After a rest day in Eucla we thought we would be ready for the second half of our cycle through the Nullarbor. Unfortunately, things don’t really work out like that. A single rest day is just not enough time to recover – it really just serves to give you time to contemplate how really tired you are. Yes the legs are sore but it’s more of a whole body tiredness where you feel you need to sleep for a few days continuously.

That said, we started cycling after our Eucla rest day hoping we were feeling better and that’s when we met an unwelcome guest to our cycle – Mr Bighead Wind.  When he blows from he north Mr Wind is warm and when he blows from the south (Antarctic) he’s pretty cold.  Either way, with no hills and trees for hundreds of kilometres, Mr Wind blows unabated and a cyclist in the Nullarbor gets battered relentlessly. 

Nevertheless, along the way we visited various lookout points on the Great Australian Bight. These cliffs look out across the Southern Ocean to Antarctica – I’ve never seen a more awe inspiring wild coastline. 

At one viewpoint we learned to speak a bit Australian – wherever we travel we try to use the local language when we can.  Susan spoke to an Aussie guy ‘I would like to see a whale’ (I knew he was a genuine Aussie as he was wearing flip flops with socks with a separate big toe to fit the flip flop). ‘A wheel?’ he replied looking puzzled ‘a wheel for your bike? as he pointed to the tandem. ‘A whale!’ ‘A wheel?’  I could see this was going nowhere fast so I stepped in and used the tried and tested technique for learning a language – I went over to the information board and pointed to the picture of the big black mammal spouting water.’Ahhhh you mean a  wayaal’ he shouted back smiling at us. Yes a wayaal! Hopefully by the end of this journey we will both speak Australian. Next step for me is to be brave enough to call a guy a ‘cobber’!

So after battling the wind and frequent viewing detours we stopped after 90km of hard cycling. Yes, it was another camp in the Outback as the next roadhouse was over 100km away. 

Looks great doesn’t it ?? It’s really not so bad and we have an established routine. Initial quick set up of the tent then Susan goes inside to sort outside sleeping mats, sleeping bag and gets comfortable.  I stay outside with the flies, the snakes, spiders and dingoes and finish pegging out the tent, arranging the bike and the gear, followed by setting up the stove and making coffee. Once coffee is ready I’m allowed in the tent with Susan. The morning is a similar reverse operation.  As Susan says we both have our jobs to do!

We didn’t sleep much that night as the tent rattled with the strong wind.  The following morning the wind was blowing at 40-50 knots – a motorcyclist later told us this.  Now maybe he was a sailor and that’s why he expressed wind speed in knots. Maybe it’s just the correct weather expression to use or maybe I just didn’t know that motorcyclists and yachtsmen share the same language?  So if you want to know how fast the wind was that day then please ask a sailor or a motorcyclist. All I can say is it was blinking fast!

How we struggled that day to cover 108km. Probably our hardest days cycling for a long, long time. Arriving at Nullarbor Roadhouse just before dusk we checked into one of the last available rooms and then it was an absolutely marvellous dinner – steak and Guinness pie with home made chips and a mountain of peas. Outstanding end to a very difficult day.

From Nullarbor Roadhouse we had another 4 days cycling to reach Ceduna, our current location. The cycling was tough but memorable.  I won’t post yet another photo of the next camp in the Outback even though Susan says it was her favourite spot yet. She’s as tough as old boots! 😀
The Nullarbor road is particularly tranquil late in the day when everyone sensible is somewhere more sensible. It’s a time we love. 

And before we leave the Nullarbor and camping in the Outback I thought I would post a picture of a roadhouse.  This is Nundroo where all water was from a bore hole and non drinkable, food was dreadfully poor and the state of the room was woeful. We tried treating and drinking the bore water but it was like drinking soapy salty water.  Oh and if you look at the picture and see signs for draught beer, well that part of the motel was abandoned. Camping’s not so bad after all!

We are now spending a couple of days in Ceduna to rest up after cycling 1,204 km (that’s 752 miles mum) across the Nullarbor region since we left Norseman. I’ve had my first beer in two weeks and we visited our first grocer shop in as long. We are at the Ceduna Foreshore Motel which is excellent and specialises in oysters and seafood. They serve draught beer and the carry out beer shop is next door – I’m in heaven!  

On Monday we will head down to Streaky Bay (114km) for a couple of days and some more beer. In case you’re wondering, Susan is fine too – she’s matching my beer drinking with cakes – one for one! My goodness this feels like a holiday!

Of course, we are now in South Australia and it’s the beginning of Spring and our weather is mixed. When it’s sunny it can be 35c and if its not the temperature is down to around 12c. Days can be a mixture of sun and showers. Thankfully we are not yet at Adelaide and Melbourne where they have been experiencing some extreme wet weather with extensive flooding.  Hopefully, it clears soon. Overall, to date, I think we have been reasonably lucky with the weather. 

Whilst we rest at Ceduna, I’ve got a bit of bicycle maintenance to do. Guess what happened? Lardy Ass broke the supports for the bike seat!  Oh I know what you’re thinking – poor Susan, how will she cope with a broken bike seat!  Well, she will be fine because believe it or not it was my seat that broke!  Surprising I know – couldn’t believe it myself!  So Susan has put me on that low carb beer 😩 and all the Aussie guys call me Sheila 😀.  

Actually, occasionally the bike falls over because of wind or the stand giving way on soft ground and my seat takes a huge hit because of the weight of the baggage. Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Thankfully, David at Laid Back Bikes and Henk at Nazca are arranging to send replacement parts to Adelaide where we will pick them up.  In the meantime, I’ve made a ‘splint’ from a piece of metal in my toolkit. I just hope it supports old Lardy Ass 😀

That’s enough for now as I’ve got to go and see how Susan is getting on – she washed my two pairs of shorts and long trousers this afternoon and if they don’t dry in the next couple of hours then I’m wearing my Lycra tights to dinner!  Bet you’re glad you’re not here!

1,965 km to date.

40% done. 

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