3-5 July 2026 – 0 kms – Pooncarie
Barkindji Country
The days go by. One after another. Slowly.
We bide our time. Waiting to see if the roads might reopen.
The next day after our personal best ride is cold and windy with clouds that zoom overhead from the southwest. If you can get out of the wind and in the sun, when it is shining, it is acceptable. Otherwise you need your winter puffer jacket. But I’m not sore or extra tired at all. I’ve come up good.
As I was afraid of, I picked up a thorn somewhere on our way into the campground last night and the front tyre is flat this morning. It’s like I could just sense it yesterday. So I spend a little while and fix that up. The hole is easy enough to find, so I patch it rather than use a new tube.
The following day is meant to be sunny, but it is not. It is cold and cloudy all day and never gets above 12 degrees.
Sunday is cool, but some of the ground is firming up a bit. I go down to the Old Wharf Cafe and get a chicken sandwich with chips. It’s an old couple running the place. They are very friendly. The wife takes orders, does coffees and keeps the husband on track. He cooks the food on just one small grill behind the counter. The food is good and incredibly reasonable in price. Apparently the coffees are very good here, too. But get in quick, they’re retiring next year.
Over the course of the three days, I chat to some of the caravan park visitors, with some conversations more interesting than others. I chat to a few locals. They confirm: Yes, the rain is very unusual. It’s always pretty dry here, but they’ve just been getting a lot of rain since March. They can’t remember when they’ve had this much cloud either (reflecting what the woman at Hazel Vale Station said).
I look at the livetraffic maps. I look at weather forecasts. The locals don’t think the roads will be open until Thursday or Friday. Locals might start driving on them about Wed or Thurs though.
At some point in all of this, I kinda feel like I’m done. The trip budget is blown. There is more rain coming next weekend. Even if I could leave on Wednesday, it will take me two days to get to Ivanhoe against a headwind (of course). Then I’m just going to get stuck in Ivanhoe and have to wait for the roads to dry out again to get to Hillston. Or I have to ride the Cobb Hwy, which has lots of mining trucks on it. I’m sick of sitting around. I’m tired of paying for accommodation and being around other people. It has all just become a grind.
So somewhere on Sunday, I decide I’m done. This is the song that comes to my head when I realise the ride is finished, particularly the chorus that includes the bit about tiger and turtle.
where nothing is certain, to rinse off old parts of me
toweling my clean skin, powerful washing away
i always want outlines, i head for shore
beg for the road signs that i had before
that wasn’t joy, amnesia babe, that was pain
and pain will be on every map, just like North is
and pain will be in every year, just like August
and if you get everything right, then there’s nothing else left
remember the magical thing that you found that said
from this point forth i am sticking around
i am coming with you, i’m gonna show up in your shape
you can pick your grace out of the crowd
you’ve done it before and it made you so loud
then it taught you a lesson about breathing babe, when it failed
failure is on every map just like north is
failure is in every year just like august
You had to be ugly before you were gorgeous
balancing tiger with rhythm of tortoise
here in your chest, chest
you’re not gonna blow it cause slowness is calling
you don’t have to know where your feet will be falling
if you get everything right then there’s nothing else left, left
if you get everything right then there’s nothing else left, left
I’m just going to ride back to Swan Hill and get the train home. It will still take me four or five days to get there, so I’m not done riding yet. But mentally I’m done. It’s not fun anymore – if it ever was in the first place. Let’s go home a week early. I was aiming to be back on the 18th, but we can be back on the 11th if I keep up a decent pace the next few days. Maybe I can get my journal all written up before I leave for Melbourne on the 4th to fly to America on the 5th.
Decided. Done. The guys agree. Tomorrow we leave here and ride to Dareton on sealed roads.
(sound of gavel proclaiming the motion moved and seconded)