Day 16, Normanton to Adels Grove

Sunday 14th August, 2011 Day 16…

Odo start, 7,372 K's

Odo end,  7,813 K's

Distance Travelled.  441 K's

Accommodation, Adels Grove $16 for an unpowered Camp site…

7:30am i was at the servo ready to fuel up.10.9 Ltrs @ $1.63.5/Ltr $16.50 for 163 K's that'l teach me for pushing a little.

It was another fine day as i set off for the Burke & Wills Roadhouse.

Here is the road, not much to see…

At 9:50am i arrived at Burke & Wills after stopping to talk to 2 German cyclists peddling their way along the Burke Developmental Road. I don't get the fun in cycling in this type of country, the distances are vast, this morning they had stopped for a break, the headwind was killing them. They hoped to make Burke & Wills by the end of the day, about a 70 K trip from where we spoke.

Here is the Roadhouse..

The bike took 10.6 Ltrs @$1.69.9/Ltr $12.01 for 201 K's

From here i turned West heading to Gregory Downs, then into Adels Grove at Lawn Hill. The ride to Gregory Downs was fast bitumen except for a slight delay at roadworks. The ride started getting interesting once through the town and heading for Adels Grove, the road turned to this…

It was great at first, then the gravel started getting deeper and deeper, the ruts, sand and bull dust started appearing…

I made it safely to the junction for Adles Grove, just another 14 K's and i was done for the day, that is when i hit an unexpected river crossing. I got off the bike and had a quick walk in, i stopped about 1/3rd of the way as it started getting deep. I retreated to my bike to remove my helmet and jacket and plan a strategy when 2 4x4's showed up, the first one drove through, it was about 500mm deep or so, but with no current, the bottom also seemed good as there was no wheelspin going through. I asked if i could throw my cameras and laptop into the 2nd 4x4, they gladly agreed and drove through to await my successful crossing. More confident now and not having to worry about killing my electronics i rode in. I did start to worry when the front mudguard went under, but the strom rode though OK, whew… I didn't get any pics due to the timing of the 4x4's turning up!

I rode into Adels Grove and booked a campsite for the night, i rode down to the "Grove" and parked up to the first bikes i had encountered on my trip. A BMW GS1150ADV and 2 KLR 650's A couple of hours later the bikes owners turned up and we shot the breeze about our bikes and respective trips. The 3 guys, Cameron, Greg and Ian were from Mansfield, they had trailered their bikes to Alice and were heading to Normanton to have a trip on the Gulflander, then head across the Savannah Way through Burketown, Doomadgee, Hells Gate to Borroloola. 

We all went for a dip at the swimming hole, then retreated to the bar for some refreshments….

The Mansfield Mob…

A great night at a fantastic oasis.