I didn’t have the best sleep in the cave last night. The dogs howls echoed up the dry riverbed sending shivers down my spine. The dogs kept waking me up, the fact I was just in my sleeping bag on the dirt didn’t ease the mind knowing I was most probably in the dingo den. As soon as the sun had started to rise I was up! I rolled up my mat and sleeping bag and I was ready to go.
The carpark that I rode through last night was absolutely filthy. There was rubbish everywhere and the bin was overflowing. It was probably the Dingos that had spread the rubbish around while searching for food. On the way back to the road I climbed a water tower to see if I could get a bit of water but it was empty. I don’t actually need any but it’s always nice to not need to unpack my bags to refill my water.
As I cruised along the first part of the road I was singing at the top of my voice. Because I left early I didn’t eat breakfast, but I had added water and left it to rehydrate while I rode. When I hit the 10km mark I set up my little camp chair and ate my breakfast as the morning traffic zoomed on by, by morning traffic I mean one car haha. Once I was riding again I came across a dead camel with a dingo pulling at its flesh, it spotted me and bolted (The dingo bolted, not the camel carcass, just in case I had you confused. Some crazy stuff can happen in the desert ya know)
A huge gang of Motorbikes passed me, they all waved as they went by, there were so many of them and they had side carts and all the bells and whistles. At about 4pm a land cruiser stopped and the kind strangers asked if I wanted a beer and a cola. I was so stoked! We chatted for about 10min in the middle of the road before going our separate ways.
Over the last few days I have been talking to lots of strangers and some of the conversations have been very rewarding I have decided when I speak with people I tell them that I’m out here because I’m aware of my own struggles and I’m doing something about it. I share my journey because I hope that it empowers others to take care of themselves and their own mental wellness.
The last few hours of my day were in soft sand and after drinking my one beer it seemed to be a little harder than usual haha. When I hit 80km I decided it was time to make camp. I left the road and headed toward a sand hill because I wanted a view of the sunset! The one I chose was very steep and I struggled to push the bike up it and slid back down every second step! After a lot of pushing and grunt work I got to the top and I was rewarded with a view of the olgers to the east and a stunning sunset in the west.