Countries visited: Australia
Cycled mileage in August: 1,974.6km
Cycled mileage per country: 1,974.6km Australia
Total cycled mileage incl. August: 24,749.2km
August mileage not cycled 1,785.0km (walking, car) - Flight not included!
Days per country: 31d - Australia
Days cycling: 21d
Technical failures: 1 split tyre, 1 puncture, 1 snapped chain, 1 broken light cable, 1 disintegrating helmet
Link to this month's route
We finished cycling in July just short of Alice Springs after tackling the Stuart Highway together with British touring cyclist Alex. 2 days into August we actually arrived to Alice Springs. Clare, a friend of a friend of Alex, invited us to stay with her and to store our stuff while we would go on a 4-day roadtrip to Ayers Rock, the Olgas, King's Canyon and the MacDonnell range. Consequently we hired a car for the next day and went off after a good night's rest. We could have done the same detour on our bicycles but it would have added another 1,000 – 1,200 kilometres. With only 3 months on our visas that would have meant shortening the rest of our Australian itinerary.
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| Still some way to go to Alice Springs |
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| Made it! |
The first day of the roadtrip brought us to Yulara, a resort town next to Ayers Rock / Uluru. We arrived just in time for sunset watching after pitching the tents. Sunset at Uluru is a truly magic experience. Seeing the change of colours from bright red to purple on this weirdly shaped rock in the middle of nowhere makes it easy to understand why Uluru became a sacred site to the Aborigines.
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| On the way to Ayers Rock |
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| Sunset at Ayers Rock... |
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| ...it was fascinating to see the changes in color |
The next morning we got up super early to also watch the sunrise – unfortunately it was by far not as stunning as the sunset, plus it was freezing cold! Once the temperatures had become a bit warmer, we then set off to a walk around Uluru. We finished the roughly 10 kilometres around noon, jumped back in the car and went on to the Olgas.
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| Walk around Uluru |
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| It's easy to tell that this is a sacred site to the Aborigines |
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| Approaching the Olgas |
The Olgas are another weird rock formation a few kilometres west of Ayers Rock and are also considered sacred. We went for a short hike there but left early enough to reach King's Canyon before sunset.
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| Hiking at the Olgas |
We stayed one night on a random camp ground and then set off to the famous Rim Walk at King's Canyon in the early morning. Even though it was kind of busy there, the hike was brilliant. Pictures are better than any description so check out the images below!
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| Hiking the Rim Walk at King's Canyon |
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| Enjoying the view |
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| Posing together with Alex |
From King's Canyon we drove back to Clare in Alice Springs and headed to the MacDonnell Ranges early the next day. Highlights there included Ormiston Gorge as well as the Simpsons Gap and the Ochre Pits. Simpson Gap marked the end of our roadtrip and back in Alice Springs we returned the car.
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| Water Hole at Ormiston Gorge |
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| Simpsons Gap |
After another 2 days of relaxing and doing nothing we eventually continued our bicycle journey on Stuart Highway. Only a few kilometres after Alice Springs we passed the highest point on Stuart Highway and we reached the Tropics of Capricorn. Luckily we would only get into tropical weather conditions a few hundred kilometres further north.
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| Setting off from Alice Springs - almost 1,500km to Darwin |
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| Highest point on Stuart Highway |
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| Tropics of Capricorn |
The next days went by rather uneventfully. We passed through some random roadhouses and slept at random places next to the highway. We did however notice a gradual change in landscape and vegetation. Eventually we reached the Devil's Marbles where there are some weird rock formations that were well worthwhile the small detour.
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| At Aileron Roadhouse |
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| Devil's Marbles |
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| Sunset at Devil's Marbles |
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| Fixing Simon's chain near Tennant Creek |
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| This generous family invited us for some beers and ovenfresh brownies |
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| We've seen sooooo many roadkills |
More than 1,000 kilometres after leaving Alice we got to Mataranka that is famous for it's thermal springs which form a hot stream. Many Grey Nomads recommended going there and we had been looking forward to it for quite some time. After riding 70 kilometres before 10am that day we reached the hot stream, pitched our tents nearby, rented some noodles and kept floating down the hot stream on them for the rest of the day. Much better than a day off!
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| Bitter Springs at Mataranka... |
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| ...we had a lot of fun floating down the hot stream |
After passing through lacklustre Katherine one day later we spent another relaxed day at Edith Falls. Edith Falls consist of a series of natural pools that are connected through waterfalls – and which are filled with cool, crystal clear water.
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| We're getting there! |
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| Enjoying the cold waters... |
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| ...of Edith Falls |
The last 250 kilometres to Darwin were more of a struggle. The weather gradually became more tropical and the heat was unbearable despite setting off with sunrise and passing the hottest hours of the day in random roadhouses.
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| Random bush camp |
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| Incredibly big termite mounds |
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| D stands for Darwin. 50km to go! |
33 days after leaving Port Augusta, 26 of which were cycling days, and after more than 2,700 kilometres we reached Darwin.
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| This is the very end of Stuart Highway after more than 2,700km |
Even though none of us particularly liked Darwin it gave us a great sense of achievement that we made it there! After hanging out for a couple of days and after servicing and boxing our bicycles we bid farewell to Alex who will continue her journey on Bali while we booked a domestic flight to Brisbane. You can follow Alex' adventures on her blog.
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| Sunset at Darwin |
On 29th we arrived to Brisbane early at 5.30 am. We assembled the bikes at the airport and cycled the short way to Adrian and Holly. Thank you, Stefan, for finding us another sleeping place!
We spent two wonderful days in Brisbane, mostly relaxing and napping on the first day and exploring the city the other day. It's a surprisingly metropolitan yet relaxed place and features amazing landmarks like a floating bike path!
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| Unboxing the bikes after the flight from Darwin to Brisbane |
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| First glimpse of Brisbane |
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| Floating bicycle path |
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| Our hosts in Brisbane: Adrian, Holly and their son Scott |
On the last day in August we set off from Brisbane and cycled to a small village south-west of Gold Coast where we visited our friends Mele and Mark. We first met them almost exactly 1 year ago in the AtHouse in Bishkek where they arrived from China and Mongolia and before tackling the Pamir Highway on 2 tandem with their 3 lovely children. It was so good to hear their stories and to share the fond memories we all had from our time in Kyrgyzstan.
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| Going for a swim at Gold Coast |
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| We had a great time staying with our friends Mele, Mark, Reine, Ezra and Sia |
