Day 13: Lat: 25 deg 36'36.4" STH. Long. 134 deg. 21' 17.3" EAST
The good news is that I didn't get stampeded by cattle last night. Although their mooing and sounds of hoofs close by was a little dis-ascerning. This morning I woke to a magnificent sunrise in the remote outback with the clouds turning into a range of pink and purple coloured marshmallows.
We left and headed to the 'centre of Australia'. This is a strange thing to say but for once I can actually say I have been to the 'real red centre'. Better known as Lamberts Centre it also considered to be the the loneliest flagpole in Australia. The trip in was along a weaving spaghetti sand track that passed through fields of little yellow, purple and pink native windflowers carpeting the edges.
Heading back out we passed through Finke, one of the first of many aboriginal towns to come. Through European eyes it is hard to understand how a community can live in a place that appears to be so neglected. It is difficult to not pass judgement however I must remind myself that there is much more to life than material possessions and the concept of family and spiritual connection is something many of us have forgotten.
But on to the races. Finke is also known as the site for the Finke to Alice desert race where lunatics on bikes and 4wd hurtle 220km along an unmaintained track that runs parallel to the main track. ( more on this later!). We only missed the race by two weeks and while there are numerous car wrecks on the side of the road, these ended up not being carnage from the race but left over wrecks from the local community.
There appears to be two main conversations when you are out in the bush. The first relates to the weather. What's the weather tomorrow? Is it going to rain? How got will it be? The weather has a controlling grip on everything you do. Signs of rain is good and bad. Good if you are a farmer and have not seen water from the sky for the last 6 months. And bad because it can mean that all the roads get closed.
The second question relates to yesterday post. You know how I said I don't think the roads can get worse. Well if you decide to take the track from Finke to Alice you will soon see that I was wrong. After numerous lost teeth and with the concept of another 100km of earth trembling corrugations ahead I decided that the 'unmaintained track' they race on couldn't be any worse than the one we were on. So off to the left we joined the race goers. While not as corrugated the moguls would make any Olympic skier quake in their boots as we rolled up and down, left and right, forward and ..... Back.
Deciding at this speed we would not be making our next camp for a week it was with much pain it was agreed to rejoin the main track. Now the second bit of bad news was not only did we have to endure the corrugations but large metal spikes ever couple of hundred metres ready to leap out and skewer your tyre. These are the dog spikes from the old railway that follows the track. If you ever come this way do fellow travellers a favour and take one as a souvenir. They will than you for it.
Eventually we made it to the turnoff to Chambers Pillar. Again an interesting two wheel track that weaved for 50 plus km through the ancient rocks, through Titjilala, another aboriginal settlement, then out through more amazing open country. Having been on the road all day the sun was settling and we were racing to get to camp before sunset (if you call going at 40km top speed racing). Despite the shaking, breaking roads it was all worth it as we crested the last rocky hill and saw the amazing ancient stone monoliths rising like a volcanoe from the flat planes. Just enough time to catch the last glimpse of the sun on the pillar before it slipped into another time zone.
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