During the night things got a bit hectic. When we got into the tent the wind wasn’t too bad but about an hour later it felt like a full on sand storm was right on top of us. Ruby woke me up and said there was sand coming in the tent! I sprung into action, running around pegging the tent down properly so the dust stopped blowing under the fly and into the tent. Thankfully it worked, but it was a sandier dustier sleep than usual.
We packed up and began to make a plan for how Ruby was going to get to Mt Dare, she wanted to just wait on the side of the road for a vehicle to come past that had enough room for a bike and all her gear. I told her I wasn’t going to leave her on the side of the road with the bike because I know I couldn’t live with myself if something happened! In the end we decided that we would keep moving slowly towards Mt Dare and would flag the vehicles down and ask them to help her out. We headed onto the sandy excuse of a road and started moving.
I would ride up ahead then stop and wait for Ruby to catch up. The first vehicle that drove past was perfect, it had an empty roof tray but they never stopped, only waved and left us covering our faces from the dust. About 20 minutes later I spotted a broken down trailer on the side of the road, I went over to investigate while I waited for Ruby. It looked like it had been recently abandoned. I opened the box on the front, inside was a bag of potatoes and a pile of fizzy drinks! It had been a cold night and the drinks might as well have come straight from a fridge. I cracked a can of raspberry and lined up 5 of the other flavored drinks for Ruby to choose from. When she came round the bend in the track I pretended I was selling goods a a market GET YOUR DRINKS! GET YOUR COLD DRINKS! Ruby couldn’t believe it. We sat down well we drunk our drinks marveling about the fact we had just found cold beverages in the middle of the desert. As we sat there a car pulled up to check if we were ok, there names were Des and Jan but unfortunately they didn’t have enough room for Ruby and her bike but they were just as excited as us to hear my shop wasn’t out of cold drinks!
About 5 minutes after we started moving again a black Toyota came to a halt next to us. A burly bloke got out and said hey mate I’m Robert, your mate Bens dad, can I do anything to help? RUBY WAS SAVED! I said I would see them tonight and left them to pack the bike and gear into Roberts truck! I took advantage of being my own pacesetter again and headed down the road leaving them in a cloud of dust. On the road then off the road, I was charging forward seeking the path of least resistance and I was going fast! I put my headphones in, chose this is avici as my playlist then let the rhythm take me away! I was in my own little party world.
I came around a corner and spotted a vehicle on the crest of a hill. As I headed towards them a friendy dog came barreling towards me and the owners waved out saying hello. It was two Alice locals who were headed for Melbourne for a month off work! They had made me a sandwich and had opened me a cold beer! I couldn’t stay for long because I still had 40km to go, but it was such a nice encounter, it’s what I love about these trips. As I came over the crest of the landscape completely changed, it opened up and everything disappeared it was just endless flat. Even the horizon had disappeared behind the heart waves. As I rode my face was covered in the biggest smile! I was zooming through the most amazing landscape yet, It was like a hot version of the Greenland icecap.
As I was moving through the land I couldn’t help but feel like i was riding through mars. Suddenly I was snapped out of my day dream by a loud horn behind me. It was the Ben and the team that’s filming the Simpson crossing. We chatted for a few moments and then they carryed on to Mt Dare. I put my headphones in and disappeared back into my musical world.
Before I hit Mt Dare I had a bath in a cow trough, crossed into south Australia and flew my drone to get some amazing shots! I arrived at the Mt Dare hotel just before 5, Ben had ordered me a Lasagna with about a kilo of chips. It was a bloody good day in Brando’s world!