Uluru in rain

Sunny Australia, yeah. I haven't got a single sunburn yet, and the sunscreen I sometimes used is of factor 10.

Finally at Uluru!

It's a long way down... past the tropic of Capricorn and already the signs for Adelade start to show up! Before Urulu there was Mt. Cooper (? or whatever it was) which looks quite nice in itself. And as told to me by several people, the Olgas do look like a profile of sleeping Homer Simpson :-).

Tomorrow is dedicated to really visit Urulu and not just look at it from a distance.

Darwin and way towards Uluru

I got excellent service once again for the DR, a time slot appeared very conviently and the price for 15000km (major) service was quite decent. Unfortunately for my touristic goals, I found the second part of 'Song of Fire and Ice', and I forgot about Darwin. Besides, the wet heat was just too much for me, reading a good book in an airconditioned room was my clear choise:-)

On the way down towards Uluru, I met Harold, an Austrian biker doing similar trip as I am, so few cold ones at local backwater pub were much in order.

Even today, there wasnt too much attractions along the way, so riding on was the only sensible thing to do. Tomorrow I should finally reach Urulu, just in the for Eastern... There will be lots of tourists, I fear.

Another thing I've come to appreciate is the weak aussie beer. Low alcohol content agrees very well with the dehydration, and it doesnt give you a headache in the next morning! Though these brews are great here, I wouldnt take them out of their intented environment;-)

Aviation Heritage, Darwin

The wet heat is getting oppressive, thankfully I'm out of the bush for awhile, and can peek into shady hangars!

The place is dominated by the B52, all the rest just scattered under its' wings. Some of the restoration projects are still a little 'in the works' but overall this was worth a visit.

What's better than a minigun? A double minigun! As per the Cobra, I sort of started liking about the fact just how menacing that 'chopper looks.

Kakadu national park

It's the very end of wet season, so there's still a lot of water gushing down the rivers and streams - most of the park is closed for access. A shame, but understandable decision! As the water is high, animals are seeking refugee from higher grounds, crocks included. Even in dry season some of the more interesting places are accessible with 4wd only, and preferably equipped with snorkel...

Fording a stream with a motorcycle when there can be crocks in the stream just didn't appel to me at all! Combine that with soft sand and you've got a winner road ;-)

Moving on

Now that the rear tyre is sorted, I can continue towards Darwin to get the bike serviced, funny how the kilometers just appear on the clock!

Crossed over to Northern Territory and to another time zone, now +90minutes :) Terrain looks really nice with all the red earth hills and rivers going here and there, with the obligatory 'Do not swim'-signs, as crocodiles do live here too. Im taking this one seriously, I believe I already saw one small croc crossing the road yesturday...

The next fly in the ointment is that Qantas cancelled my return flight, have to re-arrange that soon, before all the good alternatives have been booked to other travellers. Sigh. I don't like flying too much, because all the hassle before and after the actual flight. Sitting in a cramped tube doesn't help either.

Bad day

It all started with a wrong choice of camping grounds - at Fitzroy's Crossing there's two, and the one near the town had just the most vile and pungent campers kitchen and toilets ever.

Later on, after making a really early exit , the rear tyre started to show the signs of being on its' last legs. The Toyota/Tyres-shop at Hall's Creek only suggested that either I ride 320km onwards, or I should order a new tyre that would be delivered by bus someday. And I should replace it myself... 0 points for service.

At least the roadside views were getting better, as I was limping towards Kununurra. Duct tape melted away in every 10 km or so...

All 10p for the Kununurra Small engines and MC shop, as they had a tyre, reasonable pricing and drove me to hotel.