TRAVERSE Issue 19 - August 2020 | Page 82

locals for some inside information on the conditions ahead. Our plan from Chillagoe was to head along the quickest route possible to get to the Gulf which was the Burke Development Road. This is a dirt road with some major creek and river crossings including the Walsh, Lynd, and Gilbert rivers. With little information from anyone in town, we made sure we had enough fuel and food in case we had to back track, and decided to give it a crack as the weather conditions looked to be pretty good the next few days. We got to camp a bit unsure of what lay ahead for the next day but, were stoked finally to be on the road and at the start our adventure. After a less than average sleep due to a punctured airbed we had a quick coffee, broke camp, kicked the bikes in the guts and away we went to tackle the day. The first day nerves were now completely disappeared as we were TRAVERSE 82