Jamie Nicoll - Australia

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Photos and words: Jamie Nicoll & Anja Foley

Imagine hot red desert sand, endless horizons, crimson balls of sunset, hot springs, bike-length lizards, crocodiles and sea turtles cruising around the turquoise Timor Sea, flocks of green budgies, waterfalls crashing over bright orange cliffs, ancient Indigenous culture, camping under the stars - stillness, “Castel like” serenity! That is Outback Australia for us. This is where our bikes have taken us.

Kiwi Jamie, Anja, and Collin the Landcruiser have returned to Australia for a second stint of overlanding adventure with the continued mission of riding in remote and unusual places. 

Arriving at our friends in Coffs Harbour Australia, we were so excited to be reunited with Collin and rejoiced in the comforts of our all-in-one adventure vehicle. Collin was parked at our friends on the  East Coast for the last 6 months. We first jumped on our bikes and headed out for a few rides at the local “Saw Mill” trails. It is a simple little park with sand-based trails. We enjoyed the nice flow and the fun log rides scattered throughout. But it was time we fueled up (a casual 250 liters), filled the water tank, restocked our provisions, did some maintenance, and off we went. This year’s mission was to head into the Red Centre crossing the Madigan Line, the most remote track in the Simpson Desert before taking a northern course to Arnhem Land via Kakadu National Park just east of Darwin. 

A day's drive from the coast we stopped at Durrigo National Park, a ride that feels like being transported back in time. We checked out these rainforest trails, sitting at roughly 1,000 meters in elevation. Durrigo is known for its remnants of ancient forests that are linked back to Gondwana Land.

The Rosewood trail, a shared track, was a superb ride with its exhilarating fast flow and technical creek crossings. A speedy traversing descent on steep terrain made for high concentration, and staying wary of the numerous vines hanging across the track. We stopped so often, captured by the tall ancient trees with huge buttress roots. We climbed around waterfalls flowing down massive big boulders and even jumped into the ice-cold river for a very quick morning dip.

A couple thousand kilometers later we were at Tibooburra, a very remote outback town on the edge of the Strzelecki Desert. It is best known for its 450 million-year-old granite tors. This was a quick ride, but great to stretch our legs on the long drive. Heading up this loop track set amongst a field of ancient granite boulders, provided a mix of smooth track and very technical rock manoeuvres. It was scorching hot too and our cold daily banana smoothies were calling.

The riding is hugely spread out as we cross this massive continent. We had already woven our way across the Strzelecki and Stuart Deserts using the abandoned Walkers Crossing to get us near to Birdsville, the edge of the next big nothing. As we wanted to explore more of this outback, we now had the huge Simpson Desert to cross to get to our next riding destination of Alice Springs.

The Madigan Line, our most direct route, also meant a lot of sand and over 1,100 dunes to scramble up. Red sand flew as the low-pressure tyres searched for traction, with low-range gears engaged and the right foot deeply engaged. Bouncing around for hours, and then arriving at camp, there is nothing quite like the stillness, the crimson sunsets and sunrises, and sleeping around campfires under the stars.

Pulling into Alice was a chance to restock and do maintenance after the extremely rugged outback crossing. It is one rough crossing that's for sure, with uncountable bottom outs on our new and raised suspension and heavy corrugations rattering everything for hours.

Our mountain bike community was there behind us, using addresses to receive parts and others welding up cracked bike racks, providing us with a camp spot and hot showers. One of them, Chris has been the most excellent man to know. He rang up and offered to show us around a new trail network. 

30km of trail, built by one man,  Mark’s network sits near Owen Springs, southwest of Alice. Many Alice Springs riders haven’t even heard about these trails let alone ridden them. These trails are well suited for e-bikes as the additional speed creates a lot of fun on less gravity-orientated sections. Rocketing along on flat sections, and weaving our way through narrow stands of trees, dry river beds, up and down rocky outcrops, and long spinifex grass, constantly careful of tyre placements on the many abrasive slab rock sections.

From Alice Springs directly north 1,500km Darwin sits on the coast. East of Darwin there is the traditional Aboriginal area called Arnhem Land. On this route north just outside of Katherin we pulled into Nitmiluk NP, the bike trails here are built on the escarpments, high above the Katherine Gorge. The tracks weave between boulder fields and over playful slab rock sections, leaving us smiling and descriptive chatter flowing. To finish, we dived into the sparkling thermal steam in town, leaving us stoked and refreshed. And, if that wasn’t enough, our new friend Andrew, the local Mtb club president, turns out to be an ex-crocodile hunter who back in the day would jump on the backs of up to 8-foot-long saltwater crocodiles and bring them up to a boat for scientific research tagging. He also regaled us with stories of his youth, diving, yes diving not jumping from 200-foot (61m) towers into the sea at Port Darwin, and even his time on set for Crocodile Dundee. Being an ex-park ranger with excellent storytelling skills, he is also a walking encyclopedia for all things nature-related. Andrew was so entertaining that his stories distracted us on even the longest climbs. 

Arnhem land and the Cobourg Peninsular as a riding destination is not mentioned anywhere that we found, so, we thought that sounded like a great start. Once again this meant filling the full 250 liters of diesel to make the distance there and back on these remote roads.

Arnhem Land has been an Aboriginal stronghold for over 65,000 years. British colonizers struggled to create a lasting presence here due to the extreme tropical conditions. Leaving the indigenous population and their way of living comparatively undisturbed. Aboriginal elder Violet Smith of the area clan quotes “Long ago we Jawoyn lived here. The old people have passed on. It's okay for you to go around here. You stay maybe two nights, then you go back to your country”

Our efforts to get the correct permits would test even the most tenacious administrator. Getting into Arnhem Land from the West means traversing the Kakadu National Park with its stunning rock gorges and deep plunge pools. Even the accepted swimming spots are somewhat “at your own risk” as from time to time a saltwater croc has made its way into these pools undetected, avoiding the purpose-built traps and monitoring.  Oh, but these pools are so delightfully refreshing as we were now well into the 40-degree zone with high humidity which makes any type of exercise including a leisurely bike ride feel like a workout. 

The border to Arnhem Land is via the famous ford at Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River, most famous for its large saltwater crocs swimming around on either side of the vehicle, as you can imagine it is not a place to get stuck that’s for sure. We counted 12 crocs in the water around us as we drove across the river, all waiting for the fish to come over the rocks with the tidal shift. From our camp, there was a sweet 40km bike ride around Smith Point, the northern tip of Garig Gunak Barlu National Park on the Cobourg Peninsula. With the vastness of the Timor Sea in the background, Olive Ridley sea turtles coming on shore to lay their eggs, and an epic UNESCO wetland, the ride became a well-rounded experience.

After an epic trip through the most remote parts of Australia, Jamie and Anja are planning on shipping Collin over to South Korea, to access  Russia, Mongolia, and many of the Stans on route to Europe. Stay tuned for more adventures.