After all the hassles checking in and out of the Alice motel, 24 hours later I realised I'd already paid, via the tour company. I was dumb for not remembering, the motel was incompetent for not having it in their system. I've since discovered others on the tour who stayed there the night before the tour began also had problems. Neither was I amused that some sadist had left the alarm clock set for some ungodly hour. And on top of it all, I left my walking pole behind. Bother! Beware the Chifley!
The horror of Night One on the road quickly taught me to be strategic about where to place my sleeping spot. The silence of the desert – not bl—dy likely!!! That night I was in the path of the night trekkers … mostly men but some women, and some who trekked more than once, right by me …. to go to the toilet during the night. Then the unhealthy ones with hacking coughs. And one who had a fantastic night's sleep, didn't wake at all … snored on and on and on and …... I don't exaggerate when I say she can be heard all over the camp sites we go to, which have so far all been quite different in size and set-up. I managed to avoid the first two problems on Night Two, but haven't always been successful since.
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| Tilmouth Well Roadhouse |
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| Tilmouth Well camp - with my lone stretcher in the middle |
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| At Tilmouth Well: Road-train plus outback vehicle recovery truck |