We had unnecessarily feared the headwind between Yulara and the turn-off towards Kings Canyon. It was less strong and we were stronger than expected😉.

And we were particularly proud that we resisted the only refreshment stop in Curtin Springs for 270 kilometers. On our last visit, we had been so annoyed with the service at the roadhouse that we didn’t give it another cent. Instead, a family of Sri Lankan origin rewarded us with a delicious, yet outrageously sweet homemade cake.

The first coffee that we didn’t “brew” with our pre-mixed instant concentrate was on the third day of the trip at the pretty Kings Creek Station. Here we were also able to obtain a permit for the upcoming ride on the Mereenie gravel road. We thought it was pretty noble of us to even bother to get a permit 😜… because you have to find out about the permit requirement yourself, which is not checked by anyone. Nobody cares that you’re not allowed to camp on the 150 km route and that we, as cyclists, simply can’t ride the route in one day. It’s really practical for us that rules are handled flexibly in Australia😊.

It was another whole day before we reached the start of the gravel road. We spent it on a short hike around Kings Canyon, whose rocks glowed a beautiful red in the late afternoon sun. When we got back to the parking lot, there were a few campers there who wanted to spend the night. As we weren’t the only ones, we felt less guilty when we pitched our tent behind the toilet block after dark. Nevertheless, we slept so badly in the illegal overnight camp that we could hardly wait for the morning and had packed everything up by the time the first visitors arrived before sunrise. Lucky us, we hadn’t expected these early risers. After a half-hour ride, we arrived at the private Kings Canyon Park Resort and warmed our hands with a hot cup of coffee. With heavy hearts, we left the breakfast buffet with fresh fruit and fragrant toast to the resort’s better-paying guests.

Finally, the bumpy ride on the sandy Mereenie road began. Although we knew from the stories of other cyclists that we were in for some tough days, the route was a huge frustration. For one thing, riding on sand and corrugated road surface in monotonous surroundings was no fun. On the other hand, we were annoyed by the ruthlessness with which posh 4×4 tourists and overpowered caravan drivers sped past us and dusted us in. They were probably commenting in their dust- and fly-free, air-conditioned vehicles that the cyclists out there were a bit crazy. But just don’t slow down, then you would feel the corrugated road worse, or even open the window, then you risk staining your immaculate outback outfit. Notable exceptions were Nils and his girlfriend Renée, as well as some tradesmen or Aborigines, who all chugged slowly past us, waving cheerfully.

As if we weren’t frustrated enough already, the bikes were causing us more and more problems. First, the suspension of one of my front panniers broke, which we attached to the luggage rack with cable ties. Then my gears failed, 75 kilometers before we would have reached the paved road and 250 kilometers before the next bike store in Alice Springs! Was that the end of cycling? Do we have to hope for a ride in a vehicle?

After a closer analysis, we found out that only the chain tensioner was broken. Using cable ties and rubber bands from the Japanese 100-yen-store Daiso, David skillfully improvised a repair that would hold until we reached the asphalt road. Fortunately, it did: with three working gears and some pushing on my part, we made it to the paved road in the evening. There, we were just about to remove the worst of the dust from our bikes when we were visited by a friendly domestic pig. For a short time, we were delighted to have an animal guest, but quickly realized that the pig was only after our food. It headed straight for our bags, which we had to defend vehemently. For the bag with our chips, however, any rescue came too late. The cheeky pig quickly stuck her nose in and ran off with her prey. Hopefully the plastic packaging, which it ate along with everything else, gave it a real stomach ache😉! It had obviously enjoyed the aperitif so much that it returned to us in the hope of more food and could only be kept at a distance with the help of the cable lock.

As my broken rear derailleur was still working, we decided to continue on our planned route along the West MacDonnell Range. The next short day’s stage took us to Redbank Gorge, a picturesque place with swimming opportunities and the starting point for the ascent of Mount Sonders at the end of the Larapinta long-distance trail. Because the last few kilometers had led over a rough, hilly gravel road, we were pretty knocked out when we arrived at the parking lot and treated ourselves to a long lunch break. The longer we sat in the shade of the picnic hut, the more people approached us and offered us water, coffee, Pepsi, bread and even fresh carrots, apples and boiled eggs. Wow, that saved our well-being for the next few days and motivated us to make the most of the Redbank Gorge. In the late afternoon, we walked to the waterhole, where David took a refreshing dip (I chickened out). And we liked the idea of a group of Larapinta hikers who wanted to climb Mount Sonder for sunrise.

At 3:30 in the morning, we packed up the tent and made our way to Mount Sonder in the glow of our flashlights. Shivering from the cold, we waited on the summit for the sunrise and were glad that we had decided to make an early start. The view was phenomenal and we were amazed at how beautiful the landscape was in the warm morning light.

As we rode on through the West MacDonnell Ranges, we visited almost every gorge and camped outside the national park in between. The many sights were an ideal distraction from the undulating road and the constant headwind. David was annoyed by the countless dips and counter-climbs, while I was completely absorbed by my faulty gears and tried to cope with the three (still) reliably functioning gears. From Simpson Gap, a paved, winding cycle path led us to the center of Alice Springs.

For the first time in ten days, we had the opportunity to top up our lunch with fresh cherry tomatoes, yoghurt and a cool drink. Mmmh, we had been looking forward to this for a while! As we parked our bikes outside the busy supermarket in the middle of Alice Springs, the security guard warned us that one person had to stay with the bikes and keep an eye on them. This was our plan anyway and we thought the warning was a bit over the top. When I returned to David and the bikes after shopping, we understood the seriousness of the warning: During my brief absence, David witnessed a lady having her handbag stolen and all the security guard said in response was “you can call 000” … the number for the police. It was therefore advisable to take really good care of our belongings. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed the comforts of civilization in Alice Springs for a day and a half!

For a long time, we had planned to end our cycling trip through Australia in Alice Springs. But first we wanted to make a detour to the main attraction of the East MacDonnell Ranges, the Trephina Gorge. Just under a day’s ride from Alice Springs, we were almost the only visitors to the beautiful campsite and great hiking trails. Only a myriad of annoying flies accompanied us! Happy that our bikes had also survived this stretch, we returned to Alice Springs three days later. Here we were able to stay at Warmshower host Kate’s small apartment, store our bikes safely, shower, wash, clean, drink coffee, work on the blog, relax, spend an evening with Kate at the Claypans and have lots of interesting conversations – thank you very much for everything! Alice Springs is not a big town, but a small village with a compact center. We really liked the multicultural flair, the many cafés and murals as well as Alice’s location between the surrounding mountain ranges!

From Alice, we continue our journey by bus. We are sitting in the front rows of the Greyhound bus waiting for it to leave, our bikes safely packed in the trailer…