Day 15 Halls Creek to Larrawa Station 151 kms

Woken early this morning by a telephone conversation in the next tent going for at least an hour in a different language. That was the frustrating thing, I couldn't follow the conversation at all. I got up to go to the toilet and sussed out which tent the talking was coming from, trying to find out whether or not the person was one of ours and whether or not they were sleep talking. It was not one of ours so I politely asked them to go to sleep. I then climbed back into the back of the truck hoping that worked but it didn't so I asked (not so politely) once again. Still didn't work and Collis wouldn't let me pursue the disturbance (I was a little relieved as I had no idea how big this person was or anything). Once he stopped talking the the town music began and continued well into the morning- actually right up till we left the town. It was very loud and it was mostly the same song repeated continuously over and over again. Peter did some investigation this morning and found the house it was coming from which was over the other side of town. Where are the police in these towns?
Packing this morning was a little slower, for what reason I couldn't determine but we were finished in time to get to morning tea by 9.35 am- 5 minutes late. But the riders moved fast this morning and were waiting for us. Road works held us up this morning for at least 15 minutes so we ended up 5 minutes late for morning tea but all was forgiven when I produced my choice of 3 flavours of sandwiches, which are peanut butter, jam or Vegemite. Three loaves of bread were demolished in seconds.
Last night John worked on Fliss' bike and she was able to ride off on it this morning. She can't use all the gears but if she treats it tenderly then it might just make it to Broome. John is a miracle worker!! In anticipation that Fliss may not be able to ride her bike, our spare bike got the best clean it's had probably ever so the next time I get a chance to ride then I should have a much cleaner bike to ride.

The wind has been up their tails all morning and the slowest rider was doing an average of 27 kms an hour without trying. Lunch was at a beautiful little spot called Mary's Pool which we thought at first we could bush camp at but it was just too far from Fitzroy River (tomorrow night's stop). If we don't get the good winds tomorrow then it would be too far for them to ride comfortably in one day. Mary's Pool is a lovely little rest area which is very popular and was already very full but there was still plenty of room for the cyclists. It is so funny, we just keep running into the same caravaners everywhere we go.

Onto Lawarra Station which is just perfect. Wendy, the managers wife, is so accommodating, offering the riders drinks and snacks as they arrived. She has given us camping area around a little cottage they rent out and we can use the cottage kitchen and washing machine as well. Very nice choice for a night's stay. The sunset tonight was spectacular and I hope someone captured it's real beauty for the blog. Cycle across Oz shouted everyone dinner tonight which was cooked by Wendy and consisted of all you could eat lasagne, stir fry beef, ribs, fried rice and a vegetarian pasta. Meal was lovely. Most people who haven't been out to the outback think it is a whole lot of nothing but they are just so wrong. There is always so much to see with changing colors, changing terrain, changing flora and changing weather. It is really beautiful but you must slow down and look at it at the pace of a bicycle to enable you to really appreciate it.