arctic-cycler.com

The sandy track followed the beach on the other side of a sandhill. I was exploring in the dark as the sun was just becoming a pink glow on the horizon. The sea began to be studded with little mangrove bushes. They became more dense. Finally they opened out into a mangrove swamp the other side of the beach. Dead trees stood high in the mud, with birds perched on their tips. It was a beautiful sight. Silence broken by bird calls. And this was all for me.

This beautiful place I visited for two sunrises. It was my favourite, secret place. On the second morning I made a pire from the dead wood.

My second sunset at Karumba was on a sand bar 7km out to see. A boat took me and the other visitors out to have a meal and drinks. It was a beautiful, surreal place.

All of this was on my day off pottering around Karumba. The return trip to Normanton was a bit of a slog. I have grown accustomed to a tailwind. Heading east, my friend became my enemy, and I had to remember how it is slowly counting down the kms into the wind. Tomorrow is another rest day in Normanton.