Today I was cruising along after lunch, when I heard a bird above me and a shadow flying by low several times. I turned around and saw the bird above me. It was somehow attracted by my helmet and inspecting the little bug zoo I carry since Darwin. I got my GoPro ready just in time to film the bird’s last attempt to checkout the prey. Thereafter he gave up and rested in a branch. Although I turned around to give him another chance, he didn’t return again …
a short video sequence
The sunrise in the outback is very spectacular. I’ll will a photo or two a day from our current location to this gallery, if I am lucky enough to catch is with my camera …
Photos from the first day into the Northern Territory Outback from Darwin to Adelaide River.
My little smiley, which accompanied me since the arrival on Sumbawa, and was the highlight of the kids and adults on every cycling day, once spotted, has a new friend. I couldn’t get an Australian visa for him, thus he had to stay behind with a foster family in Timor-Leste. All day I had to escape from young boys chasing me uphill to get the ‘ball’. At the second to last Coke Stop before Dili, there was a single boy with his father, and Smiley finally changed ownership. The young boy is now happy owner of the yellow smiling face. He did not realize, that it is a present for him until we got back on our bikes and left. Then his face changed into a big smile, competing with smiley.
Other than Sponge Bob, who exploded in the thin, hot air of Mt. Bromo, and Angry Bird, who was killed by a goat at lunch, when he accidentally left the van, Smiley survived the long, hard cycling days and even made a border crossing to Timor-Leste.
Let’s see, what Australia has for riding surprises.
Tweet ##transoceaniaEarlier in the tour I was cycling up a long climb and suddenly felt the sweat and warm breath of someone drafting me all the way up. On top of the climb the fellow rider – one of the fastest in the tour, if not the fastest, and whom I usually see only 3 times a day
1. at breakfast
2. briefly on the road when passing me and speeding away
3. at dinner
closed up, stayed next to me and said:
“You have got sexy legs, I wanted to pass you for a long time, but my eyes became so addicted to your legs, that my nerve system failed to instruct my legs to go faster”
A rest(less) day in Bromo. After a long cycling day with a huge climb up to the crater rim of the main caldera, 
followed by a dive into the crater and a 7km walk through deep volcanic ashes and sand to our hotel, we got an early morning call at 3am to get up for the spectacular sunrise. A 4×4 took us up to the 2700m high mountain with the view point over the whole Bromo crater region. We were not the only ones. An endless line of Jeeps 
were already parked along the road and more to arrive after us. It were more than 1000 persons on top, waiting their cameras ready to save this unique moment. And it was worth the early morning getup! I already knew the scenery from pictures, but live and with the changing colors as the sun rises and sends its beams into the cr
ater it is breathtaking and words can’t really describe it. But this was only the start. We drove down into the crater with the 3 volcanoes to hike up and around the Bromo Crater Rim. 250 steps later, on a steep stair built into the crater slope, and we could see the source of the smoke, that constantly rises into the acid air. Wow, I have never been so close to the center of the earth … 5 of us (Berne, Mike, Paul, Chris and myself) dared to hike around the crater rim, to circumvent the 
crater. Gusty winds blew sand over the edges, making the hike on the narrow path on the rim an act of balance, to not tumble into the deep hole with the boiling soup, or roll down the outer slope. It was an unforgettable extra hour to walk around in the cool morning air, with legs still sore from the long cycling/climbing days and body packed into thick coats. I managed to keep my camera operational in the blowing wind, to take the photos, although the fine sand/ashes, which made it into every corner and whole, gave the lens and autofocus motors a hard time.
Find more photos in the gallery below:
The Indonesian part of the Trans-Oceania is almost over. 4 cycling days before our arrival in Dili / East Timor, from where we will fly out to Darwin / Northern Territory, Australia, the cycling group assembled in Kutang / Timor for an early morning, pre-breakfast group photo.
Per, Bob, Ruth, Dara, Brett, Paul, Dan, John, Stirling, Chris, Hanns, Henry, Daryl
Jacqueline, Shirley, Joachim, Gerald, Cathrine, Nellie, Annegrete, Jodi, Eric
p.s. somehow over night the banner was magically corrected 
Today we arrived in Kupang on Timor, the 7th island of our cycling and island hopping trip and the last Indonesian, before heading to Australia. After a short flight from Ende on Flores and a 8 km taxi drive from the airport into town, we were warmly welcomed at the Sasando International Hotel with music on the traditional Sasando instrument and a very nice banner, honoring our extremely long trip from Medan to Sydney.
Now I have a problem to explain to my employer and followers, why I need a 4 months leave to cycle the gigantic 11km from Medan, a new suburb of Sidney, into the town. 
Lets phrase it different. Good Job Cristiano! My odometer already shows 5300km at not even halftime of the full tour. You proved to be the master of making a probably short and easy trip a giant monster.
Looking forward to find out how you turned the final 6 km from here to Sydney into another long and man-eating 6000km monster stretch. 
No more unnecessary stops for the “Gold’s” while riding. TdA has established a new catering and support system for their family and staff members, to ease their cycling day and make the search for proper Coke Stops obsolete. Every day one of the TdA client cyclists is chosen by a ‘lucky draw’ to go ahead and make sure, there is always cold Coke, fruits and/or ice cream passed to them when they need it. No more wasting energy for them to scan for a stable with fridge and the proper goodies. Like for the ‘pros’ in major cycling events, the food is being passed on to them on-the-fly, so they can continue their high speed chase to sweep the other riders.
However there is a little challenge for the 2. Only one item is handed out at a time. So it is always fun to see them racing to get it first. This time Nellie outperformed her uncle Henry and she run away with the treat without sharing – ‘The Winner takes it All’.
I finally received my 6th Island bracelet, to complete the set of bracelets from each of the islands we have cycled so far – Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa and Flores .
It was hard work; I had to climb 6646m from sea level (Labuan Bajo) to sea level (Ende) to complete my mission! In Ende I eventually went out with Gerald to inspect the top attraction of the town, a small, battery powered, portable carousel with two young kids riding proud their carts. On the way back we stopped at a small shop with all kind of ‘Chinese jewelry’ and lots of wooden statues, batik and other things. There were a few items, that looked nice and different than the Chinese ‘plastic art’. Nobody was in the shop so we called for assistance. Two young girls were obviously attracted
by the strange male voices and came over from the associated house. Very shy they entered the shop to find us two. A few words exchanged and I was ‘engaged’ with Sri, when she
tied the bracelet to my wrist, amusedly watched by her friend Isra. To me it is always a surprise how relaxed and open minded everything is in this country and how easy you make contact and friends. A few words Bahasa Indonesia combined with English and all doors are wide open. After a final group photo Gerald and I were back out into the darkness to return to our hotel.