Wet, wet, wet COLD!

Day 9 Yulara to Alice Springs

It had rained pretty hard over night and was continuing on in the morning. We didn't get much sleep because the rain was accompanied by thunder storms. We packed up wet and then tried to get through the rain as soon as possible. The wheelchair riders were leaving with us and we all had a bit of laugh at the servo while fueling. 50km up the road we hit a bad squall. At one point we were riding in hail as well as torrential rain. We got to the first roadhouse not in good shape. Rod couldn't stop shivering and I wasn't much better. I've been hypothermic before and I knew we were close now. We stopped for half an hour and had a cuppa but we were still wet and cold. We both added another layer but I had lost my buff which I wear over face to keep warm. We said goodbye to the wheelchair riders who were heading offroad (LEGENDS!).

We rode another 100km and finally got out of the rain but I was cold. We stopped again at another roadhouse and after a hot pie I finally found my buff and my beanie. We rode to the Stuart Highway and had lunch, finally feeling a bit warmer. We meet a couple who doing a bitumen ride, the block on BMW 1150 Adventure and the missus on a Suzuki Bandit. Great couple! We meet up with them again at the Cannonball Monument where some bloke had killed both himself and his Ferrari on the first NT cannonball run.

Plaque

The bikes getting chased by the weather

The weather was chasing us and we had to take off. Luckily on 100km to Alice. We got into town and both agreed we needed a break from the camping. We managed to find a nice cabin at the holiday park and settled in for a good nights sleep.

Love Shack

So today we're having a quiet day off in Alice while the bikes get serviced. We've done a bit of shopping and had a decent coffee. We'll be out of communication for the next few days until we get to Kununarra so we'll update then.

Cheers Mick and Rod