David's Journal Entry

The Tri-cellular model is real! As predicted, day 13 brought our first taste of tailwinds! What a wonderful feeling to have a breeze at your back, regardless of its thinness. The lack of resistance ensured our 110km ride to Barrow Creek was covered in quick time. This stretch of road was made infamous in 2001 by the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio and the public attention his tragic story garnered would ultimately inform elements of the film Wolf Creek. 

Despite the horrors that occurred nearby the welcome at the Barrow Creek Pub was warm and the company of two genuine Aussie characters, Les and Helen (the owners), was delightful. As "Ten-Pound Poms" they emigrated to Australia back in the late 1950s, although Helen is not technically a Pom, as was evident from her mild Dublin lilt. As luck would have it their son, Justin, had just returned from travelling with his partner Karen (although the details of where and why were dubiously sketchy). The fact that there was clearly a family reunion in full flow proved no hindrance to our involvement as Justin, a self-diagnosed bike nut was keen to hear our stories and regale us with his.

After setting up for the night we joined our only fellow campers around a small campfire. Dave and Tracy benefited from a little bit of help gathering wood, as their ability to shift the larger logs from the nearby stand of felled trees was limited by age, in stark contrast to seemingly everything else about them. Despite the appeal of a fire, we moved away to enjoy the real highlight of the evening. Justin had managed to get the rugby union going on the outdoor screen. Watching England beat Australia in the series decider, gave the audience of two a warm feeling inside even as the evening cooled to single digits. 

Today was the first real peril on the road, a road train with a clear view of the highway ahead decided not to shift across his lane at all. The pass was close enough to hit my flag and snap it from its mount. Given the flag only extended an arm's length sideways from Doug the trailer can only have been a metre or so from us; these trailers can easily sway by more than this as small movements by the cab are magnified down their length. All-in-all not a great experience, not least because we were actually riding on the shoulder.