After another early start M and G-KIRK battled against headwinds to Tenneant Creek for refuelling after which they set off again towards Alice Springs but were brought down by darkness. This time, as a variation, they landed on a small road at Attack Creek, near a campsite where they spent the night, guests of some marvellously hospitable people who cooked M supper and made him a bed.
He reports that he was asleep by 20.00hrs and "had the best night's sleep this trip". They were away early the next morning - his fellow campers stopped lorries for them to take off from the road. They arrived at Alice Springs at approx. 14.00hrs. Before this arrival at Alice, M and G-KIRK made an unscheduled stop owing to a shortage of oil. Again, they landed on a little road. M flagged down a truck which just happened to be carrying oil drums and whose driver kindly supplied M with the necessary to continue.
What about the other G-KIRK and I? We travelled in the Campbell Team's Albatros to Alice Springs. She is the most beautiful and extraordinary aircraft - a "flying boat". It is such an unusual experience for me to fly at 10000ft other than on an airline machine (which I don't consider to be flying - rather more being transported). I wasn't asked to "watch out for pylons" once!
M and G-KIRK arrived at Alice Springs on a rest day. It had been our intention to fly G-KIRK to Ayers Rock and to camp for the night. However, their late arrival, M's sheer exhaustion and the illegality of cramming me, the other G-KIRK and M into the original G-KIRK combined to make a lazy afternoon by the pool attractive.
M was so tired that he began to talk of being unable to face further 11 hour days and toyed with the idea of simply heading straight for Sydney. It seemed to me that not to finish the route when so, so near completion was not an option and I urged him to continue - so close! I have never before known M feel unable to continue flying. Usually the more hours the better.