Just another day in paradise-Expedition Dust Day 34

I opened the tent door to see clear skies. It was a relief as I wasn't sure how long it was going to rain. It floods almost everywhere if it rains for more than one day. Being out on a salt lake in the rain was not something I wanted to experience

I clambered out of the tent and stoked up the fire for breakfast, I grabbed a tin of beans and the things I needed to make bread over the fire. -Brandos campfire desert flat bread- Ingredients (serves two) -3/4 of a large camp mug of flour. -Two heaped spoons of polenta. -Two heaped spoons of potato flakes. -A splash of oil. -A dash of salt. -As much water as you can spare in the desert ( about 25 drips) Method -Mix all ingredients together and knee the dough

-Stretch the dough out so it's flat but fat, cook

over a fire on a wire grill or fry in the lid of your camp pot. Wrap around a stick or boil like a bagel. Pretty much just apply heat until it is golden brown and it will be sweet as! Handy tips: Grill can often be found on outback roadsides, so no need to bring one from home. Add more potato flakes if too sticky. Best enjoyed hot, but is great cold too! I mixed together enough for Dylan and myself, I set up my wire grill over the hot embers and placed the pot that was now full of beans on the heat. Dylan decided to cook his bread in the lid of his billy while I decided to cook mine straight on the grill. It took about the same amount of time to cook but I had to flip mine more often. We ate like camp kings at breakfast. While Dylan packed the tent I cleaned the (now concrete like) mud off his bike chain and gears then added lube so it all moves smoothly and the chance of it breaking due to to much friction is reduced. We were both a bit slow this morning, it was 0930 when we started riding and it was straight into deep sand. The rain had compacted the sand making the riding a little easier than yesterday. There was 6km of sand before we turned from the east to the north as we hit the main station track. The wind had also turned so when we turned it was in our faces again. We passed piles and piles of camel bones and hundreds of mummified bodies. Unfortunately the camels are a introduced species and I believe that the government says that stations have an obligation to eradicate them. I personally think it is a bit of a shame as they are such beautiful creatures and if they must be killed why not why not create a market for them, to not make it such a waste. I would buy wild camel meat, you could even make jerky or leather products or even soaps!

Dylan and I rode together until midday, from then until about 1600 hours is the hottest part of the day. When it starts getting hot Dylan starts to slow down. I think its important to have time to yourself, especially on these journeys. I pushed my body a little harder for about 25 minutes to put about a kilometre between us. Dylan is has been working through some stuff since leaving Prenti downs. Dylan is pretty much a vegan and when we were at the station he ate meat for the first time in ages, he chose to because he didn't want to offend our wonderful hosts. His mind has been telling him that he went against everything he believes in and is disappointed in himself. I told him he shouldn't let his kind nature be a negative thing, and that he was doing what felt right at the time. I don't really know how he feels because I have such a healthy and respectful relationship with meat and understand where it comes from and that it was alive and breathing before I ate it. I spent the next 30 min in my head thinking about what motivates me to do what I do. My motivation is life. I want to live my life doing the things I love, experiencing new things and helping empower others to connect with there inner-self. It wasn't all so long ago I was depresed. I thought I hated myself, I thought my life was horrible and I wished I was never born. I would have told you then that I didn’t know why I felt the way I did, but the truth is I was telling myself negative things every day. I was constantly reminding myself of all the choices I had made in my life that effected others in a negative way. I was constantly comparing myself to others, wishing I had the opportunities they had. When I felt my worst, I didn't do anything to change, Injust shut out the world and felt sorry for myself. NOTHING IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN LIFE. From where I was during that time I couldn't see the man I have become. I was lost and wasn't looking after my metal wellness. I wasn't doing any of my 5 life fundamentals properly. I wasn't eating food with enough nutrition, I wasn't consuming enough water, I wasn't exercising, I wasn’t giving or receiving love and had absolutely no connection with the most powerful force we know, nature. What changed? I started treating myself like someone I love. I accepted that I had done things that made me upset, but I decided to forgive myself. I made the choice to live every moment doing the things that make me feel most alive! Loving, learning, exploring and living. I decided my happiness was a choice and it was my choice.I created a connection between myself and nature and this made the biggest difference of all.

As I came around a bend in the track a large rock cone came into view. I made my way over to it and climbed up to look out over the desert. To the north therevwas a rocky range and to the east hundreds of dried up lakes. To the south I could see Dylan riding the track through the bush and to the west the sun had started to approach the horizon lighting everything in a bright orange light. I climbed down and headed over to Dylan who was meditating by the outcrop of red rocks. I think we silently had decided this was where we were going to camp. Without disturbing Dylan, I set up the camp and lit the fire for dinner. We had a great chat about life while we waited for our diner to cook. The light faded from the sky the stars started to twinkle and when the warmth of our fire was gone we both crawled back into the tent.