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Early the next morning Sedef set off with Lucy and Keiran (and Nic’s Condor) for Katherine, leaving Nic to his own devices with only two pot noodles and a mouldy apple (it was obvious what would be eaten last – the pot noodles :p).
We arrived at the bike shop in Katherine early afternoon. Nigel at the shop took one look at the bike, shook his head ominously and said: “Your trip is over!”. Even if welding was a possibility he did not think anyone in town would be prepared to do it given the critical point of the breakage, and the potential consequences if the welding didn’t hold and caused a serious accident. Downcast, Sedef went to the Kookaburra backpackers’ lodge we had previously stayed at to get a dorm bed.
The manager, Russell, at the lodge, was surprised to see her back so soon! Once he heard her story he threw the bike on the back of his mini-bus, and drove her around to the nearest welders. Alas it was 4pm by the time we got there and the welders were already closed for the day. We tried another welders, same story. In desperation she placed a call to the Australian recumbent dealer (in Canberra) to see if he might have a spare part. Unfortunately he did not have any bikes in stock, let alone a part. The only option was to have one sent over from the manufacturers in Holland, which would take at least 2 weeks.
The next morning Russell drove her back to the welders, who took one look at the bike and said he could not do it since his machine was not set up to weld aluminium (up to that point we thought the bracket was steel). He suggested another welder which we tried next. It was a big industrial set up, and the young guy who served us took a quick look, said ”No problem, come back in an hour, that will be 50 bucks”. Sedef’s sigh of relief must have been heard in Russia!
An hour later the bike was welded, and the guy claimed it was as good as new! Still, to be on the safe side, and since it was still covered under warranty, Sedef arranged for a replacement part to be shipped over to Alice Springs, the next big town on our route, 2 weeks away. Nigel did some final fine-tuning of the spokes and gears, and the bike was rideable again!
There was a bus heading back south, but it was extortionate (AUS$100, plus an unknown charge for the bike), and they wouldn’t be able to stop at the rest area (only stopping in towns). So she got on the road and started to hitchhike. Three hours later, not a single caravan had stopped, so she had to accept defeat and head back to the backpackers’ lodge.
The next morning she was back on the road at 7am, when the caravaners first get on the move. By 11 o’clock, rather sunburnt and p*ssed off, she was about to give up and try the bus again when a road train pulled up. The owner-driver Graham, and his friend Alan were on their way back home, and were driving past the rest area where Nic was camped!! Sedef was bracing herself to find a half-starved Nic back at the campsite… Little did she know…
