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canisters , if we ran out .
Dusk was fast approaching , so we said our goodbyes and rode off to find a camping spot by a lonely tree under the stars . The ground was barren except for what looked like mini melons growing in strings along the ground , their green in beautiful contrast to the red dirt . A few dead branches lying under the tree were enough for a small campfire . Aidan cheffed up some canned stew and baked little flatbreads on a hot stone in the embers for breakfast . Flour and yeast were part of our pantry staples for just such an occasion .
The mornings in the desert are cold , but hot coffee from our thermos and our smoky bread soon had us thawed out and ready to go , just as the annoying flies began to bug us in the morning sun . The flies were another unexpected experience . In Europe flies usually buzz off , if you shoo them away but in the Australian outback they circle straight around , persistently aiming for the prized wet in the corners of your eyes . We shut the visors to them and set off .
At first , easy hard-packed dirt , the road soon became a relentless washboard . Before we set off on this trip , I was avidly reading other moto traveller ’ s stories , and many mentioned the dreaded corrugations . Back then I developed a romantic idea that I wouldn ’ t be a real traveller until I had endured some . A classic case of careful what you wish for !
With just enough sand so that with our medium-at-best off-roading skills we didn ’ t dare speed up enough to fly over the bumps , it was a rattling nightmare , and I swore in my helmet that I would return with a sledgehammer to flatten each and everyone of them . I was less worried about my clattering teeth than I was about all the bolts the bike must surely be loosening .
A ute driver coming towards me saw my miserably determined face and asked if all was ok . I realised I ’ d gone down a spiral in my head and everything was fine . So , I replied yes with a smile , secretly thanking him for getting me out of my own head . It was the only other vehicle we saw all day .
By lunchtime I was starving and ‘ hangry ’. Nothing like tinned butter chicken and rice to cheer me up . In the stifling heat out here , fruit and veg simply cook to mush in the panniers and bread gets mouldy within a day , so , we had gotten used to a diet of tinned stuff extended with pasta or rice and affording the luxury of an Australian Works Burger , with a serving of fruit ( pineapple ) and vegetables ( beetroot ) all in one meal , when reaching a roadhouse .
In the afternoon we emptied our petrol canisters into the tank of my bike . This was half our fuel , so beyond this point we would not have enough to get back , and going forward hoping there really is petrol
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