Australia by Bicycle - page 16

At the end of the fourth day on the Oodnadatta Track, I camped halfway between Oodnadatta and William Creek. During the day the sky became overcast and the wind blew strong. It wasn’t typical weather for the desert, I thought. During the night, it rained, slowly, but continuously. In the morning it was still raining, so I set off for William Creek in the rain. At first I thought the wet road would be an advantage because the water would compact the sand and make riding easier. Soon that proved contrary. The surface became softer, and the mud became sticky. The wheels were collecting mud, so every few minutes I scraped the mud to prevent the wheels from marooning me and my bike. Enough. It was impossible to reach William Creek. It was even impossible to go any further on the bike. Just then, two four-wheel drive cars approached from the opposite direction. They stopped.

Breakfast along the road with my life-savers Tim, Sandra, Donald and Sheila

I was reluctant to ask for a ride, because both cars were travelling in the opposite direction. However, the drivers told me that due to the rainfall, the road was closed. It was not likely that another car would pass again. I gladly accepted their offer to come along with them, back to the direction where I had begun that day. These kind strangers were two couples from Mount Gambier on the south coast, on their way to the Tanami Desert. Tim and Sandra drove one car. I sat in the front, with my bike in the back. Donald and Sheila drove the other car. While the road was impassable for my bike, the four wheel drive cars did well. We passed jokes back and and forth with the the radio. Hours passed, and the rain continued. We broke for a pleasant breakfast-picnic along the road, little bothered by the rain. In a still relaxed mood, we arrived in Oodnadatta.

Even for 4WD cars the road was impassable

People at the roadhouse were surprised to see me, the "madman with the pushbike" again. What we learned was that all the tracks were closed. There was no way out of Oodnadatta. That situation could last for days. My scheduled was shattered. The four others also did not like the situation at all and they desperately wanted to reach Marla and the hard surfaced Stuart Highway that day. They decided to take the risk of sneaking onto the track and to continue for Marla. Gladly I accepted their offer to join them. We left Oodnadatta, our mood nervous because the road became worse as the rain poured incessantly from the grey sky. A few times we passed other cars and exchanged information about the road conditions. It didn't look good. Further down the road, one driver told us, a truck and a camper were stuck in the mud. We no longer joked over the radio. Both drivers concentrated on keeping their cars on the track. After an hour we reached the truck (of the Highway Department, carrying traffic signs) and the camper with an elderly couple inside. To pass them posed problems. The only way for our two cars to prevent from sliding away, was to stay in the middle of the road. We failed. The car I was in, with Tim and Sandra, stranded in the mud alongside the road. Donald and Sheila also failed, their car sliding onto the other side of the road. Now we were a cluster of four vehicles struggling in the mud.

Back in Marla: cleaning the bicycle

The people with the camper had abandoned any hope of continuing. They had already prepared to camp for a few days where their camper rested. The truckdriver, however, finally freed himself. He was unable to help us. Our situation was bad, with both cars completely stuck, and sinking more each minute. Then a jeep came rattling by. The driver and the woman next to him were from the roadhouse in Oodnadatta. "Hey, the pushbiker!" they called out in surprise. Suddenly, I felt famous. The people in the jeep towed us onto the road again. I was more then ever aware of how people depend on each other in the Australian Outback. Already in one day strangers in four-wheel drives had rescued my bike and me, and now two people in a jeep who called me "the pushbiker" were rescuing the rescuers - and me too! Once rescued, the four of us continued our nerve-breaking way to Marla. Night brought the dark, and since the road was so slippery and soft, stopping would be disastrous. The two four-wheeled drives’ headlights were blackened by mud, only occasionally washed clear by the rain. We all were in constant fear of running off the road again and getting stuck again. After 2 hours, we saw lights on the horizon: relief and Marla were in view.

Interesting links referring to the region:

There is also a complete daily log of this tour, but only in Dutch.