14th July Alice Springs

 Kms today 687            Kms to date 4733

I left Coober Pedy early today in dry weather but the roads were still wet from the over night rain. I got fooled into passing a 4 trailer road train thinking it was just a small truck from behind.  The spray obscured the road ahead so I had to gun it to get past quickly.  Would have been hitting the Ton going past the prime mover and it would have been a quick end "Mad Max" style if there was something coming the other way!.

As I was doing big miles I planned 3 stops. I also uses my total block ear plugs as yesterday the expensive  fitted ones I bought in Melbourne before I left  were too noisy and my ears were ringing for hours after I arrived in Coober Pedy. There were more roadworks south of Marla and I wobbled along for 8kms on firm gravel.

There was plenty of gravel to negotiate along the Stuart Hwy

I could see dark clouds, so pre-empted the rain and changed early unto my wet weather gear. I kept it on the whole way into Alice and it was like a sauna bath as the temp went up to the mid 20's.  

Rocky ridges around the SA/NT border

I entered NT at Kulgera and my border pass was in order, but the policeman warned me to keep checking for exposure sites in SA, as there had been a Covid cluster in Adelaide.  The speed limit in NT is 130 and I gave the Kwacker it's head and enjoyed the last 180kms. Not so enjoyable was the news that there had been an outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid in Melbourne and WA has put Vic back in the sin bin and I have to wait 14 days after leaving to enter WA. That only loses me one day so not so bad.   SA were also sending me messages that there were exposure sites in Wycheproof and Mildura and if I had been there on the 10th or 11th of July ( the day before Vic declared the Covid cases) I had to get a Covid test.  Luckily I was now in NT so could ignore these missives.  I checked the Vic exposure sites and the Bakery I had the coffee in on the morning of the 10th July became a Tier 1 exposure site the next day!  I managed to keep just ahead of the Covid case that had been at the MCG on the Friday night football and come home to Mildura the next day!

 

Heavytree Gap was a welcome sight after 10 hours in the saddle

.I was booked for two nights into Wendy's Bed and Breakfast - an old fashioned place not related to AirBnB.  Wendy was a very busy woman with a husband who didn't do much to help.  Gradually she warmed to me and became quite chatty.