Tuesday.  Got away nice and early to catch the supermarket opening at 7am. Shopping is for me one of the most stressful times. Finding a suitable parking space, locking the bike as best I can then leaving it while shopping  – all the time wondering if some lowlife is running off with … I need to relax and trust more huh.

The first 20km or so was much more undulating than I had expected but was rewarded with a small monument purported to acknowledge the highest point on the Stuart highway so it’s all downhill to Darwin from here 😉

Soon after the summit I entered the tropics as I crossed the tropic of Capricorn.

It will be interesting to look at a map sometime and see how long the straights were – 50km??? Wikicamps came through with a site at 147km where a few others are camped so have made myself at home.

Will have to revert to long trousers and long sleeves tomorrow as particularly my right side got roasted today.

Wednesday.  A good early start and loads of sunshine for 176km. Pulled up soon after 3pm but the next option was 60km further. Quite a popular spot with about a dozen caravans and a couple of minivans. Found a spot a little further away from the road so am hoping it will be a quieter night. The last forecast I saw at Alice had wind developing from the south later this week and the sunset at present has plenty of stippled cloud so will be interesting to see what happens.  All going well I’ll make Tennant creek tomorrow and am hopeful a couple of warmshowers hosts have room for me but won’t know until wifi kicks in.