Thursday 25 September 2014

Australia 2014 - (8) Coober Pedy to Alice Springs

I’m not sure if I haven’t been drinking enough or what, but the light seems to have been playing tricks with me today. Packing up my tent, I kept seeing a shadow out of the corner of my eye, but then when I looked, there was no-one there. Then, on the road to Kulgera, I had a weird sense of someone watching me whenever I stopped.

The light was also creating mirages on the road, making it look as if there was water ahead. Of course, I never got to it, it just stayed the same distance from me. And, as if all that wasn’t enough, I kept feeling like I was going to fall asleep in the saddle (I’ve not been sleeping that well). I eventually pulled over to have a lie down but couldn’t find a suitable spot so downed some Hydralyte instead and that seemed to put an end to it.

Then, about 40 km from Kulgera, again, a man was walking along the roadside, pushing a sort of trolley. After miles of being the only vehicle on the road, a 4 x 4 appeared out of nowhere and overtook me just as I got level with the guy, so apart from tooting my horn at him, I wasn’t able to stop and find out what on earth he was doing there. What is it with men walking along deserted highways 40 km from a town?