Tour
Total tour distance: 1885 miles
Daily tour distance: 75 miles
Difficulty: 70 / 100
Description
This leg starts from Broome, the pearling capital of Western Australia and gateway to the Kimberley. The cycle tour heads south west from Broome along the coast into the iron ore country of the Pilbara and Port Hedland. From Port Hedland, the tour heads inland to Tom Price and Karijini National Park, which offers spectacular rugged scenery, ancient geological formations, and a variety of arid-land ecosystems. From here, the tour heads back to the coast and follows the coast down to Perth taking in sights like Coral Bay and Ningaloo Reef.
This trip has two key elements - the coast of Western Australia and the mining country of the Pilbara dominated by the Hamersley Ranges. This coast is remarkably unspoiled because of the large distances from any major centres. Equally unspoiled are the vast landscapes of the ranges, especially contained by Karijini National Park, where we spend 3 days.
This is a new route for Cycle across Oz. Collis & Kathy Ivey are your hosts and support crew. The accommodation is mostly camping at the best available camping areas in each region. At most camping grounds there is an opportunity for riders to upgrade into cabins at their own expense. Riders arrange most meals themselves except on occasions where there is no where to buy a prepared meal. There is limited space to carry your personal food supplies but plenty of opportunity to stock up as we travel along.
Our bush camps are a unique experience and usually enjoyed by all riders. On the bush camps Kathy will prepare you a typical Australian camp meal cooked on the camp fire and she may even throw in some damper at the end of the meal. Bush camping is a necessity when you have these long riding distances as it is not always possible to ride from one town to the next in one day.
We restrict our riding numbers to around 20 riders due to ability to carry everyone's luggage. We do not encourage regular use of the sag wagon and everyone is supported and encouraged to complete each days riding distance. Daily distances will depend on available accommodation, wind directions & speed, and the group's preference. We have planned itineraries on our web site but they may be changed at our discretion.