No need to say it was again hot and dry and windy and not much of a change to previous days. Strategy: get to camp before the wind blows you of the road! Luckily the road direction changed from east to south-south-east, turning the headwind into a less annoying crosswind. Lunch was at a ‘termite mount plantation’, a place that was sometimes cleaned from bushes and trees, but then occupied by hundredth of termite colonies. After lunch I was attacked by a bird. I was cycling along, when I heard a bird’s cry and a shadow following me. I turned around and I saw a bird flying over my head, obviously investigating the bugs on my helmet. The bird tried several times to get one of these. I got my GoPro ready and luckily got the last attempt recorded before the bird gave up.  All day no wallabies to see, only the smell of them. However those you can smell, you don’t want to see -  too many road kills. And usually next to the dead ‘roo’ is a dead bird. I wanted to see some caves along our route, but unfortunately the park was still closed when I arrived, and not to open for another 70 minutes – too long too wait for. Later I stopped at a world war II heritage site, with a Stirling Mill steam engine. A wallaby as hiding in the engine body, but jumped into the bushes when I get off my bike. Mataranka is a small settlement. Highlight is the nearby fresh water spring in a National Park. Unbelievable to find a river in the middle of nowhere with crystal clear water at 33°C. Even at that temperature a real refreshment. Many of us did the extra 3 km from camp to the river to go for a swim. Tomorrow is another long cycling day. 169km and only one coke stop en route. We will further change direction to go straight south, thus hoping that this will slightly enhance to wind situation. 

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