Day 25: Aurora to Bark Hut Inn

Mark left first this morning and he was riding all the way to Darwin (230 kms) as he had a personal appointment to attend to. Sad saying goodbye to him as he has been a very valuable participant on the last 2 legs. He did some very fancy bike repairs on Kirsten's bike (saving her ride for her) and he was always looking out for the riders out the back each day. Thanks Mark.

Pleasant riding today although there were lots of burning off and the atmosphere quite hazy. A pack of dingoes were spotted by our kiwis. These may have been some of the noisy ones from last night. A wallaby jumped out in between the truck and my car this morning and would have hit me if I hadn't spotted and slowed down- my new Citroen.

All in at Bark Hut Inn by 1.30 pm after 2 stops during the day. Tail winds for the last 20 kms. Everyone went for a swim and then dinner and drinks in the bar. Mozzies again but nowhere near as bad as Kakadu.

Day 24: Ubirr to Aurora.

The mozzies were still out in force this morning. They were so bad that Mark stayed in bed until the sun was well and truly up hoping they would then disappear- they didn't. I sat in the car to eat my breakfast in peace. Ingrid was packing up her tent and found an enormous spider (the size of a dinner plate, according to her) on her tent. She went to scream but instead swallowed a mouthful of mozzies and then vomited. All very dramatic but Jane came to her rescue with a shoe and it disappeared into the bush, never to be recorded as proof of existence.

Packing up this morning was a very unpleasant experience and the mozzies did eventually disappear only to be replaced by flies. Today we rode through the Pandanos Forest, across the Sth Alligator River and through expansive river flats. Great scenery.

Aurora is looking a bit more rundown since our last visit 2 years ago. The grass is still green for the campers but the amenity blocks are quite dilapidated. We had the briefing in The Bar and then everyone stayed for dinner. The swimming pool was good value.

Day 23: Cooinda to Ubirr

I got up around 6.15 am to find Jerry had gone already. He apparently got up earlier than usual and couldn't cope with the mozzies so packed up and told Jane to tell us that he had left. Jane then left around 6.30 am , Lew at 6.45 and the rest in dribs and drabs until Kirsten and Gareth leaving last around 8.15 am. They are so spread out today, it will be difficult to support them all.

We met at Jabiru for morning tea, hoping the bakery would be open but alas it did not open on Sundays. So off we went to find a nice park to sit at, hopefully with toilets. Lovely park down by the lake. I went and shopped for the bush camp tonight. It was a bit of hit and miss and I will have to cook according to the food availability. Gareth and Kirsten were a mile behind everyone else and so we made phone contact to find out what their plans were. They had stopped at the Information Centre and have decided to be self supportive today.

We arrived at Merl campground around 1.30 pm. Most riders decided to ride on a bit further to a general store they had heard about. Unfortunately the store closed down around 2 years ago so they rode back to Merl. Mark did a bit of his own exploring so didn't see him until after dark. While waiting for them to arrive, I cooked up a big pot of spaghetti bolognese.

Kirsten and Gareth arrived around 4 pm having coped quite well out there on their own. Everyone went out to Ubirr for the sunset viewing and rock paintings. Collis led them out on the bike. Lew decided to remain in camp as he has seen plenty of rock paintings before. I stayed behind to keep preparing dinner and mind the camp. Surprisingly they came back early with only Mark, Jeanette and Ingrid remaining for the sunset. They are glad they did and I'm pleased some of them did.

Dinner was rudely interrupted by swarms of mozzies trying to eat our dinner and us. It was not a nice experience and everyone was in bed by 7.30- straight after dinner. Jerry even tipped his dessert over the ground trying to scare off a biting mozzie (I gave him my dessert). Around 10.30 pm Collis woke me with a call to arms as there seemed to be somebody wandering around the bush near our truck. When I shone the torch outside there was nothing to be seen but definitely something moving around out there. I was nearly back to sleep when I heard something running very fast towards the truck again but still couldn't see anything and whatever it was moved away when I shone the torch. Then we heard dogs barking and it sounded like they were then attacked by something. Needless to say it was a restless night.

Day 22: Cooinda Rest Day

All of us had booked onto the early morning sunrise cruise of the yellow billabong. So we were all up and waiting at the bus stop by 6.20 am. Just as the buses arrived, Collis decided to go to the toilet ( he does this every time). Anyway we all managed to hop on a bus and off we went.

The cruise was fantastic and very much worth the expense. The guide was informative and the scenery was just magnificent. We all got some great photos. It went for 2 hours and we saw heaps of crocs and birdlife. Followed by a buffet breakfast where you could eat as much as you wanted. I don't think they realized just how much cyclists eat- this is the main reason we won't do a catered tour because it would just send us broke and we would have to have a separate food van.

My computer has packed it in today and I can't even get up a screen. Looks like we will have to get it checked out in Darwin. No photos until I can get it up and running again.

Day 21: Mary River to Cooinda

Today we enter Kakadu National Park. This is new ground for Cycle Across Oz, so very exciting. Jane arranged with Collis last night that she would leave early and just meander through before meeting us at the lunch break. This is OK as long as we are aware and they don't expect us to rush ahead to join them at the lunch break spot early.

Everyone saw Jane leave early so they all got a bit antsy and left earlier than usual. The road was a bit rough at the beginning but did improve as we got further into the park. Gareth lost his rear light as it just bounced off during the ride. Mark stopped and walked up a dirt road to do some sightseeing but left his bike back leaning against a tree. Yes it was still there when he got back but the rear tyre was blistered as he had left it on some scorched earth. Quite a bit of controlled burning going on in the area.

Morning tea was at the South Alligator River at Gungurul Bridge. Water very murky and banks muddy and overgrown. No way we're we venturing down but couldn't see any crocs. Checked out the Barramundi Creek as it was flowing and looked that it may be safe to swim in parts of it. Again we didn't risk it.

Jane was waiting for us at the 80 km Mark and looked like she had been there awhile. Scenery today has been spectacular coming into the park as we did climb a little and got some great views. Got to Cooinda and checked out the dongers and cabins but the prices were out of this world. Everyone camping and the area is quite nice down under the trees. We are not far from yellow billabong.

The mosquitoes were absolutely crazy and impossible to keep out of your tents. We all went to bed very early but there was no escape. Jerry woke everyone around 2 am with his "whack,whack, f...., f...." routine. He says his tent now looks like a sight of a massacre.

Day 20: Pine Creek to Mary River

Only 60 Kms today. After much changing and then back to original plan we are going to Goymar Roadhouse instead of a bush camp. Everyone slept in and left about a half hour later than usual. Morning tea was scheduled for 10 am at 40 kms. We ended up stopping at Evelyn Creek. On the banks of the creek were crocodile footprints with emu and probably buffalo prints along side of these. The water was sludges but still had fish in it. This was all viewed from the bridge and no way we're we going down to check it out closer. Mark later saw a freshly lying on the bank.

Passed a horrific smell just before Goymar Roadhouse which turned out to be ahead buffalo. Into Goymar by lunchtime. This roadhouse has been closed for quite a long time but has only reopened in the last 2 weeks. The managers seem to be on top of most things with a beautifully clean and refreshing pool, freshly mown lawn to camp on and clean bathrooms.

Jerry and Mark went down to a rock pool to check it out but weren't game to go too far into the water with all the croc signs up around the area. Anyway they came back and told Kirsten and Gareth about it so they headed down there as well. They were more fortunate as there was at our group there and they were in swimming so they joined them. They made it back alive.

I cooked on the open fire tonight as the gas was still not connected. We had Apricot Chicken followed by a coffee banana cake which didn't actually have coffee in the recipe. Anyway all nice.

Middle of the night we heard dingoes howling again but these were pretty close. We've been hearing them for about a week now.

Day 19: Katherine to Pine Creek

Nice drive out to the highway past mango farms and vegetable farms (not quite expected around Katherine). Spotted the turnoff to Edith Falls and was tempted to take it but we would then be late for morning tea. Got to morning tea at the 45 km mark to find Jerry in a tizz over his cold foods left behind in the fridge at camp. He thought I would have grabbed them but no I won't touch anyone's food unless asked or it is clearly labelled. Anyway Collis rang the camp to see if anyone was traveling this way and be able to grab his food and bring it up to him. No luck but while he's on the phone we both realize we had forgotten the frozen food for the bush camp hidden in the ice cream fridge in the managers office. So, lucky Jerry, back I went to get his food and the bush camp food. 90 km round trip for a bit of food.

I arrived back in time to meet them for lunch but jerry had gone onto the pub. I didn't think he had been told about his food so I chased him down to the pub to give him the good news only to find out he had been told already. I requested a cold beer for my effort. He also knew about the camp food and  presumed I was the one to be at fault- typical male.

We stayed at Pussy Cat flat caravan park and racecourse. It hasn't been used as a racecourse since 2010 and has a number of very large termite mounds along the straight. Community run park and quite pleasant with adequate amenities and good food at reasonable prices and a bar. Mosquitoes were a problem and drove most of us to bed early. Kirsten and Gareth stayed up later.

I woke around 3 am to the sound of very loud chewing. It wasn't Collis and it definitely wasn't someone heading off to the toilet having a late night or early morning snack. I then heard horses hooves and by this time Collis was awake so I looked outside but couldn't see any horses. I then heard a quiet neigh but still no sight of any horse so we assumed it must have been the ghost of Pussy Cat Flat. There was a full moon so no trouble seeing everything else. Anyway Mark confirmed that there were horses near us during the night and he actually saw them.