Headin' South

We bid a sad farewell to my lovely friend Sarah and her newborn gorgeous gal Esther and rode out of Alice Springs with the bike cruising along as it should, on the ground and not on a tow truck..

Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Olgas and Kings Canyon are three of Australia's tourist destinations that you hear the most about - we were pretty keen to head there and see whether they lived up to expectations or not. We can gladly report that they did - Uluru was first at sunset which was just beautiful - the red of the earth, deep red to then purple of the rock, yellow of the spinifex grasses and blue hues of the sky paints the most perfect picture. We walked AROUND the rock and gave daggers at those climbing it - can't believe people still do it!

The next day we headed out to the Olgas which were also spectacular, day after was Kings Canyon where you climb up a rock face to start and then walk around the rim - it really is just incredible country out here. The colours, the diversity - it is all just amazing - expectations exceeded!

The long road south to SA then beckoned - and it was long, very straight and had VERY little to look at! We stopped in at Coober Pedy where 80% of the population live in dug out houses underground due to the extreme heat in the summer. This is where mad max was fimed and it is a very crazy looking place! We rode an evening trip around the dog fence (5600km fence to keep dingos out of sheep country), the castle (white and yellow rock seen in the film Priscilla Queen of the Desert) and then the Breakaways which were just incredible. After 10 500km (yes, that's right - 10 5000km on our asses) around Australia and seeing so many great things, the Breakaways were instantly tille's favourite thing..

The plan was to head straight towards the west coast of SA where I grew up but whilst in Woomera (place they used to test rockets) we saw a sign for a rodeo in Roxby Downs and decided to head on over - and it was yeeeeeehaaaaaa..

We are now in Port Augusta and tomorrow will head west towards the town of Haslam where I spent 5 years of my childhood. There was nothing but a few houses and an old tennis court when we left in 1988 so it will be intersting to see what is there now.. After that we will head to the Flinders Ranges to meet my parents - marking the end of our trip and my 30th birthday. Clearly once I am 30 I will be all grown up and stop gallavanting around the world :)

Hope everyone is well xxxxxxxxxxxx