Day 31 Alice Springs to Aileron

It was a cold, misty and over cast morning. We were out the door before 8am and the idea was that we were riding half way to Aileron, and then camping (about 43 miles). On my way out of town I went to pull in to a service station to buy an iced coffee and had my first flat tire! My back tire suddenly went completely flat... I found a small green piece of glass was lodged in the tire when I removed the tire after completely unpacking the bike. The kid working behind the counter really tried to be helpful, but was unable to assist me with any of my requests. It took me until 9.30 to change the tube and tire, patch the damaged tube, and then repack the bike. Once I was rolling it was a full 10 miles of hills to get out of Alice Springs, even though Dave as assured at the bike shop that there were only 10 km of hills... but no matter I was well rested and they were actually a lot of fun. An added bonus was that at the first rest area about 20km outside of Alice I crossed the Tropic of Capricorn!

Dave Stayed behind to sort out his flights home, having gotten a bit carried away on Facebook during the previous days. Prior to leaving we agreed that if conditions were "perfect" that Andrew and I might decide to ride all the way to Aileron. At 2:30 pm I caught up with Andrew and we decided that the conditions were as perfect as they could be expected with a moderate tailwind and flat roads! So, with the daylight clock ticking away, we made the commitment to ride another 50 miles to Aileron. We left Dave two notes indicating our intentions to ride on in our customary manner - paper note weighted down with rocks all around and left on the shoulder of the road.

Andrew was of course off in a flash, and it was a huge effort on my part to make it to the Aileron roadhouse before dark even with the tailwind. I rolled into the roadhouse after having to ride the last 10-15 km in almost total darkness on the Stuart Highway...there was the just barest hint of light and color in the western sky. That 10 km was the scariest ride I've ever experienced, going from pitch black illuminated by my helmet light, to blinding light and noise as roadtrains roared on past... I rode hard relying on adrenaline and huge mouthfuls of raw honey to keep me moving.

Exhausted, I arrived to find out that Andrew had purchased two campsites instead of a room... soooo with an attitude as black as the surrounding environment I drug out my tent and began setting it in the lights of the parking lot, and then moved it over to the campsite. After a shower we went in for a bite to eat, but I was nearly too tired to eat and felt nauseous. We struck up a conversation with an Aussie telephone worker named Greg Gilbert. He insisted on buying us a beer, and was great company as well as a wealth of information! The beer seemed to settle my stomach (or perhaps it was the atmosphere), so I had a small meal and was off to bed.

Day 30 Alice Springs

We ended up staying another day in Alice... With incessant rain for 2 days we decided that it would be a good idea to avoid the flash flooding and just hang out one more day. Added to the this is the fact that Dave was waiting on his new rear wheel.

At 5.30am when I looked out the window I groaned and got out the rain gear. They have probably had more rain in the past two days then they did for most of last year! Anyway, it was with a sigh of relief that both Andrew and Dave readily agreed that another day was a good idea.

We're all packed and set to go for tomorrow morning. In the background we hear the steady thunder of fireworks... it is Territory Day today, and people can legally set off fireworks from 6pm until 11pm. I'm guessing that the risk of brush fires is pretty low at the moment!

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!!