DAY 33: bush camp 60km E of WA/SA border to Nullabor Roadhouse
Weds 7th Nov 07
130 km @ 14.4 km/hr
gusty headwind most of day approx 20-30 km/hr
Having learnt that the wind here dies overnight and doesn’t seem to get back up to full force until late morning (when the land warms up?), despite feeling like a lie-in I dragged myself up at 0600 and after a quick peanut butter and jam sandwich was away soon after 7. True enough, there was little wind and for the first 2 hours made good progress. But there were viewpoints of the Australian Byte coastline to inspect, and very spectacular they were too, and I was slowed down even more by all the tourists I met at these places - mostly motorhomers, and they are a nice lot, but i am getting a little tired of answering the same questions such as "what made you want to do this?" or "where did you start?" etc. etc....i don’t wish to appear anti-social but it does get a little tiresome sometimes, especially when I wanted to get on and get the calmer conditions.
The Bunda cliffs are pretty impressive - the viewpoints you can see for many miles straight down the rocky coast, and the cream and grey of the cliffs against the emerald green and ice-blue areas of sea
is startlingly beautiful. I went to have a look at all 6 viewpoints as they were all within a km of the road so no big detour.
After 1000 or so the wind started to increase as expected and although it was strong it was a little less so than yesterday as can be seen from my average speed. I hadn’t intended to go all theway to Nullabor RH but i was going well, I had the time, and cooked FOOD was calling, so i just kept going - it was a very hard day though and I was whacked on arrival after 9 hours in the saddle. The light wa starting to fade as i put the tent up - it’s going dark just before 2000 at the moment. For the exorbitant sum of $15 (not including shower) I was priveleged to erect the tent on rock-hard ground behind a dilapidated building - rip off! Still, I did get showered and was soon gazing at the menu with mouth watering - and I chose spag boll yet again - it just hits the spot so well after cycling, and of the 3 recent examples this was the best - very meaty as I like it, and lots of grated cheese (no Parmesan) over it. Just the job!
I heard from some motorhomers that the 2 couples cycling the same way as me, that I have separately metcouple of weeks ago, are around a day behind me, so it looks like we might meet up again soon.
130 km @ 14.4 km/hr
gusty headwind most of day approx 20-30 km/hr
Having learnt that the wind here dies overnight and doesn’t seem to get back up to full force until late morning (when the land warms up?), despite feeling like a lie-in I dragged myself up at 0600 and after a quick peanut butter and jam sandwich was away soon after 7. True enough, there was little wind and for the first 2 hours made good progress. But there were viewpoints of the Australian Byte coastline to inspect, and very spectacular they were too, and I was slowed down even more by all the tourists I met at these places - mostly motorhomers, and they are a nice lot, but i am getting a little tired of answering the same questions such as "what made you want to do this?" or "where did you start?" etc. etc....i don’t wish to appear anti-social but it does get a little tiresome sometimes, especially when I wanted to get on and get the calmer conditions.
The Bunda cliffs are pretty impressive - the viewpoints you can see for many miles straight down the rocky coast, and the cream and grey of the cliffs against the emerald green and ice-blue areas of sea
is startlingly beautiful. I went to have a look at all 6 viewpoints as they were all within a km of the road so no big detour.
After 1000 or so the wind started to increase as expected and although it was strong it was a little less so than yesterday as can be seen from my average speed. I hadn’t intended to go all theway to Nullabor RH but i was going well, I had the time, and cooked FOOD was calling, so i just kept going - it was a very hard day though and I was whacked on arrival after 9 hours in the saddle. The light wa starting to fade as i put the tent up - it’s going dark just before 2000 at the moment. For the exorbitant sum of $15 (not including shower) I was priveleged to erect the tent on rock-hard ground behind a dilapidated building - rip off! Still, I did get showered and was soon gazing at the menu with mouth watering - and I chose spag boll yet again - it just hits the spot so well after cycling, and of the 3 recent examples this was the best - very meaty as I like it, and lots of grated cheese (no Parmesan) over it. Just the job!
I heard from some motorhomers that the 2 couples cycling the same way as me, that I have separately metcouple of weeks ago, are around a day behind me, so it looks like we might meet up again soon.
This bicycle was apparently the first to be ridden accross the Nullabor by a helmeted cyclist - it is situated at the Nullabor Roadhouse!? Bit low tech?
Health report: the boils are well on the mend; I’m still taking the penicyllin though. The sciatica and thumb joint problems that have dogged me for the last couple of years seem to have disappeared - the magical healing properties of cycling?! Despite using factor 30 I’m still peeling, and that’s from very little sun, though mostly it has been blazing sunshine the last 2 or 3 days. All in all I’m in decent shape, though a roadside shrine to some poor devil reminded me not to be complacent about the road trains - they are my constant companions. Oh for a quiet country lane!
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