Thursday, November 22, 2007

DAY 46: Tumby Bay to Arno Bay



Tue 20th Nov 07
75 km @ 21.5 km/hr
BIG tailwind (45 km/hr-ish / force 6-7

At 0130 this morning there was a big electric storm, starting with distant flashes all over the place every 10 seconds, leading to ever louder claps of thunder, developing into heavy rain and high winds. The rain I wasn't too worried about; the winds were a bit of a concern to me as I haven't any experience with this tent (MSR Hubba Hubba) in high winds. So far it has not let a drop of water in despite a few deluges. Trouble was the wind had whipped up from the west, and the tent was pitched N to S, so as the wind built up to force 8 or so it was hitting the side against the stress of the aluminium poles rather than in line with them. With the wind at it's height I pushed the top of the tent against the force of the wind which was fairly pushing the roof downwind. After a few minutes when the rain stopped I went outside and fitted the 2 big bungees aqs guys to hold the tent to windward. This seemed to work OK, and after a while I must have fell asleep.
As I only had a short run today (as I thought) AND it has been raining this morning AND I hed an interrupted sleep I slept in until 8. I also had in mind to spend the morning uploading to the blog. I appreciated the campers kitchen with its electric kettle and toaster, and got going around 0900.
A local guy said I could get free internet at the primary school / library, and right enough I was installed on a machine by the helpful librarian lady. I actually spent 2 hours online, but no-one else needed it so no problem acc to the lady. I managed to get a lot of stuff done - bank checks etc.
I rewarded myself for all this effort with brunch at the local bakery - ham and cheese croissant, apricot slice with cream, and coffee. I love the Oz bakeries, i get a rush of pleasure when I come upon one.
Once on the road I realised I had a good tailwind, with an ever-strengthening southerly blowing. There were few roadtrains so I made good progress and was in Arno Bay by 1600. Despite the brochures bumming this place up it isn't up to much I'm afraid - pretty run-down and featureless apart from the nice beach and jetty; mind you it was overcast (all day) and blowing a gale, so not seen at it's best. The caravan park was OK though, and the lady wisely let me choose my own sheltered spot on a windswept site. This turned out to bee leeward of the ladies toilets, where I duly pitched and battened the tent down well. I fancied a barbie so went off to IGA to get a barbie pack (sausages, burgers and chops), zuchini, onion, tomato and mushrooms for under $10 (£4) - bargain. I washed my only pair of trousers but it started raining as I rinsed them grrr! I had to hang then under the barbie roof as the only dry place around here. Hope i don't forget them in the morning.
It was fun cooking this on the electric barbeue plate in a rising wind and driving rain, I had to muffle up in my Sprayway jacket for the first time for a while, but at least the food was piping hot - i just took a small amounf at a time from the hotplate so it was all hot on eating. A few lasses of shiraz helped it down. And the weather has only got worse - as I lie in my sleeping bag in the tent typing this the thunder, lightning and heavy rain have continued for an hour or more. The lights outsid ethe toilets behind the tent keep going off with every lightning flash then coming back on again. I feel quite snug in here though, so far the wind has not threatened as it did last night. It's fully dark now at 2045 and I hope for an early night once I've gone through the usual routine of Sudoku and Ned Kelly.
Heavy rain last night after the fun of cooking up a storm in a storm as it were. The tent is good though, very pleased with its perfomance. I got away a little later this morning after a pleasant lie-in / doze and the headwind was still on the go, a little less powerful. The going was a bit featureless with mostly grain fields but little traffic. In just over 2 hours i was in Cowell (47km) and I had half-resigned myself to staying there the night - I feel I need a break - however I was driven as usual by the need to 'press on' and despite being a bit short of time hit the road again to try and catch the 1315 ferry from Lucky Bay to Wallaroo.
This is my last day on the Eyre Peninsular then, and headed across the water on the 2 hour crossing to the Yorke Peninsular and Wallaroo.
I made the ferry some 25 minutes early, paid my $37.50 and secured the bike at the side of the car deck for what looked like a stormy crossing. The captain gave out the usual welcome comments with an announcement about the likely state of the crossing - 100 km/hr winds; 20m waves; and apart from that it's OK! As it turned out it was not that bad, and as an unwilling sailor I was thus much relieved. The small vessel is very comfortable..
It was fun cooking this on the electric barbecue plate in a rising wind and driving rain, I had to muffle up in my Sprayway jacket for the first time for a while, but at least the food was piping hot - I just took a small amount at a time from the hotplate so it was all hot on eating. A few lasses of shiraz helped it down. And the weather has only got worse - as I lie in my sleeping bag in the tent typing this the thunder, lightning and heavy rain have continued for an hour or more. The lights outsid the toilets behind the tent keep going off with every lightning flash then coming back on again. I feel quite snug in here though, so far the wind has not threatened as it did last night. It's fully dark now at 2045 and I hope for an early night once I've gone through the usual routine of Sudoku and Ned Kelly.

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