After Archer River, the next facilities are at Moreton Telegraph Station, 125kms away. I knew that I wasn't going to make that distance in one day, given the heat and the generally tough cycling conditions, so I made sure I had enough food and water to last me through an overnight stop somewhere on the way.
I carried 9 litres of water, which added considerably to the weight on the rack:
The road surface was similar to yesterday, plenty of sand made the going fairly slow. And the temperature continued to be in the mid 30s C.
After about 20kms I saw this makeshift roadside grave:
A bit further on was the turnoff to Lockhart River, which had this informative road sign about the local Aboriginal laws:
After about 50kms I came to the junction where the Telegraph Road, heading directly north along the path of the old Overland Telegraph Line, separates from the Peninsula Development Road which turns west towards the mining town of Weipa:
As might be expected, the Telegraph Road is very straight:
However the surface for the rest of today's journey was pretty good and solid, so I made decent progress. I'd hoped that there might be a river or creek bed to camp at but there weren't any on this stretch of road; pity as I was covered in red dust and really would have loved the opportunity to wash it all off. At least I had enough water for drinking purposes to last me well into the next day. Around 5.30pm, with less than an hour's daylight left, I found a clearing just off the road and set up camp for the night.
Distance today 93kms, total so far 841kms
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