Day 15 - Farina to Marree - 58kms
This morning I was invited to join this small tour group for breakfast. They were traveling from the USA through the centre of Australia. It was interesting talking with them about their trip and answering their questions about mine.
Before I left Farina I stopped at the bakery for a couple more samples. Such a great idea restoring the underground bakery, as they said it raises a lot of money to help them restore the small town. Once I had gotten my supplies I was on the road and heading for Marree. It was a little overcast this morning and I had a slight tailwind. So quite an easy and quick ride to Maree. I was expecting the road to be dirt all the way, but about 25kms are sealed. I got to Marree before 12pm. Marree used to be the terminus for the Ghan rail line before it was extended to Alice Springs. Today it has a few old locomotives kept in place along the track along side the old station. I'm staying in the grounds of the Marree Hotel, where it is free to camp and you just have to put a coupe of $$ in the honest box for using the nicely maintained hot showers. Once I was all clean and had lunch I had a walk around the small, historical town. When I got back to the hotel a couple more people had shown up. One Canadian on a motorbike and a retired couple from Coffs Harbour. Both were traveling around Australia for an extended period of time. We decided to go to the hotel for dinner. It was a really nice evening chatting with like minded people. |
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Day 16 - Marree to Lake Eyre lookout - 93kms
This morning after saying bye to my camp buddies I was riding at about 8am. Before leaving town I refilled my water bladders at the rainwater tanks next to the old train station. I'm now currently carrying about 14 litres of water. This should be enough for approximately 3 days. I usually refill before the bladders are empty, the next refilling point will be Coward Springs.
Again I had a nice tailwind pushing me along a really well graded road. So I made great time to get to my first destination at Alberrie Creek by about 11am (about 55kms away). At Alberrie Creek they have created these modern art structures. I thought they were really cool, especially the old train water tank which is now a massive dog. Whilst at Alberrie Creek I decided to have an early lunch. I was going to camp here (there are showers and toilets), but it was too early in the day and the tailwind was still blowing. So I decided to ride on to Lake Eyre,which is about another 40kms away. The road passed some old rail bridges which were used for the Ghan. It's impressive what is still around to see from the old line. I got to Lake Eyre at around 2.30pm. Lake Eyre is the lowest point in Australia, 12 metres below sea level, and is usually dry. You can't camp right next to the lake, so I camped on the other side of the road. Which is better anyway as it meant I was sheltered from the wind. Later on I went to have a look at the lake. Was a really nice sunset so took a few (I mean a lot) of photos. I was happy with the longer ride today, as I can enjoy a nice (hopefully) short ride to Coward Springs tomorrow. |
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Day 17 - Lake Eyre lookout to Coward Springs - 40kms
It was so, so quiet last night. No one else camped near me and the air was so still. It was fantastic just watching the stars come out whilst eating dinner and of course at night there were no flies.
This morning is a short ride to Coward Springs. Along the road there were a couple of remnants of the old Ghan line. One of these is the Curdimurka Sidings. There are old buildings, tracks and a water tank still in place. Would had been an interesting place to work, as it felt so isolated. Each year at Curdimurka they have an annual ball where thousands of people show up! After looking around at the old sidings I continued my ride to Coward Springs. Didn't take long to get there, thanks again to a nice tailwind. When I arrived Greg, the owner, greeted me. Friendly guy showed me a good camp spot and around the grounds. Coward Springs has a warm natural spa. Think I must had spent almost an hour in it, it was so refreshing. It was also very funny to feel really clean again. After lunch I had a walk around the grounds. The owners have spent a number of years restoring the old railway buildings onsite. They have done a great job and created a small museum in the station masters building. This two room museum told me so much about this area. I then tried and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The flies are a pain though. Greg said that because of the rain they have had that they are pretty shocking at the moment. There are literally 100's of them crawling on me at the moment. Disgusting! |
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