It was time again.

Though it does become second nature like anything else you do often enough, that tingly feeling of childlike excitement mixed with and a healthy dose of hesitance never fails. Neither did it that day. I opened my eyes. Got up, got dressed. And took another one of those exhilarating steps out of my comfort zone.

My couple of days in Halls Creek had come and gone all at once. Though thanks to staying with the lovely local teacher Shannon, I did get to enjoy a good rest while making some well needed research. The Tanami desert was up next – and I was (not really) ready for it.


Classic stock up: Oats for breakfast. Tuna for dinner. And peanuts for sanity.

I was still only a couple of weeks into Australia, but had long lost count on the number of people telling me that the 1100+ km dirt track through the Tanami simply couldn’t be done on a pushbike. And don’t get me wrong – I do listen to people giving me advice. But then again. I’ve had quite a lot of people telling me that quite a lot of stuff can’t be done on a bicycle. And in my experience they tend to be quite… wrong.

So I listened. Decided the best thing would be not to listen.

And I went.

With 14 days worth of food, and a first 25L of water I was loaded heavier than ever before. Wobbly like a child on her first ride without training wheels, I put in my first kilometers on the dusty desert road that would be my home for the upcoming weeks. And it was obvious from the start.

This would definitely be a bit of a challenge. This would be heavy. This would be slow.

But more than anything: This would be amazing.

In the next one, I’ll tell you all about it.

Fredrika

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