Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Day 41 Renner Springs to Elliott




We were riding by 7am, but we have to make it even earlier tomorrow. The sun wasn't over the horizon yet, but we could have been on the road by 6.30am in the pre-dawn light, I think. At any rate we did manage to beat most of the heat. Andrew arrived in Elliot around 11.30am, and I rolled in closer to 1pm.

I had expected to be camping, but to my surprise Andrew flagged me down outside the Midland Carvan park and told me had secured a room. Air conditioning is becoming more than just a luxury for this Minnesota boy... we are in the tropics for certain!

We have been warned to avoid the Midland Caravan park by both travelers and locals... hmmmm. Our "room" is another glorified fish house, but it does have a working aircon unit as well as a ceiling FULL of a wide variety of spiders... more of a concern to me is the constantly renewing stream of mosquitos that seem to appear from everywhere and nowhere at that same time!

At the Elliot Hotel/Pub we were told that they didn't serve meals until supper time, so instead we feasted on gas station hot dogs and fries with gravy... pretty good feed all things considered!
We were discussed taking a day off, but Elliott just isnt the spot for it. So we'll be riding again tomorrow. We haven't had a day off since Barrow Creek, but we seem to be doing fine.

We passed to seperate sets of touring "couples" this morning, but we didnt stop to chat to long... the heat had us all concerned. Still its good to get a bit of "intell" on what the road ahead is like and so on. Further up the road I spotted a note from Dave, and it just made me smile.

As soon as the sun was setting, the heat broke. It cooled down nicely, and it was actually comfortable when Andrew and I walked back to the Pub for a meal. The food was excellent, and I celebrated my 45th birthday with a couple of beers, all the while browsing the photos on the bulletin board. It seems that Elliott has quite the civic pride, having hosted a "mardi gras" party with a gay and lesbian them... featuring the entire town in drag and/or various fetish costumes. It was absolutely BRILLIANT, and I'm sorry I missed THAT party!!!

The atmosphere at the Elliot Hotel Pub is one of the highlights of my trip. It encapsulated the outback spirit completely, and had a cast of characters to match! Do not miss out on an evening in this place if you are in the area and you can avoid it!!