Expedition Dust day 85

I climbed out of my sleeping bag and wandered off to the hot springs to soak my feet before the day ahead. As I pulled on my pants, I discovered I had pretty much been eaten alive by mosquitoes, my legs were absolutely covered in small red lumps. The statement I made to Ben last night started replaying in my head, “mosquitos don’t make me itch”. Oh my god these bloody Aussie mossies make me itch. After a short soak I headed back to where my bike was and packed my things into my bike bags!

I had a Radix for breakfast and then, after making a plan with Ben I hit the road. On my way out of the springs I used the pay phone that was at the rangers station to call Ngaio and let her know I was leaving for the Simpson. It was such a treat to hear her voice. When I was done I grabbed my bike and started spinning. I put the trailer on the vehicle that’s taking Ben across the Simpson desert. Without that the bike handles very differenty. I can go much faster over the sand which is great. It’s nice having Ben and the guys crossing the desert with me, it’s a great opportunity to learn from them about life and who knows possibley even teach them a thing or two!

One of the greatest things about the bike is the fact I don’t actually have to stay on the road to get where I want to, so when the truck turned off and headed for some really sandy looking hills I just continued straight onto a huge flat delta. I zoomed across the empty land. It was such a stunning little moment I had to myself. In the distance I could make out the shape of the vehicle waiting for me to reach that point! After I had been moving for two hours I hit the dust! As the day got hotter I got sweatier and everything got harder.

The dust is like flour and has got itself everywhere. I ate nuts for lunch before charging on again. The landscape was getting more and more empty and flat. In the distance I spotted the first sand hill, I stopped in my tracks and took a big deep breath, I was just about to enter the Simpson Desert! I stood up off my seat and started powering myself forward, faster and faster. I hit the first dune with speed and floated up and over. From the highest point I looked out over the desert, layers wiggled their way to the edge of the horizon, this was it!

I rode over the next 5 dunes in a similar way, stopping at the top of each to take a breath of dry air. I spotted Ben and the vehicle up ahead, he had the camera pointed towards me and had just captured the moment!

As I rolled into purine bore i was spent. I set up my sleeping bag and mat next to beautiful wattle tree covered in yellow flowers. I had a Radix meal and went off to explore the bore. I rode my bike along the length of the black pipe that wound its way out of the hole in the ground and into the swamp. As I was making my way back thousands of birds flew over and landed in the trees around the rim of the water source. Back at camp Peter had made enough dinner for me to have a plate, it was delicious. I went to bed early for a well deserved rest