Despite a few hurdles we made it to the intended destination; Aileron, 133kms north of Alice Springs. The distance was not really a problem. We are making well over 100kms routinely now.
The hurdles though were 3 punctures for Pierre and sore feet for me. Pierre has had a bad run with punctures and he doesn't like it.
We headed off about 8:45am and arrived almost on 6:00pm.
Unfortunately it was another day with a headwind. The headwind must add an hour to an hour and a half extra pedaling time. Added to that were a couple of very long straight sections with a bend between them that I suppose is there to keep car drivers awake.
Aileron has a pleasant laid back roadhouse. They don't grab for every penny. I like it as does a vivacious, young (22yr old) Italian woman who is doing her second stint of work in the roadhouse.
We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn this morning. Not far out of Alice. Unexpectedly, it is dryer almost as soon as you leave Alice. The grass, which is lush south of Alice, is more sparse and browning. The vegetation changes as does the landscape.
Also the days are getting noticeably longer. Half an hour or so of extra daylight already.
I am looking forward to sleeping in my tent.
No definite place to reach tomorrow. We will ride as far as we can; Ti Tree, which is about 60kms down the road, for lunch, then as far further as can be managed. I hope for 120~130kms altogether.
I spoke to someone who had driven up from Marla today. Marla seemed such a long way away. He said it was 640 or so kms. We must have left there 7 or 8 days ago.
The young italian woman was small and fiery. She fired up when I mentioned Italy's new young Prime Minister. He's like all the rest, an arsehole. She likes Australia.
...go to day 21 - May 30
P.S. Aileron art treasures.
The 'old man' at Aileron had been collecting aboriginal art since the 1940s. On the walls of the road house are a collection of original Albert Nmatjerra and his students' paintings. And there are many hundreds more in various buildings around the place. I was told it is an art treasure trove well known to art bureaucrats, but guarded from them by the 'old man'. It is in keeping with the generosity of the place.