The highlight of the ride.
The center of Australia.
Uluru....nope, that's not it, yet.
Who took the photo?
A kiwi who lives in Brisbane riding solo to Darwin like me, only with less time.
We met at the turnoff gas station and shared the ride for the rest of the day.
That's Uluru.
Chris took this photo.
It was nice having someone to ride with, it's weird without King Bob but meeting other riders, locals and travelers in general is fun.
These rock formations are actually older than Uluru.
Back at my hostel, there was this guy playing the Digeridoo and explaining everything that goes into doing it correctly.
My hostel bunk was comfortable, cheap and available.
It is high tourist season (winter) so it was actually all I could find.
Thought you would get a kick out of this sign I wrote.
Seriously....they stole my cream!
Any my plastic egg carrier that is only really good at making omelets.
I still smile in my helmet thinking of the idiot that is using that now, to make their own omelets.
Turns out that I timed my arrival just after a very rare occurrence of rain and this pool was full.
It is where animals would come for water, and the indigenous would hunt them.
The dead trees are haunting.
This place spoke to me emotionally and it is where I decided to bury the pin from the kookaburra spell candle I bought last year in Melbourne. We have been saying the spell many times over the past year and it felt right to bring a conclusion to it here.
The indigenous have 160 creation stories.
The park only knows 3.
One is of this snake in the side of Uluru.
See it?
I spent 3 days here. On my middle day, I didn't have much planned and my fatigue and over exertion caught up with me. I woke exhausted and shivering so I stayed in bed all morning.
These aren't vacations. These are adventures.
I usually need a week to recover once I go home.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Next stop. Kings Canyon.
BUT....not before a little drama.
The ram mount that I used to attach the Michelin Man broke en route...I had to turn around and find him. Luckily he's bright orange. I didn't have to go back more than a few miles.
When I arrived, the sky was heavy with clouds and the staff encouraged me to take the helicopter flight. After trying to check into another crappy, expensive room where the door was falling off the hinge, I said why not.
I certainly wasn't going to walk this.
I had a little time before the end of the day so I headed back out of town to do a short walk in Kings Canyon. It was beautiful and peaceful with an easy marked trail.
That went through the riverbed.
The end of the canyon had a few benches.
I learned about these 'ghost' gum trees.
See the black, dead branches?
That is the tree's ability to let a limb die when water is not available to preserve the rest of the tree.
A reminder how hot and harsh the outback is during the summer.
Later that night as I settled into my shitty, expensive room, I saw many people headed out to a deck up on the hill. I wandered over.
As I waited for it to get dark to enjoy the light installation, it was sprinkling so I took shelter under the bar awning and a group of people joined me. We had a nice chat and I learned that the road I'd planned to take, and the one Google wanted me to take, was 4WD.
Back the way I came.
So now the big debate...a natural wonder Standley Chasm
Or swim at Alice Springs pool?
Yep. You guessed it. The pool.
I've learned in Australia, in respect for the indigenous you cannot take photos of sacred sites.
Not allowed to take photos inside the pool facilities either...the changing room I understand but this rule applies to the entire pool area....well, it's sacred to me so....click.
Next Roadhouse.
Aileron.
My room.
Seriously....WTF.
I went back (which has now happened at 5 different places now when faced with some ridiculous crap like this) to say WTF and get another room. Each time, requiring me to back up a big heavy motorcycle, oh in loose gravel, sand, rocks, whatever.
Sheesh.
No Wifi. No Cell service.
Pretty good food though and a jukebox that drowned out the news blaring on the TV.
Best $10 I have spent so far.
Needed fuel.
3 of the 4 fuel pumps not working.
Reminded me of Argentina.
The one pump that is working is duct taped together.
Wandered the grounds and came upon peacocks.
Nearly every toilet I've used has one of these.
While chatting with Olivia the next morning (this day is a 800 km day), her favorite one-legged crow came to say hello. She said he comes to the exact spot every morning, just like this.
I then told her about my eagle experience.
I'll wait to write about it later with a photo.
Devils Marbles is the only 'thing' to see today and given my day will be 9 hours of riding,
that fit the bill as it was a short 5 mins detour from the main road.
Then it was hours and hours of a whole lot of nothing.
I had to keep alert though, remember wildlife.
Ginger the roo on my handlebars is my ward against an kangaroo jumping out in front of me.
Arrived about 4:30 in Daly Waters.
Parked and saw this sign....oh boy.
Not the heavy vehicles, although I do need to photograph a road train, no the other sign in yellow.
It was a madhouse.
Wandering animals.
Wandering people, most drunk.
My room was ice cold.
Comfortable and worth what I paid.
I ordered wings and lamb.
When the girl arrived with both plates, she looked at me and asked which plate was mine,
I said both.
Car boxed me in nicely so I decided to sleep in and leave late.
There is a 'museum' of odd collected junk across the street.
So here is my eagle story.
Here is a stuffed one to give you a sense of the size.
This one however was about 2/3 the size of the one I came up on.
When I see a carcass on the side of the road I slow down because I know something is feeding on it.
As I approached a rather large kangaroo 'napping' on the side of the road, I noticed something on top of it, quite large...thinking perhaps it was a roo.
Nope.
It was a huge wedge tailed eagle, feasting.
Beak to Tail was at least 4 feet long.
As I neared at a safe speed, it stretched out its wings, while looking at me with one eye and slowly took flight veering slightly away from the road in perfect timing of my traveling next to it.
It was quite the experience, I still feel my heart clench remembering how special that moment felt.
That was the highlight of the ride, not Uluru.
Vintage barbed wire.
Like I said, assorted junk including a bike Steve McQueen rode.
Last year when in Queensland, there were giant termite mounds.
I never stopped for a photo....but finally got one at Bitter Springs.
There is what we call a lazy river here.
You hop in at one end and it snakes around to a set of stairs where you climb out and go back and do it again. It was hella fun!
Got a cute cottage with covered parking for Snowy.
Very comfortable and facing a wildlife area that had many birds.
Next stop Kakadu National Park.
