Saturday, May 31, 2014

Wallabadah, Gunnadah, Barraba

Left Burning Mountain and slowly made my way north. One of the great things about cycling is that you can talk with a lot of people and this day, I spoke with several; the retired truck driver, clearing the weeds from his driveway with an old hoe, the old man and his son, working to repair their 4x4 on their way up to the Cape,  an retired office worker, enjoying being outdoors.

All day, these tiny flowers beside the road for me to enjoy.
There was also the climb over the range to get past. I didn't cycle much of it. Was very tired all day, so walked a lot.  But still managed to get into Wallabadah about 2pm.  Another 50km day, into a headwind, and I wasn't feeling that energetic.  At that time I  had the whole camp ground to myself to decide where to set up.  In the end I sheltered in the trees, even though the wind had stopped by sundown.

I woke at midnight to the roar of the wind in the trees, and patter of rain on the tent. Felt glad that I'd chosen the sheltered spot. That was the scene for the day though - wind and lots of it. The rain threatened, but stayed away. I wanted to have another short day, but ended up in Gunnadah. 100km and there was nothing to hide behind. Cotton fields with ankle high grass.

Gunnahah was surprisingly large. I'd expected a smaller town, instead it manages a Coles and Woolworths.  It was basically arrive, find a tent site and sleep. I was exhausted.

The effort to arrive spent me. Heading towards Barraba 80km away, I managed a measly 40k before calling it quits beside the road. Just didn't have the energy to do more that day.  So had a short day, resting in the sun. The wind of the previous day had gone. It seemed a shame to have such a nice day and feel so weak.

The last 40km into Barraba was a struggle.  So, I've decided to rest here a few days to see if I can regain my strength. I'm hoping that now that the course of antibiotics is over things will improve.