After 19 days in Alice it was time to push on to the Southern Ocean. The main reason for my extended stay in Alice was to stretch my road trip over a longer time period in the interest of economic sustainability. Central Australia is a good place to stretch time because it has uncluttered and unhurried lifestyle. I know that when I return to more populated areas refuge will be more difficult to find. It was initially going to be a very short stay with 38 degree days but the weather soon changed for the better and for the most part was fairly pleasant.

My first stop was Henbury Meteorite Conservation Park. I have never walked around the rim of a meteorite crater before so as they say, there is a first time for everything. I had the camp to myself that night and with full moon rising, the soft desert breeze and the solitude it was all very pleasant. Apart from the flies, nothing much lives out here and it is very quiet. It is so quiet that I realised for the first time I have my own noise inside my head, like the sound of crickets from a distance. I don’t know if this is normal or not, maybe complete silence is only for the deaf.

The highway crosses the Finke River again near here and I leant that it is one of the oldest rivers in the world. I would like to see all the Lake Kati Thanda basin rivers in full flood and then to view the lake at full capacity. Being a rare event would make it a worthwhile bucket item.