Running to Darwin!
25 Jul 2013 | Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
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And fate called! A phone call and I'm gone. Appointement in Darwin in four days. Thumb out and off to crossing 4200km of Australian desert.
Heaps of dead kangaroos on the side of the road, but you see the living ones only at night. That's why people don't drive at night, they don't want to break their car on them, that makes my progression quite hard as as soon as the night comes, which is early at this time of the year, I'm stuck until the morning. 500km the first day, a good 1400km the second one. And after a quick 300km on the third day I'm stuck in the middle of the desert, next to a petrol station, 300km to the next city, 7hrs waiting, and no one stops! I'm finally saved by a nice Belgian couple (actually more saved from the Frenchies -dikkenek they'd call them- I was getting a ride with, than saved from the desert) for 300km more. And same for the following day, 250km to the middle of nowhere, the real nowhere this time, in the middle of the desert under the sun, with no sign of human life. And there I stand, very little traffic, mostly older couple freshly retired tourists towing a caravan who don't give a shit, could be someone dying on the side of, they wouldn't give a shit! I spend 4 or 5 hours there, I don't care counting, I have to be in Darwin that evening, I'm not gonna make it, I'm quite desperate. An old lady finally give me 450km more to Halls Creek. I like the place, I could stay there if my appointment was cancelled because I'm late, it's full of nice aboriginal people who come talk to me, gimme food and so on. Almost everyone walks barefoot, youngs, olds, blacks, white, men, women... A phone call, I can be one day late. But I'm still 1000km away from Darwin, it's possible but not guaranteed. I've four people waiting only for me there so I definitely wouldn't have them waiting one more day, I finally take a crazy expensive bus which leaves at 3.30am and takes me to Darwin...
Now I understand why people spend so much money on traveling: they are in a hurry. I hate being in a hurry, the last few days I had to refuse several invitations, I couldn't sleep my share, would fall at the side of the road and wake up at 5am already on the road, was stressed (well, as much as I can), and finally spent a lot of money. It's the last time I travel in a hurry!