Rest day @ Ti Tree

Well it was a lovely rest day here at Ti Tree, Neil and I had the park to ourselves for most of the day - Kouta was free to roam between the sun and the shade of the trees@

We bought our lunch at the roadhouse - fish and chips and they were delicious ...

 At first I didn't think there was enough chips but once you had a few chip butties I soon filled my empty stomach.
Here is a picture of our camp spot ... plenty of shade here and sun for the solar charging ...

 There were these 2 birds or parrots hanging around and I managed to get quite close to them ... I haven't looked up in the bird book their name yet ...

 Despite the day being mainly sunny there were a few clouds about and they hung around at sunset so tonights sunset was particularly beautiful especially with the windmill and the water tanks ...

Tomorrow we start for Alice Springs and will be there on Monday, there is not internet reception at Aileron so my next posting will be Monday.  See ya all then!

Bushcamp to Ti Tree

Bushcamp to Ti Tree roadhouse = 146km (day 1 = 79km; day 2 = 67km)
Cummulative totals = 5951km and 25,952km)
Ti Tree roadhouse = $14 unpowered ($7 each)

Day 1
We treated ourselves to a little sleep in today and didn't roll out of bed until around 7am instead of the usual 6am!  We were away by 8.30am with only 14km to go to Taylors Creek rest area.  There was no wind really this morning which is a good bonus for us.  Upon getting to Taylors Creek which camp 5 gives it a tick which means that it is good ... well as soon as I saw it I said no we will continue on and bush camp again tonight!  We did however stock up on water and took extra water so we could have a good wash and wash our hair (it is our 3rd night without a shower!).
We were both disappointed with the rest area - it had 2 tables with shade, a eco toilet and a water tank but it was a dust bowl and had no shade and no where to pitch the tent without a caravan running you over at some point during the day.  So we ended up washing Kouta as he was looking and feeling a little dirty ... off course he hated that but it is easier to do it at a rest area, chuck him in the trailer and start pedalling so that he dries in the wind (a bit like a hair dryer!).
It is only 42km to Barrow Creek from here and there is internet reception.  Along the way we met a French Cyclist - Lauren who was heading north and is another European that is doing a round the world trip ... he flies out of Darwin to do the Asian countries next.  So far he has done 22,000km.

 When we met the cyclist we were going through some lovely looking scenery ... do you recognise this Dad

 This is the enscarpment north east of Barrow Creek you know the one we think the Falconio murderer hid in!
We seem to be coming across alot of these sort of enscarpments and ranges now on a daily basis and I suppose the drown out the monotony of just seeing scrub trees.  In various lighting situations (dawn, dusk, cloudy and sunny days) they are very spectacular to see ... I love the Outback!
Once at Barrow Creek we quickly jumped on the internet to check emails, weather and wind and also had a cuppa and lunch.  Now Barrow Creek has a historic Telegraph station and a gas station/roadhouse ... we had both stayed here on previous occassions and back then (20 odd years ago) it was a pretty run down place and it still hasn't changed ... to look at it it is really a dump and it does have camping but we are not sure if people camp there anymore as it is just a dust bowl maybe the camping is around the back ... but I would prefer to bush camp.
From here it is about 90km to Ti Tree and we decided to do another 20km.  At this point the wind had picked up again this time it is blowing from the west north west and since the road is going in a south west direction we had a head wind.  Although not strong but enough for you to feel it.

The winds around here and towards Alice Springs are completely different to the ones blowing around Tennant Creek and you really notice it just south of the Devils Marbles.  The system for this area is changeable to from day to day ... I looked on Elders before we left Barrow Creek and sometimes the wind is from the north east, changing to a north west in the afternoon and then the next day it is from the south east changing to the east in the afternoon ... it is not as constant as Tennant Creek - east south easterly and always blowing a gale! and it is not as strong  as Tennant Creek - usually under 10km per hour.  So I am happy with that and this is also for Alice Springs - that wind system is different to the one here in what they call the Grape Vine Territory (which includes Barrow Creek and Ti Tree) so once at Ti Tree we can see what type of winds we will have going into Alice Springs ... interestingly enough the French cyclist said he has had 4 days of northerlies (albeit light) and at the same time as we were coming south we had moderate east south easterlies ... we did try to tell him that his wind will change around Tennant Creek to more of a tailwind but I don't think he believed us!

It was getting later in the afternoon before we started looking for a bushcamp spot and as we come over a slight rise we had a nice view of what was in front of us

 we found a spot not long after this photo was taken and that would leave us about 68km tomorrow.  It is like all other camp spots on a graded section next to a property fence line but this graded section was done for the laying of the Telstra cables for the NBN - this was done a while ago as there are now bushes and grass growing on it but there is enough cleared spots for the tent to fit.

Looking forward to a shower tomorrow and washing the clothes!

Day 2

Up early this morning so we can arrive at Ti Tree at around midday, get some of the washing done and then sit back and relax.

No wind this morning and if it is blowing it would be a light one coming from the east somewhere.

Last night was a little chillier than normal and this morning we had a bit of condensation on the inside of the fly ... we haven't had this for ages and I think the further south we go the more there will be condensation on the fly.

Even cycling on the road this morning was cooler.  We took a cuppa break at the Teamsters Memorial.

 the plaque reads the following ...

 and they even have kept one of the telegraph poles ... you can see it behind the bikes

I think the metal pole that is holding the telegraph part is not the original I would imagine the original would be a wooden pole.
About 30km out of Ti Tree you enter the no speed zone ... so there is no speed limit although they do ask you to drive to the conditions.  The speed limit is generally 130km per hour but very few do that as it is too expensive on fuel to do that speed so I can't see many taking advantage of the no speed zone!
We get to Ti Tree at 12.30 and no one is here but a few have turned up now.  There is another couple in the camping area with us.  They are from South Australia and are a very unusual couple, nice but I have to say that the guy takes a bit of getting use to ... I think Neil dreaded the first hour or so talking to them while eating lunch as he thought I might have a go at the guy ... I think memories of Lake Bolac with the ute and me throwing away the keys  came flooding back to him!  Like I said they are a lovely couple except his manner or what he says can be a bit full on ... lets just say that he is NOT politically correct ... he refers to the Aboriginals as the local wildlife (I am really biting my tongue with that) and in all my travels I have never had anyone say this too me "you're like one of the black fellas" when refering to my suntan! (I nearly bit my tongue off with that comment!) I mean really just how unpolitically correct can you get!  His wife is really nice and is nice to talk too.
So tomorrow we will have a rest day here.

Tennant Creek to bush camp (posted from Barrow Creek)

Tennant Creek to Bushcamp = 172km (day 1 = 81km; day 2 = 91km)
Cummulative totals = 5805km and 25,806km

Day 1

We had a good break over the weekend at Tennant Creek - caught up on some badly needed fresh food - since Porterhouse steak was so cheap we had it on all 3 nights and now I feel I have too much meat in my system! Here is a photo of Neil enjoying our Friday night meal - Saturday was beef stirfry and Sunday was steak, egg, potatoes and a roast vege cous cous salad 

As you may remember coming into Tennant Creek on Friday was very windy and hard for us and this wind continued even harder on Saturday and sort of blew itself out by lunchtime Sunday.
Looking ahead on Elders at the winds for Tennant Creek this week they winds start easing by Tuesday  but when you look at Alice Springs and even closer at Ti Tree the winds are like all under 10km per hour so clearly the strong east south easterlies are Tennant Creeks alone!
And this morning (Monday) the wind was light and although the forecast was for 20km per hour winds this morning and becoming less in the afternoon (this is the trend for Tennant Creek - the winds are stronger in the morning compared to the afternoon!) they were far from that and were light for most of the day and almost disappearing except for gusts) in the afternoon, which also meant the temperature was up today.
So we slept in since we thought the winds were going to be strong this morning and weak this afternoon so we didn't get away until after 8.45am! we stopped off and got some bread at the supermarkert (Foodland) and they only had frozen and we had to get Abbotts bread x 2 at a total of $11! OMG  there was no outback brand bread and Neil doesn't like the Buttercup brand so we had to go for the expensive brand ... oh well that means we won't stop at Wauchope (pronounced War-hope) for a shower and over night as that is $14 for 2 and we have just spent that on the bread!
Upon leaving town, about 5km out, we pass a group of Aboriginals doing community service (picking up litter from the side of the road), they were very enthusiastic when they saw us and waved, said hello and asked if we were going to Alice Springs ... we said no Adelaide!  One thing we noticed with Tennant Creek was just how clean it was whenever we went into town and we guessed that before everyone gets up they have the people doing their community service are going through cleaning up the town to remove the litter, bottles and cans from the night before - as there is NO litter at all in the town streets.
So Tennant Creek is not a place to move to, it must be a very hard life style up here for Aussies and Aboriginals.  I have never come across a town like it with nearly every place, especially government agencies, having massive iron bars across doorways and windows, or no windows at all and if they door they have metal security screens on them and I suppose it is the violence that causes all this.

Yesterday I made Neil get the metho - I refuse to ask for this as there is always some smart arse comment to follow and I get really offended ... so Neil came back with some and I asked if he got some comment and he said yes!  The supermarket had none so before he went to the hardware store he went to pay our camping fee and mentioned that he has to get some metho and the camp owner says something along the lines of don't forget the orange juice, Neil laughs it off and says it is for the stove it is a metho burner or Trangia.  So off he goes to the hardware store and has to ask for it (they don't sell it on the shelves) and the guy also has to make a comment along the

lines of that he must be desperate to resort metho ... again Neil laughs it off and says it is for the Trangia stove ... so why is it that everyone has to have some smarmy ignorant comment whenever we buy metho?  If they want to know what we intend to use it for then just say 'what do you want it for?' ... one day I am just going to say 'to drink it' and be done with it!  In saying all this I am very surprised Neil also got the comments I don't feel so singled out now!

So back to todays riding, due to the lighter than expected winds we were able to sit on 15km per hour comfortably.  It is flat and you can see an enscarpment way in the distance in the east, otherwise it is just the road and the low lying scrub on the side of the road.  Now we are going south the sun starts on our left side and is behind us for most of the day so when it comes to lunchtime we are struggling to find a spot in the shade - we  managed to find this one  

Due to our late start we didn't seem to be much traffic on the road, in fact most of the traffic was coming from Alice Springs and heading north.  There were very few trucks (both ways) and I cannot remember the Stuart highway being this quiet 20 odd years ago.  We did see the railway line at about the 75km mark but we don't know how far it is from us at our bush camp - it is on the same side as us but we are camped near a fence line.
So our spot is quite close to the road (about 35m) but we are hoping there is not much night traffic.  It is a good spot in amongst some scrubby trees that provides dappled (theres that word Sharon!) shade
photo of camp site
and in this photo I am standing right next to the tent while a car is going past

Tomorrow is a big day to Taylors creek rest area ... we are hoping to pop in and see the Devils Marbles ... we will see if they allow dogs there!

Day 2
We set the alarm for 6am this morning with the intent to get an early start and also detour to see The Devils Marbles.  And we did set off early and it was about 7km to the  Bonney Well rest area where we picked up water.  There was an Australian couple cycle touring and they had stayed the night there.  I think their names were Aila and Simon.  Aila works in a cycle store and has her own website dedicated to cycle touring in Australia and is working on expanding it - Cycle Traveller is the name of the website.  They are cycling from Adelaide to Darwin then catching a plane to Cairns and will cycle back to Adelaide.  From what I can understand she is mapping out cycle touring routes and they have cycle routes for roads in NSW between the coast and New England highway which we think would be interesting to see as there are not too many roads through there that run north south .... most run east west / coast to inland direction.

So we chatted for at least an hour and that put us behind a bit but not too worry.  The Devils Marbles were further down at the 27km mark.  This is a very popular place and does have camping that is if you want to place your tent in and amongst all the caravans, 5th wheelers, mobile homes and trailer pop tents!  There is no water here but eco toilets are dotted around the place.

here is a selfie!

This place is great if you are a photographer and is particularly beautiful in the evening.

We had a cuppa there and went on to Wycliffe Well for lunch which is a further 25km down the road.  We did pass the Wauchope roadhouse where there is cheap camping but we thought we would try to make the Taylors Creek rest area.  At Wycliffe Well there is a Big 4 campground (no pets though) and a roadhouse that sells food supplies - a loaf of white bread cost $5.  We stopped for lunch in the shade and this is the place where they use to grow veges for the Army that was dotted up and down the Stuart highway during World War 2.  Although now there are no army places or vege patches ... except vineyards and citrus down the road at Ti Tree.  I suppose they have used up all the water!

From here our rest area just got a further 10km than anticipated - it was another 49km I thought and by my calculations it would be about 40km south of Wycliffe Well ... I must have miscounted my kilometers.  But we decided to push on and aim for the rest area which would mean a 103km day.  That was okay as the wind which is gently blowing from the east is okay and if anything it was gently blowing from across and behind the shoulders a bit as the road was veering towards the south west so that made the going easier.

Yesterday I mentioned the railway line was behind where we camped well we saw it again today (still haven't heard a train!) You actually cross over it just south of the Ali Curung turnoff.  If you approach it from the north like us all you can see in the distance is the road sharply rise and as you get closer you see it is a manmade hill with the road going over it and it is completely flat either side of it ... so your first thought is what the (insert bad word) didn't they go around this bump! and as you go over it you realise why there is this manmade hill ... the train line goes under it!  It does give you a very good view of the landscape ahead of you since it is the only bump for miles around!

This is the new trainline that runs from Darwin to Alice Springs and joins with the Alice Springs to Adelaide line.

You know we are particularly surprised that there is hardly any truck traffic.  Just the odd road train either Gilberts (which goes to Adelaide) or cattle trucks.  So we are riding along quite well and know that we are not going to get to this rest area until well after 4pm so we decide that we have enough water that we will bushcamp alongside the road at 15km before the rest area as by the time we will get there it would be crowded and we would have to camp well out in the open and it would be difficult to wash etc. and really I don't like the rest area camping and prefer to camp before one and then pick up water the next morning.  So we are beside the road again but night traffic is basically non existent so being so close to the road is no worries

Dinner tonight is weetbix as we have to eat the yoghurt we are carrying!  Tomorrow Neil thought we might go to the rest area and see if it is nice (it has a tick in the camp 5 book) and if we like it we might have a short day and make it sort of a rest day. Who knows as the next night is also a bushcamp and that would mean by the time we get to Ti Tree camp ground we would have been 5 days without a shower ... mind you the bird baths we have at the end of the day are pretty good as we carry extra water for that and since water is so readily available we sort of have a luxurious bird bath with 2 litres of water each!!!
Internet reception is not available at Wauchope or Wycliffe Well but is available at Barrow Creek (just recently since mid July) and Ti Tree.  Tomorrow we will reach Ti Tree and there is internet reception there and I will update the blog again.

Barkly Homestead to Tennant Creek - day 3

 Day 3 = 36km
Cummulative totals = 5633km and 25,634km
Tennant Creek Caravan Park = $20 unpowered ($10 each)

Didn't have a great sleep last night - we had extra chocolate left over so we ate it all and I think that may have kept me awake for a bit!
This morning we woke to a very windy morning so we had brekky in the tent ... the wind was very cold and is probably the strongest it has been for this leg of the trip!
We had this wind behind us for the first 12km and then we get to 3 ways ... do we turn left and head home or do we turn right and have a crack at going all the way round?

I think you guessed that we turned left as the title of this post has Tennant Creek in it!
So you could say officially we are now heading in the direction of home ... hoping we don't drop south too quickly as there is alot of cold weather down there - Alice Springs is only 15 degrees at the moment!!!  Here in Tennant Creek is around 22 degrees but it feels colder because of the wind.
So once we turned left we were heading straight into the wind until Tennant Creek, at least the first 10km it felt straight into the wind and then the road curves a bit and it becomes a cross wind around 30km per hour and I tell you I have no food in the panniers except for a few crackers, biscuits, a small piece of processed cheese, a little jam and honey and believe it or not NO WEETBIX! OMG I have never been without weetbix!
Traffic both ways were struggling with the strong cross winds - I kept getting blown into the middle of the lane and vans going in the opposite direction were getting battered a round a bit!  A few road trains with cattle over took us and I was fearing the gusts would blow me into their path!  But we got here in the end.
We are in the caravan park that is the first one as you approach from the north as it is the cheaper.  It is an okay park and has a reasonable kitchen - bbq, toaster, jug, microwave, fridge and sink so all we need really.
Tonight we are having Porterhouse steak, while at Barkly Homestead I smelt someone cooking meat on their bbq and I got a craving, I suppose after 10 days of pasta meals, tetra pack chicken meals and weetbix the urge for fresh food hit me so I said to Neil when in Tennant Creek lets splash out and get some steak ... so he comes back from the IGA with 6 pieces of Porterhouse steak at $10 per kilo.  I suppose we were so enthusiastic about having steak we didn't stop to think that we don't have forks and knives with us to eat the steaks!  we only have a spoon each so we will have to cut up the steak with our vege knife and eat with our hands ... won't that be a good look!  Even Kouta is having Porterhouse steak tonight as it is cheaper to feed him that than by him a small My Dog meal!!!
Neil has been into town and since we were last here it is a town that has died, not too many shops and if anything there are more closed than open, he also said he has never seen so many Aboriginal people in his life they are congregating out all on the streets.
So tomorrow it is my turn to have a look around and do the shopping, what I really need is a haircut but since it is a Saturday I doubt if I could get in and I am not even sure if there is one!
We will be here tomorrow and will more than likely stay Sunday as well - at least the IGA is open on the Sunday!

Barkly Homestead to Tennant Creek (days 1 & 2)

 Barkly Homestead to Tennant Creek = (day 1 = 93km; day 2 = 86km)
Cummulative totals = 5599km and 25,600km

Day 1
It as a comfortable nights sleep last night - not too cold or hot.  Being in the middle of nowhere almost everyone around us got up very early to move on.  I heard one alarm at 4.30am!  Ours was set for 6am, we had brekky which has been modified as we don't have bread (which we were relying on!) so it is now 4 weetbix each and I had 2 crackers with jam on to act as my toast!
We left at 7.30am and the wind had just started blowing ... it was a true tailwind and we motored along at 23-24km per hour.  The road is going in a north west direction so the south easterly wind helped us.  This road is straight for 50km and then has a its' first turn for the day!
Since we are cruising along nicely we get to Frewena rest area which is 55km from Barkly Homestead at 10.30am ... in time for a cuppa.  We are carrying almost a full load of water all except the 2 x 2L bladders which we hoped to fill up at the rest area but there was no water.  No big drama for us as we have plenty in supply.
We continued on and finally the traffic picked up - there is considerably less truck traffic as we assume they take the  alternate route to Darwin - via Cape Crawford on the Tablelands highway.  However there are heaps of vans coming from Tennant Creek today and they must really be feeling the wind!

Along the road today we saw one termite person and this one is probably my favourite so far (there seem to be getting less and less termite people as we come along this Barkly highway!)

 I am hoping that either mine or Neils cycle shorts die soon and we can try and dress one of these termite mounds with a pair of cycle shorts ... we have so few clothes with us we can hardly afford to just dress a termite mound with what we have so any dressing of a termite mound will be done with clothes that have completely died on us and can't be repaired!
At lunchtime we pull over and have a ration of crackers and processed cheese (I have to ration out the crackers now!) once back on the road again we noticed the wind has dropped considerably but that is okay as we are only another 15km from our target destination of 90km.
From the rest area to about the 80km mark there are plenty of ways to get off the highway and into the bush - I am not sure what they call them but alongside the road and into the bush are cleared area for the flood water (when it rains) to be diverted.  they are grown over but alot are quite clear and easy to get the bikes in ... unfortunately when we started to look for a camp site these were no longer alongside the road.  There is a microwave tower at 93km and we are camped there for the night.  We were wondering if anyone else will turn up!

It is a hot day so we want some sort of shade and this is all there is ...

 and this is right outside our door !!!

 We had a cuppa and I was just about to set up for a wash when I can hear something coming down the driveway and I think crikey someone is coming to camp here.  It is a small Apolla van and 2 guys get out and they have these big binoculars and are looking at the tower.

They are bird watchers and inform us that a rare grey falcon has been spotted in thisarea and on this tower so they are here to see if they can see it.  They see nothing but then Neil pipes up there is a nest on the 3rd platform and they say oh yeah it may come back at around evening time.  There are also smaller nests on the first and 2nd platform so we said we will keep an eye out and leave a note on the fence if we see one as they are returning through here again in a couple of days.

Tomorrow is another 90km day and this will make our day into Tennant Creek on Friday a short one.

Day 2

Well I don't think I will camp at another microwave tower - this one was particularly bad with ants and they drove poor Kouta crazy that he was dancing on his paws all afternoon and evening!  They were little black ones that like to bite as well as stink when you squash them ... so when Kouta went in the tent with them all over his paws he proceeded to kill them and the tent stunk with smelly ants all night!

We didn't see our rare grey falcon but a falcon did come around 6pm and it was a Nankeen falcon which is a pretty common one so we left a note for the 2 birdwatchers should they return there in a few days.

We set off this morning with another tailwind for the bulk of the day.  It was just as strong as yesterday.

We picked up water at the last rest area along this highway (41 mile bore) and it had a water tank that some nuff nuff decided that they would just  leave the tap running, they are usually a spring mounted one that when released just turns off, but sometimes that doesn't happen and so you have to push down again and just turn t slightly and that will work for the majority of the time, so whoever used it before us obviously doesn't have a whiff of common sense and didn't do that, instead it was easier to just leave it running and plead ignorance! We think alot of water had run out as there was a puddle around the tank and this ground is pretty absorbent but it was beyond that and now it had a puddle ... the Finches liked it thou!

So on the road this morning we came across a very patriotic termite person ...

 I think this may have been recently done as the t shirt looked relatively new and not faded and the flags are also new ...
Not alot happened today - the usual low lying shrubs alongside the road and the 10km markers to countdown to the Stuart Highway were pretty consistent with our odometer readings.  Around 80km each side of the road had been graded and had regular flood water gradings away from the road so it was pretty easy to find a bushcamp ... we just wanted one with a tree for shade to sit under.
Since there is plenty of sun out here in the outback we are charging up the storage batteries while we cycle, we both have the solar mats attached to the trailer (but they can be attached anywhere like off the pannier bags etc) so mine is over Koutas shade cloth and the usb cord is long enough to have the battery in my rear saddle bag ...

 Each night while we sleep we put the tablets on charge on the batteries and the next day we just recharge the batteries ... we have worked out quite a good system!
So I forgot to take a photo of the campsite but here is a photo of us having a cuppa before we put the tent up ...

that red, dusty dirt track goes out to the road which is angle back towards Neil, so people can see us especially if they come from Tennant Creek - quite a few trucks have beeped us!
So we are about 13km from the Stuart Highway and then it is a 25km headwind ride to Tennant Creek tomorrow!  We decided to do it this way so we get in early, settle, get some food etc instead of arriving late today and rushing to get settled and food.
Tomorrow I will finish this post with day 3.

Camooweal to Barkly Homestead

 Camooweal to Barkly Homestead = 264km (day 1 = 70km; day 2 = 84km; day 3 = 90km; day 4 = 20km)
Cummulative totals = 5420km and 25,421km
Barkly Homestead = $30 unpowered (we are in the Northern Territory now so camp fees are generally per person = $15 each)

Day 1
our little visitor from the previous night turned up again but this time we were prepared - all the dog food was in the tent and we had the tent annexe door just velcroed up but he still managed to poke his head through to have a sniff so we ended up putting the chairs in front of the door ... we didn't hear from him again!
Again the night was cold and this morning when we woke it was 4 degrees ... couldn't wait for the sun to pop up so it would warm up the air ... well it popped up alright along with a light southerly breeze so it dropped the temperature even more!  What made it worse is we were having water bladder problems and our hands were getting wet and when the wind blew the finger tips just froze and wouldn't work when it came to opening and closing things!  The day before Neil had the bright idea to remove and throw away the caps for the 2 smaller bladders as he doesn't like them and they get in the way ... true they do get in the way but I manage okay with them and don't mind them ... so he threw them in the bin and when it came for me the next morning to pack the full bladders away I noticed alot of water around the tap part and also one was nearly empty.  I investigated and found one had a tendancy to push water through the tap when you squeeze the bladder hence why it is best to have the cap on!... the other was okay without the cap.  So I said to Neil he will have to find the caps in the rubblish bins!  It didn't take him long to find them ... lucky as the one that would leak without the cap is useless!
So with all that and the freezing up of fingers and generally both of us freezing despite the sun shining we got away really late by our standards - 8.45am! Fortunately just down the road at the 13km mark is the state border and our clocks go back 30 mins so the departure time looks a little more respectable at 8.15am!

 So we are in the Northern Territory - last time is was here 20 odd years ago there was no speed limit in force but now they have a 130km speed limit - although I have heard there is an open speed limit (like there use to be) somewhere around Tennant Creek - we will find out soon enough!
 As you can see from this photo the area is pretty sparse and is completely devoid of trees or shrubs - it was like that for the bulk of todays ride to Avon Downs - the only time there were trees was when you crossed a dried up creek.

At 21km they give you a sign to show you the distances to rest area along this Barkly Highway.  So our destination today is the first one - Avon Downs rest area.

 The traffic is pretty light - mainly trucks and caravans and also cars towing pop tent trailers as we are presuming they are all heading home since it is the end of the school holidays. Everyone is tooting and waving at us even the road train drivers are honking away.  The traffic seems to come in waves - those leaving Mt Isa, those leaving Barkly Homestead, those leaving certain rest areas, so sometimes it is just us on the road.  The road itself is okay, most of the time the surface is very uneven and so you are bumping along and the bumps are unavoidable, otherwise the road isn't breaking up like alot of the major highways are.  Sometimes we have a shoulder albeit narrow but most of the time we don't need it as there is plenty of room for everyone to overtake us.
Now you may remember a long time ago I mentioned going to the toilet in the open road behind a bush and sometimes you have to cross the road with your toilet paper and spade in hand and everyone passing by knows what you are going to do ... well here out here there is NO bush to hide behind!  so I have to crouch beside the bike, quickly dig a hole, pee and quickly pull up the shorts etc ... meanwhile Neil is keeping a look out as you can see the traffic coming from miles away!
We get to Avon Downs rest area mid afternoon (time adjusted!) and there are already a few campers there.  It is opposite the police station and has a eco toilet (a long drop that doesn't smell in the actual toilet but does smell outside the toilet ... go figure!) and 2 water tanks that say that the water MAY not be suitable for drinking.  so we use it for washing and boiling our cuppas.
The moon rise this evening was exceptionally spectacular and unfortunately this photo just doesn't do it justice

Day 2
We need to set the alarm ... we woke later again and this time at 6.30am (we really want to be up at 6am) Last night it was a full moon and it was so bright that when Neil woke in the morning he couldn't tell the difference between night with the full moon and day break - hence why he got up so late ... me I was just asleep for too long!  So we will set the alarm on the phone to 6am for tomorrow.
It was a warmer morning than the past 2 and the wind was already up and had shifted from a southerly cold wind yesterday to a more pleasant south easterly which would mean that for the first part of the ride we would have a tailwind and for when the road swings towards the south after 30km we would have a cross wind.
On the road at 8.30am this morning, late as per usual and Neil saying that it is just too cold to get up too early, he is making all sorts of excuses!
It is a quiet road this morning and we continue on for around 15km of open no tree scenery.  Then all of a sudden out of nowhere we come across tree shrubs on both sides of the road and this continues for about 20km and stops just before Soudan station and from there we have about 13km of open no tree country and then back to tree shrubs for the rest of the day to our bushcamp at 84km.
While cycling along the open no tree country you get a real perspective on just how alone you are - this is where we are going ...

 and this is where we have been ...

 In fact you can sometimes see little dots moving on the horizon and you know that is oncoming traffic or traffic that has over taken you a while back!
We had a late lunch and cuppa at Soudan Bore rest area and obviously the travelling public liked to celebrate Christmas early and decorate the surrounding rest area with their damn toilet paper!  it drives me nuts to see this in rest areas and alongside the road just toilet paper blowing everywhere ... why the heck can't these vans, caravans, cars, trucks carry just a simple light little shovel for digging a little hole to bury the toilet paper ... I mean they are carrying everything with them already - how hard is it to include a little shovel!  I mean we have one and we are on damn bikes!  Needless to say this rest area doesn't have a toilet and the water is actual bore water and is a little brackish to drink but is fine for washing so we filled up the 2 smaller bladders and continued on to our bushcamp a further 17km up the road.
When we did get to the Soudan Bore rest area poor little Kouta had a small accident in his basket so fortunately Neil could clean it up and wash his mat ... why he hangs on and doesn't go to poo when we take a break I don't know!!!
So our bush camp is a pretty good one, we are opposite the Telstra tower in amongs the tree shrubs and about 40m but no one can see us as the shrubs are close together.

 Dinner tonight was those Continental pasta packets (have to use 2 single serves - each single serve apparently serves 4!) with carrot, dehydrated peas and 125g of salami ... Neil loves this type of meal now!
Our sunset was pretty tonight as there is a bit of cloud about..
 Day 3
The alarm worked pretty well this morning although it felt like I hadn't slept at all - the wind blew hard all night and the tent was flapping about and kept waking me up.
While we were having Brekky Neil was looking somewhat concerned about the direction of the wind ... ever since Camooweal he has mentioned the wind every day!  This morning there was a slight shift back to the south which is okay but it is alot stronger than what was forecasted.
For the first time is weeks we have got clouds in the sky, I think they forecasted mainly sunny for this area but no rain ... Neil thought there might be a rain cloud or 2 amongst them but as it turned out there was no rain today.

As you can see from the first photo we only had small clouds ... compared to the 2nd photo which was taken just before lunch

 Lucky we had the alarm set as we were off at 7.30am.  There is no one around as we are about 150km from Camooweal and 110km from Barkly Homestead so we won't be getting traffic for a while.
The wind is coming across our shoulders at first and then swings behind us all together thanks to a bend in the road that veers it more north and also the forecasted swing to a east south easterly.  It did die down a bit compared to the wind first thing this morning.  With the wind behind us we are sitting on quite a good speed of anywhere between 19 - 22km per hour.

Just before our first cuppa at 40km a couple pulled over in their van and offered us a biscuit and or water as they explained that they were cycle tourers themselves.  We said we are okay for water and we are about to break for a cuppa soon.  They are the

first ones to offer us anything - it must be a 5000km thing!

At lunch time we stopped at Winorah bore rest area at 68km and this is a very basic rest area complete with its' toilet paper decorations.  Only 1 table (taken up by a caravaner) and a water tank.  The water is okay to drink a little bit borish but drinkable.  We used it for our cuppa and there wasn't much scrum or oil on the top and I had a drink and it tasted okay just marginally salty.  We filled up the 2 small bladders to use for washing tonight and continued on.

We estimated we would go another 18km and bush camp and that would leave us 25km to Barkly Homestead tomorrow (so we have a mini rest day).  Unfortunately the area is not as good as the previous night to bushcamp.  The shrubs are further apart and around them is native grass which is difficult to put your tent on.  We tried about 4 spots but we were unsuccessful in finding a spot that was cleared and big enough for the tent.  We even tried a gravel pit but couldn't get the tent pegs in!

We finally found a spot that is very tight to fit the tent in and it is also close to the road.

We are about 30m from the road, but there is not much traffic especially at night and I don't think anyone noticed us there even though we are out in the open!
This camp spot, along with last nights one, comes free with flies ... crikey they really tried for your eyes, nose and mouth whenever you went into the sun, so we tried to stay in the shade and even then they still came to annoy you.  They finally left at sunset as it was too cold for them!
This is our 3rd night bushcamping so that means we haven't had a shower for 3 whole days, we have only had bird baths, and I tell you to bathe in about a litre of water that water sure does get gunky by the time you have finished!  I tried to rinse my hair this afernoon but it didn't make much difference ...

 Day 4
I had a good sleep in this morning until 7am and I had slept solidly.  It is only a short ride to Barkly Homestead - just 20km today.  So happy to see this ....

 we arrived here at 9.30am and most caravaners had already gone so since we are in the Northern Territory now most of our camp fees (unpowered) are per person so it is $30 for the 2 of us but if we took a powered site it is $35 - unpowered sites are so over priced!
speaking of paying alot ... I took a photo of the petrol and diesel prices ...

 Either way we are 187km and 264km from the next petrol spot!
This homestead is massive and has plenty of accomodation from motel style, cabins, powered and unpowered.  The unpowered section is nice and has tables with shaded dotted around everywhere ...

 Straight after setting up the tent I went for a badly needed shower.  So I got in, was in there for about 5 mins and finished shaving (more like mowing!) my right leg and what do you know the water stops!  so I try the hot and cold taps again, off on off on ... nothing!  So I dry, dress and go to the next shower and there is no water.  So I go outside and go to the other toilet block ... please remember I am walking around this caravan park with one shaved leg and the other unshaved (I hope no one can see it!) but they are renovating it so I walk back to Neil cursing as I am thinking I have to spend the next few hours with one shaved leg and one unshaved leg and not too mention a seriously bad case of helmet hair!  I spot the cleaner and say there is no water in this shower block and she said it is because everyone before has used all the water but I can have a shower at another block that is all ensuite style so I go over there hoping like hell I can at least have enough water to shave the other leg and also wash my hair ... I managed to get both done!
This Homestead does a roaring trade and doesn't stock food like in a shop (so we can't get bread!) it has more cafe and takeaway style food so for lunch we had a large serving of hot chips ($6) and a caramel slice each ($4.50 each).  We thought the food prices were reasonable considering where we are!

 That caramel slice was absolutely delicious with our cuppa tea ... mine just went straight down to my tummy ... it didn't even touch the sides of mouth and oesophagus!  speaking of cuppas ... it is a bore water out here (in fact everywhere!) and I have always said bore water makes nice cups of tea and coffee despite the 'scum' on top ... here is a photo of our pot of tea with the oily scum on top ...

the water is not bad tasting to drink straight as well so we will restock all the bottles for the next leg to Tennant Creek - we will be there on Friday.
It is nice getting here so early and having a sort of rest day, plenty of caravans turning up now.
Even though we were only on the road for 1 hour today there seems to be alot of horse floats going towards Mt Isa - we think there may have been some sort of rodeo or camp draft on at Tennant Creek over the weekend.
We get internet reception here and will watch the Geelong vs.  Melbourne game that we missed on Saturday - we don't know the results as we haven't been able to pick up any radio over the past 3 days.
Next posting is Friday @ Tennant Creek.