19-Nov-2005 -- Coming from a succesful visit to 31S 142E in the morning I was rejoicing on the way to 30S 144E. Again, I grabbed the closest edible thing from the back seat as I could as I was driving: Soy crisps. They tasted great but I soon found out that they didn't agree with my stomach. The more I drove the worst I felt and it was all I could do. I thought I would have to stop by the side of the road to backwash my stomach content but I toughed it out instead. The heat and the corrugated dirt roads didn't help either. I stopped at the only convenience store in Red Cliffs to get a bottle of Sprite and it did the trick. I was back on the road with enthusiasm. The temperature in the shade was 33 degrees celcius. Must have been close to 40 degrees in the sun. Not the best of conditions for outback exploring but I wasn't going to wait until next autumn, what if someone beat me to it?

I saw two people on bicycles from a distance and stopped to ask if they needed water or anything. They said they were fine. They were a German couple who came down under for a taste of adventure and they were cycling from Melbourne to Cairns. I didn't ask why they were in that neck of the woods, it seems like a mighty big detour. Sounds like a great adventure nonetheless.

Virtually the whole way was on dirt roads and I saw a few willy willies on the way. They pick up a lot of dirt and when you drive through them it feels like coming across a semi trailer on the highway. Not quite like in the movie Twister where tornadoes pick up cars and flip them upside down like a toy.

When I got on the turn off from the main dirt road, I headed West along a wire fence on a much narrower dirt track for about 3 kilometres and came across an unlocked gate. From there I headed North for 5 kilometres and that was as far as my Wheels would take me. I was a mere 2 kilometres from the confluence.

I got the necessary gear out and proceeded on a rougher terrain this time. There were jagged fist-sized rocks spreaded all over the place so I had to walk with caution as to not twist an ankle or incur any injury. Heaps of goats on the way. I wasn't sure whether they were feral or belonged to a station nearby but they weren't interested in me at any rate. The whole trip was 4.2 kilometres long and it barely took me three quartes of an hour to do it. Quite uneventful compared with the morning one. It didn't matter, I was two for two and smiling all the way to my third confluence: 31S 144E

Coordinator's Note: How many German couples are cycling through the outback of Australia? William mentions another couple in his narrative of his Visit#2 to 23S 136E!!!