I had a ripper cycle into Lyndhurst from my Arkaroola Loop. The wind seemed to be chasing me after coming off the Strzelecki Track and turning north. I was headed up the Outback Highway towards the famous junction town of Marree. I made a promise to myself and the wind gods that I would do my level best to accept my next headwind with grace after such a fortunate run.
The highway was a lot busier than the last time I was here in the December heat. Many convoys of four-wheel drives passed me on the bitumen. I was pleasantly surprised to find the historic town of Farina open for business including the unbeknownst to me famous bakery. As it turned out, the town is alive for 2-3 of the cooler months each year as volunteers from around Australia come to help restore the old buildings and run the bakery. The bakery even has an underground ‘Old Scotch Oven’ where all the loaves are made whilst the pies and desserts are made in a conventional oven above ground. Anyone who knows me well will be be aware of my love for baking and sharing sourdough bread at all hours of the day and night. It was great to take a look at the oven, smell the freshly baked bread and sample some goods from behind the counter including a couple of tasty pies.
I came across a pair of touring bikes out the front. It was easy to spot my fellow bike tourists Gennaro (Italian) and Wendy (Canadian) inside the busy bakery. They were exceptionally clean looking for a pair of cycle tourists but they explained how a super nice man had let them wash their clothes the previous day.
I was surprised to hear that they had also left from Kensington, Melbourne only a few days apart from me and that we had some mutual friends back in the city! Gennaro and Wendy are planning to cycle to Italy – it was really cool to hear about their big adventure and share our bike touring excitement. Great to meet you both and all the best with your trip!
With the wind blowing hard from the south I made excellent time to Marree. My bush friends whom I’d met on the way in from Arkaroola advised that the general store was reasonably well stocked. It wasn’t particularly cheap but I was able to buy plenty of groceries that would end up keeping me going most of the way to Uluṟu.
I made for the Marree Hotel to quench my thirst and hopefully find some internet to make contact with home. The 4G signal in town was apparently unreliable at the best of times and easily overwhelmed by all the blow-ins like myself. On the way to the pub I noticed a sign about something called the Camel Cup. The barman asked me why I wasn’t at the races and suggested I get out to the racecourse to try and catch the last one. Marree is the home of the legendary Afghan cameleers and the Camel Cup is an annual event. I was lucky to be in town on the same day! Unfortunately I had missed the last race but I did manage to get a cheeky selfie with a few of the racers, enjoy a beer and have some food. It was good fun to get a taste of this unique Outback culture.
Marree marks the junction of two famous Outback roads – the Birdsville Track which runs up into Queensland and the Oodnadatta Track which I would follow and take me in the direction of the Northern Territory. The track follows a traditional Aboriginal trading route and was later selected for the path of the original steam powered Ghan Railway Line thanks to the availability of water in an otherwise very dry region.
The Ghan was a vital supply line for Outback settlements in the area and the remnants of many outposts can still be found along the route.
I found Gennaro and Wendy set up behind the pub in the free campground. The next morning I said goodbye to my fellow travellers.
It felt great to be back on the Oodnadatta Track and back in this land of huge wide open spaces. The graders must have been through recently as the road was in surprisingly good condition. At times the going was as good as any bitumen road but occasional sections of heavy corrugations reminded me it wasn’t black top.
