Topaz

New cities by the sea
Skyscrapers are winking
Some hills are never seen
The universe expanding

    - Topaz, The B52's

Walkabout Day 17 - Melbourne - Sydney

3 of the 4 people I wanted to visit in Canberra are away, and the 4th already has plans. Additionally, there were no interesting rides to be had around Canberra, so all in all I decide to skip Canberra and ride straight to Sydney today. It's going to be a long ride. I'm heading down the driveway at 7:22am.

The bike won't start in the morning, the battery is nearly flat. I am able to push start it cold, down the road though, and it behaves from there. I'll definitely be taking out the peripherals I added, to see if they're causing the problem, or if there is some other part of the bike that is going, like the battery or alternator.

I head down the road for the long, non-scenic route... I'm tired from the long trip, and want to save the coastal route for another ride. I just want to get home. I stop at Holbrook to take some photos of the submarine display they have there, and at Gundagai, then it's straight on home.

About an hour outside of Sydney it starts raining, so I'm into my wet weather gear for the last stretch home.

I roll into the driveway at 6:30pm. The odometer reads 76,830km. 8,943km covered in the entire trip, over 17 days. The jacaranda tree out the front has flowered while I'm away, and the driveway is covered in purple jacaranda flowers. I'm home.

Walkabout Day 16 - Apollo Bay - Melbourne

I sleep in until 6 today. I have got the process of rolling out of bed to rolling down the road down to 30 minutes, though I only make it 20 metres before I stop to take photos of the trees I noticed last night, in the morning light. Then it is onwards along the Great Ocean Road. Again I am glad I stopped for the night, because I really appreciate the road and lack of traffic in the morning sun. The views and the road were so good I feel the need for a cigarette when it was over, and I don't smoke.

I detour to Werribee, and visit the hospital I was born in. As far as I am aware this is my first return trip since then. I really am hitting a number of landmarks this trip, it seems.


Then I head into the city. As I ride into the city, Topaz comes on my iPod again, something that made me grin, and wonder. I struggle to find an internet cafe so I can get in touch with people. Of course, once I find one I see many, even ones I had gone straight past earlier.

I get in touch with Pramod, who I worked with in Japan, he only lives a short distance away. I go over and meet with him and his family. We chat about old times and catch up on where people we know are at now. Then I head over to visit Lalita and Brendan, and they kindly offer me a place to stay for the night. I spend the afternoon with them, then meet up with Omega and Hong for dinner at a Balinese restaurant in town. It had been nearly 3 years since I last saw them, the time has passed very quickly!

On the way back to Lalita and Brendan's place, the bike stalled at the lights, twice. I was able to push start it each time... I suspect a short in the wiring I installed. I will need to redesign the whole system I think... I am learning a lot about rugged system design as I go. I hope that is the problem and that as long as I keep those circuits switched off I don't have any more problems. I will know tomorrow, if the bike starts or not.

Speaking with Omega and Hong I am trying to remember the projects I am considering:

electric motorbike
home hydrogen generation
swarmbots
EAP muscle bot
reprap and extensions
led controller for bike
toughened harness for bike
underwater habitat
augmented reality gargoyle harness
graphic novel
robotic limb harness

I know there are at least 5-10 more, but I can only remember a few at a time. I need to record and keep track of them a bit better, if I'm to hope to see progress on them I think.

Walkabout Day 15 - Adelaide - Apollo Bay

I farewell the Ongs and am away at 7am, and straight up into the hills and eastward, departing Adelaide. According to the thermometer, it is 9 degrees. The landscape changes gradually from rolling green hills to flatlands as I traverse the inland highways. I pause at one point to climb an outcropping dubbed Christmas Rocks, and get a good view of the countryside. I think breaking up the ride with physical exertion is better than just stretching my legs. I am finding the lack of physical exertion, bar the hiking at Uluru, to be a little frustrating in this trip... some early morning runs would be good I think. That'd settle me down some.

Riding direct from Adelaide to Melbourne should take 7-8 hours, but I am taking a non direct route, inland down to Portland then along the coast to Port Fairy. I really want to get a photo of me standing in front of the Port Fairy sign, wielding a bottle of port, a wand, and a big grin, but alas am not so equipped.

 I stop to look at a wind farm, with about 30 windmills going. I'm glad to see this kind of thing cropping up, energy is one of the biggest non-social challenges facing our ever-increasing race.

Then on to Warrnambool where the Great Ocean Road begins, or ends, depending on your perspective. To start with on the GOR, I am stopping every 500 metres to take photos of one after another spectacular limestone formation... the Bay of Islands, the Grotto, London Bridge and finally the 12 Apostles, which were quite something. Then I am fully applied to the road, with not much time left in the day and a long way to go. The road would get crowded very quickly I think, but for the most part I am able to ride alone. The Great Ocean Road fully deserves its reputation, it is truly a great and memorable ride, sweeps and curves and turns and scenery and it goes on and on and on. The sun goes down and the light starts failing, so I stop in Apollo Bay and got a room for the night in a pub, and will finish the rest of the road tomorrow. They have the most beautiful trees out the front. It feels strange to see and smell the sea once more, and yet familiar somehow.

Walkabout Day 14 - Adelaide

I am away at 7 this morning, into the chilly morning air. It is around 12 degrees and windy. I head up into the Adelaide hills, pausing to snap a photo of the Cudlee Cafe just for the name, and the world's biggest rocking horse. At an outlook over Eden valley, I chat with a friendly local old-timer. In Tanunda, about 3 hours after setting out, I find the collection of antique bikes, Ariel Square 4s, that Dad told me about. After a coffee there, I head back into town via another route for lunch at a Korean restaurant with Leo, a friend from Chevalier.

We hadn't met in person for 14 years, so it is interesting to catch up, even though we chat online. After lunch I am feeling a little down about being back in the hustle and bustle of the city, traffic, construction work and traffic lights. So I pick another route into the hills and ride back out for another couple of hours. The road up to Lobethal is magnificent, and has to be the best ride I have been on yet, road wise! Beautiful curves, scenic vistas of Adelaide, cliff faces, undulating turns and hardly any traffic. I take another route back, and stop in for a coffee at the (now open) Cudlee Cafe, where I have a chat with another rider who was chilling out there.

Once back at the Ongs' place, I ask about San and Mary's childhood years. Rose has photos, which she kindly lets me scan, and Aaron helps me get them all done. They take me out to for another delicious dinner, and I have extracted a promise they will come and visit us in Sydney. Then they take me up to see a night lookout over Adelaide. The city has grown noticeably since last I saw it laid out, 10 years ago.

Walkabout Day 13 - Coober Pedy - Adelaide

I am up early in my underground room, I pack and am out the door and down the road by 6, in the blackness of night. I am filling up at the petrol station, in preparation for the long trip out of Coober Pedy when a car pulls up behind me. I notice the sizeable dent in the front but I don't comment. The driver says to me, "got to watch for them roos". He had just hit one apparently, it jumped right in front of him from a bush. Dawn is just tingeing the horizon when I hit the highway. It is chilly... my thermometer reads 12 degrees, and wind chill helps bring it down some more.

The sun rises, and at one point I notice two emus running alongside the road. I slow to about 40 and keep pace with them for a bit, then wave farewell and speed back up to 110. I stop at the two watering points I talked about yesterday, and make sure they both have water for Yoshi and his friend... I would find someone to phone if they were dry.

The landscape is barren and flat, with low saltbush scrub and nothing else. I can see why people refer to it as a lunar landscape.

When I hit reserve, I am just past one rest stop, with 60km to town and 30km to the next rest stop. I estimate reserve will give me 28-30km more distance, and slow to 90 to conserve fuel and make it to the next stop. I do not want to be transferring fuel on the roadside, with traffic going by, I would prefer somewhere undisturbed and protected. I make it to the rest stop and siphon the fuel out of my auxiliary can and into my tank. No mouthful of petrol this time, practice makes perfect. Getting to this stage has been my biggest worry for the entire journey, and now I have plenty of fuel to get to the next roadhouse. It represents the completion of the remote section of my journey. From here, I am back into civilisation, at no risk of running dry or being stranded. I was out of the deadly heat and exposure... with the act of closing my refilled tank, I had symbolically completed the loop of my journey into the outback. A sense of elation fills me as I repacked the auxiliary can and put my gear on to ride, with my iPod on I break into the Engineers' Dance of Victory. Anyone driving by would've had a bewildering sight, this leatherclad being with a black helmet and black visor dancing away in the desert to its own internal rhythm...

The dance of victory complete, I head on. It isn't long before I see my first salt lake, then another and another, some part filled, some bone dry. The countryside gradually becomes more hilly, and before long I am in Port Augusta. It feels weird to be stopped and waiting at traffic lights. The last time I had seen some was in Alice Springs, 4 days and 2500km ago.

It seems strange but the ride goes quicker when I have the earplugs in than when I have the iPod playing. I keep myself entertained doing mental calculations of fuel efficiency, average travel speeds, and estimating arrival times by extrapolation, and seeing how close I get them. I also think over the various dramas in my life and make or revisit decisions on how to handle them when daily life resumes, and mulling over my multiplicity of projects and where to go with each. I must write them down so I don't forget them.

I make it the Ongs' place, San's aunt, uncle and cousin, in Adelaide at 6:30pm. They are very welcoming and accommodating, and it is great to meet them at last, after many years of hearing about them. They take me out to a delicious Chinese dinner, and then I retire for the evening, planning tomorrow's activities.

Walkabout Day 12 - Uluru - Coober Pedy

I manage an early start, saying farewell to Gemma and Adam and heading down the road at 5:45am. Too early, it turns out, the petrol station at Curtin Springs (originally they were going to call it Stalin Springs!) didn't open until 7 and I got there at 6:45. The emu hanging out by the petrol pump seems slightly put out by my appearance and stalks off, ruffling its wings in annoyance, when I don't leave immediately. I briefly consider pushing on, as I figure I had enough petrol, but I have learnt my lesson and instead, I go for a walk, looking at the aviaries of parrots they have down the back.

Once the shop opens, I fill up with petrol and push on to Mt. Ebenezer, the next stop where Gemma had recommended the apple turnover. I have a coffee and an apple turnover (which was good!) for morning tea.

There were articles on the wall in the store at Curtin Springs critical of Aboriginals. At Mt. Ebenezer there is a gallery of art made by Aboriginal artists employed by Mt. Ebenezer, with a biography of each artist. The difference in cultures between the two stations is striking.

As I leave Mt. Ebenezer I notice with annoyance that I have forgotten to put my earplugs in, yet again. This has been a common theme throughout the trip... get all set, hop on the bike, start riding, notice how noisy it is, pull over, take my gloves and helmet off, put my earplugs in, put my helmet and gloves back on, and start again. I pull over to the dirt on the side of the road and promptly drop the bike as it skids out from under me. I had hit the dirt while still braking, a critical error. I can't initially lift the bike, so have to unstrap the luggage and take several tries to get it upright. I wouldn't want a heavier bike.... it keeps sliding away from me on the dirt as I try lifting. Initially it won't start, but eventually it caught and all was good. The luggage rack is slightly twisted, the rear brake pedal is bent even further up, and the handlebars are now slightly off from centre.. hopefully all repairable.

The most alarming thing is that my fuel efficiency appears to have taken yet another nosedive, only getting 14 km per litre, and that is when riding carefully. I need to make sure I have enough fuel for all of the stages of tomorrow's leg. Coober Pedy to the next station is 260km, I think, which will require the fuel can to make it.

At the second last stop before Coober Pedy, I am checking over the bike when I hear a shout and see someone approaching. I stand up and see it is Yoshi, the cyclist I had chatted with on the way to Uluru! He has made it to Uluru and now down this far while I stayed with Gemma, and is taking a day off to rest. He has teamed up with another Japanese cyclist he met, who is making his way to Adelaide from Cairns, and is planning to cross the Nullarbor after that. Barking mad but I admire their guts. They seem glad of the chance to chat in Japanese. I help them out a little, showing them on my atlas where the watering spots are after Coober Pedy, which is a source of concern for them. They don't need petrol, but they do need water. Then I bid them farewell and continue on my way.

 The clouds had thickened and kept the sun at bay, so the day was pleasantly cool. Now though, they darken and the cool breeze takes on a more sinister edge. Sure enough, raindrops start falling, and I shrug into my raincoat. It doesn't come down hard or for very long, but the coat keeps me warmer in the sudden chill so I keep it on. Before long I am rolling into Coober Pedy. Cones of white sand from mines cover the landscape, like giant traffic cones gone mad. Mining equipment can be seen poking up between the piles.

The town itself is set amongst hills, and the underground dwellings are dug into these hills, like hobbit holes, rather than dug like pits.

I booked into an underground motel, browsed a couple of opal stores, then hopped on the bike and rode around town a little, explorinatoring. I found this plot decorated with sculptures of moon monsters, termite mounds, car crashes and various other bizarre and fantastic creations. It had great views of the town as well, I think whatever this place was, it is my favourite in Coober Pedy so far. I'd love to work on a collaborative piece with the artist and add some animatronics to the sculptures. I sit in an underground church, which I find peaceful. I find a life size sculpture of a vehicle inspired by Star Wars, outside a backpackers accommodation. Its an odd town.

Walkabout Day 11 - Kata Tjuta

Gemma and I are up at 4, and we head out at 5 as the moon sets and dawn tinges the sky. We drive to a lookout over Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas, to watch them as the sun rises. There is a layer of cloud on the horizon, and it has 2 little holes in it that the sun peeks through... for a while it looks like a demonic mask with fiery eyes.

Sunrise on Kata Tjuta is not as impressive as that on Uluru, but the formation itself is every bit as striking. Once the sun is up, we drive around to enter Kata Tjuta itself, but stop when we see a camel foraging by the roadside. Then we see another near it, and another... all up there are six wild camels munching away on bushes and trees. They watch us bemusedly for a moment, then return to their breakfast. We take some photos and then drive on, just as some tourists see us and stop and jump out, cameras poised like assault rifles. Really guys, chill out... its just a bunch of wild camels....

We park at Kata Tjuta and start on the Valley of the Winds walk, which leads a winding path between the domes of rock. Up close the scale of them becomes apparent, and that we are mere ants walking between these megaliths. This time I borrow a fly net from Gemma, and remain unmolested throughout the walk, which is much more peaceful. There is one point, standing between two of the domes, looking down a sloping gulley leading to a large area of rolling hills bounded by the domes of Kata Tjuta, that is breathtaking. The sound of the wind sighing through the trees and canyons, and the sounds of the animals.... and nothing else. No voices, no crunching gravel under footsteps, no cars, no planes.... I could well understand why the Aboriginals feel the place is sacred, and feel that way myself. No climbing is permitted on these domes, unlike Uluru.

At the base of the gully, there is a wallaby with a joey browsing through the spinifex below a tree, in the shade of the dome above. The joey occasionally pokes its head up to look at us, but they both seem otherwise unconcerned as we approach and photograph them.

We continue the walk at an easy pace, encountering again the phenomenon where tourists walk fast to catch up with us, then slow down to match our pace, tromping along a metre or two behind no matter how fast or slow we would go, until we stop completely then they move on. I think the solitude bothers them and they wish to be near others, or they feel it is too rude to overtake someone on a path... that doesn't explain them speeding up after being overtaken though. It is curious.

After completing the walk, we drive back, Gemma keeping a keen eye out for Thorny Devils, cute little spiky lizards indigenous to the region. She spots several other lizards by the roadside, and finds one on the road that she stops and moves off the road and into the grass, to keep it from becoming roadkill. They can move really fast! No Thorny Devils though, unfortunately.

We visit the resort's shopping centre... there is a bank, newsagent, supermarket, restaurant, post office, cafe and several souvenir shops. Who ever heard of all those at a resort? But then it is needed, at nearly 500km from the nearest town, the residents need to able to obtain supplies somewhere. The residents live in blocks of what they call flatettes, down an unmarked road and out of sight of tourists. Finding it was a little bit of a challenge the first time around, I ended up riding in circles looking for it!

I do a bit more washing, and will need to start packing for an early start tomorrow. The earliest I can leave is around 5:15, as the service stations won't be open before then but that is plenty early enough. I want to get as many miles as I can done early, so I get a bit of a chance to look around Coober Pedy... based on Gemma's experiences there it seems to be an interesting place.

It is now a bit past 4, and the scattered cloud cover has condensed into threatening clouds, grumbling with the promise of rain. If it comes down, we'll race out to Uluru to see the waterfalls running off it.

The rain starts lightly, then gets heavier. Gemma and Adam, even after many months and seeing Uluru near daily, are still excited by the rain and keen to see the waterfalls running off Uluru. We drive out and up close to Uluru, and saw waterfalls running off it, down into the water holes. The rain lets up and just on the horizon the clouds break and let the sun through as it sets, while the storm clouds beyond Uluru continue to unleash lightning bolts, zigzagging across the sky. It makes for a magnificent sight, one I will remember for a long time.

Tomorrow is an early start and a long ride to Coober Pedy, one of the most daunting legs of the trip....

Walkabout Day 10 - Uluru

I am up early, at 4:30am, and out by 5:15 to see the sunrise on Uluru. There is a huge crowd of people at the viewing area, with lots of tour groups... each one catering to a particular nationality. The Italians have espresso coffee... the Japanese have bento boxes and little stools.

I watch the sunrise, then ride up close to Uluru and start down one of the walking trails marked out. I note there is a guided tour on starting at 8am, so once I finish that walk I come back for the tour. It is led by Dave, who describes stories about the various caves and formations, as well as talking about the uses of some of the plants around us... it is quite entertaining and informative, and I'm glad to have come back for the tour.

Once that is done, I start on the Base Walk, which goes all the way around Uluru, skirting with a wide border the areas considered sacred by the local Aboriginal tribe. I start the Base Walk at 9:30am.

I pause and rest for a short while, looking at what they call the brain of the rock, an exposed, weathered area on the eastern face. The flies are bad out here and I forgot to put on Aerogard, although I am told it has little effect on flies. I am trying to ignore them as much as I can, and am wearing my bandanna to keep them out of my nose and mouth. How's the serenity... I have paused for a moment to let other walkers move on so I can have some solitude. They walk slowly until I overtake them, no matter how fast or slow I walk they seem to want to keep pace with me. It is strange. I don't want to hear the crunch of gravel under their feet as I think, or their loud conversations. I wait, and wait, until they have moved on sufficiently that they won't intrude any more. I walk on alone...

Uluru itself is so much more varied up close, it has waterholes, caves, rock paintings, and all sorts of features. The sheer scale of it is imposing.

It takes me several hours to complete the Base Walk, by the time I was done it was 12:30.

After the walk, the thermometer on my bike reads 52 degrees in the sun... shortly after, the LCD display blacks out, overheated. It must be close to 40 in the shade.

I get back to the flatette where I am staying thanks to Gemma, and do my washing, including the lining from my helmet. The lining usually takes 24 hours to dry... in the shade it takes an hour, the clothes are dry in 15 minutes.

After that I fall into a fitful sleep, drifting on the border of consciousness, beset by hallucinations brought on by heat exposure. I don't wake until 7pm. I spend a relaxing evening talking with Gemma and Adam, and turn in early, prepared for a 4am start. Sleep is broken frequently, due to the long nap in the day, I seem to wake every hour or so.

Walkabout Day 9 - Alice Springs - Uluru

I am up at around 6, and out the door around 6:40. I get to the car park, and besides a couple of cars it was empty. "No no no" I say as I walk on numb feet to where I think my bike had been and was certainly not now... but it had been hidden from view behind one of the remaining cars and comes into view as I walk, a few slots over from where I had thought it was. Relieved, I saddle up, double checked my atlas and GPS, and set out for Alice springs.

It is a fairly short ride compared to some of the other days of riding, but the speed limit is 110km/hr for much of it, which stretches it out longer. I stop in at Stuarts Well, which I had heard mentioned a couple of times as the home of the singing dingo. I ask about it at the counter, “What's this about a singing dingo?”, and am told, "yep, we got one of them". I wait but no further explanation is forthcoming, so I leave. Next door is a camel farm, and I realised I have not seen a camel up close, ever. So I ride in to see. I am glad I have the centre stand on the bike, the side stand doesn't hold the bike up in the sand of the parking lot but the centre stand keeps it upright. As I look around, I find out they offer half hour and full hour rides, along with 3 day safaris, so I sign up for a half hour ride, swapping my bike for a camel briefly. They're big! They give me Thumper to ride, who is apparently their biggest. We go for a ride around a hill, through the spinifex. It is like riding a horse, but taller and with a longer, more loping gait. Thumper is feeling lazy and had to keep being reminded to keep up with my guide.

After the ride I push on, being punished by a quite hot day. I pass a cyclist on his way to Uluru, and as I rest a spell at the next rest stop he turns up. He has a Japanese flag on his cycle, so I greet him in Japanese, which takes him by surprise, and we converse in a pidgin of Japanese and English. His name is Yoshi, and he has been cycling his way down from Darwin, travelling about 150km per day, for the past two months. He had set out for Uluru before, but due to bike problems had to be towed back to Alice, so this is his second attempt. An SAP consultant from Tokyo, he was originally from Kyoto, one of Japan's most beautiful cities in my opinion. He would continue on to Adelaide, Melbourne then Sydney.. almost the same path as I am following, but expecting to reach Sydney in early December. He wanted time to think about his life, so this is how he went about it. I admire his dedication but doubt I'd sign up for it, I think I'd have had enough after a week or two.

At a couple of stops on, I check my thermometer when I get back to the bike... 50 degrees in the sun. My side stand has sunk an inch into the hot road, risking sending the bike over. I must remember to use the centre stand on tarmac now in this heat. The locals tell me the forecast was for 40 degrees in the shade.

I initially mistake Mount Conner for Uluru, but pretty quickly realise my error. It is still quite impressive. My first view of Uluru was memorable. It is so big.

As I got closer the detail became clearer, then I was at the resort. Gemma, and her boyfriend Adam, pick me up and take me to their accommodation complex, where she has organised a room for me. We went and hopped in the pool... it was so nice to be submerged in cool water, after the heat of the journey since leaving Augathella. Then we went into the National Park, and watched the sun set on Uluru. It was magical to watch, the colour changes are quite distinct and startling in their brightness.

I am now at the apex of my journey, the furthest west I have ever set foot in Australia. I am going to pause here for a couple of days and rest, explore and think, before starting the trip home, by my roundabout route. I am glad to have finally laid eyes on Uluru, it is something I have wanted to do for a long time. Tomorrow, I will be closer.

Walkabout Day 8 - Wycliffe Well - Alice Springs

I am up early yet again today, even though I had a paltry 400km to go to get to Alice.

I wander around the Wycliffe Well camp, photographing the sculptures and UFO related paintings that cover the camp. It is quite a unique place and a lot of effort has been put into decorating the camp.

Whilst there, I take the opportunity to take the bike apart and fix that broken connection, soldering the wires together. I can charge devices again! Yay!

The breadboard stack is not working, I can't secure both sides of it under the rack so it slides out, and as the seat is at an angle they'd only be delivering support to one end of the rack, not the whole length. The glue also didn't hold very well. So I pull it apart, use it as a working bench while I work on the bike, then insert the individual boards into my bag to reinforce it.

I check the internet, and find I am finished in 20 minutes. After checking Gmail, Hotmail, Facebook and Avlis, not much more is there to hold my interest. It is a weird sensation for me, as I can usually distract myself for hours online. Days even. Whole weeks have been lost.... but I digress. I read emails from San, updating everyone on my progress, and I note how amazing her memory is for the details of my day as we talk on the phone. She has a knack for writing I think.

I made a friend while at the park, Jewel, who is on a working holiday and has been at Wycliffe Well for 2 months. Previously she had been in Alice Springs for 5 months, and is familiar with the locale. She recommends going to ANZAC Hill overlooking Alice at sunset, so I plan to be there for that.

After catching up with online happenings, I head off, happily listening to my iPod as it charged, stopping to see anything I feel like seeing. I get a lot more sun today, I can feel it... I was off the bike a great deal, looking at things like the monuments to the Overland Telegraph, a marker for the highest point on the Sturt Highway, and a marker for when I cross the Tropic of Capricorn.

I see several dust devils today, even multiple at once, but all at a distance. I can recognise them now, instead of mistaking them for smoke.

I stopped in at Aileron, where a 17m high statue of an Aboriginal man has been built on a hill, and an equally sized Aboriginal woman and child are down on the plain. I climb the hill and get photos of all of them, which is very hot, in the 40 degree heat. Because it is dry heat, cooling down is as easy as jumping on the bike, and I can't stop anywhere too long or I overheat. Once going, the wind keeps me at a comfortable temperature, but I have to make sure I do not get dehydrated.

The petrol price is up to 180 cents per litre, I am glad for the lower fuel consumption of the bike.

I am noticing these buildings regularly along the road, that have no signs indicating who owns or operates them or what they do. They're each a single stand-alone hut, with one door, no windows, and two solar cell towers next to it, with an antenna on top. The number of actual solar panels on the towers varies from building to building. I'm guessing it is a telecommunications repeater station or something, but the aerial seems so small and secondary to the function of the building... maybe they are substations for an underground line.

I make it to Alice Springs, and ride around the town for a bit before selecting a pub to get a room at, down at the bottom of ANZAC Hill.

Tomorrow I will make my way to Uluru, and meet up with Gemma out there. Uluru is the apex of the journey, and I will be heading back to Sydney from that point, in a southward arch.

 I find my way to the top of ANZAC Hill, as recommended by Jewel, and wait up there while the sun sets, taking photos of Alice Springs, talking to San on the phone, and writing up this journal.

After sunset, I head back down to the pub. Apparently it is Death Metal Friday, with live performances. Just as an aside, isn't a live performance of death metal contradictory? Anyway, I find it more amusing than annoying, it doesn't disturb me as I read... I am not trying to have a romantic dinner, unlike the couple at the next table over. I am reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and finding it every bit as profound as I had been led to expect. Less for the motorcycles and more for the attitude towards work and life, that I find resonates with my own experience and outlook. I am looking forward to reading more of it, but do not want it to interfere with taking these notes.

I have had to leave my bike in a public car park, in what amounts to a city. Riding through Alice springs, the city that resonates the most with it for me is Canberra. I am not sure why. The geography is similar, with the city built in a valley between bordering hills. The flora is similar, the gum trees lining the streets. I am not sure what else it could be, but there is some similarity there, to me. I am worried about my bike, but it is out of my hands now.... only time will tell if I leave here tomorrow or not.

Walkabout Day 7 - Mt. Isa - Wycliffe Well

Lately I have been noticing a bit of sluggishness in the response of the bike to the throttle. Riding around town yesterday without the ear plugs in, I could hear the tell-tale clank of the chain taking up slack. When I check, it is alarmingly loose. It has stretched over the past 3000km, as they are wont to do, and is in danger of skipping off the gear. I ride carefully, and kept an eye out for the opportunity to rectify the problem.

This morning I was up at 5:30, and out to try to adjust the chain. It is just a simple, 5 minute job if you have the right tools. I got partway when I realised I didn't have anything near the size socket wrench required, nor did I have a shifter. I had several options, either ride on (stupid), buy tools and do it myself (heavy), or take it to a bike shop for them to do it. I decided on the last option as the first to try.

At the motel, as I'm messing around with the bike, there are several others out. One old guy is wandering around with a cup of coffee, and a black cat following him around like a puppy. We strike up a conversation... he is a train driver, down from Darwin, who has been staying at the motel for 2 months. He has been having some computer problems, so I help him with that... he has a whole office set up in his motel room. He warns me that the siphon I have for transferring fuel is a bad idea, and that a funnel is preferable, but doesn't explain why.

According to the RACQ there are 2 bike shops in town. The first had just had a shipment of bikes which was their priority and they couldn't look at the bike until the afternoon. The second place had not opened at 8... it is now 8:25, and they are currently setting up shop. Once they are done, they'll be able to look at the bike, so I am waiting here now. I hope I can get this fixed up and still get to Tennant Creek today.

Time passes as I wait at Bike & Rider. Once they have set up the shop for the day, they have me bring the bike around the back and one of the guys adjusts the chain in 5 minutes. It required an enormous socket to adjust it... no way I could carry that with me, though maybe a shifter would do. With that done, I spoke to the manager, Terry Hanson, and when I ask what I owe him, and he waves me away, saying he wouldn't charge for a simple chain adjustment. That was a nice surprise.

With that sorted out, I go to the BP station and fill up both my bike and my auxiliary fuel can, as I will be needing it today... from Camooweal to Barkly Homestead is a 261 km stretch, and the bike can only possibly reach that distance but it'd be gasping, and I would have to ride at 90 km/h, turning a 2 hour ride into a 3 hour ordeal. I'm also not confident of my fuel efficiency now, seeing as it dipped so suddenly. So the auxiliary can will be put to good use today.

The ride from Mt Isa to Camooweal is uneventful, the countryside flattens out from the hills around Isa to flat spinifex plains. Just over 10km outside Camooweal, I cross the border into the Northern Territory and the 130km/hr zone. I was a bit nervous because this was the first time I had set out knowing I would run dry before reaching my destination.

I ride at 110km/hr to conserve fuel, waiting to hit reserve as the sign to refuel. I see many termite mounds... in some places there were more mounds than trees, I wonder what they all eat?? There were some massive ones too, the size of a car stood on its end. I take a photo next to one, balancing the camera on the remains of a dilapidated mound. 


At 217km, I switch to reserve and just then see a sign indicating a parking place in 20km. Shade! It is 45 degrees Celsius in the sun, and as long as I keep riding and have my jacket partially unzipped for ventilation I am ok, but if I stop it gets very hot, very quickly. Knowing the fuel transfer would take a while, the shade is a godsend. I pull in and park under the cover, set up and siphon the fuel over. I find out why the siphon is a bad idea, with a mouthful of petrol due to my weak siphoning skills. I need to practice. Strangely I could not feel or taste the petrol. I only knew due to the visual cue of the clear siphon tube. I spit it out and wash out with water when I am done. The bike roars to life and I am off.

A short distance on I see a thin line of smoke going straight up. The grounds around me are charred and appeared to have been burnt off, so I imagine that process was continuing. A thin line of smoke is more indicative of a bonfire, however, not burning off, and it is moving oddly... instead of dispersing like smoke does when wind blows through it, this column appears to waver in a coherent stream, staying together. Very strange. When I get closer, I see there is no fire... it is a dust devil playing in the ashes. I pull over to watch it, it is about 30 metres away. It is quite large, spinning ashes, leaves and branches up into the air. I take my helmet off and earplugs out to listen, but there is only a gentle sighing of the wind. I am well aware it can sweep my way any time and I would cop it, so it is a risk. It doesn't swing my way though, and it is fascinating to watch. I'd stay and watch longer if it weren't so hot.

I push on, and refuel at Barkly homestead. I ride to Three Ways at 135km/hr, to see the difference in fuel efficiency. The difference is quite marked... I hit reserve at 178km at 135km/hr average, whereas I reached 217km at 110km/hr. On reserve, I refuel at Three Ways and finally turn my bike south, after the long trek westward over the past few days. No more riding into the sunset. I arrive at Tennant Creek, but the look of the town did not draw me in and I ride on through. I'm not sure why, but I just got an uncomfortable feeling as I pass through the town.

I have noticed a gradual progression, from Augathella onwards, there is a lot of road kill, many birds feasting on them, including enormous wedge tailed eagles. The eagles are scary up close and I have had to duck to avoid one that flew across the road as I went by. Stupid bird. Where was I? Oh yes. From Isa onwards, gradually there has been less road kill and more retreads on the roads. I am not sure of the reason for this, its just an observation.

I am nearly to Wauchope when I see a turnoff to the Devil's Marbles. That sounds like fiendish fun, so I turn off. The marbles are enormous granite balls stacked up on each other, like a pile of marbles stuck together somehow, many as big as a house. There is a tour bus there, Aus Tours, and the tour guide, Shorty, offers me a drink... I must look thirsty, I am parched! So that was very kind of him. He tells me that sunset is a good time to watch the rocks, so I hang around taking photos as the sun set and communing with the rocks.

After sundown, I push on to Wauchope and refuel, then continue onwards to Wycliffe Well. Both these places are really just a petrol station, bar & restaurant, and camping and accommodation complex, not really a town or settlement, per se.

I am in late, at the ungodly hour of 7:30pm, so dinner is a toasted sandwich and a Coopers Stout, which suits me fine. I am drinking a great deal of water, I must be quite dehydrated from the day.

Wycliffe Well has a focus on UFOs, which are said to have been seen frequently in the area. I wander around at night a bit outside, and am frankly disappointed none come to visit... but life is not without its hardships, and I will prevail. Any aliens reading this, come and visit, ok? Just leave the probes at home, they're not necessary.

Walkabout Day 6 - Cloncurry - Mt. Isa

I have a late start today, not heading out until around 8:15. I get up late and play around with the means of securing my auxiliary fuel can. I don't want the full can resting on the plastic at the end of the bike, which might be damaged by the vibrations, and I don't want it supported by the rack, which is already fully loaded... the fuel tank would be loading it to twice the rated weight. So I position it forward of the bag, squeezing myself forward, held upright by the rack but supported by the seat. I could turn the rack around, but as I said it is heavily loaded and I want it to have more support. It sits about 15mm above the pillion seat at the moment... I'll look for something to squeeze under there so the weight is on the seat, at least partially.

Once satisfied with the setup, I ride to Mt Isa. I am really glad I didn't push on to Mt Isa last night because I would have missed the scenery. It is spectacular! Quite a change from McKinlay to Cloncurry, there are hills and vistas and outcroppings and termite mounds... I can see why the dream time legends spoke of the spirits of the termite mounds being little red devils... They look like they are crouching in the grasses, just the tops of their little red heads poking up.

I can't get a photo that does the scenery justice. I only feel safe pulling over where I can get right off the road... the road trains are often 3 trailers long and I see the last trailer on each sometimes swinging quite wildly, moving half a lane over very quickly. When I overtake, I do it as fast as possible, not wanting to be dawdling alongside the truck.

The adjustments I had made to the fuel can were not secure, and somewhere I lose a strap, so I need a replacement before the can will be secure.

In Mt Isa, I go to the tourist centre and book to go on a tour of an underground mine. Then I get some supplies, spare keys cut, and meet up with Jo's friend Julie and organised to meet up with her when she finishes work. I get some plastic breadboards to go underneath the rack, so the seat will give it some support.

After I used the fuel can, outside Roma, it appears I did not secure the pouring spout properly, and I lost it along the way. I get a length of tubing to use as a siphon instead from Mitre 10, as I found the strong wind near Roma was spraying the petrol everywhere as I poured... I don't think I should try just pouring it straight from the can into the fuel tank.

Lots of thoughts occur to me as I ride, though they are fleeting and yet, I feel, profound directions for my thoughts to take. I wish I had a voice recorder so I could take note of them for reviewing later.

The underground tour is very interesting, I learn a lot about how the process worked in the past, and where it is headed now. Material movement is a lot more dynamic than I had thought, down there.

The lady working at the information centre was very helpful and let me leave my bike bags in their back room during the day and while on the tour. This freed me from worrying about them while I left my bike on the city streets, or in the heat of the day.

After Julie finished work, we meet up and she takes me around town, pointing out areas of interest and explaining the history of different locations, such as the tent houses, which were used to keep cool before air conditioning was invented. They worked by having tent material on the outside, which was kept drenched in water, and the interior kept cool through evaporative cooling. She takes me out of town to a reservoir and forest area. I take lots of photos of landscapes, sunset, peacocks, Brahman cows, but don't get to see any crocodiles sadly... they do populate the reservoir apparently. There were several people out paddling kayaks, so it'd be good feeding, too. She takes me to a lookout, which looks over the whole town and Mt Isa mine, which was fully lit up, and 85 years old, according to the sign on the mine head. There is a sign on the top of the lookout, with directions and distances to many major landmarks, such as Sydney, London, etc. It is cute.

We have dinner, then I hop on my bike and find a motel. I'm not able to get the satellite phone to connect, so I go to the lookout and call San from there. The reception was marginal, and constantly dropping out.. I am not impressed with the satellite phone so far.

I had brought some superglue along with me, in case I needed to reattach anything to the bike. I use this to glue the breadboards together into a stack that will just slide under the rack, and leave it to bond overnight.

Walkabout Day 5 - Augathella - Cloncurry

What a day!

I was up at 5am, and riding out at 5:45. I got to the Augathella roadhouse before it was open, and decided to go to the next town for fuel, as I had plenty. Usually I'd hit reserve around 220km – 240km, and I'd never run it completely dry but from knowing how much was in reserve, I should be able to make it 280-300km before running dry. I was on 120km, with about 95km to go, so I wouldn't even hit reserve before the next time. So, I figure, plenty.

It turns out, I did not have plenty, and the bike stopped, completely out of fuel at 210km. For some reason my fuel efficiency had dropped sharply.

So there I am, by the deserted roadside, at 7am. I've seen maybe one car since I set out. I unstrap my auxiliary fuel can and get ready to walk into Roma, which should be about 6km away, not too far.

Just as I get set to walk, I see a SUV coming my way and I wave it down. I can see him wondering about stopping, then deciding to. He is a cattle trader from Victoria. He says he doesn't normally pick up people, but he had seen me arriving in Augathella last night... he must have been the sole person I saw on the footpath! I guess it meant to him I wasn't a stray or a local, looking to cause trouble. He gave me some advice on where to look out for long stretches without fuel.

I fill my auxiliary fuel can with petrol, and head out, walking back to the bike. After 30 minutes of walking I get a lift the rest of the way, from some opal miners on their way home to Lightning Ridge.

I refuel the bike, and with some effort, the bike roars to life. With a triumphant yawp I am back in the game.




Besides fuel stops, I stop in a couple of places to see tourist attractions.

At Blackall, I see the original Black Stump, of "Beyond the black stump" fame. One small town has an impressive array of bush machinery, vehicles, and WW2 weapons and memorabilia, both Australian and captured from Nazi and Imperial Japanese forces. At Longreach I see the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame, which is quite interesting. Longreach was where Qantas first started, as two men giving joyrides in a plane they bought together.

I even cross Bonnie Doon Creek... now that guy in my head can stop singing "we're going to Bonnie Doon"... forever, hopefully.

In the afternoon, I pull in to fill up at McKinlay, and noticed some feathers on the bike. It turns out I had hit a bird at wheel height, cracking the front mudguard and exploding once it hit the bike underneath the front cowling. The smell was quite fowl.

I hose it off as best I can at McKinlay. I hope I don't smell like road kill for the rest of this trip.

The plan had been to reach Mount Isa today, but due to running out of fuel and stopping to see the sights, I am one stop short, in Cloncurry, at a roadhouse inn instead.

Cloncurry boasts of the hottest recorded temperature in Australia, 53.1 degrees Celsius. It's okay this evening though.

Once I start unpacking for the night I realise the bird hadn't just exploded over the front of the bike... there are blood splashes on my jeans, jacket, backpack, down the side of the bike, even on my helmet. How I didn't notice it when it happened, I'll never know. I wash it all off as best I could, and call an early night, exhausted.