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!!
