DAY 34: Nullabor Roadhouse to rest area 27 km W of Nundroo Roadhouse

Thurs 8th Nov 07
119 km @ 15.9 km/hr
gusty headwind then no wind at all!
Had breakfast in the roadhouse then away well before 8.

The wind was fairly strong and in my face - so much for the theory that it doesn’t get windy until later! As I was within the 40km or so of true ‘treeless plain’ (Nullabor) there was no shelter at all and the wind was full on. I battled for about 30km until some trees reappeared and things started to improve. I noticed that the wind was moving to my left (north) and as the road bent to the south the headwind was soon gone, and I had a slight tailwind. So fickle is nature! From 9 to 18 km/hr in just half an hour.
It was also very hot today with blazing sunshine, well into the 30’s so lots of sun block used.
It felt good to be moving faster again, partly negated by the return of the roly-poly hills again. I could have reached Nundroo before dark, but I decided, along with 3 or 4 motorhomers, to stay the night at the rest area. I cooked some pasta and sat on a log and ate as the flies swarmed around me. I’m sure there wouldn’t be so many if people didn’t just chuck their rubbish on the ground at these places instead of in the bin provided.

These lizards (right) are all over the place - often killed on the road as they are so slow. If you go near them they open their mouths in an aggressive stance but it's all bravado.

At this rate I should complete the Nullabor run (Norseman to Ceduna) by Saturday all being well - around 1200 km in 11 days. It has probably been easier than it might had the weather been hotter, but the headwinds were struggle at times.

One thing that highly amused me was a dunny (above) kindly provided at one of the rest areas that I popped into for a snack. I’ve seen one with no door before now but this one had no roof or walls either! It comprised of a steel drum buried in the ground with a WC fitted to the top of the drum (see pic). At least there was a bush in front of it! I won’t tell you whether I used it or not!