A long hard day-Expedition Dust day 79

I woke to the sound of a donkey singing and our friends with the motorbikes making coffee with a Nespresso machine! They definitely are not doing it rough. The bikers cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast and shared some of the bacon with Ruby and I, we ate our radix packed up our bikes and said our goodbyes before leaving.

We started off track, weaving our way around the trees and shrubs, the sand was soft and deep but I knew it would be so much worse on the track. I could see Ruby was struggling to control the bike so when we got to the top of the first sand dune I headed back onto the road. The guy I met yesterday was right, the sand was deep as...anything. I waited for Ruby to catch up and when she did she said “I’m just going to ask the motorbikers if they can give me a ride out of here”

 I suddenly felt so empty. I told her she was the boss of herself and she can leave whenever she wants to. We had a really open chat that resulted in her decision being to keep on pushing until she makes it to Finke. In the end it’s only going to be 3 very tough days at the most then she never has to do it again.

Pushing in the sand was so hard, it was deep and the extra gear I was carrying was making it a real struggle. The sand was getting everywhere. I could feel it rubbing my skin like sand paper. As the day heated up the flys picked up their game. It was absolutely horrendous.

 I always find random stuff on the side of the road, today I found a golf ball, some beads beads, a toy monkey head, a slipper that someone had lost and lots of car parts. We stopped for lunch under a desert oak and ate a big of chips and bread rolls that the kind people from yesterday gave us. We have been moving very slowly, but it doesn’t matter. All I want from this time with Ruby is to provide her with an opportunity to learn about her inner self. After lunch Ruby told me I could ride off ahead. I boosted off and rode for about 30 minutes before stopping and having a sleep on the side of the track for 15 min.

I woke up as Ruby caught up and took the opportunity for a little lay down. I could see Ruby was getting exhausted so before we left our rest spot I wanted to lighten the mood. I made a huge sand angel and said ‘that’s for you so you keep going”

The sand was deep so I pushed my bike for about the next hour, but argh the flys. Omg I hate the flys! They make everything so much harder. In my eyes in my ears ohhhh I hate the flys, it’s not a good time. The next car that drove past offered us fly spray... I didn’t think it was a funny joke. They made up for it though, as they presented me with two bananas. I showed Ruby when she reached me she was stoked! She also said she was getting thirsty?! That’s when I realised she has been drinking more than her quota of water per day and she doesn’t have a lot of water left. We decided that she would wave the next vehicle down and ask for some water. I only have my 7L to get me to Finke that I have been rationing at 3L per day plus 3L spare for an emergency day.

Just as the sun was setting ruby called out from behind and said I can’t do it Brando I’m just too exhausted! My reply was that we actually have to or we will run out of water before we get to Finke. I could feel her emotions being projected towards me even though she wasn’t saying anything. 

As the sun disappeared a red 2wd car came hooning through the deep sand from behind me. I watched as it stopped next to Ruby who was 100m behind. I could see them pass a bottle of water to her out the window before continuing up to where I was! It was a car full of locals and they were so smiley and full of happiness they asked if I needed anything or wanted anything and that they had given my mate some water. I told them they were abosolute legends. I struggled with my heavy bike for the next 40min and decided that there was no point pushing any further today we had hit our 26km mark, so we stoped made a huge fire and cooked our dinner and I made damper! It was a very tough day and both our bodies are very sore.