While in Roma, I decided to get a last set of fresh tyres – the rear is toast, and the front has worked itself out of balance so badly one side is literally down to nothing while the rest is…
Day 38 – Southward Bound
Early start this morning, after a burst water main caused a panic among my grey nomad neighbours at the rest area. A little ways down the road, the traffic had stopped for no apparent reason. I waited around 10 minutes…
Day 37 – On the Sheep’s Back
Before leaving Yaraka pub in the morning, I had a cup of coffee with the owners. They’ve just bought the place a few weeks ago and were incredibly friendly and generous – typical country hospitality. If anyone is in the…
Day 36 – Outback Queensland
Leaving Birdsville early in the morning, I passed the racecourse. During the race weekend, the population of Birdsville grows from around 120 permanent residents to over 7000, as it’s an iconic outback event. Quiet today, though. Heading east, there’s a…
Day 32-35 – The Simpson Desert
The first obstacle was to get back out of Mt Dare station, through the mud ringing the property. Fortunately by now we’d been worded up on the best route. Then once out on the open road, there was a huge…
Day 30-31 – To the Desert’s Edge
Having joined forces with my folks in their four wheel drive in Alice Springs, we took the old Ghan Railway route, well away from the modern highway, heading towards Finke. There’s actually two tracks that run parallel – the main…
Day 28-29 – The West MacDonnell Ranges
The West MacDonnell Ranges, like many others in Central Australia, is made up of sandstone that has eroded and weathered into an ever-changing display of colour and texture. There’s still a lot of water in the area, this was…
Day 27 – King’s Canyon and the Meerenie Loop Road
Long update today, with lots of pictures! Well rested from the day before, I awoke early the next morning – although the sunrise helicopter tour taking off a few hundred metres away helped that! On the road to King’s Canyon,…
Day 26 – Central Australia
Not a long report from today. I was tired, so didn’t leave Yulara until mid morning, then 100km down the road I had to stop to re-attempt my exhaust fix – it was starting to fail. Take two, this time…
Day 25 – Ayers Rock and the Olgas
With the temporary fix to the exhaust holding, I decided to stick around and see the sights instead of running straight for Alice Springs. My first destination was back to the Olgas, to explore them fully. The first hike, the…