Pedaling toward Oodnadatta

Australia Trip Planning #3

I spot various names on the map of Australia and wonder what those places are like.  Names like Oodnadatta, Aputula, Titjikala, Kaltukatjara, and many more enticingly pop up.  Many are names that one doesn’t find on the list of possible places for most tourists to visit.  Off the beaten path, the location of those places even suggest “don’t even come here.” But such places are the ones that arouse my curiosity.

I google such names (my gratefulness goes out to all the wikipedia contributors) and have an enlightened time learning the facts of each town or village.  Sometimes I find a wealth of encyclopedic information, and at other times I find just a place marker in wikipedia. Some are established towns with several hundred aboriginal inhabitants.  Others are simply humble villages of just a few inhabitants.  But they do have a community store where I can get food and water!

Many of the towns sit in aboriginal land, land given back to the original inhabitants by the Australian government, beginning with the Aboriginal Land Rights Act back in 1976.  Nowadays, any traveler passing through their land must get permission from the governing aboriginal council to pass.  Sort of like a visa within a visa.  If one is a tourist with a touring company, they’ll arrange the permission.  If one is by oneself, well, you know the score.  So we will see where I end up going.  But then… if I stay on the main highway, I’ll be okay.  I guess.  Yes, pictured below is one of the main highways cutting through much of the outback.

I know that once I land in Perth (the starting point) and start pedaling, adjustments will be made and the route will continually be revised.  But, then, that’s the fun of it.  For one doesn’t know what each day will bring. As is often said, most of the excitement in a trip is the planning.  I’m getting excited even as I write about this.