Ilfracombe to Rest Area 68km N of Longreach

Had an easy ride into Longreach from a Sou-easter over some flat land to arrive before 10 in the morning. Longreach has a lot of tourist attractions.

I rode out of Longreach about 11 with a fine tailwind boosting the bike to maximum speed until reaching this basic rest area. With only a big, broad sky, a bin, a table and chairs, and a twin toilet, I laid out my sleeping mat for a snooze on the white gravel with the sun on my back warming it in the cooling air.

A Pommie turned up in a sedan, got out and ignored my big, friendly "hello there". He paused then asked me "you're not a dangerous psychopath are you?". I said, "no, are you?". He seemed genuinely worried, keeping a safe distance and adjusting to my postures as we chatted. After that he went to the car and gave me a can of lemonade and some nice sandwiches. Weird.

A white coloured stick insect was fooling around near the rims of my bike. It moved about like a panther with extra long paws and then ran to some invisible target, loping quickly and rocking forward and back on the skip.

That night a few campervans turned up for an amazing pink sunset on a white lattice cloud pattern. Later some cattle road trains turned up too and made a racket.