and there,
such as remote collections of portacabins, drilling rigs, new roads,
graders, gas facilities and so on.
I reached Roebourne
around 10:30am and it turned out to be quite a picturesque old small
settlement with some very solid looking old stone houses and other
buildings which contrasted with some very modern and large community
buildings and sporting facilities. I found the Post Office and
mailed back home some items I had decided I could do without to save
weight, including a few clothes, my sleeping mat and tent poles and
my space blanket. From there I rode to a roadhouse at the
turn-off to Karratha, a major mining town, hoping to get a late big
brekky, but they didn’t have a restaurant and I made do with a
couple of pies. I decided at that time that I would make the
Fortescue River Roadhouse, 100km further on, my goal for the day and
called them to book a room. The remainder of the ride was
through increasingly hilly country though the wind was still
favourable. At lunch, I also called the Minilya Roadhouse and
booked a room for there for tomorrow night, making it a big 380km
day. If the terrain or wind is adverse, I probably won’t make
it, but there are no accommodation alternatives within a reasonable
distance and I do want to make up time. They close at 8:00pm
and I have promised to call them from the Nanutarra Roadhouse
(159km) at breakfast if I don’t think I can make it, although they
offered to leave a key in the room door for me if I provide credit
card details when I call in the morning.
There are a lot of
mining-related workers staying at the remote Fortescue River
Roadhouse where I arrived around 5:40pm and I was able to get the
set evening meal of shepherds pie for dinner which was tasty.
I won’t get much sleep tonight because I need to be on the road
before 1:00am to have any hope of making Minilya tomorrow night.
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