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Bicycles |
With all the travel restrictions caused by the
Covid19 virus pandemic in 2020, it was appropriate to avoid
international or even interstate travel within Australia.
However I still felt the need to go cycle touring. Many touring
cyclists who have stayed with me here in Darwin wish to travel
to Kakadu park and ask me about cycling there. Despite having
worked there years ago, and living just 220Km from the town of
Jabiru in the park, I have never attempted to cycle there -
until now! I have always relied on frequent townships for food,
drinks and commercial accommodation on my bicycle tours but such
infrastructure is not present in Kakadu park where there is
little support and even less drinking water! There is water in
many billabongs, but these are occupied by hungry crocodiles so
swimming, bathing at the edge or even camping nearby is
seriously dangerous. (A few years ago a German tourist was eaten
while swimming in a supposedly safe billabong to cool off. If
you are hot, and you will be even in the cool season, avoid
swimming and find an air-conditioned bungalow!)
To survive a tour of Kakadu park, I would need to
go camping and carry water so I had to use my gravel bike with
fat tyres and lots of luggage. My plan was to attempt to reach
Jabiru in one day, a distance of 220Km, and then continue on the
Kakadu Highway to Pine Creek. I did not wish to ride back north
on the main Stuart highway on which there are many triple
trailer road trains, but could use the "northern goldfields
loop" and an old superseded section of the Stuart Highway to
travel north to Adelaide River. This would leave only about 60
Km where I would have to ride on the main Stuart Highway. This
page is about cycling through the park and not a tourist
description or pictures of the park, which you can find
elsewhere.
The first section from my home at Humpty Doo to
Jabiru would be 220Km, so I started just before dawn at 6am. I
could barely see the road for the first half hour but I was on
familiar back-roads at this stage. It was 60 Km to Corroboree
roadhouse, the only support point all day, so I stopped briefly
for a drink. There was no support available at the Mary river
crossing at 90 Km as the Inn was closed due to the pandemic. At
140Km I stopped to rest at a park information centre which had a
toilet and picnic tables. I opened my handlebar bag and took out
a food bar to eat while i checked for water in the toilet. The
water was labeled as "undrinkable" but it was OK. As I returned
to the bike I noticed 2 crows eating the food in my handlebar
bag and ran to chase them away. One of them carried off an
energy bar and as i chased it in vain, the other crow started to
eat my banana. Beware of winged thieves! I rode onwards through
the unremarkable monotonous scrublands reaching 170 Km where I
heard a strange regular tick sound. Was it a loose pedal? But
then I had a puncture - the sound must have been something stuck
in the tyre but it was gone by the time I stopped and replaced
the tube. At about 180Km I reached the South Alligator resort
where I hoped to get some water - but the resort was closed and
fenced off due to the pandemic. I still had some water, but I
was now feeling weary and quite hot and had to rest under a
spindly tree for a while. It was about 4pm and I was about 190Km
from home but still 30 Km short of Jabiru when a motorist
stopped ahead of me and opened the rear door of his vehicle as I
approached. It was an invitation for a lift to Jabiru, which I
gratefully accepted and we loaded my heavy bike into his car. So
I failed to achieve my goal of riding 220Km to Jabiru in one
day, but survival felt better than reaching an artificial goal!
Barry also invited me to stay at his house for the night, how
kind!
After the marathon ride to Jabiru, I deliberately
rode only a short 90 Km next day north to Cahill's crossing to
see the East Alligator river and back. There I saw some 15
crocodiles waiting for a feed of barramundi on the change of
tide. That evening I camped in the caravan/camping park at
jabiru and noticed that most caravans had bicycles attached, but
no-one except me was cycling. When I queried the caravan
tourists, they all admitted they had not used their bikes at
all. Are their bikes merely caravan decorations? I was
apparently the only crazy cyclist there! To travel south on the
Kakadu highway I needed to plan an overnight stop at the Maguk
(Barramundi Gorge) campground which was 110Km from Jabiru.
Although there was a walk-in swimming hole at Maguk, there was
no drinking water. Unless I chose to drink the "uncertified"
water from the swimming hole. I took the short side trip to
visit Cooinda where there was a small shop and I had some lunch
before continuing. Eventually after 100Km I reached the turnoff
to Maguk campground, which is 10Km off the highway. But this
10Km was the first dirt road of my tour and it was really rough,
badly corrugated and sometimes too sandy for me to ride so I had
to walk some short sections. Walking while pushing my heavy bike
through the sand was very difficult. It took almost an hour to
travel this 10Km to reach the camping area where I chose a spot
to camp. I did have some water, and other campers did help with
some water, but I wanted to go to the swimming hole and I had a
collapsible water container to collect more water. However the
campground is about 2 km distant from the walking track to the
swimming hole, followed by a 1Km scramble across and through
slippery granite boulders. It was late when I arrived and no-one
else was present and I wondered if there really were no
crocodiles here? I swam briefly and collected some 5 litres of
water and commenced my return to camp. But my cleated cycling
shoes were not ideal for clambering across rocks and the sole of
one shoe came loose. I tied it up with some string and I hurried
to return before dark when the trail markers i was following
would become invisible. Returning to camp near dusk, I assembled
my small mosquito-net tent and ate a small meal of canned tuna
while fighting off the flies. Now i noticed that my power-bank
which i needed to recharge my phone battery was missing - it
must have fallen off on the corrugated road to the campground
and I hoped i might find it next morning. As night approached
the flies disappeared and the mosquitoes took their place, so I
crawled into my tent at 7pm and stayed there all night. I was
quite tired and the long sleep was appropriate.
Next morning I had a small breakfast, packed my
tent and bike and departed on the 120Km ride to Pine Creek. I
dreaded the 10 Km of bad road to exit the campground, but after
45 minutes I was back on the paved road although I did not find
my missing power-bank and I would have to hope my phone battery
would last another day. Although I had maps on the phone, you
don’t really need maps in Kakadu as there is essentially just
one road and very few places of interest to visit. As I traveled
south there were some hills, not too serious, but the first I
had encountered in the 4 days so far. But even before midday I
was starting to fade and drinking a lot of water - hot water,
there is nothing cold on a bicycle camping tour in the tropics!
At the Mary River crossing I stopped at the roadhouse, currently
closed due to the pandemic yet again, but I rested, ate lots of
cake and was able to refill my water bottles - with too-warm
water! Continuing, the scenery was still monotonous and dry and
burnt out by recent fires as I pedaled ever more slowly through
undulating terrain. I was tiring - I had not eaten enough food
last night or this morning and the energy gels and cake I was
eating now were not acting fast enough to keep me fueled! After
100 Km I had to take rest stops under small trees despite the
lack of shade. My cycle computer has a temperature sensor and it
told me it was 49C. That is in the sunshine of course, but I was
definitely feeling the heat which does not usually affect me
until it is about 35C in the shade. Two motorists stopped to ask
if I was OK and I appreciated their thoughtfulness, but I
eventually reached Pine Creek township after 120 Km on a tiring
and rather warm day and I checked into the motel. Even after a
rest and some food I still felt uncomfortable and while talking
at the hotel bar some people suggested I should take a rest day
before continuing. We also discussed where I could obtain water
and camp on the next section to Adelaide River which was some
170Km away and too far to ride in a single day as much of the
road was unpaved.
Next morning I felt much better and decided to
continue. The dirt road northwards was in good condition and
riding it was much more interesting than the paved highway, with
curves and creek crossings and short steep climbs and more
interesting scenery along the way. I was enjoying my ride when
after 33Km I realised my camping gear had come loose and my
mattress had fallen off somewhere. I turned back and found my
mattress on the road 3 Km back and tied the luggage more
securely. This road passes through some now-deserted settlements
established in the late 1800's and at one of these, Grove Hill,
there is a hotel, currently closed due to the pandemic yet
again, but I was able to refill my water bottles as there was a
publically accessible water tap, much appreciated. This was a
pleasant 90 Km dirt ride with almost no traffic, just 3 vehicles
all day, one of which was a motorcyclist who had noticed my
wheel tracks and who gave me some more water. Back on the paved
road I crossed the Stuart highway to use Dorat road (the now
superseded old highway) and reached the Cosmo Howley
minesite. Here I spoke to the gate attendant to ask for water
and one of the staff helped me. It was sunday and he was not
busy and offered to drive me about 50 Km north to Adelaide River
which avoided the alternative of camping wild that night. I was
very grateful - I could have camped, but why not stay in a
comfortable hotel room when possible!
Refreshed, next day I rode the Stuart Highway with
a detour into Batchelor township. There was not too much traffic
and there was often (not always) a narrow shoulder on the road
so it was not as dangerous as I had feared, although one
road-train did come too close and ran me off the road into the
dirt. I was very glad of my rear-view mirror to monitor
potentially dangerous traffic. At Acacia hills store I was just
30 Km from home and I was able to use the back roads, which I
often ride, to avoid the traffic and the Stuart highway for the
rest of the day. After 100Km I arrived home in the early
afternoon, pleasantly weary after my "backyard" 6 day tour of
Kakadu. The first time I have cycle-toured this region despite
having lived here for 40 years!
It is possible to cycle-tour Kakadu park, but it
is a challenge with lack of services, lack of water and long
monotonous distances between the few points of interest in the
park. The Arnhem and Kakadu highways are paved, but the best
cycling was on the unpaved back road north from Pine creek
through the old gold mining areas. And although many of the
triple trailer roadtrains were careful when passing me, two were
not - you can never trust them. I encountered helpful motorists
and friendly tourists in the campgrounds, but flies, mosquitoes
and crocodiles are ever-present. Cold drinks are rarely
available and expensive when they are. I carried some 4 litres
of water which might have been enough but I always topped-up
whenever possible. The 220Km distance from Humpty Doo to Jabiru
is almost possible in a single day, but very difficult and could
be split into 2 days of 90Km and 130Km by stopping near the Mary
River crossing on the Arnhem highway and if you are lucky the
inn located there will be operational.
The cool season is June to August. Daytime
temperatures are still around 32C but hotter in the sun on the
paved road. By october it is very humid and hotter and
unpleasant to cycle in this region until april-may.
