15th February
Broken though my sleep had been, by morning I felt good to go, except it was still dark and the road trains were up early. It was still dark. A guy I'd met the previous evening let me charge my battery in his motel room while I slept in my tent in the bush nearby. I was accustomed to sleeping wild and hadn't taken a hotel room since Perth. So, the following morning I went to retrieve my battery unit and when Doug vacated the room to drive west he said I could use the shower. There were three beds in the room but the invitation to bunk up in one of the singles had not been forthcoming so I made myself a cup of tea instead. After washing I lay on one of the beds and closed my eyes for a few minutes and by a process of simple self hypnosis pretended I’d had a comfy nights sleep, drank a second cup of tea, closed the door and set off.
On the road I am overtaken by Road Trains, trucks with three trailer units pulled by a front cab. The drivers are incredibly considerate to cyclists always giving me a wide berth but just sometimes, perhaps twice, drivers have been obstinate or simple so tired they didn't see me and missed me by the width of my arm until I threw myself off the road and into the bush.
The Road Train
Map of the Day