After a night full of rambunctious bat calls, dingo barks and splashing crocodiles, we awoke to a donkey forcefully braying at 5:25am and a cacophony of fruit bats returning to roost after a night of insect hunting.
It was perfect for my (Teekhnata) team as we were aiming for a 7am departure due to a huge mileage day. The unfortunate bit is that we crossed a time change border yesterday and 7am was actually 5:30 to our bodies and that donkey was making a deafening ruckus at what felt like 3:55am.
After another extensive and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to find the freshwater crocodiles that reside in the creek only meters from our campsite, we headed out onto the Victoria Highway for 285km of newness-adventure; quite a big day by our standards.
On a positive note, we did get to witness the glory of the early morning sky as we saw bats flying overhead. They were making their way back to the riverside trees that serve as their bedrooms. They sleep during the day, hanging by their feet. What a wonderfully wacky world we live in!
Team Captain Misha got an even earlier start, hitting the road by himself at 6:00 a.m. to bank some early kilometres.
Termite mounds continue to dot the landscape, appearing in varying sizes and shapes wherever we stop.
By the end of the day Misha had completed a marathon; a true captain's effort!
Fortunately there was still plenty of kilometres left for everyone else!
No schools today as we are now in the Northern Territory and it is their school holidays. Just beautiful rolling, winding stretches of highway, the rich colours of the earth and ever varied geography helping us to forget our blistered feet and heavy legs. Darwin is beckoning us....
After a lengthy morning drive of 176km, our sub-team started our long day which simply consisted of run, rest, repeat with a decent amount of eating to fuel this ongoing cycle.
Once we finished our running we had a massive grocery shop for the next 3 days. I wish I had taken a photo so you could all see the surprising amount of food we consume. I’m surprised we’re not all gaining weight out here.
We arrived in Northern Territory yesterday and today turns out to be Territory Day, so we were invited to the fair at Katherine Showgrounds. There were a lot of families there to enjoy the music and fireworks who were also happy to hold the Peace Torch.
Time to enjoy the fireworks.
Our gratitude tonight goes to the Manbulloo Homestead in Katherine for providing the team with cabins and rooms for the night. Thank you so much for your support.
