The Desert Venturer, day 3

We left Wirrelyerna at 6am, in the bright sunset light which painted the landscape in a fiery red. High up in the sky, the moon was finishing its journey from the East to the West and would soon disappear as the sun rose to a new day...

We probably drove for 3 hours without coming across any township or any sign of human life. However we did see lots of kangaroos bouncing about in the morning sunshine. And then we reached the border between the state of Queensland and the Northern Territory, which isn't a state and thus doesn't have a lot to say in Australian affairs.

Greg didn't really know whether the 3 R's on the sign below were a joke or an actual mistake. But he seemed convinced it was the first option, another way of making a road sign famous.

We then had a short break in Tobermorey Station which would close down (permanently) the next day, making the journey from Boulia to Jervois Station even more difficult since its closing down meant drivers wouldn't be able to stop there for fuel anymore.

After our lunch break in Jervois Station, we hopped on the bus again and stopped next to a 5-metre termite mound. I actually thought it looked like a giant obese penguin.

Yes, a penguin!

Our last stop before arriving in Alice Springs was the Atitjere community, an aboriginal town. There, we could have a look at aboriginal art and Greg explained to us the great diversity of the aboriginal world. While we tend to think of Aboriginals as one homogeneous group with one culture, they actually represent hundreds of various "language groups", with their own culture etc...

Stopping in the desert, as the bus had to cool down again.

And we finish this 3-day photo album with a portrait of Nicole, I mean Doctor Nicole ;-) who, together with a few other backpackers, made this epic journey an incredibly enjoyable one, with great laughing sessions, as well as very interesting conversations about life and travels...

This is the end of the Cairns-to-Alice story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed being part of it. It truly was a fabulous time, with breathtaking landscapes and a lot of meditation in the remote outback. I have met great people, Dr Nicole and Gary, and I hope I'll keep in touch with them. So I say thank you to both of you.

Thanks to Nicole for your smile (how do you keep it going for so long?), your conversations, your strawberry Tim-Tams and for waking me up at 5.10am on the second day, and thanks Gary for your advice on photography and for lending me your polarising filter - it definitely made a huge difference!!!