Ok, enough of the suspense.

Colin and Leanne the roadside rescuers got me to Elleanbrae Homestead using the link that Leanne was related to the owners of Diggers Rest Station up on the Kurunji Track and all station managers help each other out! Notwithstanding that Ellenbrae campground was closed on account of Covid 19 interim caretakers Mark and Lorraine took a look at me and opened the homestay immediately, and gave me a Gatorade sports drink to try and keep me alive. I staggered over to the hut and collapsed on the bed. For the rest of the day I slept and occasionally staggered painfully to the 25 metres to the toilet. The next day the Ellenbrae managers Leslie and Logan came back from a farewell party for the managers at Home Valley Station next door (80 km away) and agreed that I needed to stay another day. Linda and Christine rode in a day later so we were all together.

Heads up – I could only stagger the 25 m because my leg calf hurt. I thought I’d torn a muscle pushing through the sand and dragging the bike over the rocks on the Kurunji. Not so lucky! I had got heat exhaustion, a half hour off full blown heat stroke. Even though I was still drinking lots of water, still sweating, still pee-ing and not feeling bad I was badly dehydrated possibly due to not taking in enough salt to retain the water. Linda who had led geological exploration teams through this country could see me collapsing but could not convince me to accept that I was in bad trouble.

And now the awful fact: I had developed a blood clot in the popliteal artery behind the knee. Very little blood flow to the lower leg. Damned lucky not to have the leg die and be cut off. Anyway I didn’t know this until having ridden and hitched a ride out to Derby 400 km later.

And then Logan loaded our bikes on the ute and drove us the five kilometres out to the Gibb River Road.