We hit dirt shortly after Ivanhoe. I had the usual nervous moments the first time I hit some loose stuff, which always seems to be the case after having
ridden on nothing but bitumen for some time (it was over a year since my last off-road trip.) Overall though I way very happy with the way the DR was
handling on the dirt - even with the load on the back.
It was 19:00 as we rolled into Wilcannia. The sun was well on its way down and we were still 100 km's short of our intended 1st night's stop. We decided
to call ahead to White Cliffs and tell them to wait up for us! We found a public phone, but soon discovered it was not working because someone had
sprayed concrete all over it! Before we knew it, we were surrounded by very inquisitive young kids. Wilcannia had a very rough and uneasy feel
about it. We didn't want to stay the night there and so we pressed on, only too happy to leave Wilcannia behind.
As it was getting quite dark, we started to encounter a bit of wildlife - sheep, cattle, emus and kangaroos all seem to enjoy darting out in front
of you, and you have to be so alert and focused - which is hard after almost 13 hours of riding. I knew then and there that for the days to come we'd want
to get most of our riding done by about 18:00. After that, it starts getting hard to see. The fact that Bart and I only have really dark visors on our
helmet doesn't help (and you can't ride with your visor up because of all the insects that hit your eyes).
Sighting the town of White Cliffs was a relief. It had been a hard, but good days ride.
We'd made the decision long before beginning the trip to stay at the Underground Motel (after seeing pictures from a relative who had stayed there).
We didn't know where exactly it was, but there are plenty of signs to guide you to it. One warning though - if you find yourself on an
extremely rough road, wondering how on earth anyone can make it to this place, then you've
fallen victim to someone's "lets turn the sign around" prank. You'll realise you've gone wrong, because you end up doing a circle, and when you get back
to the same junction, you'll know that you shouldn't have turned left but continued on straight ahead.
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