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Suddenly it occurred to us that apart from a few car tracks at the entry , ours were the only tyre tracks on the lake . Is it perhaps not allowed to ride onto it ? It was too late now . We would read up on it once we had internet access again .
Back on solid ground we took down camp and followed the path back to the gravel road , but we didn ’ t get far before Aidan came to a sliding halt with the back of the bike collapsed onto the rear tyre . The top suspension bolt had sheared right off . This wasn ’ t the first time , and suddenly I was glad that I had kept the heavy old spare bolt in my box of tricks since it first happened in Georgia . Which meant we knew exactly how to fix it and had the spare parts to do so . Well , almost . The old bolt was a little threaded and I wasn ’ t sure how long it would hold
on this rattly road .
A much bigger problem was the lack of drinking water . We had rationed it so that it would get us out of here . But with the repairs we would be spending many more hours in the ever-hotter sun than anticipated . And we still weren ’ t sure if our petrol would get us as far as Mount Ive , or if we had a long walk with our canisters ahead of us .
While Aidan was under the bike , pouring Loctite onto the bolt , another rider arrived . The lady was an ambulance driver on a few weeks vacation , her bike packed suitably light and kitted out with sand tires . She ’ d wanted to explore the Simpson desert , but against all odds it had flooded in the aforementioned rains , and so she found herself here instead . She had no spare water , but she had excellent news : further down the road was a cattle station that has petrol . And surely water , too .
The sun was glaring hot by the time we had fixed the bike . We allowed ourselves a small sip of the now lukewarm water and rode off slowly , ever mindful of the bad bolt . The dirt road was unforgiving and relentlessly bumpy . Maybe it wasn ' t really as bad , but it felt that way ; thirsty , hungry , and worried as we were .
We almost missed the turn off to the cattle station as there was no obvious sign . But it was the only side road and about as far from our breakdown spot as the lady had said . This must be it . If not , we were wasting precious fuel to check it out .
To our relief it was the right road and we jubilantly rolled up to the retro petrol pump in the huge courtyard . Another traveller couple
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