Day 29 Alice Springs

Got busy making final preparations for departing tomorrow morning... mending things, bike adjustments, foodstuffs, etc. It is actually raining in Alice Springs, contrary to the "it never rains in Alice" that everyone is always telling me. Whats more- its sorta rained on and off all day!

Andrew and I are planning to leave around first light tomorrow morning, while Dave is staying behind a day getting his new wheels built. He's planning to catch up with us down the road a bit... I have mixed feelings about this.

I'm more or less rested up, and I'm getting anxious to get back on the road. We have approximately 17 riding days left, plus a few off-days in there too. With the end now an attainable goal we need to work on staying focused and not being careless. Its still just as dangerous on the road even though things are becoming familiar and routine.

Day 28 Alice Springs

Simply another day off today.... Slept in, tuned on the bike, wandered around, and began reading "Mr. Stuart's Track", a book about John Mcdouall Stuart the Australian explorer that first crossed the continent south to north along the route that is the foundation for the highway we are riding. Of course I did quite a bit of blogging as there was a lot to catch up on.

We went to a highly recommended bar called "Bo's", but it turned out to be a bad clone of an American country western bar... very disappointing. So we simply went back to Annie's and called it an early night.

I'm already packing up and re-organizing for the final leg of the trip. Including sending some things off to Jason in Melbourne to lighten the load a bit more... we'll be hitting the tropics in a week or 10 days and there'll be no need for such cold weather gear.

Day 27 Alice Springs

Even on my day off I awoke at 5.45am, damn.
Had a leisurely cup of coffee (flat white) and did a bit of laundry. Went and saw a film later with Andrew, and then bought a few essentials... including a new camera! Basically just rode or walked around Alice to get a feel for the place again.

Just finished dinner at the hostel and I'm relaxing before bed... still sore.

Day 26 Stuarts Well to Alice Springs

I was up at 5.30am and had a good breakfast at the roadhouse. I was the first customer of the day, and when I walked up Jim and the cook were sitting having a smoke out back. After breakfast I asked Jim if I could get a photo of him and Dinky next to my bike... only to discover that my camera was broken!! I did manage to get it working eventually just long enough to get the photo, but in the process I became so flustered that I rode off without buying an iced coffee, AND I left my beaning hanging on a fence...nice.

The entire 56 miles into Alice was a headwind, however the winds diminished a bit for the last two hours. I took the requisite photos at the Alice Springs sign... and then discovered it was still 10km into town!!

I found Andrew waiting for me at the "actual" city limit and we rode on to the YHA to wait for Dave. Dave stayed behind in Stuarts Well to have a camel ride in the morning. We met up with a German cyclist along the way, and got a bit of road-ahead info. We waited for Dave 45 minutes past dark, and then left him a note and went to find something to eat... and of course ran into Dave on the way!

We are staying at "Annie's Place" and nice backpackers hostel with a funky atmosphere. It has good meals at around $8, and an on-site bar. We had a few celebratory drinks and stayed up late (10pm) running wild, haha!!

We are now half way through this ride!

Day 25 Erldunda to Stuarts Well

I was on the road shortly after 7am, and when the wind came up around 10am it was a TAILWIND!!! The first 40 miles clicked off in short order-

About 11am I stopped at the base of some ancient, crumbling mountains (now hills) to have an iced coffee which is a milk carton with a mixture of milk and coffee- its my 20-30 mile treat and has become a regular ritual. I put the carton in my beanie in the morning to keep it cold until I take that first break of the day. Anyway, the sense of ancient time and serenity of this spot was very moving, and will remain a special memory for me.

We stopped for lunch at the Finke River rest area to rendezvous with Andrew and a miracle occurred... there was an actual toilet! We spoke with several couples and families about our trip and had a very pleasant time. Andrew left first, and Dave and I followed about 2pm. However, the road turned so often we more often had a crosswind than a tail wind... The last 28 miles to Stuarts Well were tough.

About 2km out of Stuarts Well we encountered our first touring cyclist. Pat was from New Zealand and was on his way from Alice Springs to Uluru. We spoke with him for a good 20-30 minutes. He was riding a well-used custom built tourer that a friend of his from Adelaide had built some years earlier. He looked like he was made of leather and was very fit for a man of about 60.

Our supper at the roadhouse (Jim's Place) was amazing!! Black Russian beef that melted in your mouth with potatoes and veggies. After supper all the dinners were treated to some bush stories and history by Jim (Cotterill). He told of his families role in opening up King's Canyon for tourism back in the 1950's and 60's, it was fascinating! He is a gifted story-teller, and charming, if somewhat gruff character.

We were then treated to a celebrity performance by "Dinky" the singing dingo! Jim has raised Dinky from an orphaned pup, and somewhere during his youth Dinky started to sing along when anyone played the piano. Later, when no one was playing the piano, Dinky would jump up on the keyboard and play and sing!

Dinky did indeed play the piano, and sing to his own playing... it was pretty incredible! Dinky is featured in a question in the 20th anniversary edition of Trivial Pursuit, and has been featured on TV and in news articles around the globe. What a unique find!!

Day 24 Erldunda and Uluru

This morning I saw my first live kangaroo of the trip on my way to breakfast! We caught a tour bus at 8.30am and headed for Uluru (Ayer's Rock). At Yalara when the bus stopped, I ran into the YHA to see if there was a letter waiting for me from Dad, but no luck. I hastily scrawled out a postcard to back to him, and sprinted back to the bus where I was met by frowns from our fellow bus travelers... I frowned back.

We went to Kata Juta (the Olgas) where Dave and Andrew did an abbreviated walk as there was only 30 minutes allowed by the tour. We continued on to the Uluru where Andrew opted to climb the rock, while Dave and I did several walking tours at the base.

The tour company put on a great BBQ at an observation point several km from the rock where we could get some good photos in the changing, fading light.... along with 500+ people from several other tour companies.

Then it was a 2 1/2 hour ride back to Erldunda on the bus. After weeks on our own on the bikes, the tour bus was definately a bit of culture shock. I'm used to being able to stop when I want, and also having all the things I need with me all of the time...

Its now 10.15pm and we're getting ready for tomorrow's ride to Stuarts Well, about 67 miles away. We are really hoping for a change in the wind, or we are in for a bastard of a day.

On a side note, we watched a dvd on the bus ride out to Uluru about John Mcdouall Stuart, the man after whom this highway (#87) is named. Stuart was the first white explorer to cross Australia, but it took him 6 attempts. He suffered tremendously in the process, and was a unique character. He finished his final attempt on July 21st... a day before our projected completion date!

Day 23 Kulgera to Erldunda

We were on the road by 7.30am today and I'm glad... we had two hours before the wind came up. We've had headwinds now for well over 10 days straight, and I'm wondering where in the hell these mythical seasonal SE winds are?! With the winding road the best you can hope for is a wicked crosswind to ease your headwind burden for a little while. It may sound like whining, but even Andrew suggested the possibility of breaking the trip up into shorter days if the headwinds continue!

However, we've made fairly good time inspite of the headwinds, covering 47 miles in 5 hours and 20 minutes of ride time.

Day 22 Agnes Creek to Kulgera

Today we rode out of South Australia and into the Northern Territory!! Basically it was all uphill and into a constant headwind. I didn't apply sunscreen this morning and I'm regretting it. Andrew was tired and sore today, so we basically rode together. We all left camp late... not sure why, but it was 8.30 before I left, and later still for Dave.

Several people offered food and water again today, and we've begun noticing that when people drive past us they are either shooting video or photos. One guy was actually interviewing me for a bit while I was riding! Apparently we are becoming part of the "outback experience"....

With 20km left to go today, I had the bright idea that for once I would be the first person to arrive in "camp" at Kulgera. I learned that 44 does not beat 24, even when 24 is stiff and sore... although there was about a 10km stretch there where I actually thought I'd win. I was mistaken! With about 2km left, Andrew blew by me on a downhill run. That was that.

Now I'm paying for my bravado... I am exhausted and sore. I'll be taking it at a sensible pace tomorrow for sure!

Day 21 Marla to Agnes Creek bush camp

Once again I was anxious to ride... I woke up at 2.45am, 5.ooam, and again at 6. I was off into the early morning light by 7.15, but I only made a mere 15 miles before Andrew caught me today. The riding was tough and into the wind as usual. I took a brief nap along side a bridge after about 30 miles or so.

Revitalized I rode on to the next rest area where I was treated to some soda and cakes by a lovely couple- very kind of them! Trevor is a retired road worker who told me that he had lots of news for me about the roads ahead... all of it bad! Thank you for that. They were on their way south from Darwin where they'd been having a holiday to attend the funeral of a friend. They said they'd be driving back to Darwin "in a fortnight" so we may see them again near Tennent Creek.

Later, I had a man and his son pull up right next to me (and scare the hell out of me) while I was riding and ask if I needed food or water. Very gracious of them, even if their delivery was a bit unorthodox! Round about this time I realized that we've ridden out of the green grass sometime today, everything is turning brown.

We are camped at the Agnes Creek rest area. There is a constant cacophony of sound from the "correllas", a smaller version of a cockatoo we are told. Andrew said that "we will be lulled to sleep tonight by the gentle sound of an old woman being murdered!" I laughed my ass off at that one, and I'm still chuckling as I write this... that is exactly what those birds sounded like!

Day 20 Marla

I managed to get the bike pump functioning again, and that's a relief. I've also re-wrapped my handlebars and cleaned my chain, which was waaay past due. Today was fairly uneventful. We slept in this morning (6.30am for me), ate, and wandered around Marla a little. I've made some travel/room arrangements for the next week or so, including a possible side trip to Uluru via a tour bus.

Basically we are just trying to build up our strength for the next 3 days. Life is falling into a predictable rhythm more or less - 3 days of riding, one day off. We are all anxious to reach Alice Springs and have a few days off in a row!

Day 19 Cadney Homestead to Marla

On the road peddling before 8am today - a nice semi-overcast day, and I rolled into Marla at 2.30pm. I had ridden 30 miles before Andrew caught up with me at rest area. As we pulled in we spotted an Aboriginal family whose car had run out of gas. We had a nice discussion and Andrew shared some of his spare water.

We saw Minnesota on the news last night at Cadney- tornadoes had hit Wadena and several other cities. So strange to see "home" featured on the news as an exotic tragedy and human interest story.

Dave forgot his batteries and charger this morning at Cadney (even after I reminded him) and ended up riding 5km back to retrieve them! Included in Dave's lost items list are: 3 towels, 1 t-shirt, 1 jar of cinnamon (recovered), and a sweat band... its become a bit of a running joke to see what items will make it onto the list!

I've just finished additional repairs on my tire pump, as it failed again this morning. I put epoxy all over the split head and hopefully it stays airtight until Alice Springs. I did manage to let 30lbs of air out of my rear tire this morning before realizing the pump was broken... nice!

Day 18 Poortnoura bush camp to Cadney Homestead

I cranked off 48 miles in 4 hours and 28 minutes today, but I could sure tell that we'd ridden yesterday. This distance/time may not seem too impressive, but considering my loaded bike is about 75 lbs, and then add the weight of 15 liters of water (3 days worth) to that, plus riding into an almost constant side or headwind, I'm doing ok.

It was a sunny, clear day and not too many hills. Andrew opted to camp tonight, but Dave and I are sharing a "room" at the roadhouse. The room is literally smaller than an average fish house, but with far fewer amenities... However, we did have a very nice meal and even a couple beers.

I spotted a couple burlap shoulder bags in the shop, and Dave bought them to use as front panniers. They are pretty cool looking in an outback Australia sort of way!

With the recent rains, the desert is in bloom. Everywhere you look there are the most amazing little flowers and such. I've included a selection of them, as they are far and away the best of the scenery from today!

Day 17 Coober Pedy to Poortnoura bush camp

I awoke at 4.30am... anxious to get on the road. I laid in bed until just before 6am and then got up and packed up. I was out the door at 7am just as the sky was lighting up, picked up some riding snacks at the servo (service station) and then with great enthusiasm and gusto promptly rode off in the wrong direction!! I realized my error and turned around by Nathan's shop... I ran into Jeff, one of the artists I'd met yesterday. He was shooting photos for a travel brochure, and took mine as well. We wished each other well, and I was off... in the right direction this time.

Coober Pedy is a very odd little town... basically people live in a gravel pit. And of course it takes a special breed of person to embrace this lifestyle.

Riding went well, as the road seems to have leveled off a little. Of course a couple days rest didn't hurt either, and I pushed on stopping only once in 47 miles when Andrew caught up with me around 10am. As I pulled into the Poortnoura rest area there were two girls washing their hair with water from the rain-catch tank. I couldn't help but think of what a waste that was to use water that might save someone's life for bathing.

I was in desperate need of a cup of coffee, but with Dave several hours behind us today there was no stove or cooking pot. So instead I built a small twig fire and used a very small spaghetti can to boil water. It took three cans to make a single cup of coffee, but it was an excellent cup if I do say so myself!

Somewhere during this coffee-making frenzy two caravans pulled in. Andrew walked over for a chat and I followed in a few minutes with my coffee. They were very nice people, older and retired and offered us some treats. However, their 3-legged dog "Handsome" was very protective of his owner, Graham, and promptly bit me on leg when I reached in to accept a cookie! It hurt like hell and broke the skin, but I was gracious about it not wanting to offend the caravaners... and of course not wanting to look like a psychopath, I had to suppress my instinctual reactions!

Dave arrived about 4.30, and so with the mess kit present we made a quick supper and then had a nice chat with a couple from Queensland and a man that had emigrated from Prague in the former Soviet Union. He was hoot, being a conspiracy nut... it was all about government spying on its people, Jewish global banking conspiracy, etc. Quite amusing especially given the setting!

We broke out our new star chart after dinner and had a go at picking out the constellations until bed time at 8pm.

Day 16 Coober Pedy

I woke up at 6am as usual today, but I went back to sleep until 7.30, what vulgar luxury!! I bought supplies for the next leg of the trip at shops and markets that have seen better days, and fuller shelves. After a strong coffee I did some requisite "touristing" that included a very noisy and dusty mining old time mining demonstration, and a tour of the old timers mine.

I was then able to spent several hours at the Fuji Camera/opal shop run by Nathan Aretas- he is truly an inspirational guy! At age 16 he was playing around with his brothers in the opal fields and fell 85ft into an open opal mine shaft... his list of injuries is huge, and the effects have plagued him ever since. In addition to this, he is also currently suffering from bone cancer and, inspite of being in almost constant pain, he is an upbeat, patient, and compassionate man with an excellent sense of humor!

His shop is a center of social and artistic activity, and is an experience not to be missed... everyone seems to come through his door. The rogues gallery includes leathery opal miners, outback artists, aboriginal artists and locals, family and friends, tourists, and of course some scruffy-looking bicyclists! Nathan is a scrupulously honest man who literally would rather give away a piece of jewelry that he's crafted rather than have someone feel cheated... his character stands out in a town where honesty is surely at premium!

Day 15 Coober Pedy

I slept like a dead man last night... And when I woke up at 6am, I had the luxury of going back to sleep until 7.30!! I really ran wild by having TWO cups of coffee with my leisurely breakfast. We walked around town checking out the tourist attractions, most notably Faye's underground house.
Faye's story is remarkable, as she moved up to Coober Pedy when there were very few women around. She tried her hand at several jobs including being a cook, a job from which she was fired for refusing to cook rancid meat! Over time she bought the piece of property in which her home is now located, and she started digging... when she needed a bit of technical know-how she'd cook a meal and invite several miners over and pick their brains while they ate. She began giving tours of her home almost immediately, and is credited with starting the Coober Pedy tourist industry more or less.

Faye has since moved to Brisbane for her retirement, but the current owners still give tours of the house, and it was fascinating experience. I was most impressed with the wine cellar and the pool which is heated by solar coils on the roof...where Colin took us for a unique tour that was generally not on the itinerary.

Coober Pedy is a strange place, it is essentially a gravel pit with some hearty individuals living in it trying to eek out a living. The more grim aspect of life here is found in the Aboriginal community that seem to be regarded almost as ghosts and live both within the community yet distinctly seperate from it. The surreptitious photo I took is typical of what you see; groups of Aboriginals sitting around basically where ever. And of course the problem of alcoholism is huge and ever-present... both day and night in the streets.