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.