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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.

 

It’s the end of the road. The road from Cairns has led here, and has now stopped. The land ends at this remote ‘Outback by the Sea’ town. People sip their drinks under the palm trees watching the sun turn to orange and then red over the sea, the mangroves and the emerging sand bars. The end of the world vibe. I love it.

The road here saw the vegetation slowly disappear as I pedalled through low grasslands and then salt pans.

And then the road rises and I pop out to a view of the sea.

The cycling day was short, but my body decided it was time to be lazy. And what a chill place to be lazy.