Bloomin' Desert! Ti Tree Roadhouse to Barrow Creek Roadhouse

Ti Tree Roadhouse supplied breakfast, which is a first - cereal, jammy hot toast and milky coffee. Yum! Gave us lots of energy for the ride ahead - a headwind all the way. Yay!

It was an interesting ride nevertheless.
The desert is starting to bloom - mainly yellow flowers with the odd purple.

Then we came across Jason - a 40 something, bubbly Englishman, skinny as a rake - who was cycling round the world! Made our little trip seem insignificant in comparison.

Arrived at Barrow Creek Roadhouse at 2.45pm, tired and hungry. They have poor camping facilities and no cabins so we've taken a room in the old pub. A character of a place. The shower and toilet facilities have to be seen to be believed!

The pub is legendary. All the walls are covered in visitors' graffiti, photos and money. We're in for a real outback experience.
So it looks like a pub meal tonight.

This is Day 32 since we left Adelaide. Did 90kms today.

Termite Territory! Connors Well Rest Area to Ti Tree Roadhouse

They say that the night sky in the outback is worth seeing. Well, it's absolutely jaw droppingly stunning!

Last night the sky was saturated with stars. It was magical.
Slept fitfully and didn't get going until 8.15am.

The landscape is becoming more varied and interesting, with swathes of golden, dry grass, clumps of eucalyptus and loads of  termite mounds.

We called into the Aileron Roadhouse for an early lunch.
A middle aged tourist decided that she'd like a photo of an old aboriginal woman who was sitting cross legged under a tree. The old lady refused to be photographed without payment - $20 minimum. The woman backed off quickly!

Next to the Roadhouse was an aboriginal crafts gallery with impressive, giant size carvings - "Big Man Walking" and "Mother and child".

Reached the Ti Tree Roadhouse at 3.15pm, took a cabin and immediately had showers before settling in for the night.
Both looking forward to a good night's sleep.
Did 101kms today.

Tropic of Capricorn - Alice Springs to Connors Well Rest Area

A cold 7.30am start and straight into 20kms of hills as we made our way north through the MacDonnell Ranges. At the top we passed a cairn that marked the highest point of land between Adelaide and Darwin. Downhill from now on perhaps?  I doubt it!

Soon after, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.

Had a tail wind most of the time as we cycled along a seemingly never ending ribbon of highway that ended in a mirage of water in both directions.

Crossed numerous dry rivers and creeks and arrived at Connors Well  at 2.30pm. Put up the tent on red, dusty ground while fighting swarms of flies!

Can you believe it, the minute we arrived, Del's gears came apart again! He'll have to manage with just 3 gears now for the rest of the trip!

Several caravans have parked here for the night so we have company. Did 95kms today.

Desert Park! Day 3 Alice Springs

 Decided to give the Alice Springs Show a miss - much like the Auckland Easter Show apparently - and instead rode 7kms out of town to the Alice Springs Desert Park.

It's a neatly laid out park with attractive, modern facilities. It has enclosures of dingos, emus and kangaroos plus a nocturnal house and a couple of small bird houses. The displays and demonstrations could have done with a lift, though we found a talk on indigenous bush tucker very interesting.

On the way out of the park, we spotted this weird object attached to a shrubby branch. It was the size of a large fist, sealed at the top with mud. A wasp's nest perhaps? Any ideas gratefully received.

Tomorrow we resume our trip. Our first night is at a bush camp. Could be out of mobile range frequently from now on, so my posts could arrive in fits and starts.
Darwin here we come!

Public Holiday! Day 2 Alice Springs

It's officially Territory Day today - a public holiday - and most shops are closed!

We wandered through the silent malls with all the other tourists and had lunch at a popular cafe.

Aboriginal women spread their art on the grass hoping to tempt passers-by. Their menfolk squatted on pavements or sauntered around aimlessly.

We're staying at the Elkira Motel - a Best Western - friendly, reasonably priced and close to supermarkets and the city centre. One block of units seems to be occupied by aboriginal families. They keep to themselves and can be noisy at times, chattering and calling to each other at the top of their voices.

We've washed and dried everything we own, restocked our food stores and checked the itinerary for the second half of our trip.

Tomorrow we're off to the Alice Springs Show. Not quite sure what to expect. Next weekend, after we've gone, they've got camel racing! Them's the breaks!!

Boom Bangabang! Rest Day Alice Springs

Last night we heard a fortune in fireworks go up in smoke - and that was just at our caravan park!

All the main centres in the NT celebrated with fireworks - big, expensive, professional ones lit the sky until midnight. Needless to say, we, and the local bird life, had little sleep.

We left the camp early and cycled 5kms to the city centre, checking in at the "i" centre and then the motel.

Our next port of call was the Bicycle Centre, Alice Springs, where Ben, the mechanic, quickly fixed the problem with Del's gears and we were back in business by lunch time. Good service and much appreciated.

Stocked up on a few stores at Coles and had a relaxing evening and early bed after last night's celebrations.

Half Way At Last! Stewarts Well to Alice Springs

A cold night last night. Overcast when we set off but the clouds soon burned off and we needed to do our usual side of the road strip.

Roller coaster hills and hollows for the first 50kms - and with a head wind! Then it was a pleasant ride to Alice.

Alice Springs is nestled amongst the MacDonnell Ranges.

Tonight we're camping in a lovely caravan Park called "G'day Mate" a few kms from the city centre.

Today is Territory Day! There'll be fireworks exploding until 11.00pm tonight. Yay!

Did 85kms today.