Category: 2025 Tanami Tootle

Adelaide ut onto the Tanami Road!

Farewelled Christine who has headed off to Adelaide which is fair enough. She is afraid we’ll smell too bad after nine days without a shower. Actually she was being very considerate and didn’t want …

Had a look around, got some reading glasses from Silly Solly’s dollar shop and a water bag from the hiking store. Went for a walk up the hill at the Botanic Gardens. All very restful.

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More rock gorge and clear water pools. This time with a tour group from The Ghan rail train having their luxury lunch at Simspsons Gap.

A surprise was the excellent sealed bicycle path for the 17 km from Simpsons Gap …

An easy day except for the constant moderate headwind and the last 7 km gentle rise into the Standley Chasm campground. A couple of vanilla milkshakes and a burger is seeing me right.

The Chasm geology is interesting, apparently it …

A shower! Of hot water, taps for fresh bore water. A kiosk for multiple bacon and egg toasties! Doesn’t get better than this. Except not having the ranger make you move camp just on dusk because we hadn’t booked a …

Hurtee’s in legs after yesterday’s big 60 on corrugations. Onnly 20 km of gravel before we got back on bitumen. But the bitumen was endless series of flood ways so little respite.

Camp site was hard to pick but eventually …

But this time my pannier rack mount to the bike failed (a hoseclamp), only five kms to camp so replaced it next morning. Tight camp in amongst the buffel grass and spinifex, way too dangerous for a fire.

Wheel building …

Christine’s wheel needed several reworks but slowly getting longer between spoke adjustments.

Lots of horses around, occasional foal. Still haven’t seen a kangaroo. Camped in amongst the mulga, first cooking fire.

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A day of corrugations but not intolerable.

Intolerable was Christine’s wheel continually getting a warp in it as the spokes on the drive cog side kept coming loose. My theory is that the spokes had not been tightened properly when …

Just about leaving civilisation. 155 km of dirt awaits. Each rider with 20 litres of water on board. Tally ho!

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This is it folks, nearly where the rubber leaves the road and hits dirt! Easy 36 km to Kings Canyon interrupted by meeting a (seeming) septuagenarian cyclist on the best set up Giant gravel bike who was riding the Mereenie …

A simple ride along the Kings Creek to Kings Creek Station. Flat, pretty much downwind.

This is good because by about day 5 of a bicycle tour the unaccomstomed legs are suffering and a rest to restore is in order. …

A much better day than the first two on the road. Warmish, dry, sunny, wind now a cross wind easterly. Finished up bush camping 75 km east of Kings Canyon Resort. A much more organised dinner with the Cook’s and …

Too cold, too wet, too windy

Only 51 km today but we worked for it.

Christine found a spot under the desert oaks and adjacent to the barbed wire fence. A quick dinner prepared by shaking, shivering hands (about 5 …