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The birds are what usually wakes us at dawn, but they were quiet today. We made up some breakfast and tolerated the few flies not very well and so packed up quickly and fueled up and left going north!
We have about 990 km to go to Darwin and will try to get over half way today. The roads today are STRAIGHT! it is hot and mind numbing riding. We had a stop at Elliott for lunch of some not too bad steak sandwiches. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/970/4...569e70e4_z.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/960/4...d7155635_b.jpgNT-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/865/2...987647a7_b.jpgNT-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had to rest again at Larrimah at the lazy lizard for a cold drink. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/828/2...b003e5e1_b.jpgNT-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/903/4...68de719e_b.jpgNT-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/949/2...74ae806d_b.jpgNT-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It is the final stretch today as we ride up the 412 km to Darwin on another very straight stretch of road.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/826/2...1150282e_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-30 at 14.52.35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/979/4...8faa6d8a_b.jpgNT-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It is also getting hotter and more humid by the km. We fueled up in Mataranka and then rode the 206 km to Pine creek where we stopped for lunch. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/910/4...ee05ed90_b.jpgNT-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had to get a drink and a snack in Adelaide River and both us and the bikes were on our last legs. We are getting terrible fuel economy with the wind and the 110-115 speed to try to kill the miles ASAP. This just left 71 km to get to Noonamah where we planned to meet our host David. He led us home to his amazing place in Palmerston, where Johan from Norway and German from Argentina were also staying. They have been here a week, but their bikes arrived from Dili 1 month ago. They are still waiting for an inspection from Quarantine!!! We had a great evening hearing about everyones past adventures. We really appreciated getting first had knowledge of the route and ferries in Indonesia from these guys. Johan has been several times to Indonesia and had great advice on where to go. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/824/4...d5324fd1_b.jpgNT-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We appreciated staying with Dave, but we decided to head into the city center where we could get a 2 bedroom place for a reasonable price, we could cool off from the heat and get caught up on all sorts of “office” work.
Next update from the freight forwarder is that the boat is delayed!!! We were to drop the bikes in 2 days time for the departure next week. The boat will leave Darwin on time, but because of a mechanical issue it will go direct to Singapore and not stop in Timor. The next estimated sailing to Timor is now May 18! AGHHH. We spent 2 days mulling over all the options. There is no way to get a small plane to Timor as none can fit even one of them at a time, we ride to Perth or Adelaide and ship the bikes to Bali and back track, we leave the bikes here and rent a car/van and tour, or what we settled on is take a repositioning free camper “rental” to Perth and then fly Perth to Timor. Making Lemonade!!! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/4...c78cf0f2_b.jpgIMG_2664 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We managed to get a 2 week van return from Darwin to Perth leaving May 4. We will fly to Dili May 20 and hope to get the bikes before the 25th. This has kiboshed our plans for this fall. We will now arrive to North America a month behind schedule and will miss the HU meeting in Nakusp and also Wolfgang who will be in Canada to make his ride to Alaska this summer! |
We did hook up on HUBB with riders Chantelle and Todd = HU/ADV The slow ride home - Canada to Australia on a pair of CT110 Honda Postie Bikes. We met with them for drinks.
They are temporarily working and giving in Darwin, but after 5 months they are counting the days until their 1 year contract is up. It is hot and humid here and the Darwin culture is a serious challenge for those with even a slightly open mind. The Racial tension is palpable. Here like most of the NT the police obviously target Aboriginal people. They are posted at the drive thru liquor store and clearly only are checking ID of non white patrons. Here you must register your ID to buy liquor and in many places there is a daily limit. At our rental apartment we were not asked to leave a damage deposit, but the Aboriginal couple after us were. We all had paid with credit cards. When I was waiting in the lobby for the guys the Chinese owner asked me if I would like some teas as she had put the kettle on, but the other lady waiting was not offered the same courtesy. It goes on and on. I will say there are a huge number of obviously drunk people laying about all over town, and I can see how one could become jaded. What to do in Darwin… Very hot and humid so we decided to walk 2 km in the heat of the day to the museum. (morons). There is lots of evidence of the recent cyclone. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1745/...89c02eca_b.jpgDarwin_ by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1755/...c448c116_b.jpgDarwin_-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1723/...8deedf22_b.jpgDarwin_-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/982/4...14ceeed7_b.jpgIMG_2673 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/962/4...cb918687_b.jpgIMG_2674 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we will drop the bikes off at the SDV freight forwarders, which is 18 km from the city at the cargo port. They have agreed to store the bikes for the 2 weeks no charge. We rode out there and parked in the warehouse only to be told we had to go to customs first (in the city) and get the carnet cancelled. (They failed to add this in the email to us of course!)
This is a crazy system, because once we get the stamp we could technically sell the bike here is Oz and fly out and still collect on the carnet?!? Whatever, we did just go to customs, get and stamp, and then rode away without them even asking for proof that we had booked export! Then it was back to the SDV to pass away the riding gear, disconnect the batteries, and lock up the luggage. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1756/...bd25706a_b.jpgDarwin_-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/981/2...53b8e7ce_b.jpgIMG_2680 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/962/4...467c70a6_b.jpgIMG_2679 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1739/...d4b602cc_b.jpgDarwin_-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Not sure when we will have internet capable of updating and uploading photos of the road trip in OZ, but here is some good news!
We arrived to Timor last night and the bikes are arriving on the ship tonight!! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/975/4...b2eb49b6_b.jpgTimor Leste by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
You two have been my lunch time entertainment for some time now. Thank you for staying the course. Enjoy Timor
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Glad to have you along! Timor Leste was epic. We are now on Flores. 12 hour ferry arrived last night at midnight. So currently zzzzzz
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https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1739/...72f20cf7_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-06-04 at 20.29.27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Today we pick up our free “rental” van for repositioning. It will cost us about the same as 3 bikes would on gas for the same distance. We were told to come to the agency at 10 am, but we could not get it until 1230 as there were putting on new tires. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/973/4...f2703d7b_b.jpgIMG_2683 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr They loaned us a station wagon to do some running around and to get groceries. We finally set out at 130 and headed back down the Stuart Highway to Mataranka Homestead. We managed to miss happy hour by 7 minutes, but at least they had some good live music again. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/955/4...4d1772df_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-06 at 20.37.06 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1755/...318c7cb9_b.jpgAustralia Van by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we have a big day as we hope to get past 3 Ways and hopefully to the Devils’ Marble’s in 668 km. We finally set out at 930 south again.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/943/4...9aff93c4_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-06 at 20.37.23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1751/...5338ab02_b.jpgAustralia Van-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1757/...7c42fbc5_b.jpgAustralia Van-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Most of the day we were retracing our steps 547 km to the Three Ways Roadhouse and past millions of termite mounds (oddly dressed up in clothes every so often). From here we had another 121 km south to Devil’s Marbles Conservation area.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1751/...eb60cb6d_b.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1749/...f8dee2af_b.jpgAustralia Van-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1743/...c94f2859_b.jpgAustralia Van-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We arrived here just after 430 and there flies were horrific. We got a “site” for $3.30 pp and donned our bug nets. The “marbles” are pretty cool and the light at sunset was stunning. The best part of sunset is the flies disappear. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1760/...9b8c4de9_b.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1738/...1609ecea_b.jpgDevils Marbles Australia-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1725/...41b32490_b.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1744/...7a1127fa_b.jpg We also went back after dinner to get some milky way photos. It is so dark here even right after sunset you can see the Milky way. Usually we have to get up in the middle of the night, but it was clear as day at 830 pm. It is a bit chilly tonight and I think it was around 10 in the night. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1758/...ecf5e83c_b.jpgDevils Marbles Australia-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1732/...441c7415_b.jpgDevils Marbles Australia-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Dan got up at 615 for sun rise. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1745/...8efa94f0_b.jpg |
We set out south again 412 km for Alice Springs. We were expecting some Outback back eddy out in the middle of nothingness.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/971/4...ce93a727e3.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-06 at 20.37.38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The road is almost straight and the landscape flat, but surprisingly pretty green with small trees and brush. We stopped in at Whycliffe Wells Road house for gas."But Wycliffe Well is not just another roadhouse — it is the self-proclaimed UFO Capital of Australia. According its own brochure, "UFO sightings are so common, that if you stayed up all night looking, you would be considered unlucky not to see anything, rather than lucky to see something”. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1722/...223becac_b.jpgDevils Marbles Australia-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1739/...5978aeed_b.jpg About 30 km north of Alice we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. You can not stop for long as the flies are terrible . We had to make and eat our lunch inside the van. To go out you have to wear your bug hat or the drive you mad. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1733/...43e6c4cb_b.jpgTropic of Capricorn Australia by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1722/...eaf2dd4e_b.jpgTropic of Capricorn Australia-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Alice is quite a big modernish town and not quite what we expected. They did have a large Coles to stock up and a BWS. The police are stationed here at the liquor store to monitor purchases, but they seem only interested in those who people who are aboriginal! https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1741/...2194e09a_b.jpgAlice Springs Sign Australia-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1747/...1a04dc64_b.jpgCoober Pedy Australia-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr For a treat we booked onto a powered site at the G’day mate park. They have huge grass sites and great showers. The flies are not too bad here even in the daytime. In the desert here is 35 in the day time, but often as low as 5 degrees at night. In fact last night they said it was 2 degrees. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/965/4...4a98f791_b.jpgIMG_2704 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Now for the big rock at the “red center”! South from here it is 204 km to the turn of at Erldunda to see “The Rock” and it really is getting redder in colour. There are also no more acres of termite mounds as it must be to hot and dry here.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/824/4...c993473e_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-06 at 20.37.57 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr On the road to the centre there is views of mount Connor (the rock everyone mistakes for Ayers rock), low bush, and NO wildlife. In 56 km at Mount Ebenezer Roadhouse there is a free camp, free showers, and gas (199/l up from the usual 155). We have 212 km still to go! https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1734/...414a4dde_b.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1738/...4dd69833_b.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1749/...09681413_b.jpg You can see the Ayers rock from a long distance and we arrived to the view point nearest, but outside the paid area. We decided that 75$ for 3 of us was just too much to get closer to a rock. We checked out the “town”, which is basically a gas station (202/l), some hotels, and a camp ground. It has 220 unpowered sites, and there was not one left when we arrived at 430 pm. We had planned to use the free camp 10 km back down the road, but thought we would check here. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1750/...ae8104fc_b.jpg We headed back to the view point for sunset and the relief from the flies! https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1749/...6f5a55f8_b.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1721/...be052c02_b.jpgUluru Australia-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The free camp is just off the road 10 km back down the road and we got here just as it was getting dark. In this van we can only go 500 m “off road” in a camp site and plus the road any farther was pretty steep and sandy so we set up camp in the last spot before the sandy hill. From here we walked about 1 km on the road over the next 2 ridges. In the dark we could not see the rock, but we managed to catch it in the Austral photos. We had a good night as it was totally quiet. There was only 2 other vehicles here. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1759/...116d916e_b.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1747/...259b93a4_b.jpg Only Dan got up for the sunrise! https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1728/...013f1568_b.jpg |
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