The Track didn't get any easier. Every so often there would be a long sandy stretch which was impossible to ride through. Numerous times through the day I was told by 4WD drivers that they had been following my footprints in the sand and could tell how much I had been pushing the bike!
The next ford was across Cockatoo Creek; it was quite wide, and thigh deep. With a computer, kindle, and camera in my bike panniers I had to be very careful not to get them wet, so I had to carry them across one at a time, separate from the bike. So I often had to cross each creek 5 times.
Sailor Creek, a bit further on, had lots of small turtles:
Just after Sailor Creek, the Telegraph Track joins up with the newer Bamaga Road for about 10kms. This is a wide road like the Telegraph and Peninsula Development Roads, but the surface is very corrugated and its also sandy in places. After 10km the roads separate again, and I continued along the Old Track, branching off shortly afterwards to Fruit Bat Falls, one of the Track's most scenic spots.
It was a beautiful place to have a swim and cool off in the clear, emerald green pool, followed by lunch at the picnic tables nearby.
But less than a kilometre after rejoining the track, having got nice and clean, I got all dirty again wading through this unnamed deep, muddy ford:
The sand continued to get deeper and deeper, and I was progressing at less than 5km/hour:
10kms north of Fruit Bat Falls are Eliot and Twin Falls, and since there was a camp site there I decided to stop for the night, after first enjoying another swim:
Eliot Falls
Twin Falls
Distance today 47kms, total so far 1009kms
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