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Australia - Outback

This looks promising for an old mountain man like me, but the promised mountains never materialized :( Of course, I should probably quit whinging (Ozzie for whining) because the ride was actually quite nice.
Of course, I still use my camera trick whenever I talk to kids.
This couple gave me a couple sandwiches when I really needed them, and I greatly appreciated it. I generally found caravaners to be extremely nice.
I just loved the icon on this Beware of Cows sign.
These windmills are scattered all over the outback. They're all unhooked and just exist to give tourists something to take pictures of.  They are somewhat useful for identifying rest stops that have water though.  The water is piped in these days instead of being pulled up by the windmill.  The water you'll find here is bore water which tastes a bit rough but it's safe.  Most of the time I carried sufficient bottled water, but I ran out a few times.
This is a closer look at Bonkville. I would have quite liked the area if I wasn't mad about crashing.
An Ozzie Pie and a milk. Now this is living.
These guys are building a vineyard out in the middle of the desert in the Outback.  I would have liked to visit them for a day if I wasn't obsessing with distance at that particular time.
Here is one of my very few campsites in the Outback.  I'm gradually getting more comfortable with the idea of camping, and will do more of it in the future.   This particular spot was a bit cold though.  I had ice on my tent when I woke up in the morning.
Phil is going across the Outback from west to east the hard way.  Good on ya, mate.
This is one of the obligatory Ayers Rock sunset photos.  The rock did look pretty good during sunrise and sunset, but I felt somewhat like a tourist being herded out for the photos.
This is a slightly better view of the Olgas from the top of Ayers Rock.
I was a bit surprised by the number of people that made it all the way to the top of Ayers Rock.  The climb is somewhat dangerous, with a few ledges that even made me hesitate.  In the U.S., I think people wouldn't be allowed up here because someone would fall off and sue the Park Service, but Ozzies don't seem to be as lawsuit happy as Americans.  There were quite a few people that made it all the way to the top, and I was glad to see that.  The most common way people get killed on the rock is chasing after a hat or something else lost in the wind.
Here I'm eating a nutritious meal to build up my strength from the ordeal of riding in a bus for 4 hours.