A Change of Plans...

Had the air-conditioning on all night and headed out of the van before sunrise to go take a shower and stepped into a wall of heat. It never seems to let up.

A quick check of the weather forecast shows my next stop (Katherine) heading for 39deg today and Darwin at 38deg. During a conversation with an Aboriginal guide from Kakadu he tells me that what I thought was my biggest concern (the big wet) really isn't a problem if I'm heading north, however, he also tells me that the build-up to the wet has started and the temperature and the humidity is set to soar over the next few days and doesn't give up till the wet begins in a few weeks.

Having suffered through enough heat I make the decision to head south and visit Uluru instead. I'll wait till Port Augusta and make a decision whether to head west to Perth from there.

A short run today of only 500k's down to Alice Springs. Here's what you run into just south of Tennant Creek...

Not long after passing this sign I hit strong easterly winds ripping over my left shoulder and put up with heavy buffeting for about the next hour.

There's not a lot out here in the centre. Out here a petrol station and a pub constitute a town, and even these are hundreds of k's apart. 

I rip past a sign to the Devil's Marbles (remember there's no speed limit) and before I know it, there's a second turnoff. Screech to a halt and turn left to see this just a few seconds off the highway...
 

The photos don't convey the size of these things, they are huge, and in spite of looking like a bunch of boulders dumped in a pile, they were once all one big rock being worn over time by rain water (imagine that, rain water out here).

Next stop Wycliffe Wells, self proclaimed UFO capital of Aussie. Not a lot here other than a petrol station and a caravan park (albeit a very run down one). I guess the aliens took everything with them.
 

Zipping along the highway and peering off to the right I see a huge aboriginal standing on a hill so detour off the road to check it out. What I find is amazing, an aboriginal hunter standing on the hill overlooking Aileron, and a female and child down in the town with a goanna (apparently dinner) being dragged along by the woman. To get an idea of scale, look at the motorcycle at the back of the shed to the left of the woman and child...
 

And the next stop along the way is.....
 

 

If the guff on the info panels are anything to go by, I should be getting much cooler from this point on (doesn't feel like it at the moment).

As I get to the outskirts of Alice, police have set themselves up in force with a team operating a speed camera and a booze bus in the northbound lane. Seems to be plenty of takers, at least it's not me.

The heat here is still unbearable. A call to Mrs Snappa finds me a room at the Ibis Styles Resort and as luck would have it, the guy on the desk also rides a V-Strom. He upgrades me to an executive suite with parking right by the back door, shouts me a free drink at the bar, then proceeds to set me up with a mechanic at the Suzuki dealer to sort out the fouled injectors on the bike.
 

Some perspective of where I am

Today's route

First Border Crossing...

Camooweal - What a night! Hot as hell, and by the looks of the surrounding area, obviously not far from the devil's lair either.

The border is real close, something like about 15 k's away so I fuel up and head off. Not sure what I'm expecting as I roll out of the forecourt.

A few minutes later, this is it. Really? This is it? Well, as underwhelmed as I was, I did have a reception party waiting in the car park and he wasn't all that pleased that my bike had woken him from a deep sleep.

I roll out of the carpark and the first thing I see is....

130kph - Seeing the sign makes me feel compelled to comply and away I go. Not too long after leaving this area and heading into the NT proper, I start to get buffeted by a crosswind over the left side of the bike. Strong, gusting winds, and then about 30 k's further on, a sign advising "Caution - strong crosswinds ahead". I was busy thinking a bit late for that, but then the winds get worse. This continues for many miles.

 

260 k's later I finally arrive at the Barkley Homestead, fuel up, devour a peppered steak pie, and wash it down with a coffee. Between Camooweal and here there is virtually nothing (except a few rest stops and a police station).

There is no power station within cooee so they have an ingenious method for street lighting...

A toilet stop and a tour of the humongous car park and junk yard before heading for three-ways.

It's not too long down the road, pumping along at 130, and the boredom of long straight roads and little changing scenery (the height of the vegetation varies occasionally) begins to set in.

The sides of the road are littered with thousands of termite mounds and sometimes they even pop up out of the edge of the bitumen (determined little buggers) and obviously I'm not the only bored tourist as many of these termite mounds are decorated with varying items of clothing (most commonly t-shirts) and sometimes with a good sense of humor.

 

And so endeth the day in a very, very warm Tennant Creek where I retire to a caravan for the evening.

Even though I've only traveled about 470k's I'm totally knackered from heat exhaustion and don't bother to venture outside the comfort of the (somewhat noisy) air-conditioning.

Today's route. (looks much the same from th ground as it does from the air)

Still going straight...

Another day of straight roads with the destination today being Mt Isa. As with all the others, it starts out the way it ended the day before.... Hot.

A real Willie Nelson day - "Nothin but Blue Skies".

I visit the dinosaurs in Richmond, have a coffee in Julia Creek, lunch in Cloncurry, and on to Mt Isa by mid afternoon.

With time up my sleeve, I fuel up, arrange accommodation in Camooweal, and keep on riding.

Accommodation here is the pits. $80 for a tin shack not much bigger than the single bed that sits in it and the itching from the bed was just an added bonus.

Today's route.

Westward Bound...

Another long day today and it doesn't start well with the temp up to the early 30's by 9.00am. A quick visit to the bike shops in Townsville first to find a set of highway pegs to rest my legs and bum on the exceptionally long straights ahead.

They're not pretty, but they serve the purpose and do the job well.

So early in the day and the heat is unrelenting. So hot, and then, Charters Towers, a solid bout of absolute torrential downpour. The pile of rain gear I bought in Brisbane (that's been taking up space in the panniers) finally gets a workout.

In spite of the rain, it doesn't get any cooler, and the rain gear only serves to make me sweat profusely. It's at this point that I can attest to the Dri-Motion T-Shirts from Kathmandu (well worth the money).

There is so much road-kill to ride through, and in the heat you can smell it long before you get to it. Every bit of road-kill is being devoured by birds, crows, falcons, hawks, and eagles. Nothing goes to waste.

Ended the day in Hughenden at the Royal Hotel in a room with a view....

Today's route.

Retracing Steps...

Headed back down the Mulligan Highway today and retraced my steps down over Mt Molloy. It was too much fun not to do it again. Same goes for the Captain Cook Highway down the coast back through to Cairns.

The rest of the trip back down to Townsville was uneventful and as I'd only just been this way a few days earlier, it was all ride with a few coffee stops to break the monotony of the long hot straight stretches.

Ended the day with a great night of catching up at my brother's place in Townsville.

Today's route.

Day of rest

The original plan was to ride an average of 600k's per day during the week and rest up each weekend to do the domestic duties. 2,200k's in 4 days so far, an average of 550k's/day, so not too bad.

Cooktown is my first stopover and I'm certainly ready for it. A sleep-in, washing, and then off to see the sights before heading back to take care of some maintenance on the bike.

 My first selfie...

Enjoyed a good meal at the local bowls club and then took an early night (in the comfort of an air-conditioned room). A long 700k ride to Townsville in the morning.