Update from the Darwin

Hey guys,

Just a quick update. Shirl and I pedaled back into Darwin yesterday after an AWESOME 12 days riding up here. We now have over 4,500km showing on our odo. Whoop! 🙂

Have written a post which I’ll add to the site when I get back to Perth and am able to scan through and upload some of the pictures I took. Above is a taster. Fly back to Perth this afternoon 😦

So sad that our adventure is now completely over. Have had such an amazing time. But we’re already planning then next one! Will keep you posted.

Day 28 – Mission Accomplished!!

Shirl and I victorious at Adelaide GPO!

Mission accomplished!!! This morning, with almost 3,500kms showing on my speedo’s odo, Shirley and I reached the end point of our adventure – Adelaide GPO. The sun even put his hat on to cheer us in. The wind of yesterday had eased a bit but not much. But it’d swung more north easterly, so we were almost swept the 50kms from Gawler, which was an awesome way to end the trip.

Forget 35m-long road trains, gale force winds, torrential rain and wild camping. This morning’s ride was the most treacherous of the whole trip! To be fair to Adelaide, due to not knowing the roads I think I chose a ‘not exactly ideal’ route in. But either way, I was nearly knocked off by an old lady who literally cut right in front of me at a junction and the other drivers in general really just didn’t seem to want me to make it to the city centre in one piece! But I did make it and that’s all that matters.

Due to the ridiculously cold weather, my magnum intake has taken a bit of a hammering these last couple of weeks. With the promise of a warm hotel room with A BATH (thanks Dad!), I celebrated with one last magnum (number 14…..disappointingly low, especially given my impressive start), despite the midday temp only just making it to double digits. A lady asked me how I wasn’t cold, eating icecream and wearing shorts? I just grinned inanely at her like a madwoman, with chocolate all round my mouth, and she soon scuttled off 🙂

Upon finishing what I set out to do, I have to admit my feelings are mixed. I’ve had the most awesome adventure and I’m actually quite sad that it’s over. But I’m also ecstatic to have made it safely to Radelaide and know how lucky I am. I’ve had no punctures, mechanically Shirley has held up superbly and my own body has come through with no aches or pains at all. Not even any chaffing (I put this down to my old faithful cycling shorts which unfortunately after this trip have now pretty much disintegrated. Definitely time for a new pair)!

I’ve certainly had my ups and downs and good weather and bad weather, but there wasn’t one morning that I didn’t want to get on my bike.

To anyone who’s reading this blog and debating crossing the Nullarbor on a bike…DO IT! Yes, it’s a lot of straight, flat road. I’ve never driven it, but I can imagine it’d be boring as hell in a car. But it’s not on a bike. In countryside so vast and broadly monotonous, you need to be able to experience the details to appreciate it. You don’t get this in a car, but you do on a bike. Yes, the winds can be obnoxious, especially when they’re howling in your face all day. But sooner or later they’ll be blowing on your back and the glass will be overflowing!

Also, the people of the Nullarbor, both resident and passing through, really make the trip incredible. Even though I was riding solo I was never lonely. Everyone I met was exceptionally kind and so friendly. They really made the trip for me. In fact, if you really like your own space (which is kind of a prerequisite for doing this ride solo), they can sometimes be slightly overwhelming. I’m a ‘people person’, but I have to admit that once or twice I really looked forward to my secret overnight bushcamps. The constant questioning of your sanity/safety, although totally understandable, can get a little tiresome occasionally. Maybe this was exaggerated by me being a solo female.

Regarding this, not once did I feel unsafe during the trip. You soon get used to animals scratching around outside your tent at night and learn just to ignore them. Funnily enough, Norseman was probably the least safe of all the places I stayed. Didn’t feel massively comfortable walking round after dark, but nothing major. Just something to be aware of. All the roadhouse owners/workers warned me about Yalata, but the roadhouse there is now closed and I didn’t feel any less safe cycling through the area compared to the other settlements along the way.

Anyone can do this ride. Physically it’s easy. You can just ride 40 or 50kms a day if you so please. It’ll just take you a bit longer and you’ll need to carry more water. I averaged about 130km a day, but as my fitness improved I found the short, winter daylight hours to be much more limiting than my body or mind. The latter of which is the clincher. The Nullarbor is more of a mental challenge than a physical one. As I said, anyone that can ride a bike can cycle across the Nullarbor, but you have to really want to do it, as there will be a number of times when you’re riding into a stonking headwind along a relentlessly flat road with no end in sight and you’ll start to question your reasons for wanting to carry on/sanity. If your ambition and want at the start of the ride is strong enough, that’s what will carry you to the end. Not your legs. But obviously being more than a little bit insane to start with helps enormously as well 🙂

Gear wise, I’m super happy with everything I’ve dragged along with me. Aside from one less pair of socks (underestimated the awesomeness of icebreaker socks…worth every penny), there’s nothing that I packed that I wouldn’t pack again. Especially given the temps of the last week. The only additional thing I’d include would be a mug. I’ve just got a small bowl that I use for everything, but having tea and hot oatmeal in the morning takes twice the amount of time when you’ve on got one receptacle 🙂

I had the capacity to carry 8 litres of water but as it’s winter I only needed this much a few times. I never got caught out, but there were a couple of days in WA, when the weather was warmer, that I needed every drop of my 8 litres. Obviously doing this ride in the summer would completely change all of this. Unless you want to rely on grey nomads (which apparently a lot of riders do. Not something I’m comfortable with, but each to their own), I reckon 10 litres would be the minimum you could get away with.

On this note, I’m not sure why you would chose to ride across the Nullarbor during summer, unless you had no other choice. Yes, winter means limited daylight hours and some rain and colder temps in southwest WA and SA, but I’d take those any day of the week and twice on Sunday over 50 degrees and relentless sun!! Even though it was mid-winter and I got caught up in a couple of storms, I was very happy with the conditions I encountered, given the distance travelled.

Having said this, I’m now off to sunny Darwin (on a plane) for a bit more cycle touring and some HEAT! After the last couple of weeks of frosty camping, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t bloody excited about overnight minimum temps of 22 degrees! BRING IT ON! 🙂 I won’t be keeping a daily blog, but I will write a post about my tropical adventure. Until then, thanks for reading my ramblings 🙂

Days 26.5 and 27 – Wallaroo to Gawler via Port Wakefield and Balaklava

Well, Mother Nature wants to make sure I earn my right to say I’ve ridden across the Nullarbor! Tough day of wind and rain today, but with the end in sight it takes more than a bit of weather to dampen my enthusiasm!

Having said this, the wind was behind me for a lot of my 60km ride from the ferry terminal at Wallaroo to Port Wakefield, where I pitstopped last night. So I really can’t complain. Take the bad with the good!

Very uncomplicated couple of days of riding. Here’s the route I took.

The ferry worked out great! Love ferries. Only $40, including Shirley, which I think is very reasonable for a 2.5 hour ferry ride. Rode out of Wallaroo at 3pm and with the wind behind and me easily made it to Port Wakefield by sunset. The first bit of this ride was a bit of a culture shock after the Nullarbor and Eyre Peninsula. Numerous Barry Bogans obviously inhabit this area and it took me a while to get used to car horns being blown in a non-friendly way and passengers hanging out the window telling me to “get the f*ck off the road”. Nice. Needless to say, I was looking forward to getting off the main road. Did have an awesome decent from the scarp down to the plains though just before Port Wakefield. Would be a great climb too!

I did unfortunately just get caught in a heavy downpour as I rode into town, but I made it to a roadhouse before I got absolutely drenched and paid an eye watering $6.50 for a fruit salad just so I could stand and hug the bain-marie to dry out and warm up while I waited for the rain to ease before heading to the caravan park 🙂 Port Wakefield is a bizarre place. Tiny little town with a motel, caravan park and post office (no real food shop), but it’s got 6 petrol stations, all in a row!!! Random.

Woke up this morning to 35km/hr wind and cold rain, but with the end in sight I didn’t have too much trouble throwing my leg over Shirl and hitting the road. The wind was certainly against me for a lot of today, but I only had 90kms to Gawler and I was back on country roads with little towns with great bakeries and hot drinks to keep me going. Life was good. To be honest, the wind was so strong and gusty that I preferred it in my face than in my side. I struggled to keep Shirl on the straight and narrow for the sections of road where I had a side wind.

The rain eased as the day went on and I cycled into Gawler in the sunshine. Very quaint little heritage town on the northern outskirts of Adelaide, at the foot of the Barossa Valley. I detoured to here rather than riding directly to Adelaide (which I comfortably could have done today) because Cathie and Kevin, who I met all the way back in Salmon Gums, recommended Gawler to me. It was a good recommendation. I could also camp here, which I can’t closer to the city. As it’s at the foot of the hills I’d hoped to tag along for a ride in the hills with a group of local cyclists tomorrow (Sunday). But it doesn’t seem like it’s meant to be. I visited the uber friendly and helpful local bike store (www.gawlercycles.com) on my way into town and they told me the local group rides on Saturdays. Apparently all Adelaide Sunday riders head to the hills closer to town, especially in weather like this. I’m not too disappointed. I intend to come back to Adelaide to do some more riding anyway, but (close your ears Shirley) for a smashfest with my race bike 🙂

Time now to go and find somewhere to watch the rugby (go Lions!) to take my mind off the fact that it’s my last day of riding tomorrow! Just don’t want it to end!

Our last major distance sign!

Rising moon from the top of the scarp. View down to the Adelaide plains. The next couple of days are going to be flat!

Days 21-26 – Eyre Peninsula Epicness

I’m writing this post on the ferry from Lucky bay to Wallaroo after the most amazing 5 and a half days cycling round the Eyre Peninsula. From Ceduna I had two choices – head directly east and carry on along the highway to Port Augusta and then Adelaide, or take my first junction exit in 1500km and detour around the Eyre Peninsula. Everyone I’ve met has told me that Port Augusta is definitely nothing to get excited about and to be honest the choice between the highway with its roadtrains and heavy traffic or the Eyre Peninsula with its sleepy fishing villages and sweeping coastline was a no brainier. I’ll take the latter thanks! It would have added an extra 400km to the trip, but taking this ferry and bypassing Port Augusta cancels out most of this addition distance.

I ended up spending a day in Ceduna drying everything out, booking flights, restocking supplies, showering (yes, believe it!) and to be honest, eating…lots! I lost a fair bit of weight on the Nullarbor which I really didn’t want to do. After Ceduna and then feasting on the amazing and cheap seafood of the Eyre Peninsula, I’m back to a weight I’m more comfortable with.

I really can’t put into words how incredible the last few days have been. I think I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking. It’s a big call to make, as I had a brilliant time in the Southwest and on the Nullarbor, but I reckon the Eyre Peninsula has been the highlight of my journey to date. Fabulous riding country; lovely undulating topography, great roads (not much of a hard shoulder, but plenty wide enough to compensate for this) and NO ROADTRAINS! The area is predominantly farming country, so there were a few grain trucks. But after the roadtrains of the Nullarbor, I hardly batted an eye when they passed. Uncomplicated touring at its best. Wake up, get on bike, ride for as long as I feel like, pitch tent at beautiful spot on the coast, sleep, repeat.

I’ve also been amazingly lucky with the weather. Beautiful clear blue sky days with virtually no wind every day, except for today which is a bit wet and blustery as a cold front approaches. The nights and mornings have been ridiculously cold though, due to the clear skies. Hovering around 0 degrees most nights. My tent has actually had frost on it! I’ve cooked my oatmeal inside my tent most mornings, just to delay the inevitable cold exit. But thanks to good gear I’m warm as toast at night and I warm up quickly as soon as I get riding. So really nothing to complain about at all. I’ve learnt not to drink as much as I normally would before I go to sleep, so I don’t have to leave my lovely warm sleeping bag during the night 🙂

All the locals I’ve spoken to have informed me I’ve seen the area at its absolute best (although they question my sanity for having camped!). Everything is so lush and green. Apparently it’s not like this in the summer, when the mercury can reach 45 degrees.

This is the route I took.

No massively epic days. Longest was the 160km from Elliston to Coffin Bay, which required a frosty, numb fingered, pre-dawn departure. I stopped overnight at Streaky Bay, Elliston, Coffin Bay, Tumby Bay and Cleve (which FYI is a bloody cold place in mid-winter, as it’s on top of the scarp!). All these places were incredible, but Coffin Bay was definitely the highlight. Well worth the 40km detour. It was here that I found my favourite camping spot of the whole trip. On a beach just outside the national park entrance, where I was treated to the most breathtaking sunset. I’m not entirely sure I was allowed to camp there (read ‘know I wasn’t allowed’), but thanks to a tipoff at the pub, I knew the only cop in town was away on holiday and I made sure I was packed up by sunrise, before any rangers could sniff me out (hadn’t showered since Ceduna, lol!). I rode into the national park to watch the sunrise from one of the lookouts. Chilly, but awesome. It was also here that I came across my first public water fountain since Albany. I nearly shed a tear! No more sneaking around looking for rainwater tanks with external taps or drinking water so salty you’d think you were drowning in the ocean.

I had originally intended to stay a night in Port Lincoln, which is the main town on the peninsula. It was a nice place, but much larger than I thought it was going to be (there was a traffic light!) and I wasn’t quite prepared for civilisation yet, so grabbed lunch and pedalled out as fast as I could!

As with everyone I’ve been lucky enough to encounter throughout this trip, the people I’ve met have been incredibly friendly. But because there aren’t many tourists around at this time of year, the atmosphere has been more laid back. More cruisey conversations with locals than all out, grey nomad, “wtf-are-you-doing-isn’t your-mother-worried-sick?!”. At Cleve, the lovely Maureen and Ron felt so sorry for me camping in the near-freezing temps (even though I made it quite clear I wasn’t cold at night), that they offered me the caravan in their backyard for the night. Thank you kind people! With that of course came a home cooked dinner and tea in the morning. So lucky!

The only other anecdote worthy of a mention is my dabble in the art of fishing. I had this romantic notion of catching my dinner. All good in theory, but as many of you know, I was a vegetarian for 10 years and am still pathetically squeamish when it comes to eating anything that looks like an animal. Especially if it has eyes! Anyway, I pedalled into Elliston with plenty of daylight to spare, so went down to the jetty to chat to the numerous evening fishermen and get some advice. They were so helpful, offering to show me the ropes (rods?!) and suggesting that the caravan park may have a rod I could borrow. But as I was chatting to them I watched one of them pull in fish and throw it in a bucket, still wriggling and gasping in the air. ‘Poor little fish!’, I thought and realised I didn’t think I had the heart to do this. But I pedalled over to the caravan park to explore my options. The son of the owner kindly lent me his rod for the evening and also indicated that I could easily catch squid all along the peninsula. Surely I could catch and eat a squid? Not too dissimilar than a jellyfish, right? And I love to eat squid in all its forms. So I brought a squid catching thingy for $5 to use with the rod and off I went. The fisherman on the jetty said all I needed was patience. Patience I have, but rumbling tummy I also had! I fished for just over an hour, watching a glorious sunset in the process, but by this time I was so hungry I was almost gnawing on the rod! So I admitted defeat for the night and went back to the caravan park to cook the quickest thing I had in my panniers (more instant sweet potato).

But I now had the equipment to fish anywhere I could borrow a rod from, so each place I stopped for the night I had a go at catching some squid. It wasn’t until Tumby Bay that I finally caught one. I was so excited I thought I was going to have a heart attack! Had my camera at the ready for proof. But when I pulled it in, IT HAD EYES!!! Although I’ve eaten A LOT of squid in my time, including sashimi, I realised I’d never actually seen one straight from the sea! The vegetarian still living inside of me was screaming and it dawned on me that there was no way I was capable of killing this squid. So I said sorry, unhooked it as quickly as I could and put him back in the sea. He swam off, so I hope he survived. Didn’t even take a photo. How pathetic! I was so glad I was the only one on the jetty! With no dinner I decided to go and get some fish and chips. Normally get calamari, but for obvious reasons I couldn’t stomach it that night 🙂

Right, ramble over. So much for letting the pictures do the talking! Lol. Now just need to navigate my way into Adelaide. Going to have to consult Google Maps on my phone for the first time since Albany! It’s only about 160kms from the ferry terminal at Wallaroo direct to Adelaide. But I intend to take a bit of a convoluted route to avoid the highways where feasible and also to prolong this trip as much as possible. Just don’t want it to end!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Day 20 – Penong to Ceduna

14th June

I’ve done it! Today I finished the official Nullarbor stretch. Whoop whoop!

It was only 75kms from Penong to Ceduna, but the easterly was even stronger today, so it was a very slow 75kms! At least the wind kept the flies away.

Two things helped break up what was actually a pretty frustratingly slow day. Firstly I FINALLY passed another cyclist! A German lady called Henriet (sp?!) heading to Perth. She was hilarious! Her accent was very strong and her English a little broken (but not as broken as my German!), but from what I could gather she had left Perth to head east in January but “it was like a BBQ”!! Lol! So she pulled the pin at Norseman and caught the bus to Adelaide. She’s been there ever since, doing a bit of touring around SA and Victoria. Given the cooler weather she’s now attempting the Nullarbor in the opposite direction. It was so nice to chat to her. She asked me plenty of questions which I was more than happy to answer and she gave me some great advice on where to stay in Ceduna. As we finally said goodbye and good luck I realised I was strangely slightly jealous. Not becuase she had a decent tailwind (ok, I was a bit envious!), but more that she was just starting what I was finishing. Despite the last few days of unfavourable weather, I have had the most fab time crossing this great plain. I sincerely hope she makes it and enjoys it as much as I have.

The second thing to buoy my spirits was when I spotted what looked like a phone tower. Would I possibly get phone reception for the first time since Norseman?! After taking my phone out of airplane mode, the answer was yes! Cue furious beeping and vibrating as messages and facebook posts from my friends came flooding in. These were equivalent to a kilo of toffee and I stormed the last 40kms into Ceduna fuelled by the encouragement of all my awesome friends.

Seeing the ‘Welcome to Ceduna’ sign was awesome! Shirl and I had conquered the Nullarbor!

We passed through the quarantine checkpoint without any dramas at all. I hadn’t seen any fresh fruit or veg since I finished my last avocado near Mundrabilla! The quarantine officer really couldn’t have cared less about me. Tip for any wierdo aspiring fruitfly smugglers that happen to be reading this – push bike is the way to go 🙂

I was absolutely starving by the time I finally span into Ceduna and literally ate everything in sight! Went to the supermarket (you have no idea how exciting a supermarket was to me!) and brought 2 apples, 2 heads of broccoli and half a kilo of grapes. They didn’t survive the afternoon. I also ate something from every food outlet in Ceduna. Although it’s hardly a metropolis this was no mean feat. I spent more on food today than I have in the last two weeks combined!

I’m now lying here in my tent at the awesome foreshore caravan park that Henriet recommended (great suggestion) in a food coma. I don’t have a food baby, I have food triplets 🙂

The adventure is far from over. Phewf! Radelaide is still at least 800kms away. But a hugely satisfying day. Smiles all-round 🙂 Now to decide what route I’m going to take to Adelaide…exciting!

Day 19 – Yalata Bushcamp to Penong

Woke up to a very quiet morning. Still plenty of rain clouds around, but nothing worse than a few showers. After breakfast and pulling down camp I hauled Shirl back to the road to ride the 50kms to Nundroo. Worked up a sweat before I even started riding!

Very uncomplicated ride to Nundroo. Similar undulating forests to yesterday, but as I got closer to Nundroo I saw the first signs of population, aside from the roadhouses of course, pretty much since Fraser Range station just east of Norseman. I even passed a for sale sign! Random! The station for sale is 53,600 acres. That’s one hell of a backyard!

House with a Small (54,600 acre) Backyard, Anyone?!

As this is the start of the Nullarbor for those heading west, as a cyclist I’m a novelty to them so I had my picture taken by passengers in passing cars even more often than normal today. Never fails to crack me up and I always smile if I notice in time.

But for those heading east the end is near and their patiences are obviously running low. Especially roadtrains driving to deadlines. Witnessed a couple of crazy overtaking manouvers today. The worst was when a roadtrain decided to overtake a caravan while they were passing me. To say the road isn’t that wide is an understatement. Luckily I saw what was happening in my mirror and got off the road just in time.

Just before Nundroo the forests gave way to true agricultural land. Not pastures you wouldn’t even know were pastures due to the total lack of any stock. Actual fenced green fields and croplands. Very exciting!

I’m going to be honest, Nundroo roadhouse was pretty shit. The grey weather probably didn’t help, but not exactly the nicest of places. I finally ran out of wraps yesterday so didn’t have much to make lunch with this morning. I wasn’t worried as I’d assumed I could get something at Nundroo. No such luck. Just packaged pies and chicko rolls. No thanks. But the lady there kindly sold me some slightly stale bread for 50c, so all was good as I still had some tuna left. Lunch solved.

I was pretty wet and cold by the time I reached the roadhouse, so brought a cup of tea and hugged the bain-marie for a while to defrost.

Unfortunately the wind picked up to a decent easterly while I was at Nundroo, so I spent the afternoon struggling along into the wind. With wide open pastures there was little to stop the wind roaring into my face. Slow going to say the least. I forgot to mention in my blog from day 19, but during the crazy storm day I deemed the conditions horrendous enough to crack open the emergency sense-of-humour-failure-prevention toffee I’d brought all the way back in Denmark. With the rain and wind this afternoon I finished it off 🙂 Nuff said.

Just as I was almost starting to feel sorry for myself and doubt my ability to make it the 80 additional kms to Penong today, I bumped into someone that put everything into perspective and made me feel bloody pathetic. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Jimmy and his lovely family/support crew. Jimmy is walking round Australia to raise money for cancer ( http://brainchild.org.au/story/jimmy%E2%80%99s-walk-cancer ). He’s only 20 and a seriously inspirational young chap. This was the perfect opportunity to pay forward the $10 (plus interest) that the lady at the border gave me for water.

After a nice chat I bid Jimmy farewell and carried on suitably humbled. Having started in Adelaide he’s going in the opposite direction to me, so the silver lining to my headwind cloud is that at least it’s a tailwind for him.

To keep me sane as I battled the wind, I chatted to the sheep and cows now common in the paddocks next to the road. Yet again, I dread to think what anyone would have thought if they saw me!

This is supposed to be wombat country and I am bitterly disappointed that I still haven’t seen one! However I reckon there were a few scratching around my tent last night. I’m now used to hearing wildlife outside my tent during the night, but with my dingo dinner partners last night I was quite happy to convince myself the noise was from wombats 🙂 Due to this lack of a real life encounter I was pretty excited to see a sign to a ‘giant wombat’! I deemed it more than worthy of the 2km detour off the highway down a muddy track. The mud was actually quite fun and the wombat was definitely worth it 🙂 Hilarious and a welcome break from the tedious wind.

The rain had eased through the afternoon and I was almost dry again, but as I approached Penong I watched massive rain clouds build on the horizon, heading my way. I could see the heavy rain falling east of town. Could I make it to Penong before the rains hit or should I pull off the road and bushcamp again? I made the executive decision to get down on my drop bars and smash out the last 10km as fast as I could into the wind. Smashfest central, but an amazing triple rainbow sat over Penong as I grinded along. This and the white silos illuminated in front of the black clouds helped muffle the screams coming from my legs.

Amazingly I made it to Penong just in time! I didn’t even have a chance to get to the caravan park. Ducked into the shelter of the roadhouse just as the heavens opened. Massive relief. Sheltered/recovered there for 20mins while the rain passed before making my way to the caravan park.

Tough 135km day, but PUMPED to be only 75kms from Ceduna and the official end of the Nullarbor!

Turned into an incredible triple rainbow, but I was too busy chasing the impending rain to take another picture!

Day 18 – Nullarbor to Yalata Bushcamp

It took me a while to realise where I was when I woke up this morning. Weird not to be in my tent! The epic deep sleep after my disturbed night on the cliffs probably didn’t help either. Felt like a million dollars though, especially after another hot shower. If I shower 7 times in one day, does that mean I can go another week without showering? That equation seems balanced to me 😉

I nervously peeked out of the window and was massively relieved to see that the weather had eased. There was still a strong southerly, but the clouds looked like they’d finally got rid of most of their rain. So I made some breakfast, packed up all my gear, put on my still damp shoes and hit the road with Shirl. I’d washed her down and cleaned and lubed the hell out her chain last night, so she was running a lot better than she was when we got washed in yesterday.

From Nullarbor I headed about 10km east to the turnoff for the Head of the Bight, where I’d wanted to camp last night. As I mentioned yesterday, this is one of the best places to see the Southern Right whales that migrate along the coastline from June-November. Again, I’m so glad to be doing this ride at this time of year. Turning right, into the 30km/hr southerly, I have to admit that I was thinking “there’d bloody better be whales!”. They didn’t disappoint! It was a tough 12km to the coast, but WELL worth it. Amazing. Saw 8 whales, including a mother and her calf. They came right up to the cliffs, almost as if they were saying hi. My photos don’t even come close to doing the experience justice. The view aside from the whales was gorgeous too. Made even more dramatic with the fierce onshore winds. Took this video to add some context to my weather descriptions. In hindsight I’m very happy with my decision not to camp down here last night! 🙂

Head of the Bight from Leah G on Vimeo.

The whales were so captivating I ended up spending over an hour down there, despite the icy winds. Although I know that this along with the 24km detour and the enforced Nullarbor layover would put my Ceduna arrival back a day, I really don’t mind. I’ve got more than enough time up my sleeve and the experience was well worth it.

The ride back to the highway was awesome! Barely had to pedal, thanks to the wind. Turning right I pedalled the last few kms of the treeless plain. Although the open pastures continued for a while after this, after about 30kms they gave way to Mallee forest. Yes, that’s trees, plural!! Such a refreshing change! Interestingly, the vegetation was very similar to that around Norseman at the other end of the Nullarbor. Slightly different species (mallee rather than salmon gums and larger eucalypti) and smaller in height, but after so long it looks broadly similar. A bit exciting tbh! Ceduna is suddenly feeling that little bit closer.

The change in vegetation also accompanied a welcome change in topography. Hills (in the very loosest of senses)! I almost had to crack open my smaller front cog, but not quite 😉 Numerous people I’ve met along the way warned me of the hills between Nullarbor and Nundroo. One thing I’ve learnt is that people’s opinions of the severity of gradients is directly correlated with the size of their vehicle/caravan. People in cars would say it’s pretty much flat but according to those towing mini-mansions these hills rival the Himalayas. I’be learnt to take everyone’s opinion with a pinch of salt. It was actually fantastic riding country. Undulations large enough to provide a challenge but certainly nothing epic. A welcome change after 1000kms of flat as a pancake. My legs ate it up and begged for more.

After yesterday’s dearth of birdlife, with the improvement in the weather and the increase in vegetation the birds came out to play. As always, galahs were numerous, but my favourites were the lorikeets with colourful chests. Smaller and more spectacular than the ones in Perth.

Much to my relief, the wind dropped off as the day went on. With the scenery it was like a different world compared to yesterday. Despite the return of the flies I was loving life. A few heavy rain showers did away with many of them anyway. The showers didn’t bother me. During the heaviest one I was soft and took advantage of the trees to treat myself with some welcome shelter. Had lunch here…no soggy sandwich for me! Yay for that 🙂

As the day wore on it was clear I was cycling towards some more persistent rain, with massive, brooding black clouds on the not too distant horizon. So rather than risking having to set up camp in torrential I pulled the pin a bit earlier than normal today at about 4pm after 131km of some of the best riding yet.

This area is aboriginal land, so I had to be extra vigilant with finding a secluded camp spot. This was easy with all the tree cover, but the dense ground cover was quite difficult to haul Shirl through. As always, I picked a spot then waited for a gap in the traffic before actually heading into the bush. But I had to abandon my first spot as a car drove past before I had a chance to get far enough away from the road to feel undetected. So I left that spot and successfully found another one a bit further down the road. Great camping country. No worries pegging here! The wind has virtually disappeared too, so it’s very peaceful.

A couple of dingos came to check me out while I was having dinner tonight, but they kept their distance. Evidently couscous or smelly cyclists don’t float their boat 🙂

Obligatory Nullarbor Road Sign

Getting There!

Whales at Head of the Bight

Whales at Head of the Bight

Beautiful Road from Nullarbor to Yalata

Our Private Piece of Heaven near Yalata

Day 17 – World’s Windiest Bushcamp to Nullarbor

Wow, where do I start?! Aside from with the fact that I’m thanking my lucky stars I’m here to write this! Brutal day and even more brutal night.

I actually managed to get to sleep really easily, despite all the noise from the wind on my tent. But I was woken in the middle of night by some serious wind. I thought it was supposed to be easing?! I was worried about my tent’s dubious pitching, so braved the conditions to duck outside and check my guy ropes. They’d actually held up well, but the same couldn’t be said for my pegs. I tightened the ropes and did my best to stamp in the pegs, but a heavy shower got me back into the protection of my tent quick smart. Even with the ropes, the wind was bending my tent poles so much the tent was almost flat! So I sat up for a while, manually supporting the frame. I had a bit of a giggle as I was sitting there and for the first time read the warning label inside my tent…

The warning label I read for the first time whilst manually bracing my tent against the wind!

But I was pretty sleepy and was confident in the stability of the bush and the fact that Shirley wasn’t going to blow away, so I eventually gave up and fell back asleep hoping to hell my tent frame held up.

I forgot to mention in my previous posts that in true ‘bugger the rest of the world’ outback philosophy, the area between Caiguna and the border is on a timezone all of its own! They call it western central time. 45mins ahead of WA and 45mins behind SA. See picture below for proof.

Random Timezones

Pretty confusing! I’m telling you this now because I have no idea what time I was actually next awoken, because all my clocks show a different time. But it was about an hour before sunrise. What I said about Shirl not being blown away? Yeah, scratch that. The noise that woke me was the sound of her lifting off the ground! If it was windy yesterday, words escape me for how to describe the conditions this morning. Plus the gusts had swung round a bit to the south, so my tent was no longer parallel to the wind. Although I have a lot of faith in my tent, I was now seriously worried the wind was going to either irreversibly deform my poles or tear the fabric of my fly. Mucho respect though, as I was still bone dry despite some seriously heavy showers.

But now I was stuck. I could tell all that was holding the tent down was me sitting in it. If I got out there was no way the single bush guy would prevent the tent blowing away. However I couldn’t just sit it out, as my tent is my accommodation for this whole trip and I can’t really afford to destroy it and hence have to roadhouse to Adelaide. So I had to get it down asap. I still don’t quite know how I did it, but with the help of my panniers for weight, I somehow managed to dismantle the tent in wind so strong I could barely stand up. And I’m really not over exaggerating!! What I did realise was that the strongest wind gusts came just before torrential showers of heavy, icy cold rain, sent with love from Antarctica on the southerly winds. So timing was crucial.

All I could do was laugh as I’d got myself into such a ridiculous situation through my stubborn ambition to camp on the cliffs. When the downpours came there was NOWHERE to shelter. Not a tree or bush higher than knee height as far as the eye could see. So as I’m sure you can imagine, packing everything up was a bone chillingly cold, wet experience! Obviously no ability to have breakfast either.

I knew I really shouldn’t ride in such conditions. I could barely stand, let alone keep a fully laden bike upright. But dawn had broken and I had absolutely nowhere to go, so all I could do was wobble away with Shirley as my knight in shining armour carrying me to safety. But the nearest shelter was Nullarbor Roadhouse which was 111kms down the road. All I could do was pedal on and hope to hell I wouldn’t get blown off. I was a few times, but only when I was getting going and didn’t injure myself. Once we were moving I managed to keep us upright, just. I had two saving graces. Firstly, due to the heinous weather, there was virtually no traffic on the roads (sensible people!!), especially roadtrains. Secondly, the wind was SSW, so really strong in my side, but more behind me than in my face. It would have been game over if I was riding west (but I wouldn’t have ridden yesterday if I were heading in the other direction). However, with crosswinds that strong it took a LOT of effort just to keep Shirl on the road.

No music today, as it was hard enough to hear traffic over the wind as it was. So just 111km of head down, 100% concentration survival cycling. But I really was laughing for most of it, my situation was that ridiculous!  Cue more ‘glass is overflowing’ screaming sessions against the wind! Seriously, if anyone had seen me I dread to think what they would have thought.

As I was riding on an empty stomach I had to stop and eat a few times, however hard it was to wobble off afterwards. During one of these breaks a guy in a car pulled over to check I was alright and ask if I had lost my mind. Yes and yes.

Thankfully, the icy rain did ease in its intensity as the morning drew on. I didn’t do much rubber necking today, but with the storm clouds the landscape was amazingly beautiful. As I headed inland away from the coast, the dense bushes gave way to more open, barren pasture lands. The few lone, windswept trees looked even more bleak than they did in WA. The weather probably didn’t help though. It really was an amazing sight with the storm all around. Another positive…no bloody flies! Yay for that. Wimps.

All the birds and other wildlife also seemed to be hiding. I did see three dingos lurking around in the pastures, which perfectly complimented the general atmosphere generated by the weather.

Not long before Nullarbor things started to get even weirder. At first I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me, but over several kilometres there were actually loads (~100) of caterpillars crossing the road! I shit you not! Big black and yellow furry ones. I did my best not to run them over, but it was hard with the crosswinds. The straw that broke the crazy camel’s back was the melons growing on the side of the road. Yep, in a one of the most desolate place I’ve ever been, where even spinifex struggles to grow, I saw about 10 melon creepers just off the tarmac. CRAZY I say!

Just before the roadhouse, the ‘official’ treeless plain started. “Seriously?!”, I thought! What the hell had the last 1000km been?! Clearly not treeless enough. The official plain apparently only lasts about 20kms and I can guarantee that yes, it is totally treeless! Frequently during this trip I’ve wondered what John Eyre, the first white guy to cross the Nullarbor, must have thought and gone through on his journey. Struggle to imagine what it must have been like. What a legend.

Eventually I made it to Nullarbor. I’d originally hoped to camp tonight on the cliffs at the Head of the Bight, where you’re meant to be able to see loads of whales. But the wind was showing no signs of easing and I’d pulled camp down so fast that I wasn’t confident that my tent was undamaged. It just wasn’t worth the risk. So I decided to pull the pin at the roadhouse. I walked in to incredulous looks from the owner. He couldn’t believe I’d been riding in this weather. Trust me mate, if I’d had any other options I wouldn’t have been. I looked like a drowned rat with a bright red face from hours of wind burn. Classy. I was also sore for the first time this trip. But not my legs, my shoulders and arms, from holding Shirl on the road against the crosswind for so long. I was flooded with relief at having made it.

The roadhouse offered cheap ‘backpackers’ accommodation (read room with a bed) which I decided to go with rather than camping, so I could try and dry everything out and assess the damage to my tent. Well worth the extra $30. The owner felt so sorry for me that he also gave me a heater. Thank you kind man!

After some hot noodles and dry clothes the world is a much better place. Hopefully my tent is ok and the wind eases so I can ride again tomorrow. I’m not going to lie, listening to the wind and torrential rain still lashing against my window makes me very happy with my decision to pull in for some shelter.

But I’m definitely still smiling! Nothing like a bit of an adventure to get the adrenalin levels pumping! And it wouldn’t be an adventure if it was all plain sailing 🙂

Random Picture of Nullarbor Nothingness!

Miserable Looking Tree!

Start of the ‘Real’ Treeless Plain

Day 16 – Eucla to Bushcamp on Great Australian Bight

If the word of the day yesterday was sun, today it was wind! But of the good type (so far).

I’d originally planned to take a rest day in Eucla. But even after yesterday’s smashfest ending, my legs still feel amazingly good and my body certainly isn’t calling for a day off the bike. So instead I’ve decided to have a couple of shorter days. I’m much further down the road than I thought I would be and don’t need to be in Adelaide ’til the end of the month. Life on the road out here is cheap as chips and I can’t afford to hang around Adelaide for several days, so it’s time to slow down a bit. Word on the ‘street’ (read dusty caravan park path) is that there’s a storm front heading our way. It was hard to believe this morning as although it was breezy, there was the same glorious sunshine I’ve been treated to since Caiguna. But if a front is coming in, at least I have a few days up my sleeve, if things get really wild.

So with a short day planned, I hung around the caravan park to finish drying the laundry I did last night and to check out Eucla’s sights. As cruelly discovered last night, it’s on top of the hill and has some wonderful vistas over the sandunes to the coast.

By about 11am everything had dried so I set off into what was by then a strong northerly side-wind. It was a bit frustrating hearing all the storm rumours but not being able to see the forecast for myself. But the caravan park manager told me that there was actually internet at the border! First internet since Norseman. So I made a plan to get online there.

But first I needed to cross the border, which is 12kms from Eucla. That was pretty exciting! The fact that it was the first time I’d been to SA made it even more so. I was thinking it was Shirley’s first time too, before I realised she’d already done this same trip but in reverse and on a bus! She was happy to pose for some photos though 🙂

Ducked into the roadhouse to check the forecast online. Luckily the computer was working. The forecast is for ‘possible thunderstorms’ today and then scattered showers for the next few days. Not too bad. The sun was still shining so it was hard to believe the thunderstorm bit, but one thing I’ve learnt out here is that the weather is schizophrenic. One minute it can be nice and the next nasty. Apparently the wind was due to swing round to the west this arvo (awesome!), increase in strength a bit, peaking this evening then becoming southerly overnight. But the strongest (35km/hr) are meant to be occuring this eve, with tomorrow’s southerly supposed to be only 20-25km/hr. That side wind is going to hurt, but I refused to change my plan for the day. After the border the highway skirts along what is apparently one of the most spectacular coastlines in Australia – the Bunda Cliffs of the Great Australian Bight Marine Park. All the people I’ve met that have come from the east have raved about this section of the trip, so I’m uber keen to take my time and explore and camp as much as possible. So as much as it hurt to not capitalise on the stonking tailwind, I left with a plan to bushcamp on the cliffs somewhere tonight.

I needed to fill up all my water containers as Eucla’s water had been undrinkable so I’d left with the hope that Border’s water would be better. There was a rainwater tank out back, which I sneakily tried to refill from, but it was dry. I tried the toilet tap water, but it made the salty water of Caiguna seem like Evian. So I resigned myself to buying bottled water for the first time this trip. As I was testing the toilet tap water an intrigued lady asked me what my water containers were for. I told her I was cycling across and, as most people do, she asked “why?!”. I haven’t mentioned pay it forward much in this blog so far, but I always explain the philosophy to everyone that asks me why I’m riding (which to date has been everyone I’ve spoken to). Although it’s only part of the reason, I’ve discovered they find it much easier to swallow that “I just wanted to”. Less risk of being taken to Adelaide in an ambulance in a straight jacket 😉 As most people do, this lady really liked the philosophy and as I was slicing my stomach open to hand over a kidney for 6 litres of  bottled water, her and her husband came up and gave me $10 to help with the water purchase. How awesome is that?! Again I was blown away by the generosity of everyone on the road and promised to pay it forward as soon as I could. The ironic thing with this trip is that I’m going to have a LOT of paying forward to do by the end of it! Which is great.

By the time I left the roadhouse the wind had swung around to the WSW and strengthened a bit, so I was laughing with the best tail wind I’d had all trip. Flew along at about 35km/hr. I stopped at all the lookouts and everyone wasn’t wrong; this coastline is amazing. Towering limestone cliffs. The strong wind added to the dramatic views by whipping up the ocean. Awesome! As it is so exposed, I’d expected the vegetation to be really barren, but it’s certainly not. Virtually no trees, but the ground is covered in dense, dark green shrubs. It actually looks quite lush. So much nicer than the dirt pastures of yesterday.

One not so great thing. As soon as I crossed the border, the wonderful tarmac hard shoulder I’d been spoilt with in WA evaporated 😦 Apparently it’s like this all the way to Ceduna. But I’ve got used to it already (just need to be even more aware of roadtrains) and there is still a wide (deep) gravel shoulder. Ah, WA and your mining royalty billions, how I miss you 🙂

The only other issue this afternoon were the flies. With the warm, sunny weather they’ve gradually been getting worse. Even the yocals in the roadhouses have been commenting on how they’re unseasonably numerous. Normally, aside from the inevitable ingestion, they don’t bother me unless I’ve stopped for a break. But today it was the reverse. The wind was so strong that when I stopped they wouldn’t land on me, but because I was riding close to the speed of the wind, I created a kind of fly hitchhiking vortex and they just hung around me all afternoon. But I don’t mind them too much as they’re only small winter flies and they don’t bite.

As the sun was started to get lower on the horizon, I picked a dirt track leading towards the cliffs and headed down it to hopefully find a place to camp. I knew this was a risky thing to do on such an exposed stretch of coast, what with the strong winds, but they weren’t too bad and the forecast predicts the winds will ease off over night. Plus, STUNNING place to pitch a tent! Took my breath away (the vistas, not the wind!). See the pictures below. I’ve pitched my tent parallel to the wind behind the biggest bush I could find (which still is only knee height!), but the ground is so hard that my pegging leaves a lot to be desired. No soft, red dirt up here. Knowing that the pegging probably won’t last the night, I’ve guyed the tent to the bush and to Shirley! She looks quite incredulous at being used as a tent peg 😉

Made dinner (instant sweet potato and a tin of tuna) in my tent tonight, as there’s nowhere to shelter out there. As it’s a bit chilly, I used the mint I picked yesterday and some sugar to make some tea. Not quite as yummo as in Morocco, but surprisingly good! Hope I come across some more. Now I’m lying here being battered by the wind, keeping my fingers crossed it eases soon and my tent makes it through the night! Hopefully I’ll still be here to blog tomorrow 😉

I’ve ridden a lot further than 1435km!

Good-Bye WA. You’ve been Great

Hello SA!

Shirl in No-man’s Land!

First Sign in SA

Great Australian Bight Marine Park

Road through Nullarbor NP

Amazing Views from my Precarious Bush Camp

The Calm Storm before the Real Storm!

Tent Guyed to Shirl!

Day 15 – Bushcamp to Eucla

One word to describe today…SUN! And lots of it.

Rolled out of my tent into another gorgeous morning. Having dropped off the scarp, the temps weren’t quite so Arctic either, which made a nice change. The winds were light and thank goodness behind me. Happy with that after two days of headwind. Quickly packed up camp, made lunch for later, smashed some porridge, downed a cuppa and went to hit the road. But as I was packing away my stove, a Main Roads WA ute drove into where I was camping. Weird, I thought. Two guys hopped out and promptly handed me two bottles of Gatorade from Cockles! This is getting ridiculous! But I was extremely grateful, especially as Gatorade costs $5 a bottle out here. In the cool of the morning, little did I know how much I would appreciate these later on. After a bit of banter (turns out they’re based in Esperance but service the whole Eyre Hwy…that’s a long commute!) I got going.

I’d camped just over 90kms west of Mundrabilla Roadhouse. The tailwind, however light, made riding pretty uncomplicated. As expected, today’s utter lack of topography made yesterday’s undulations seem like the Alps. Today’s scenery was actually the most monotonous of the trip so far. The myall trees were the only features in the arid shrubby pasture land. Far less green than the other pastures to date. LOTS of flies too. Definitely doubled my protein intake through swallowing numerous little critters. But what made today tough despite the favourable winds was the unrelenting sun with no shade at all. I got a tiny glimpse of what it must be like to do this ride during the summer. No thanks! It wasn’t too hot (low 30’s, which is nothing compared to the Perth summer weather I’m accustomed to). But the downside of riding at this time of year is that the sun is only in the north. So unlike in summer, when all sides of your body is scorched by the sun in turn, for me my poor left profile is taking all the abuse. I watched my aforementioned reverse truckies tan turn into reverse truckies sun burn! Lol. Counting my blessings that I don’t get hangovers as today would have been VERY long if I did.

One exciting occurrence today though…I actually witnessed proof that the area is pastural by spotting a couple of sheep that looked very lonely and lost. John, one of the stationhands, did say last night that they missed a few whilst mustering this area a couple of days ago and hence I might see them. Wished there was something I could do to get them back to where they’re supposed to be.

Things did go a little pearshaped for a while under the midday sun. Not in a bad way, just a slightly crazy way! Likened it to what happens when I eat sour skittles. Anyone that’s witnessed this will know what I mean 🙂 Picture hyperactivity and uncontrollable giggles. During a ‘sanity break’ I took the following videos, so I’d remember this in the future as the situation was equally ridiculous and hilarious.

A Moment of Insanity! from Leah G on Vimeo.

 

Roadtrain Passing from Leah G on Vimeo.

 

Roadtrain Passing from Behind from Leah G on Vimeo.

Stopped for lunch on the side of the road and enjoyed the last of the two avocados I’d managed to make last since Esperance. Totally random, in what is a bloody barren area, but I noticed wild mint growing amongst the spinifex. So I picked some with the intention to make some mint tea on my next cold night. The thought of hot tea right then made me vom in my mouth though!

Made it to Mundrabilla Roadhouse not long after this and decided to shelter from the worst of the midday sun there (and of course have magnum number 8!). Earlier I’d made the decision to push through to Eucla today, as I’d made good time this morning and had sent a care package to Eucla caravan park, so felt obliged to stay a night there. It was only 70kms away, so figured I could spare the time to escape the brutal sun.

Aside, Mundrabilla is unofficially home to the world’s most expensive cereal bar…$5.80 for a Kellogg’s Strawberry Twist. That makes even Perth seem cheap!

Not long after finishing my magnum, a young guy wearing golfing gloves (?!) walked in. If you don’t know, there is actually the world’s longest golf course along the Nullarbor ( http://www.nullarborlinks.com). Basically there’s a hole at every roadhouse between Norseman and Ceduna, plus a couple out around Kalgoorlie. I asked him if he’d already done the hole here, he said “no” and I asked him if he minded a gatecrasher. I mean, this day had already been a bit on the weird side, so why not play golf in the desert! He said he’d love the company, so off we went. Wasn’t fulfilling my aim of hiding from the sun, but oh well!

The hole had everything you’d expect from a high calibre golf course…a lot of red dirt, thorny bushes, sewerage filled ‘water feature’ and a dead pigeon. What more could you want?! Also, our ‘t’ was made of small stones 🙂 I’ve never played golf before and I have to admit, it’s a lot harder than Tiger makes it look! The hole was a bloody long way away and it took me several goes to even hit the ball! Was pretty hilarious. I’d have been embarrassed if I gave a shit and wasn’t in 3 day smelly cycling clothes anyway! We did have a bloody good laugh though. My golfing partner’s name was Jason and he was 4WDing and camping around Australia for a couple of months. So luckily he was about as feral as I was.

He did the hole in 10 shots and I did it in a skillful 22 (it’s par 4…wtf!). But apparently anything over 10 is called 10, so I guess we drew 😉 I did manage to redeem myself a bit with a flukey final long put and this was his best score to date, so he suggested we grab a beer to celebrate. I mean, it wasn’t like I’d spent all day getting dehydrated by the sun and still had 70kms to ride. Course not! A beer would be a very sensible thing to have. 2 coronas please, barman.

What was I thinking?! After a political debate with Jason and the barman I finally got going again. I hadn’t left myself much time to get to Eucla and as per normal, the wind had dropped off. Cue a 60km down on my dropbars ITT. It was late afternoon by this point and there were literally 100’s of kangaroos around, which was pretty cool. Was concerned enough about them on my bike (have had a few close calls in the Perth hills). Bloody glad I wasn’t in a car. “But Eucla is 70kms away, you said?”. Yep, but there was nothing ITT about the last 10km, especially as, unbeknownst to me, Eucla is at the TOP of the scarp! Wtf?! That’s just cruel. I had no sympathy with myself though. To cut a long story short, I pulled up to Eucla in a bit of a dehydrated, sun stroked, smelly mess.

But my care packages were here (so exciting as I’d forgotten what nutrition goodies I’d sent!) and after downing a litre of electrolytes and stumping up for my first shower since Norseman, I feel like a new person now 🙂 Bedtime though!

My Main Roads WA Knights in Shining Armour!

Surprised the branch can take its weight!

Par 4?! WTF?!

The Tee (made of 3 pebbles)

Jason, who can actually play golf

Not your typical golf hole! Thorny bushes and all.

Golf anyone?

Golf anyone?

Hole’s Water/Sewerage Feature

Hole’s Water/Sewerage Feature