Cycling the Stuart E2E

Rest and relaxation
Bike Service
Fiona visiting from Melbourne
The luxury of real clothes to wear……….
Peter was certainly on a high when I arrived on Monday morning.
He was feeling fit, and looking good. (He has lost some weight)
He had used the razor to tidy up, and was keen to change into some non bike riding gear.
We sent some postcards, and did some banking and settled into Alice for a relaxing couple of days.
On his arrival Peter was very touched to receive a large envelope of cards and letters from the staff and students from the Brunswick Special Development School.

He really appreciated all their words and the bright decorations. Thanks so much!
We also caught up on all the wonderful messages of support from all around the world.
There are plenty of great places to eat, and lots of interesting tourist spots in Alice Springs. We decided not to travel out to Uluru, as the emphasis was on relaxation and we didn’t need to travel an extra 1000kms in just a few days.
The town has lots of history, being an important transport and communication centre.
Some of the things we saw were the Old Ghan Railway Museum,


The Transport Museum,

The Old Cable Station, The School of the Air

The Araluen Arts and Cultural Centre.

We spent a very enjoyable day with a local artist from whom we purchased a painting and spent time in the many Aboriginal Art Galleries in town.

Visited the Casino….
We spent a day at ‘The Desert Park’.
This fascinating place incorporates three different types of desert habitats, and their plants and animals.
We learnt about how the traditional owners lived and survived in this harsh country before the white man arrived, and also learnt of the medicines they harvested from the bush to treat their ailments.

While we were in Alice Springs, the daily temperature was 2 – 16 C (then minus the wind chill factor) and considering the local tribes did not wear clothes (or animal furs) their main ailments were chest infections.
We had a very relaxing and enjoyable week.
For the sum of $20 the bike was serviced, and we were told everything is fine! The chain just needed a clean.
Will Peter pay the price of his lapse back into the beer drinking, coffee drinking and cake eating lifestyle??

Stuart Wells – Alice Springs

A very excited Peter rang at 3.30pm to say he had already ridden his 90kms for the day, and was booked in at the ‘Comfort’ Inn.

We have previously stayed there, and there are all the facilities for relaxing.

He took a long walk around town to stretch his legs.

It is a huge achievement to reach Alice Springs, (especially with NO training prior to setting off).
While kilometre wise the trip to Alice is not quite half way, having conquered the southern half of the ride is a huge mental boost.
It’s definitely the less appealing, and most challenging half of the adventure.

Erldunda – Stuart Wells

After enjoying a wonderful meal and a night of swapping stories with Brian and Jo, and Cordell and Judy, a cooked breakfast was also on offer.  What great fuel to complete a 109km ride to Stuart Wells.

Again the wind was in Peter’s face, and while it wasn’t strong enough to make the ride difficult, it is dangerous in that it masks the noise of the oncoming traffic.

Today there were ‘Drag Cars’ on the highway, heading north to an event in Alice Springs.

Kulgera to Erldunda

Erldunda is the Travel Stop on the Stuart Highway where you turn left to drive out to see Uluru (Ayers Rock).

When visiting ‘The Rock’, visitors are now discouraged from climbing it for both safety and cultural reasons.

Peter is not turning left!!

Today was an easy 75 km ride, with a light north easterly winds blowing.

There was a lot of interesting traffic on the road today,

due to two big social events happening in the Northern Territory.

The first is ‘The Shannon’s Vintage Car and Bike Show’ on in Alice Springs and the second is the Darwin Show.

Many fantastic vintage bikes (Enfields) and wonderful cars of all descriptions are making their way up the highway,
some are carried on trailers, others are licensed for the road.

The show related traffic include the many and various Side Show Alley games and stalls and Amusement rides.

Tonight Peter is dining out! Two couples (from Australia Post) are travelling north and then on to WA in their caravans,
and they have invited Peter to join them for a home cooked meal in their van.

Bush Camp to Kulgera

Today was a late start! Peter slept in until 9.00am – can’t imagine the sleeping bag being that comfortable,

Then by the time he had breakfast and packed up the camp, he didn’t get on the road until 10.00am

Anyone would think he was on holidays!!

An 80km ride today, slowed up by the easterly winds. Not too bad!

Peter is excited about meeting up with some Australia Post people for dinner tomorrow night.

I hope they recognize him!!

No exciting characters on the road today, just pedaled steadily to make up for the late start.

Milestone:

1) Crossed over the border from South Australia into the Northern Territory

2) Also passed the 1000km mark

Marla to Bush Camp

NO WIND today!

After a relaxing day in Marla, and the luxury of shopping at a small supermarket (two bread rolls were purchased),

Peter headed off again.

Fuelled by baked beans on toast for breakfast, he was on the road by 7.15am for an uneventful ride of 101kms.

The daytime temperature is about 23 C, getting down to about 6 C overnight.

His company for the day, were the staff at a mobile Police Checkpoint  80kms north of Marla.

They quizzed him on what he was up to, but none of the checks were relevant to a man on a bike.

The other character Peter met was a guy called John who was searching around in the bushes at a road side stop.

Intrigued, Peter watched as he started turning over rocks,

finally a small plastic container with a pad in it was revealed.

John was participating in Geocaching.

An activity which is a cross between ‘A Treasure Hunt’ and Orienteering.

Using satellite co-ordinates, one searches the world for message pads to register your personal code.

Your findings and codes are then logged onto a Geocaching website.

Apparently, there are two sites in Antarctica.

So next time you are out and about, just think what might be hidden under a nearby rock!

Rest Day at Marla

Once again on the satellite phone!

Despite the fact that today was a rest day for Peter, the wind was still the main topic of conversation.
All day the wind roared at more than 40km per hour (a headwind if he’d been riding).
Unfortunately more is expected tomorrow.

He did lots of walking today, to keep the legs moving.

He was very thrilled to get all the phone calls of support,
and also the messages from those who haven’t been able to get through.

Cadney Park Station to Marla 79kms

A quick report by satellite phone.

Luckily, the ride today was only 80kms as there were strong headwinds all day, and it was a real struggle.
It was an uneventful day, with the ‘energy gel’ sachets providing a real boost. Thanks Mark!

On arrival Peter picked up the much travelled box of supplies to restock for the next leg.
This is still very isolated country, and there is no opportunity for incidental shopping.

Marla is an ‘Oasis’ on the highway, a very well kept stopover, with quite good facilities,
except for communication with the outside world.

The sat. phone was very scratchy, mobiles don’t work and there is no internet available.

Some statistics:
776 kms ridden so far
Average of 97kms per day
453 kms to Alice Springs

Bush Camp to Cadney Park Station 80 kms

I didn’t get to speak to Peter tonight and the kids didn’t make any notes!!!

The big news of the day – he was the first to come across an accident on the road.
A family had jack-knifed their camper trailer.
And although there were no life threatening injuries, they did need help.
Peter was very pleased to be able to assist by calling the police etc on his satellite phone.

Cadney Park is a large Service Station / Restaurant / Motel /Pub /swimming pool complex that caters well for travellers.

It’s not a town, just a stopover on the map.
The people that work at these isolated spots are amazing –
so welcoming and friendly and very helpful.

Cooper Pedy to Bush Camp 85 kms

Easterly winds were a problem during today’s ride of 85kms.
It is quite dangerous, as it is hard to hear the approaching traffic until they are almost on you.
This limits the time to get safely off the road, especially if it is a really long ‘triple’ length trucks.

After the rest day, the legs were fairly stiff, until about the 10 km mark when they warmed up.

Peter met a young family from Marla all dressed up in their footy colours
off to Adelaide to watch the game.

Finding a good camp site is not easy, as the land is very flat with very few trees.
So finding a clump of trees off the road – for safety and shelter is important.

On the menu was Honey Soy Chicken (dehydrated) and for a gourmet touch he bought a bag a rice!
What a life!