Long Ride (Drive) - Day 13 - Coober Pedy to Lake Eyre to Cooper Pedy

Coober Pedy to Lake Eyre to Coober Pedy
Distance- 410km (6734km)
Weather - Sunny 30 degrees

Day 13 of the Long Ride was essentially a day to explore some of the most inhospitable land on Earth, it became one of the most informative and enjoyable days I have ever had.

We started early with a quick trip to the BP servo to refuel the Love Bus and try to get me a belt.  I'd only brought one and that had been cut off me when I was admitted to Charleville hospital, now I was forever having to hitch up my shorts.

Picked up at 8:30am by Wayne from Arid Areas Tours we set off down the William Creek road to the iconic town although, I use that term very lightly.

The William Creek Road is a dirt track of around 170 kilometres, in relatively good condition however it was being graded at the time.

We passed bizarre looking homes dug into the side of hills, the residents of more miners as we drove further into the desert, and don't get wrong, this is very much desert, almost entirely devoid of life.

Our deadly meeting

A species of animals that do survive quite well out here at the reptiles and it wasn't long before we saw the first one - a brown snake around a metre long.  Said to be the world's second deadliest snake we were told to stay in the vehicle, I was happy to oblige.  Wayne said that he had handled these before however, with great caution, I wasn't going to challenge him.

The snake kept a watchful eye as it made its way off the road.

The truck that seems at home.

Shortly after we reached an intersection in the road, where the ruins of an old truck was firmly implanted in the landscape.  It turns out that this was the scene of an accident a number of years ago, where a couple of road trains came together and left the road.  To honour the accident locals left an old truck and added trailers to it.  It remains to this day as a reminder that these desolate roads can be very dangerous.  In a remarkable way the ruins actually seem to be a part of the natural landscape.

Bloody feral cats, even out here.

While exploring this area I noticed a few strange tracks. There were certainly bird feet imprints in the dry creek bed but something seemed to be following them.  Having two dogs I knew that these weren't dingo prints, they were large yet seemed gentle or agile.

Asking Wayne I was informed that these were feral cats. Bloody hell, I thought, these were large and must've been a big cat ... maybe Victoria's mysterious black panthers do exist.

The William Creek road.

The road continued on as we passed the road crew responsible for keeping these tracks in good condition. There were two large excavating machines, a ute and a number of strange looking caravan type contraptions. Apparently this is all manned by just two men who spend 18 days out in the middle of nowhere together, there's no doubt these blokes must be good mates.  I'd loved to have had a chat to them.

Looking for meteorites.

Shortly after we stopped at a clay pan for morning tea and to search for the remnants of meteorite strikes.  The flat lifeless land was amazing, perfectly flat yet strewn with the greatest collection of rocks I have ever seen.  There was everything from exotic stones to those you would find in any suburban garden.

What we were looking for were rounded rocks called tektites. These  are super heated pieces of glass that are thrown up from the earth when a meteorites strikes.  This part of Australia is strewn with them and easy to find if you know what to look for as a meteorite strike at some stage threw pieces of the earths crust into the air and formed these 'rocks'. We found quite a few of them.

Where the bloody hell
are we?

A quick cuppa and we were on our way again.  The next stop was the Anna Creek Station where Wayne and to drop off some medical supplies.  

Anna Creek was founded in 1863 as a sheep station however, due to dingo attacks the station moved and switched to cattle.

The station is the largest in the world, over 7 times larger than the largest in the USA.  In fact Anna Creek is as large as many European countries.  To respect the station managers and their staff we were asked to stay in the vehicle, it was still an amazing experience.

The life at Anna Creek must be bloody hard as they start top restock their cattle numbers after years of drought, currently they run around 10,000 head, as opposed to their maximum of almost 17,000.

Anna Creek is so large that it actually engulfs the entire town of William Creek which is just a little way down the road.

Remnants of Australia's
involvement in the
space race.

William Creek pub.

Located halfway along the Oodnadatta track, William Creek has a population of just 6 people and is famous for it's pub. The 'town' offers the only petrol station between Marree, Coober Pedy and Oodnadatta on the Oodnadatta Track and has a campground, two motels and one of the world's most remote pubs.

While the pub is what William Creek is most famous for, the memorial park across the road is a must for any traveller.  It has remnants from the Ghan railway that used to run through the town, a number of pioneer exhibits and bits and pieces from Australia's foray into the space-race through the British program at Woomera.  The numerous rocket pieces were found in the area after falling back to earth after launching.  These are actually very interesting.

The most interesting was a memorial to Gabriele Caroline Grossmueller, a 28 year old Austrian tourist who perished in the region in 1998.

Ms Grossmueller was travelling with her boyfriend Karl Goeschka in December of that year. The pair visited the pub and let the young man running the place know they were heading to Halligans Bay on Lake Eyre, 65km to the east.  If they weren't back in a few days someone should come for them.

Shortly after arriving at the dry lake, they got their campervan bogged.  Karl let the tyres down and began to dig the sand away however, the camper wouldn't budge.

They had enough food and water to last for weeks, as well as water in a tank at the site they were at.  Unfortunately after 2 days they panicked and thought no-one was coming for them. The couple decided they could wait no longer.

Carrying a tent and water they set off with the intention of walker the distance at night.  Unfortunately the temperatures didn't drop below 35 degrees at night.  After 5 hours they had drunk half of their water and needed to rest. After another hours walking Caroline left Karl who felt he couldn’t continue, taking his boots because her shoes had started to melt and most of their remaining water and heading on, alone about 4:00am on the 10th. 

Karl stayed in the tent during the day and returned to the lake that evening. Caroline only covered half the distance to William Creek and was found dead five days later by two German tourists. Caroline had died next to the road, half way between Lake Eyre and the Hotel. She managed to walk about 30 km before collapsing. She still carried almost 2 litres of water on her and had walked past cattle troughs and dams containing water (and was only 700m from another one when she died). During the enquiry of her death, it was concluded her death was due to "heat exhaustion and exposure".  Karl was rescued that same day.

The attending police officer later reported that the campers tyres still had 34 lbs per sq inch of pressure. He dropped the tyre pressure down to 24, spent 10 minutes removing sand from under the vehicle and "then drove the vehicle out of the bog with minimal difficulty"

The couple were carrying a desert pass pack with all the right instructions: Stay with the vehicle, Stay in the shade, Conserve water, Prepare signals - eg fire, mirrors, and ground markings. They were carrying no recovery gear – not even a shovel and the vehicle was not in an impossible situation as evidenced by the relative ease of the attending police officer in shifting the vehicle.

Such a tragic event highlights the deadly nature of the Australian desert and how being unprepared can have devastating effects.  Very sad.  There's another memorial were Ms Grossmueller passed away.

Lake Eyre - so vast

After a quick lunch at the cafe that now sits across the road from the pub we set off for the lake, it was here that the land changed dramatically.  At first it seemed that we really were on another planet as the ground took on a black appearance interspersed with red rust colours.  This what happens when the stuff under the surface of the salt is baked in the sun.

The pubs ceiling

Lake Eyre itself is amazing.  It's larger than Belgium and so flat you can see the curvature of the Earth. Standing on its surface, knowing we were the only people there was daunting and yet inspiring - the only people in an area the size of Belgium!

We spent some time admiring the vast beauty and strange silence, when the wind dropped, I couldn't help think of poor Ms Grossmueller as well as Donald Campbell and his landspeed record breaking runs in Bluebird in the 1960's.

We returned to William Creek and over a beer spoke about the lake, photography and motorcycling, especially the Long Ride.

Even out here there's a parking metre.
All proceeds got to the Royal Flying
Doctors.

The pub itself is an eclectic collection of visitors ID's, graffiti, money and other bits & pieces.  It was a great place and I'd like to stay there some time.

The road home was much the same as the way we came except for a slight detour to Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, the place with the longest name in Australia.  In the local indigenous language it means "place of the sparkling stars" and with water in the middle of this desert I can see why it was called this.  It was actually quite beautiful.

Something had made its way to the water

We had a quick look around here, I noticed what looked to be snake tracks on the lakes shore and quite fresh, so didn't hang around for too long.  The day was actually starting to get quite late so we headed for home,

Bearded Dragon

What amazed me was how our guide, Wayne spotted a Bearded Dragon off the road at around 100 kilometres per hour.  We stopped to take a look and discovered that the poor thing was covered in ticks, one of them quite large.  There was little we could do and didn't want to have any of the little buggers attach themselves to us so we let our little friend go on his way.

Dingo looking for food

Before we reached Cooper Pedy we found a lonely dingo searching for food, she was on the 'bad' side of the dingo fence (the worlds longest man made structure).

It was a fantastic day that I learnt so much and can't wait to explore more of this area, I will be back.

Long Ride (Drive) - Day 12 - Marla to Coober Pedy

Marla, SA to Coober Pedy, SA
Distance - 234km (6324km)
Weather - Sunny 32 degrees

For me today was another hard day, we were supposed to have ridden from Marla to Coober Pedy via the Oodnadatta track, a ride that would highlight the toughness of the Long Ride 2014.  As the last time I was on 'dirt' I was thrown over the handlebars this ride, even in the Love Bus, was now off, we would get to the opal capital of the world via the Stuart Highway.

The nights sleep was pretty restless and in fact my shoulder was giving the worst pain since the 'off', but I couldn't complain, a shower and a bowl of Jordan's granola would hopefully this everything.

Good god, a cure for pain killer side effects

I was a little concerned when brushing my teeth to find that there was a warning by the sink saying not to drink the water.  Too late, I'd already downed about a litre of the stuff ... maybe it would offset the side effects of the pain killers.

With the Love Bus packed we set off down the road following the Ghan rail line south.  We git underway at around 9am and the weather was perfect - not too hot.

Just one of the smaller road trains

The road was a little 'busy' with tourists and road-trains, the occasional cow was also on the road but didn't really cause a problem and before long we were at Cadney Station roadhouse.

A number of riders were already here enjoying breakfast, the same that had stayed the night at Marla.

A few other tourists had stopped by however, it seems that the Cadney Station roadhouse is more for the truckers in the area.  The awning for the bowsers is massive, you could probably get a 747 under it rather than a few bikes or Love 

Bus.

Once inside the bar / cafe area it surprised me how nice the place was and the lady serving was lovely, she mentioned she had asked the Long Riders on the way up if anyone had a collection tin she could put on the bar, no one did so we were happy to oblige.  It's great to see that the support for the PCFA would continue in this neck of the woods.

Ordering a latte at this place came as a surprise, after paying the money we were given a mug and told that tea, coffee and chocolate were "over there".  Yep we had to make it ourselves and it was as good as anything you'd get in Lygon Street.

Back on the road we were soon into what I would call 'real' desert; flat arid land, totally devoid of major plant life.  This is what I had been looking forward too.  The land soon became to resemble another planet, in fact I'm pretty sure I saw one of the Mars rovers trundling along.

The real desert at The Breakaways

After around an hour on the road we came across strange domes on the horizon, this seemed to multiply the closer we got and it soon became clear that we were moving into the opal fields.  Coober Pedy here we come.

The road to Coober Pedy

Approaching the town I just had to see The Breakaways.  These are a perfecxt example of the arid landscape.  From the flat topped mesas to the stony gibber desert, remnants of millions of years display a vast vista that is geologically stunning with some of the most amazing views.  It's said that over 70 million years ago this was all under a vast inland sea. The Beakaways are a great secret and it would be brilliant if they stay that way.  Incidently they are called The Breakaways because early explorers saw them from a distance and thought that they looked as if they were breaking away from the horizon.

WTF ... we have to be told how to walk?

If I thought The Breakaways were impressive then I was in for a treat when pulling in Coober Pedy.  It was pretty much the same as I remembered from nearly thirty years ago although slightly more modern.

if you are into the weird and wonderful them this place is for you, there's no wonder that Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome was filmed out this way.  The place is just bizarre, I love it.

Underground bedroom 2014 style

We checked into the Lookout Cave motel.  A place that is built into the side of one of the towns larger hills or 'mullock' heaps.  It was brilliant moving our gear into the underground rooms, I now know what it would be like to be a mole.  Surprisingly the rooms were larger than I thought and a lot more comfortable.

We were soon off exploring the town, a place that reminded me of Sovereign Hill, only a hundred years later.  There seemed to be no planning to the place, people just built where they had originally dug for opal, it was beautiful in an eclectic way.

Coober Pedy from the Big Winch

The first stop was the Big Winch. I lookout type place that was now run by a Danish lady who said she had lived in Coober Pedy for almost 30 years.  She said it was a hard life but she loved the lifestyle.  She'd bought the Big Winch after it had been derelict for about 10 years and it was clear she had big plans for the place, turning it into a show room and cafe, the Belgian waffles were amazing. 

Our host explained how opals form and what the different grades were.  She mentioned that Coober Pedy produces the most high quality opal in the world but not the best, this comes from Lightning Ridge in New South Wales.

On the way into the Big Winch I'd noticed a strange place just slightly higher up the road.  It was a very strange place with weird signs and sculptures.  One sign jumped out at me - "Free Opal".  The ploy worked, I was in.

Walking up to the door a little old Asian man looked up frrom his newspaper and asked where we were from.  Melbourne was the reply.

Oh my, where's love ... and the spell check?

"Ooh that far," he responded.  "Not far as me. I from Hong Kong".

It turned out here had been here since 1979, probably to make his fortune.  It hadn't eventuated, as he invited us into his home it was evident he was doing it tough.

He showed us through to a small display room with many beautiful examples of the stone.

"You like? You buy", he thrust upon us.

One example immediately jumped out at me, in amongst the Priced from $35 selection.  I thought I would be getting a bargain.

When I suggested the one I liked he mumbled, "Seven monkey shine".

I thought what's the crazy old bugger on about and started to hand him $35.

"No, seven monkey shine", he started to get agitated.

"What the hell is he on about?" I thought.

"Seven monkey shine, seven monkey shine"

Oh, seventy five dollars was what he meant.  I confirmed and he responded, "yeah, seven monkey shine".

A hole the size of a wheelie bin &
someone worked in there all day.

I tried to haggle but all he did was throw in a few small clear opals, as he snatched the money from my hand.  I thought I had been done and walked away slightly pissed.

The next stop was the Old Timers Mine & Museum.  A shop built around a former mine and residence.  It was okay but anyone who read my last Long Ride blog would know I'm not a fan of cheap manaquins or wax figures.

Underground bedroom 1914 style

The mine itself was amazing, it has me buggered how people worked in these conditions and many still do - cramped, dusty and dangerous.  It was an interest place, but probably does need to modernised a little.

The day soon came to an end with a pizza at John's Pizza & Bar, easily one of the best pizza's I have ever had. As well as a chat to a lady who asked if we were on the Long Ride and whether I had hurt myself on it.  The story was explained and she seemed to show her appreciation for what we were doing.

It was an interest day that certainly took the bitterness of not being on a bike away.  And looking around at a few places it turned out that 'seven monkey shine' is a very good price for the opal, it should be perhaps three hungry ducks ...

Long Ride - Day 11 - Uluru to Marla

Uluru, NT to Marla, SA
Distance - 521km (6093km)
Weather - Sunny, Windy 33 degrees

We were back on the road for day 11 of the Long Ride, with the goal to reach Marla in South Australia.

The day started early to beat the heat, although it never came quite as bad as we have had recently. The Love Bus had a quick check over to make sure she was up for the challenge, and it seemed she was.  The beautiful thing about the ugly old pig is that everyone wants to have a look or wave at us so we had to make sure she could complete the distance, hopefully we can use this attention to our advantage and raise more funds for the PCFA.

We left Yulara at around 7:30am and headed west down the Lasseter Highway, back the way we had come in.  After an hour or so we passed Curtin Springs, we decided to continue on until we reached Mount Conner. 

Mt Conner, the third of the giant
monoliths.

Mt Conner raises 300 metres above the surrounding plains and is believed to be a part of the massive subterranean rock structure that forms Uluru and Kata Tjuta, essentially they are all the same piece of rock.

The giant monolith sits on private land is very difficult to get to however, tours can be arranged.  It's one of those things you would need to see at some stage.

Two little birdies enjoying the view

From here we continued west, the landscape out here surprised me.  It wasn't as flat as I imagined it to be, in fact we seemed to pass a continuous vista of sand dunes, it's believed that many have been in the positions they currently are for the past 3,000 years.  I swear they were here in 1985 when I can with school.

Oh dear, someone has left their thongs
behind.

There seemed to be a much greater number of trees, and very greener, than what I remember.  Does this mean global warming is making deserts much more habitable?  Or is Australia just becoming colder and wetter?  I dunno.

After two and half hours we reached Erldunda, the turning point to head south towards the border.

Erldunda is a roadhouse on the junction of the Lasseter and Stuart Highways which, is actually named after the station it sits on.  It now has a thing called the Desert Oaks Resort, the truth is, it's not much different to our destination of Marla.

We grabbed a bite to eat as well as refuelled the Love Bus.  After a quick chat to a few bikers heading north we set off south.

The road south took us through many changing landscapes, in fact it seemed that every 20 kilometres or so we were passing through a totally different ecosystem, it was all desert but extremely varied.

Small hills covered in trees soon turned to rocky outcrops, before morphing into rolling red dunes and grass lands.  It was quite bizarre yet visually not as boring as I thought it would be.

By the time we reached the South Australian border we were at the highest point of this day although, just 523 metres above sea level.  The border crossing is actually one of the best I have seen, probably the reason a number of caravans seemed to be setting up for the night. Bloody tightarses!

After a few obligatory photos we set off for the final stop, Marla, just 159km further south.

Marla Travellers’ Rest is a sprawling roadhouse, hotel/motel, restaurant, service station, supermarket and much more – all in one place. Located on the Stuart highway since 1982, it provides a comprehensive range of facilities for travellers and locals alike. It takes it’s name from the Aboriginal word meaning kangaroo.  Strange how we think kangaroo means kangaroo.

The Marla roadhouse is also something that is very different to how I remember it.

Shitballs, it's the new location for
Twin Peaks

Situated east of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands in South Australia, Marla Travellers’ Rest is very much the heart of Marla. With a population of just over 70 people, Marla is primarily a service town and it's visited twice a week by the historic Great Southern Railway train, The Ghan, which now frequently passes by directly across the road from the roadhouse.

As we got settled into the motel I saw a television report that said David Lynch was filming another series of Twin Peaks.  Marla, must surely be the location.  It's a little weird.  It started with no one around and then suddenly as soon as the sun started to set people came from nowhere to sit at the bar of the pub.  The locals seemed to speak a different language, almost something like that of the Bushmen of the Kalahari (you know, the little bloke from the Gods Must Be Crazy).

Despite what many people had told us, Marla was actually okay, and nowhere near as bad as we thought it might be.  The rooms were very basic and infested with flies, but at least it was somewhere to sleep.  The meals were quite good, and very reasonably priced, and the beer was cold.

A few painkillers for desert, and then it was off to bed ...

Long Ride - Days 9 & 10 - Uluru

Days 9 & 10 of the Long Ride 2014 were more or less rest days, especially after the night of the final dinner at Uluru (meeting place, in indigenous language).

The dinner was a fantastic affair with around 350 riders all getting together to celebrate the ride and what it achieved.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, National Chairman, David Sandoe OAM made a passionate speech around men's health and prostate cancer which gave some indication to how important it is that events like the Long Ride take place.

This speech was then followed by Warren Snowdon MP, who again made an impassioned plea for men to take better care of themselves.  Unfortunately, a number of riders felt his speech spent to much time talking about the role the Australian Defence Force plays in the Long Ride.  I too felt that their efforts were over stated, especially considering they are paid to do the event and as a combined effort do very little to address men's health amongst the civilian community.

Regardless, the night was a rounding success and highlighted what the ride had achieved.  At the time almost $300,000 had been raised, of which over $11,000 came from the support you have given me.

This was recognised by Chris Dunne, founder of the Long Ride, who made mention of the effort put in fore us to get to the end of the ride after my accident.  This was extremely humbling, but was really a team effort.

The night continued at the Outback Pioneer pub with a few more drinks and laughs.

I think the night and the effort to get there took it's toll on me as the next day was pretty much spent asleep.  I'd wake in a little pain, take some pain killers and then go straight back to sleep.  All of the plans to explore the region had gone along with my bike on some dirt track in Queensland.

Kata Tjuta, first thing in the morning.

The great news was that the Long Ride again got decent coverage on Channel Seven's Sunrise Programme.  It featured a number of riders and got a great reception with most riders.  A few criticised Channel Seven and the media manager of Yulara, mostly because they weren't able to get on TV.  It's a little disappointing that they have taken the attitude they have, as this is the best media coverage the Long Ride has ever received.

Day 10 was much better.  The days started at 5am to see the sun rise over Kata Tjuta (The Olgas).  It was an inspiring site and in many ways one that I thought was better than Uluru (Ayers Rock).  This lead to a walk into a gorge which was equally as inspiring.

Just one of the dones.

Kata Tjuta are a collection of 36 domes that are made of a composite of different rock cemented by sandstone.  The formation is amazing, and even more so when you realise that the highest dome is almost 200 metres higher than Uluru.  

After Kata Tjuta we drove to the Uluru Cultural Centre and learnt the local history of Ayers Rock.  The indigenous history is fascinating and you can actually see how the legends have come about.

Love Bus enroute to the 'rock'

From here we drove around the rock and visited some of the more famous areas. I remember some of these from a school trip in the mid-1980's but didn't realise how steep the rock was when we climbed it back then - no wonder it is closed on hot days now, and besides the local custodians of the area prefer tourists not to climb it, I wouldn't have out of respect.

OMG that climb is steep.

The funny thing with Uluru is that it creates a very strange optical illusion.  From a distance is looks massive, and then as you get closer it seems to become surprisingly small.  Then as you approach close enough to touch it becomes a giant amongst the insignificant.  Many people say they have a spiritual experience when visiting Uluru, I wouldn't go that far but can understand why people feel that way.

One of the many views at Uluru.

The day finished with a dinner at the Sounds of Silence.  An experience I would recommend too anyone.  We watched the sun set behind Kata Tjuta and cast it's glow over Uluru, as a train of camels stopped nearby.  The grunts and groans of the animals added a great atmosphere to the show.

Sunset over Kata Tjuta

The dinner was just as impressive with a meal consisting of a number of local food sources as we listened to stories of aboriginal culture and then that of the night sky.  It was a great way to finish the stay at Uluru.

Long Ride - Day 8 - Alice Springs to Uluru

Alice Springs, NT to Uluru, NT
Distance - 468km (5572km)
Weather - Sunny 38 degrees

Back on the road the ' Love Bus' was now to be the 'chosen' mode of transport.

Firstly we went to CentreShedWorks for a magnificent breakfast put on by Ian 'Macca' Macadam of the Clontarf Foundation.  A few of the boys were there to help and it was great meeting these guys and the fantastic work they do with indigenous kids, especially boys.

Macca and Bryan Williams both told us stories of success and frustration with the issues some of the indigenous kids face, at the end of the day the work they do pays off and has seen some brilliant success, even with boys now playing in the Australian Football League.  There was little surprise that Macca has had three brothers play AFL.

The stickered up Love Bus at
Stuarts Well

After an hour or shoe chatting to the guys it was clear how passionate they are and it's chats like this that make the Long Ride (regardless of the transport) so worthwhile.

Saying our goodbyes we set off south and headed for Ayers Rock (Uluru).  Leaving the metropolis of Alice Springs I was immediately confronted by the fact that the landscaped wasn't how I imagined it would be, it was actually quite green and full of plant life, certainly not the mars like landscape I had expected.

We continued south west on the Stuart Highway until we reached Stuart Well and caught up with the riders.  It was a quick chance to throw a few more stickers on the Love Bus as well as grab a drink and ice cream, the break was short lived and we set off again.

Cannonball Run memorial

Not far down the road we stopped at the Cannonball Run memorial that commemorates the lives of three people killed in the 1994 road race.  Two officials were killed along with two Japanese drivers when the Ferrari F40 crashed at the checkpoint at very high speed.  The Japanese driver was blamed for the incident however, an event of this nature was always destined to be extremely dangerous.  We paid our respects and continued on.

The road to Uluru

Continuing on we made or way to the Lasseter Highway, the turn off to Uluru, this saw us stop at Erldunda and meet a number of riders coming up from Coober Pedy.  I was able to catch up with Chris Dunne, originator of the Long Ride.  He and his wife asked how we were going and how was my shoulder, he was saddened that I was unable to ride in but happy I was still here.  We had a laugh about the Love Bus and the consequences if my accident and we were then on our way again.

From here the riders stopped at Curtain Springs, a small roadhouse that has become famous with tourists.  Old Long Ride friends caught up and said they were amazed when they heard it was me that had 'stacked' the bike, they too were glad i had decided to continue on.

The plan now was for everyone to meet up just past Mount Connor and ride into Uluru in one group under police escort.  It was an amazing site and I must admit the site made me tear up, all this way and I couldn't be a part of it.

The reception we got at the Yulara resort was fantastic but not being on a bike made me feel I wasn't really a part of it.

After unpacking and a quick shower it was off to the Long Ride 2014 dinner, in one of the most beautiful settings ...

Long Ride - Day 7 - Alice Springs

Day 7 of the Long Ride was essentially a stationary day.  While waiting for the other riders to get in from Three Ways the plan was to organise four wheeled transport to get back to Melbourne.

This proved much tougher than first thought however, after ringing around Wicked Campers came through and provided a one way rental, something that they called the 'Love Machine' and which we quickly renamed the 'Love Bus'.

After a bit of a laugh and a quick look around Alice Springs we set off to meet some of my sponsors.

Alice Springs Massage Therapy was the first call and although I wasn't able to have a massage the support given by Fiona and her team was fantastic.  If you are in the area and need a massage make sure you go and see Fiona's team.

The next port of call was CentreShedWorks to meet Bryan Williams and his team.  Bryan had organised for the local Clontarf Foundations lads to cook us a breakfast the next morning.  Everyone was extremely busy at the workshop tidying things up when we got there, the effort they were going to was brilliant.

After a quick chat we set off back to the caravan park to meet the incoming riders.

Immediately there was uproars of laughter when they saw the 'Love Bus', it was well worth driving this unique vehicle just to see everyone look at it.

After a few cold beers we set off for Star of the Alice  function centre where Lisa Perry had put on a BBQ dinner for us. This place was absolutely beautiful, a real oasis in the middle of the desert, the backdrop of the barren hills was made it feel even more unique.

Star of Alice, a real oasis in the desert

Unfortunately not all of the riders turned up, again the Australian Defence Force riders decided to do their own thing, it seems that they believe the Long Ride is all about them and no none else matters.

This put some strain in Lisa financially and so the riders that were there paid, as well as myself covering a considerable amount of the cost, this money would've eventually gone to the PCFA so it was a little disappointing.  Not complaining though as this was a fantastic night, with great food, at a lovely venue.  It's something you should check out in Alice Springs or Reality Bites Catering.

The night finished with a few more beers and a couple of nice scotches.  The shoulder pain was eased as I slipped into bed and readied for a day back on the road.

Long Ride - Day 6 - Brisbane to Alice Springs

Brisbane, QLD to Alice Springs, NT

Distance - 2779km (5094km)

Weather - Sunny 32 degrees

Day 6 has seen us get somewhat back on the original route however, I feel it has now become like Charley Boorman's "By Any Means".

The day started early with a ride to the Brisbane airport.  The taxi driver was a lovely man who's wife was a former emergency doctor working between Darwin and Alice Springs.  He was pretty keen to tell me how to fix the shoulder and overcome the pain.

The first part of the days journey was a one hour flight from Brisbane to Sydney.  A quick stopover then on to Alice Springs.  I'm not sure if it was all of the travelling and jolting of the shoulder or the pain killers but I started to feel pretty ordinary, so much so that the flight crew were looking a little worried and offered to give me oxygen.

For an hour or so I thought I was going to make this the flight from hell for the other passengers however, a little drink of ginger beer and a nap made me feel a lot better - the pain didn't go though.

Bill has been good enough to sticker
up his bike for me.  Thank you mate.

Once in Alice Springs the plan was to find some wheeled transport, this became a bigger task than we thought.  At the very least I had to finish with the other riders, so the mode of transport is a Wicked Camper which will soon be stickered up with all of my supporters logos.

As for these I have top thank Billy Boy for covering his bike in stickers of mine, the guy is a real saint and has helped immensely, as has Andy.

Both stopped by TJM Mt Isa to thank Lucian and his team where I couldn't, I'm eternally grateful to both Lucian and the lads for the support.  I can't wait to see the picks.

One of the many roadtrains the guys
have had to contend with.

The boys also went and saw the dinosaur digs at Winton, something I really wanted to do after missing it on the Long Ride 2013, looks like I will have to wait again.  The photos coming from the ride so far have been brilliant, I just wish I was there to see it first hand.

Tomorrow we'll be back on the ride, by any means and so the blog should pick up the pace a little ... I didn't realise how much you use your shoulders when typing, weird.