Salt lakes and Canyons-Expedition Dust day 65

I had a coffee with breakfast in curtain springs before getting on the road for the day. We didn’t muck around and were spinning by 0800 we took a few photos and did a small interview about what Calumn wants to get out of this adventure. While we were talking he mentioned the bike feeling like it had lots of resistance on the road, thats when I remembered I had never put extra air in the tires, oops! We pumped up his tyres and hit the road, Calumn gave me the thumbs up because of how much easier it was now that we had the right amount of pressure in the tires.

To the north there are mountains and to the south just one large mountain, it’s so beautiful. The road rolls so it’s up and down over and over all day but it’s just so nice to have a bit of a break from corrugations. As the day progressed it got hotter and hotter and hotter! From the top of a hill I could see a white salt lake. I haven’t seen one that’s white so I was very excited and peeled off the road to get a closer look, as I rode back to the road I spotted some Aboriginal art in sand, it was a drawing of a water hole. Calumn didn’t come to see the dry salty lake and instead just kept riding to the lunch spot. Once I had caught up I was delighted to see he had met 2 older Cyclists who were on there own journey. Lunch went with storys for our fellow riders and in return they made Calumn and I a cup of tea and a cherry ripe to share, delicious. It made me smile to myself seeing them because they could have been a future version of me and Ngaio.

With lunch snacks in our bellies we both went our separate ways and Calumn and I started moving again.

We were riding through a belt of salt lakes. It’s quite amazing and very different than anything I have ever seen, I got the drone into the sky to get some footage for the film, it looked even cooler from above.

In the beginning of the journey I would use the drone for route finding through the bush, it is a very handy tool to be carrying. About 10km after we left the salt lake we reached the kings canyon turn off. We had done just over 50km at this point. I was torn because I really wanted to see Kings Canyon, but I know I’m running out of time as I need to have the trip finished in the last weekend of September. This is so people can have a set date to come out with their bikes for the last 20km. In the end I Decided that I will just have to come back with Ngaio to do the loop around Kings canyon.

Taking the main road to Alice Springs is the quickest way to get there then I can continue off the roads with Calumn once the bikes have both had a full service and I have replaced my frame.

Just as we started moving a dingo that had been resting under the trees jumped up and ran off into the scruby bush. We started clocking up the kilometres, during the afternoon a Landcruiser with a friendly couple pulled over and gave us a frozen bottle full of icy water and an apple, what absolute ledgends.

When Calumn and I took a rest at the 80km point we chose to keep on moving so tomorrows journey was shorter. The sun was about to set and before I knew it we were riding into the night! Eventually we made it to mount ebenezer where the shed our cycling friends we met at lunch had told us was. They both had said was a good spot. It was an old shed behind a big iron fence next to the road it was right next to and abandoned motel that had had its doors kicked off. I’m a bit of an opportunity hunter and decided to take the bed that was in the abandoned motel and put it in our little shed we were planning on spending  the night in, After we both had a big Radix meal for dinner we went straight to sleep.