Northern Territory

Queensland – Northern Territory border

We stayed at Barkly Homestead along with about twenty other bikes that were doing a Townsville to Darwin trip. The only difference was that these bikes were push bikes. Don’t fancy that 2,300 kilometre trip by pedal power. Tennant Creek was not an inviting town. We were told that the alcohol ban in the indigenous communities had forced those dependant on the stuff into the towns. The bureaucrats appear to be just moving the problem from one place to another. 

Steve playing with his marbles

We stopped at the Devils Marbles and the buses quickly made us realise we were back in tourist territory. We stayed at Wycliffe Well, apparently lots on extra terrestrials also visit the well. We didn’t meet any but we did catch up with a German couple doing the Adelaide - Darwin run on a couple of hired DR650 Suzuki’s.

Next stop Alice Springs. They had just broken the record for the coldest maximum temperature ever. It was 6 degrees. Lots of rain had left the Todd River flowing and the dry river regatta had to be cancelled. We had to wait a couple of days before going to the West MacDonald Range to allow the water to subside over the flood ways. It was worth the wait. The Desert Park was also a nice spot and very informative. We also attended the local Ulysses branch meeting, where we were made very welcome.

West MacDonald Ranges

It continued to be cold and the shops had sold out of heaters. We both purchased some silk thermal glove liners. Cost their weight in gold, but were worth it. We had to show our id’s to get some beer, not because we were looking so trim, fit and young that we had to prove our age, but because there are purchase limits in town and all id’s are scanned and stored centrally to control the sale of alcohol. You can’t buy spirits during the day and one European backpacker was causing quite a scene trying to get a bottle. The queues outside the bottle shops prior to opening are really alarming.

Sunset at Kings Canyon

After The Alice we headed to Kings Canyon. We absolutely loved the National Park and the walk around the canyon ridge is spectacular. Well worth all the steps up the first climb. The dingos around the camp site were a nuisance, one actually walked inside our annex! Every time we tried to eat they would appear begging for food. The camp site has a sunset viewing area and it’s certainly there for a valid reason.

Wish the sun would come out

Next stop Yulara with Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuia (The Olgas). We had never been to the rock before. We tried once, back in the eighties, but our old Kombi did a valve going across the Nullarbor and we decided to travel the east coast where help was more readily available if required. Even though the locals don’t want people climbing the rock, it is still open and we had wanted to climb it since we were young. It would be difficult not to climb it after such a long ride to get here. The decision was taken out of our hands since every day we were there it was closed. Too hot, too windy, too wet.

The Rock always seems to be closed.

Recently a stupid French stripper, Alizee Sery, caused outrage in Australia by getting her kit off on top of Uluru. Sery says she did it as a tribute to the Aboriginal people. "What we need to remember is that traditionally, the Aboriginal people were living naked, so stripping down was a return to what it was like," she told Australian reporters. "I do not mean in any way for this video to offend the Aboriginal culture." Hope she enjoyed her five minutes of fame; she certainly caused a lot of damage by her selfish actions. We think it would be best just to close the rock. Anyway we walked around the base and visited the interpretation centre. Overall it is just a money making tourist place and there are many other places within Australia that demand a return visit before another visit to the rock. We much preferred The Olgas, some really nice walking and a much more peaceful vibe.

The Olgas