Charles Darwin National Park, January 07

A short recap by James Cryer, visiting from NSW.

It was late afternoon when I rendezvoused with your sturdy group, off for a ride around the Charles Darwin National Park. These were tough and seasoned riders (even the blokes were quite good), so I was stretched to my limits in keeping up, along the tight single-track winding through the scrub. Whoever said there were no hills in Darwin as, dripping with sweat, I negotiated turn after turn with the panache of a ballerina - when suddenly with the force of an orchestra striking up - it poured down with rain in one of the most torrential torrents I've ever seen. In seconds we were riding through a blinding wall of water, as visibility was reduced to watching the curvaceous buttocks (female I hope!) of whoever was immediately ahead. The tracks became mini-rivers and bike and rider was baptised in a fountain of mud. This was nature in its full symphonic vigour - thunder, lightening and torrential rain - a dramatic introduction to a delightful Darwinian deluge!

This was in stark contrast to the week before, when I'd had the pleasure of four days mountain-biking through the Southern Kosciusko National Park - where not only the topograhy, but the climate - was dramatically different.