Alice Springs and beyond

woah, where to begin...

In order I think, so firstly Benny! Dude, thankyou sooooo much, not just for your genrosity, goodtimes, amazing food and spectacular sunrise but most importantly for giving me the opportunity to completely relax. For the first time since leaving my mountains home I felt 100%, completely uninhibited Be! Hanging out withh you was like hanging out with someone I had known for years... no formalities needed! Loved it and loved you, keep sipping that tea:)
Then there was Mike. Wow. What an amazing soul! Your love, respect and curiosity for the land inspires me so much. It was so nice to meet someone whho just loves to be out there. I feel there was so much to learn from you and am sad we didn't track you down sooner. I loved bouncing my imagination off yours and the chats were such a breath of fresh air. Thank you and Andrea both for sharing your peice of teh world with us... know we'll see you again, hopefully under the stars in teh middle of nowhere.
So many more people and to you I send much love (greg, sorry we didn't catch you at teh second footy match...bummer! Might bump into you in Gunnadah eh?).
Alice Springs not sure what to make of her. Loved her and hated her. Like most towns she had her good and her bad. Being on bikes for 3 weeks and teh restrictions that come with this mode of transport, possibly made it hard to enjoy the surrounding beauty. However, when we finally did get out and see some sights we really appreciated them and their remoteness. Visiting Standley chasm gently placed a seed in teh back of my mind... can I fit the whole larapinta trail into the end of my trip and if I can not find another interested party, could I walk it alone?
My heart says yes, my head sayssave it for teh next trip! (any takers?).
Anyway we left Alice yesterday after a week off our bikes. A big day 90km! We were meant to get to Aileron but fancied sleeping under teh stars again... can't get enough of this amazing night sky. Very little energy in the morning but after second breakfast I felt back in the swing of it. Most of teh ride was a bit of a blurr, and the landscape was full of trees.
Sitting at the rest stop Mel and I sip cool jasmine tea (thanx Benny) and relax. The eat of teh day hits me like a massive wave and I'm left lying on the concrete seat, recovery needed. By mid afternoon Mels got coals ready for tonights dinner, we sit doing our own thing, occasionally flipping through the memories on our camera... wow, we are actually doing this. I know heaps of people have done it before us and are doing it now, but for us it is such a huge adventure. Challenging, mentally (must keep pedaling), physically (must keep pedaling). The sunsets as we eat dinner, cooked to perfection on teh coals. Night has arrived and we get our first flat! weird! Together we sit in teh dark and fix thhe damn thing... again a perfect partnership, despite the challenge of bike mechanics by torch light spirits are high and giggles are loud... too loud! After 3 shooting stars I remove my specs and dream the nighht away.
4 am- time to get up, damn it's cold.

Be xx