Day 30 - Kulgera to Desert Oaks Resort - 75kms
Kulgera roadhouse does a great all you can eat continental breakfast for $5. So we both had a good feed before leaving this morning just after 8am. Unfortunately the wind had picked up, so we had to deal with a not so great headwind straight away.
With the headwind and so-so scenery it made the kms tick over slowly. I have to say that the bit of the Stuart Highway I have ridden so far is not the most interesting of roads. Whilst heading north we did meet a touring cyclist heading south. He is from Oxford, England and had been on the road for a couple of years. He has rode from Oxford and got to Oz via a few of the Stans, Siberia, China and many other countries. He was heading down to Sydney before flying over to Vancouver to continue his round the world ride. After our chat we continued on to our destination for the day, Desert Oaks Resort. It's more a fancy roadhouse than a resort. I was also reunited with my bike pump from Sydney. Thanks lovely wifey. So now I have a working bike pump again. For the rest of the afternoon I relaxed around the pool. After Jim and I had dinner in the pub, I went for the mixed grill which was pretty big. Felt like I had all the farmyard animals on my plate. Later in the evening we watched another movie. During the movie I noticed a fair big of lighting around. It may rain tomorrow. So if wet will have a rest day here. If dry will start heading west to Uluru. |
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Day 31 Desert Oaks Resort - It's raining
Well it rained a fair bit last night and is still raining this morning. So have decided to have a rest day here. As I have plenty of time to get to Uluru.
Jim and I decided to get a motel room, as this gave us a bit more space to move around instead of being in our tents. Couldn't get into the room till lunchtime though. So I packed away most of my camping stuff and left the tent till later, as hopefully will dry out if it stops raining. It did dry out later in the day. For the rest of the afternoon I was swimming and relaxing. Tomorrow Jim and I will be going different ways. I'll be heading west and Jim is heading North to Alice Springs. Been great having a fellow traveller to enjoy the campfire and to chat with along the way. |
Day 32 - Desert Oaks Resort to Lasseter Highway Rest Area - 101kms
This morning Jim and I left Desert Oaks Resort at about 8.30am. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, Jim continuing north to Alice Springs and me heading west to Uluru. It has been great having a traveling partner for almost the last couple of weeks.
The weather today is perfect for cycling, sunny, no wind and not too hot. I had a short break after 30kms and then continued to my lunch stop at Mt. Ebeneezer. About 10kms before I got to my stop I noticed a sign stating the roadhouse was now open. When I was planning the trip the information I had about the roadhouse was that it was closed. When I arrived I was happy to find it was now open. I stopped at the roadhouse for a burger and rest in the shade for about an hour. Whilst enjoying lunch I was chatting to a local, Geoffrey, who had saw me at the start of the day. He couldn't believe it that it only took me three hours to get here. I left the roadhouse at about 12.30pm after having a look at their local aboriginal art gallery. There was a lot of different pieces by local artists. I still had about another 45km to ride for the day. It was a little warmer now but still no wind. So the kilometres went by pretty quickly. I got to my campsite at about 3.30pm, after doing my first 100km ride for this trip. I'm camping at the Lasseter Highway Rest Area. It is a big spot with lots of trees for shade. There is a water tank which had some water in, but it is a small tank. There were a few other caravans already here, but I found a nice spot under a couple of trees. I had a little walk around and in the far distance I could see Mount Conner. I also had a look for some firewood. Being a popular place there wasn't many dead trees to use. So instead will use my camp stove for cooking. Had a great ride today, was a little strange not having company at the rest stops, but as usual the locals are happy to talk to you. Tomorrow is a shorter ride day to Curtin Springs Station. The end to my journey is approaching very quickly. |
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