Tom's (attempted) Ride Around Australia: The Great-Sandy Desert

The Great Sandy Desert was far less sandy and not quite as great as I had hoped. This is probably due to the fact that I skirted it rather than riding up through the guts (which would have been cooler). I consider this stretch to run between the industrial Port Hedland and sunny Broome.
Port Hedland was a horrible place to ride a bike, and also the scariest road to date. I weaselled my way through disintegrating roads shared with heavy, noisy, angry road-trains by the hundreds. I did my best to spot them approaching in my mirror whilst watching them cruise towards me ahead. In the event that these two should coincide I would ride off the road to safety. However, the trucks were in such great numbers that I seemed to spend more time standing on the side of the road. It was slow, smoggy, dirty and scary. But I got through it without any real dramas, and it was not long before the road-train numbers subsided.
I stayed the night in South-Hedland where I met a 54 year old Mexican woman riding around Australia also (the opposite direction). The purpose of her ride was to promote Mexico for the great country it is in a country which perceives it as a drug-ridden hell-hole. Whether she is successful or not I admire her determination and wish her good-luck on a journey that she is not particularly enjoying.
There were some great camp sites along the road to Broome and decided to ride less km's per day to enjoy them. Starting with DeGray River where the trees stood tall, the birds sang, the Brahman bulls roamed and a kind lady gave me a huge bag full of short bread biscuits. I ate the entire bag before she was gone. Yum.
Next stop was Pardoo Roadhouse which was cheap, quiet and friendly. I met Bruce, a middle-aged (very) Aussie man with some great stories. We sat up late into the night under a star-filled sky to chat and drink a few too many beers. Yum.
Sadly that night I slept poorly due to the cold and was therefore very tired the next day. The temperature fell to 2 degrees Celsius and despite my beany hat and thermals my feet still froze. I should have spent more on a sleeping-bag.
Therefore due to the lack of sleep I found it a very hard day to reach the 80 mile beach (103km's). In fact it was one of the worst days on my bike yet. I. Was. Pi#$ed. Off!!! It was a late start, a broken front basket, a sore bum, sickness from a lack of food, a very corrugated road in and a tourist scaring away a Goanna before I could take a photo that did it - amongst other things. However the beach was gorgeous and I had a cold beer with a young man Tim from Scotland. Yum. I am just looking at the page in my journal that reads "Sh*t day all round". Pretty much sums it up.
Luckily the next day was a short 54km ride into the Sandfire Roadhouse. I was not planning on staying the night but changed my mind after meeting a young English man named Tommy Gur peddling around Australia in the opposite direction... But he had bike trouble and was very stuck. Rather then spend time looking at his bike I bought a bottle of coke after he produced a bottle of rum. Yum. With a few pot-fulls of rum in our stomachs (I don't carry a cup) we chatted late into the night and I found it very useful to talk to a like-minded, enthusiastic cyclist.
The next day produced 108km's which took me to 'Stanley Rest Stop'. It was a boring day with little to report. I admit with shame that I was a little rude to a persistent old chap who insisted that I sit and play cards with him and his wife in their caravan. I really was just too tired. It had been a hot long road. To add to my shame, when I woke in the morning I found that he had left a cold milk drink with assorted fruit in the front basket of my bike. Old gentleman, if you ever read this blog (unlikely) then please know that I am both sorry and thankful.
My last day on the highway was a gruelling stretch of 181km's through rather monotonous scenery. The last 50 odd km's had me begging for a quick end and a cold drink. When I did finally reach the Roebuck Plains Roadhouse I talked to the young girl behind the counter and with some difficulty convinced her to ask the chef to cook me an extra large meal - and so it was!