Day 27 Marla to Bush Camp #3 121 K / 75 Miles

Last evening at dinner we met Phil, and this morning as we were just getting on our bikes, we met Anthony. Phil and Anthony had been cycling the Oodnadatta Track, a popular off road route that follows the route of the now abandoned Ghan Railway line. Both had come off the track yesterday. There are few outposts and roadhouses, and it follows an extremely remote routing. Phil took along 18 liters of water for the 3-4 days between outposts. Phil was continuing north on the Stuart Highway, Anthony would do likewise in a day or two after a rest.
Our route today seemed relatively flat, but varied in scenery compared to the last couple days. The monotony of scenery of the last couple days has a kind of spellbinding effect on me. A road extending to the vanishing point, and just when I think I may be cresting some sort of hill, the road again extends to what seem likes infinity, the scenery on either side changing very little. The flatness today was deceptive as the altimeter on my GPS indicated that we were climbing pretty much all day long reaching over 440 meters at one point. In the distance we could see plateaus and bluffs. At one point we cycled up and over a low ridge. The head wind persisted but it was light enough that it didn’t seem too bad, or maybe we are just getting used to it.
We stopped in a rest area for a lunch break and shortly after pulling in a mini van pulled in and three young men got out and approached us. Olivier Toussaint introduced himself and his friends as photographers from France traveling the Stuart Highway as part of project to capture different users of the road. We were the first cyclists they had encountered, so they asked us if we would mind posing for a group portrait. We obliged.
To keep on schedule we are trying to average at least 100 kilometers per day. This would get us into Darwin by August 8. If we exceed the average, it is time in the bank we can use for rest days if needed. We did well today. Tomorrow we cross into the Northern Territory. There are a couple roadhouses between our stopping point tonight and Alice Springs, the half-way point on the Stuart Highway.