It's shameful.
I have been in Australia for six decades
But I've never visited the outback.
The solution?
A one week dirt ride in the centre of Australia, visiting all the iconic landmarks.
Ayers Rock.
The Olgas.
Kings Canyon.
Chambers Pillar.
And the incredible Finke Gorge.
It's the Rock Six Day Tour, courtesy of Outback Motorcycle Adventures.
Day one.
We start at Alice Springs in the red centre of Australia.
There is a bit of highway before we hit the dirt.
The guys only run these tours for six months of the year
to avoid the deadly heat of the outback summer.
It's currently winter so great temperatures for riding.
It can get chilly at night but the guys provide us with warm swags,
hot food and camp fires every night.
Woohoo! The Finke Desert Race track.
This is the fastest desert race in the southern hemisphere.
The pro riders can reach 190kmh on some sections.
And in 2022 David Walsh averaged about 130kmh on his record-breaking win.
Jeff and I slow down as we reminded ourselves that injuries
often happen on the first morning of tours like this.
And sure enough, we had two riders taken to hospital by lunch time.
There are plenty of crests which can be tricky.
If you slow down too much the front wheel digs into the soft sand and you can lose your steering.
One of our guys demonstrates the technique.
And it's back to easy dirt roads.
The outback is big.
Seriously big.
Riders told me about the endless vistas and it's hard to comprehend until you are actually here.
There is the sense of timelessness too.
The outback features some of the oldest flattest landscapes in the world.
We are riding in landscapes that can be up to 500 million years old.
And Indigenous Australians have lived here for around 50,000 years.
Very basic crash. A sore knee.
We are almost there.
Chambers Pillar.
You can see that little pillar in the background?
That's our destination.
Unfortunately Simon wasn't wearing any knee guards.
It was a simple crash in first gear but it fractured his tibia.
It's a good reminder to always wear knee guards at an absolute minimum.
I have been on a few tours where riders are injured on the first day.
So Jeff, Coxy and I keep reminding ourselves to go slow.
White Aussies used these as landmarks
on the way to Alice Springs before the railway was established in 1920.
Plenty of guys organise their own outback ride.
But one of the advantages of this tour is that arrangements
have been made to ride across various private properties.
Without this access, we would spend a lot of time on highways trying to join up the dirt sections.
And here we are... the Finke river.
The oldest known river in the world with an estimated age of 400 million years.
It flows for only a few days a year.
When this happens, the water usually disappears into the sands of the Simpson Desert.
We know there are cold beers waiting for us at the campsite, so it's time to head back.
Our support crew already have dinner cooking.
It's time to sit around the campfire,
admire the sunset, and tell tales about how well we rode today.
I can't wait for tomorrow!