Movie stage VII

In 2002 I arrived to Australia for the first time. Because I was travelling here overland from Poland through Asia, finally ending up in Darwin from East Timor, my hitchhiking adventure meant that I spent the second night in this country near Uluru. Now, 20 years later, I have come here again, and once again under specific circumstances.

I picked up a bike in Yulara which I sent here much earlier thanks to Emu Run tour operator, and Red Centre Transport offered me to freight my desert cart to Alice Springs at no cost. People are helpful.

I went to see the sunset over Uluru. The sky was cloudy and I was afraid that it wouldn't allow me to take goodphotos due to the lack of light, and here you are - the rock appeared in a few interesting shades. The sunrise was also majestic, and then I did what most tourists do - going around the rock at its base - allows you to see more details of its original formation.

And then it's all me - instead of riding politely on the paved road, I decided to take the gravel road - unfortunately it turned out that there was a lot of soft sand there. The wheels were sinking, I was able to ride 20-30m, sometimes 50 or 100m, to lose my balance and push the bike walking next to it. The most difficult in starting the ride was to manage to press the second pedal and get a momentum of the ride, although it often ended with accidently clicking the bike shoe to the pedal, a quick loss of balance and an inevitable fall. There were a few of these. Once, when I landed in the sand, I lift the bike and suddenly at the corner of the eye I saw something moving out - I instinctively pulled my leg back and the snake quickly crawled into the bushes. Lucky he didn't bite me.

Finally I arrived to tge base of the Mt Woodroffe, and the route to the summit wasn't too complicated, just climb streight up. Although some sections looked too steep for me, too many huge overhangs rocks, but anyway after 2 hours of exercise i reached the summit at altitude 1435m, which is the highest point in South Australia. I was able to fill my eyes with beautiful views from above then starting my track back towards Northern Territory.

However on my way I had two unwanted adventures - leaving South Australia at sunset I suddenly realized that I did not have sunglasses on my hat. I quickly matched my last spectacular bike accident where they must have fallen off. I was going back like crazy while there was still a bit of daylight - half an hour later almost at dark I found the accident site and the sunnies sticking out of the grass - the additional 8km return trip was worth the effort. So I left the state early in the morning. The next day I had entertainment repetition - this time I lost my GPS on the road corrigations - I was retreating my tire tracks (as I ride from left to right side of the road searching the better surface) with my heart beating like crazy and I was lucky again to find my stuff at a similar return trip distance. I won't waste my words on my irrespossible behaviour.

Another attraction of the "Red Center" was Kings Canyon. And indeed the canyon is impressive, I walked around it from all possible sides, on the rims and deep on the bottom, and then went to the missed civilization. Kings Canyon Resort, however, is only one campsite, a petrol station with very high prices for snacks, one bar and that's all. However, for the second time on this trip, I was allowed to pitch a tent free of charge - a very nice gesture from the management, and thanks to this, I treated myself with purchase of the decent dinner and watched State of Origin rugby match with the newly met people, shouting and chattering happily.

 

The last remined highlight of this stage was the highest peak of the Northern Territory, Mt Zeil 1531m. However, in order to get out of Kings Canyon towards the north, you need to apply for a permit which is only issued for a 4WDs. I think that is a bit of an exaggeration, true the road was badly corrigated but not worse than other gravel roads in the region, and I have seen some Aboriginal passenger cars which also managed to pass that way - not only I was without a permit :)

So far was undoubtedly the most difficult mountain to climb. Not only because of the longest distance to hike (18 km /11 hours), or the total amount of gained elevation (over 1400 m), but also due to the knocking winds, difficult navigation and the lack of any paths - jumping on rocks and paving the way through spinifex. On the way back, I screamed like a slaughtered pig as the next dose of grass stuck its sharp tips mercilessly into my already bleeding legs. To bandaged my legs didn't help much, there were already hundreds of tiny needles in the skin. Even though I left before sunrise and I had minimal breaks, I barely made it before dusk. Fortunately, I managed to come back in one piece and the views were worth it.

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