Buffalo Creek

The marshland is such a draw card. Besides being very wild it is full of places I have never ventured much. The lovely Pandanus trees abound on the ride in, but I am keen to start exploring the interior of the Mangrove forests that line the creek system.

Contrasts

I am getting used to this kind of trail, and in the dry dusty morning moving through the dew encrusted foliage is spine tingling cool. Being the dry season, most grass is just waiting for a fire to return it to its ancestors. Since there is little commercial interest in the land yet, small colonies of the Sand Palm (L. humilis) still thrive, as well as the hardy and illusionary turkey bush.







Less than a kilometre away, secreted behind a Casuarina forest and mangrove creek, a hidden walking trail provides an addicting ride on a shaded and winding path. How quickly you develop a geologists frame of reference about the structure of the soil-just where the tire is about to grab it and hold on.

All Trails Lead To The Forest

I always imagine what it would have been like exploring the Northern Territory before there were roads and trails. Imagine coming upon several hundred kilometres of this bushland. Just walking through it I get lost and seeing the birds I decide they have a distinct advantage.

My Steel Lego Set

Having decided to pursue my goal of adventure first, financial security later, I ordered my first Sit-On-Kayak to explore those places my MTB will not go. But being the pragmatic person I am, I decided to build the transportation system first. So putting a few woodworking skills to good use and knowing a steel welder my utility transporter came into being.

The First Ride

Exploration via my new Avanti Ridgerider was a deliberate attempt to regain a slightly more trim figure, as well as, recapture that adventurous spirit and fleeting adrenalin rush of moving in and out of being lost and being found again. Tropical Darwin provides many opportunities for back of beyond jaunts and a chance to witness the rich colours of a natural environment.

A tentative and deliberate first ride gave me a chance to explore a coastal environment adjoining a tidal river, as well as, getting my feet wet riding a bike again. Has it really been 40 years? How things have changed. Not only does the bike allow you to roll "up the hill" but escape the urban sprawl and bike loving dogs taking their owners for that fat reducing exercise.

Replace the noise and congestion with a tranquil bush track, sided by tropical flower beds, & a flowing tidal mangrove swamp inhabited with marauding crocodiles and shy mud crabs. Perhaps I should have brought my Garmin GPS!

For several hours I was lost to the feelings of the breeze in my face, remembering which fork was which and learning how "powering that rear wheel" provides stability on slippery inclines (I did that?).