Two towns 11 days riding

Where else on the globe can you ride 11 hard days and not encounter a town in between? Not many places I suspect.


Leaving Alice Springs required a bit of adjustment to the riding routine and back to the bush camp stops. The problem with the Plenty Highway was more one of food supply than water. Water supply I had prearranged with the three main cattle stations along the route, Jervois, Tobermorey and Glenormiston. Food I had stocked up in Alice with a hope the small shop at Tobermorey could tide me over for the last few days to Boulia.


Leaving Gem Resort 140km from Alice launched me onto the proper Plenty after a relatively tame few 70km days on sealed roads. I was reminded that this was unpredictable country demanding respect. The sites for bush camping were smouldering from bush fire sweeping ahead of me. I had no choice but to continue onto Atitjere a small indigenous community under the Hart Ranges. The community store provided a quick stock up of water, and I enjoyed some conversations with the locals. However the sky was signalling the next change with gale winds and heavy rain. Advice from the district council was that rain would make the road impassible for up to three days.


My tent was lashed to the picnic tables in the rest area. The wind made it impossible to light my gas cooker. The power generator engineer, a young Indian on his first week of remote posting came to the rescue. No one had told him that there was a store in the community so he spotted the chance to offload some of his six month supply of tinned food. He arrived with an impossible load of tins and a hot jug with coffee. The worst night was lightened further when a small bird appeared between my arms and the coffee cup soaking up the warmth of the cup.


Dinner consisted of a tin of beans accompanied superbly with a tin of cold peas. The night passed with the tent mostly airborne around me apart from when the rain became heavy enough to counteract the upward force. When morning appeared several years later I poked my head out to a clear sky but the wind still howled and continued to do so directly in my face for the next ten days.


I made the decision to ignore the advice and head out, I figured the wind would quickly dry any damp spots remaining. All was going fine until the diversion for road works consisted of a track cut through the raw sand, now black gluey mud. Then along came Justin, a grader driver from Port Hedland. He stopped his grader and we chatted for fifteen minutes or so, then he cut me a fresh hard path right through the fifteen kilometres of diversion. Cycling rough stuff is easy with your own personal grader. The only failure was the lack of fuel from the tins of beans which were well burnt out by the end of nine hours.


Next day saved me with a short ride to Jervois Station a chance to clean up and fix a few bike bits. The ride continued on the corrugations and head wind restricting progress to ten kph. Traffic was limited to four or five cars a day so it was great to stop for a Coke offered by a South African couple from Toowoomba. A few hard days riding brought me to Tobermorey Station. Well set up for passing campers, a shop with cold drinks and icecream but very little cyclist friendly supply top ups. Vietnamese instant noodles and two frozen pies for dinner.


From Tobermorey I had another 250 km only broken by the Queensland Border and by Glenormiston Station, where I had previously arranged for water supply. Thanks to Nicky the Station manageress, and to Hugh the young Station hand and the young cowgirl kitchen hand for a few treats. But the station itself turned out to be a hidden oasis, with a long lake and manicured grass lawns in a stunning setting. It was hard to drag myself away.


I had learnt that the headwind only reached full force just after 8am so I shifted my wake up schedule to a dark 5am, managed a couple of hours of wind free riding.


Finally today the headwind relented and the seven and a half hours effort took me 110 kms all the way to Boulia, first town across the Queensland border.

300 metres of climbing out of Alice

Past the Tropic of Capricorn 

A long way ahead across the Plenty

Desert special thorn bombs - one morning I counted 10 thorn holes in the rear tyre. Thanks to Stans Sealant the little plastic balls block the holes and it is ride on

Harts Range under which the Atitjere community nestles

Atitjere Community art

Morning Ghost Gum

Busy termites

Not so busy road workers

Lean grazing

Why not drive your Juicy rental across the Plenty

Tobermorey icecream pit stop

Preparing for border inspection

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is on call

Lizard camouflage 

Every Camp produced a beautiful sunset and sunrise

The unexpected oasis of Glenormiston Station (what desert?)

My lunch view