Arrived at Penong (pop. 215) famous for its windmills to pump water. Our first town/community since leaving Norseman on 3rd September – that’s 1,132 cycling kilometres through the Nullarbor wilderness.  Time for a beer! 

Sightseeing on the Eyre Highway. 

Arrived in South Australia after cycling nearly 1,500km from Fremantle. 

 

The Blue Dot is now at the Western Australia/South Australia border. 

Thanks to Google Maps

Leaving Caiguna on Wednesday we were pleasantly surprised to find the weather forecast had delivered – we had a tailwind. Blowing from the north west it made pedalling a whole lot easier and we made good time towards Cocklebiddy, 66km away and our intended destination for the day. 

Before we left the roadhouse I answered a question on the blog from Brian saying we had not seen any snakes. Talk about tempting fate!  Five minutes into our cycle there was the highly venomous western brown snake sunning itself by the side of the road reminding us to be careful at our next bush camp!  I’m now hoping Brian doesn’t ask me any questions about big hairy poisonous leaping spiders!

Further down the road we met Eric who was battling the wind in the other direction. He had started in Melbourne and was heading for Perth.

Eric was actually the first long distance cyclist we had met in Australia. Motorists tell us about other cyclists on the road but Eric was the first meeting. Incidentally, he had been hearing about a Scots couple on an ‘amazing machine’ for the last 6 days – I think that’s what you call ‘bush telegraph’.

We arrived at Cocklebiddy at 1300hrs and started lunch.  A nice chap from Adelaide spoke to us ‘you will catch the rain tomorow’ he said. I was puzzled because we keep a close track of the weather forecast. ‘Not on my forecast’ I replied. Undeterred he came right back ‘so do you like cycling in the wet’. ‘Well actually I don’t really mind but where’s the rain?’ I said as I theatrically looked at the blue sky. ‘Thunderstorms all over the Adelaide and Mebourne area’ he smiled. I looked at him and looked at the bike as it suddenly began to dawn on him that it would be a long time before we got to Adelaide!  These motorists are funny people – no concept of space, time or distance 😀

Susan and I quickly finished our sandwiches as we had decided to make use of this wind and go for the next scheduled stop at Mudura, a further 91km. Our race was to make it before dusk at 1700hrs. Unfortunately it was a race we were never going to win and we kind of knew it before we started. But on cycle journeys like this you always have to be positive and try. 

As dusk arrived we saw a ‘mob’ of approximately 50 kangaroos (yes that’s what they’re called)  sitting watching us. ‘Hoi’ I shouted and they bounced all over the place. Fantastic!  Bounce bounce bounce!  Then I got a row from Susan to spoil my bouncing fun. ‘Don’t, they may come down to the road and attack us!’ I briefly had a thought from my childhood of pictures of kangaroos with boxing gloves (where did that come from?) I also remembered Canada where Susan stopped me taking a picture of a gigantic Moose in case he charged us. This time I appraised the circumstances. The Moose was bigger than a horse and pretty scary but here I was the biggest thing for miles and the loudest. ‘Hoi’I shouted and oh how they bounced all over the place. Honestly it’s great how they bounce then stop absolutely still like they’re pretending they’re invisible. Then I shout and its bounce bounce bounce. 😀 I’m sorry but most immature men would do exactly the same 😀

Dusk on the road is a quiet and peaceful time (when I’m not shouting at the Roos) when we have the road to ourselves.

Unfortunately, dark followed dusk, the hills increased,the wind eased and our legs felt like they belonged to a rag doll. So it was time for me to reach into my ‘tactical tool bag’. Yes it was bike party time!  Susan loves bike party time! 

We fixed the Bluetooth speaker to the handlebars, started the 80’s playlist, drank Red Bull and ate Mars Bars. Immediate energy boost. With the bike lights on and the extra high intensity flashing rear light bouncing off the reflective road marker posts and the GPS unit shining a light into the sky we genuinely looked like a mobile disco cycling down the road. It was pitch black and I bet unseen Kangaroos everywhere were bouncing as we cycled along. 

Thankfully, 45 mins later we reached Madura, our roadhouse stop for the night. 156km that day so I devoured my T-bone steak and chips that night whilst Susan had roast pork and a mountain of vegetables. 

The following day the wind was even stronger and we sailed along to our next stop at Mundrabilla, 116km later.

I think we finished just in time as the wind was becoming unmanageable to cycle. This roadhouse, like all roadhouses is reasonably rubbish but as least they served a good lasagna. 272km in two days. 

The following day was a shorter cycle of 65km to our present location at Eucla. Our cycle across the ancient seabed at Nullarbor has been excellent. The ground is sand, shells and sparse vegetation with the ancient shoreline cliffs on our left and the present shore on our right several kilometres always. Photos can’t do this place justice and nor do I think you can appreciate such wilderness driving though it in a car at 100km/hr. Oh yes that’s me on my cycling soapbox again – cycling is a great way to travel and ‘properly’ see a country. 

Unfortunately, the tailwinds are now away to be replaced by cross and headwinds. Oh how we cried last night.  Actually, it was only me that cried and that was because I have only had one small bottle of beer in the last week. £6 for a small bottle all over the Nullarbor!  You can’t enjoy a beer at £6 a gulp! Now that I think about it, if I was driving I could have a case of beer in the boot!  So let’s revise my earlier statement – the only way to see the Nullarbor is to drive and have a big boot!!

Today we are having a rest day after 712km in 7 days since Norseman.  That’s 442 miles mother (my mum prefers a coversion to miles).  

Tomorrow we start heading for Ceduna and should, hopefully, arrive next weekend depending on the weather. Looking forward to a bush camp tomorrow as we have no alternative. Just don’t mention snakes!

1,471 km to date. 

Short updates just now as there is no wifi and everything is by mobile phone. Thankfully, coverage for mobiles is reasonable on Australian highways even if we are 100km from anywhere. 

Leaving Balladonia Roadhouse we cycled to the start of the 90 mile straight road, took the usual photographs then headed on. We had a northerly crosswind and although everyone said the road was flat I think we can officially label it as ‘flattish’. Google maps please take note – it is not ‘level’! It didn’t help that we were carrying 24 litres of water (an extra 53 lbs  of weight) as we expected to bush camp by the side of the road that night.  I think the combined weight of the trailer with water, food and camping gear was about 100 lbs.  Realistically, we should have a truck to tow that! 

It was 181km of nothingness between Balladonia and Caiguna with dusk around 1630hrs. It was never going to be a one day journey  – the wind, the weight and the continual small incline meant steady but gradual progress. 

It was a hot 35c day with a very warm wind that dried me to a prune. Susan and I had two different strategies to fight heatstroke. Myself (Captain Sensible) covered up with leggings, long sleeve top, hat and fingerless gloves whilst Susan (Suzie Malaga) sunbathed on the back of the bike with shorts and a t shirt (yes she did also have sun factor 5o). Neither strategy was particularly successful as we melted all day. I did have to give in and strip standing on the road and put shorts on. 

Eventually after a 100km we pushed the bike off the road behind a few bushes and set up the tent. The bush tucker trial that night was a re hydrated bag of savoury rice with corned beef mixed in. We’re not sure how tasty it was because in the dark I overdid the chilli powder. Vindaloo corned beef rice was a first! Susan is always complimentary towards my camp cooking though it’s dark in the tent and I suspect she is just shovelling it into a pocket. 

We had a great sunset that night and later we enjoyed a wonderful starry sky. 

The following day we set off along the very straight slightly uppy downy road. I have come to the conclusion there actually are no flat roads in the world!  Today, however, that was the least of our problems – we had a 30mph headwind  and another 35c temperature.  As there were no trees or any kind of protection on the road, the wind hammered us all day.

It was unrelenting and although the road was ‘flattish’ we felt like we were tackling hills. It stayed like this for 81km all the way to our destination at the Caiguna Roadhouse.

So 181km Balladonia to Caiguna was completed and yes we did drink all that water plus an additional 2 litres donated by a passing motorist who was returning from a cycle race in Perth. Cyclists of the world unite! 

Tonight we’re pretty tired again but a shower and food has helped. Tomorrow the forecast says it’s a tailwind. I’ll believe it when I feel it. However, I’m so excited I don’t think I’ll sleep tonight. It’s like Christmas tomorrow. ‘Please Santa give me a westerly wind. I’ll be really good’. 

1133km to date. 

Latest map position. Heading around the Great Australian Bight to Adelaide. 

Thanks to Google maps.