The first two weeks without cycling was certainly the most difficult. After a year on the road the body gets amazingly used to spending those 6-8 hours a day in the saddle – a healthy addiction. At the same time it is very tiring to always be on the move, to sleep in a new bed (or whatever you end up) every night. One of the few things I miss on the journey is a place I can call home, feel at ease, a place to rest the body and mind.

I never feel alone when I’m cycling, but with people coming and going some new friendships will inevitable end up superficial. In Alice Springs I found a place, if even just for a while, I could call home. The feeling of walking down a street and randomly run into old friends, or the feeling that you know all the cashiers in the supermarket… those are nice feelings that you will not experience if you are always moving from place to place.

Alice Springs is located right in the center of Australia. When I first arrived I couldn’t understand why there would be a city in such an isolated place. A part of the answer is tourism, with a huge amount of tourists stopping by on the way to or from Uluru. The city also functions as a hub for the small communities and cattle stations spread around the outback.

If there is one bad thing to say about Alice Springs its the summer heat. 40°C is the norm. Luckily its a dry heat so you wont sweat much. But, it does feel hot. Even a short 5 minute walk from the shopping center to the library will leave your brain in a fried state, making it difficult to think straight thoughts. Only a dip in the pool will solve that problem.

After 5 months that felt like 5 weeks I parked my bicycle at a friend’s place and went to the airport. It was time to get moving again.

Together with Kay from Hong Kong and Josh from Colorado we had planned a road trip to Uluru some 500 km south (around the corner in Outback terms). We happened to know a guy in the car rental company, so even though we had payed for the smallest car available we got a free upgrade and drove away with this.

“Stay in the left side of the road and watch out for kangaroos, wild horses, and camels at night” were our friend’s last words before we headed out of town. Even though I have cycled more than 10000 km in the left side of the road I had never actually been driving a car in the “wrong” side. It turned out to be easier than I would have though. I still love cycling, but boy did it feel nice to be driving a car again after so long time.

Our camp site for the night was also a small zoo.

As Josh was about to leave Australia he decided to burn his Lonely Planet guide as a symbolic act. No, he didn’t like the country: “Australia is just like the United States but more racist” as he said. Personally I don’t agree. I love Australia.

Next morning we reached the famous Rock. “Mother Australia” might have been upset about the book burnings last night as the weather suddenly turned bad.

15°C and rain might seem quite normal for a November day in the Northern Hemisphere, but for central Australia that is very extreme. In the days leading up to our departure we had 40 degrees in Alice Springs and we hadn’t seen rain for the last two months.

On the positive side, not many people get to see Uluru in rain. After driving around the Rock we went to the Olgas. Pictures only capture so much. In reality this place felt out of this world.

Yes, we were freezing…

In the night the rain continued so we skipped putting up the tent and had a party in the car. Fun times! The next morning we were heading back to working life in Alice Springs. As we entered the city the usual clear blue color had returned to the sky and the temperature was climbing to 35°C.

In the beginning I used to stay at a camp site. And boy was that a place where you would meet some alternative personalities.

The big guy with the beard worked as Santa Claus in shopping centers around Christmas and for the rest of the year he was touring around Australia on his motorbike. There was also a guy from New Zealand who claimed to have worked as a secret agent in Israel and now had come to Australia because he was convinced New Zealand would blow up and disappear into the Pacific Ocean in the near future. He recommend me not to go there with the bike! Finally an Australian couple one day arrived and claimed they had found a dead body in the bush. After some discussion they agreed not to call the police because the guy apparently had some outstanding issues.

Discussions around dinner table were never boring.

Apart from the interesting blend of personalities described above, the camp ground also functioned as a magnet for more sane(?) long distance cyclists. Probably because it was the cheapest place in town. At one point we were 5 cyclists at the camp ground and our tents outnumbered the number of tents from the non-cycling people. There was Graeme who had cycled from Canada and was going to Asia next, and the Swiss couple Patrizia and Bro who had cycled from Europe on a tandem. Finally John was riding around Australia.

Long distance cyclists are clearly more interested in eating than posing for the camera.

One week I worked painting a house for an elderly couple. They normally lived in Melbourne but had an extra house in Alice Springs that they wanted to rent out. After the painting job was finished they asked if I wanted to stay in the house for free until they would find new tenants. One day living in a tent, and the next having a key to my own house. Life is full of surprises.

John explained that the community was located 220 km North West of Alice Springs – and as such it was considered close to the city. There are other communities which are 1000 km away from the nearest town.

Normally tourists can’t just go and visit aboriginal communities, so to actually live and work there for a while would be a very unique opportunity. As we drove into the village I saw what first looked like normal Australian houses. I would later realize that the houses only looked normal from the outside. Inside they would be completely bare with cement floor and cement walls. A family would sleep on a few blankets in a corner, and all the cooking was done outside by a fire.

The shop where Valerie and I were going to work was owned by the aboriginal community but they had hired John (a white Australian) as a manager. The reason that he needed a few extra hands in the shop was a sport week in the community where people from the neighboring communities would come and take part. John described the aboriginals as very free spirited. While running a shop might not be one of their strongest points, they certainly took the football games serious. There were also a lot of painters and musicians in the community.

Most aboriginals receive support from the Australian government. By appearance, the people I met would rank among the poorest people I have met on the whole journey, but at the same time they were walking around with a rather large amount of cash in their pockets.

During the time Valery and I stayed in the community, we lived in John and his wife’s house – one of the few western style houses in the village. John had a few pets as well.

After a week full of very different and unique experiences we were soon heading back to Alice Springs again. Our time in the community had hardly felt as work. Yet, for the same amount of money I had earned in a week, I expect to be able to finance close to two months worth of cycling adventures. Australia is a good place to work at the moment.

2011 in Pictures:

The very best Happy New Year wishes to everyone!

Thomas

Now that I have come to Australia I don’t feel that the trip is over just yet. The next continent waiting somewhere over there on the other side of the Pacific Ocean would be South America.

A plan has now evolved to fly to Argentina and start cycling north through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and onwards through Central America, Mexico and the US before taking another flight to Europe and cycle back home to Denmark. That would make the circle complete.

View Stage 2 in a larger map

I will stay in Australia until my visa runs out in June 2012 for some more work and a bit of sight seeing on this fascinating place. After that, bring on stage 2!

Luck would have it that the rumours about the favourable job situation in Alice Springs turned out to be true. I had my first job in hand 24 hours after I arrived in town. And so it seems that my life for now will be very different from the cycle nomadic life I have been enjoying the last 10 months.

The diary will take a break for a while as I recharge my bank account. But, stay tuned. There will be other updates on this channel coming soon.

Greetings from Down Under.

Tom

Last night I stayed at a camp site and met a couple of German backpackers who are travelling around Australia in their wan. Like me they were also almost completely out of money – they did however share one of their last beers with me Friendly bunch the Germans!

In the morning as my new friends passed me on the highway, they even stopped with a cup of hot tea. Danke!

The rest of the day my mind was solely focused on reaching Alice Springs or “The Alice” as she is also called: a name that has been on my mind a lot lately. I knew from the morning that it would be a long day, and with the wind back in its usual direction (right in my face) it did require all my mental and physical focus to keep pushing.

Somewhere along the road I passed the Tropic of Capricorn. I’m now once again a fair distance from the equator which I remember crossing on a boat between two Indonesian islands. Soon thereafter I reached the highest point marker on Stuart Highway. I knew that from that point it would be downhill for the rest of the day, and I silently started to celebrate.

I felt very relieved to finally arrive in Alice Springs. I had now made it half way across Australia – the bike and myself intact.

Since leaving Denmark I have not been staying in the same place for more than 7 days. This is likely to change now if finding work in Alice Springs is as easy as they say. Wish me luck!

For the fist time in weeks I did experience something that would resemble a tail wind. It only lasted for half an hour, but even 20 km of smooth cruising certainly lifted the spirits. Soon the wind was back where it seems to belong here in Australia – right in the face!

I reached Tea Tree in time for lunch. I have been seeing signs for the last 300 km but when I arrived the place only consisted of 5 houses. I bought a little food in the expensive shop just to be sure I have enough to reach Alice Springs.

The only thing more straight than Stuart Highway seems to be the railway that also crosses Australia from north to south.

Apart form the crack in my back wheel rim that I discovered a couple of days ago, my bike is now developing another problem. The chain and chain ring are now so used (I have not changed either since I bought the bike 18000 km ago!) that the chain slips every time I put some power into the pedals. Once I reach cruising speed on flat grounds everything is still OK. I’m not hoping to meet any big mountains.

Apart from the bike I’m also beginning to feel rather worn out myself. Usually I have a break every 3 or 4 days – mostly because I arrive in an interesting place where it seems worth spending an extra day. The thing is that a rest day wouldnt make any sense out here. There really isnt anything else to do but keep cycling. Once I reach Alice Springs tomorrow (hopefully!) it will be a big milestone.

Last night over the fire at the camp site I was stating, people asked if I was going to visit Devils Marbles. As usually I hadn’t looked in my guide book, and if my new friends hadn’t told me I might as well have passed right by. I’m glad I didn’t. The rounded granite stones there are quite a sight. This is the beginning of the Red Centre of Australia – a landscape that is very different from the flat bush lands I have been cycling through for last couple of weeks.

I arrived at the same time as a bus full of Japanese tourists. As and sat there and ate my breakfast a few even took photos of me. Funny people.

If Devils Marbles is a sign of what to expect from nature in central Australia I’m already hooked!

Cycling is once again getting a lot more enjoyable. The head wind was a bit less insisting today, and for the first time in a while my average speed was above 20 km/h. Stuart Highway is also suddenly getting more quite. No more huge road trains.

At night I found another great spot to wild camp. From here it is only 250 km to Alice Springs. With a bit of luck I will get there in two days.