July 15: Victoria River: Magical
I woke up this morning at the Victoria River Roadhouse to the sound of wild parrots squawking in the trees over my room. It turns out this was just the beginning of a magical morning for Adventure Baby and me.
Loading up the bike at 6:00am, I kept pausing to take in the wonder above me – hundreds of wild parrots squawking, screeching, and chirping while fliting and flying through the still dark sky from one large gnarly tree to another in the dusty campground, their silhouettes just barely lit by the beginnings of the rising sun.
Leaving right after sunrise, I pulled out of the red dirt parking lot onto the Stuart Highway heading east, just barely able to see the road in front of me with the bright sun looming just over the horizon. Traffic was nonexistent and there was a stillness in the air that was quite peaceful.
The sound of my motorcycle in the quiet morning startled a large white and grey bird off to the side of the road and he lifted his wings in flight stretching his long, elegant neck forward and flying alongside me for several seconds, giving me a close-up view of his majestic body.
A wallaby hopped across the road in front of me, the tips of his ears glowing in the morning light and shortly thereafter a kangaroo leapt across the road as well. I looked behind me and could see the rays of the rising sun creating a yellow radiance on the beautiful red and orange layered sandstone cliffs.
The Victoria River Region, stretching from the Kimberly Region to the west and the city of Katherine to the east, has been so delightfully curvy and colorful, featuring the silvery blue waters of the Victoria River winding its way from Gregory National Park into the Timor Sea, the gorgeous red and orange vertical cliffs, and plenty of green to add another pop of color.
After gassing up in Kimberly, I headed north, stopping in the delightful little town of Pine Creek to top up. Time seems to have stood still in this town, with several pay phones in view, a large old windmill on the main street, and a little train station that has been turned into a museum.
As I continued my way north to Darwin, I noticed quite a few army trucks lumbering south. On my travels earlier I met an enlisted soldier stationed in Darwin and I wondered if he was on one of the convoys. What a great day on the bike!
