Today it felt strange not to be packing up and moving on, but a nice strange. Janet was so relaxed she had difficulty getting up. After failing to make any breakfast, due to what can only be described as porridgegate, Sue (who has a caravan here) kindly gave us some muesli and yoghurt for breakfast.
Three stooges or cormorants you decide which on the pier
Our last Nullarbor day started well, a dry tent and easy pack up ond we were off. It was a little busy to start with but quietened off later on.
Leaving the windmills of Penong behind we resumed the rolling farmland, seeing our first sheep, these with their new born lambs.
Penong as we depart
It rained heavily last night but once again had stopped by the time we stirred from our nights sleep. The sun was even trying to show itself by the time we cycled out of Fowlers Bay on its other exit road.
Cycling up out of Fowlers Bay
It rained on and off all night, never heavily though, and seemed to have passed over by the time we were ready to go.
Our road continued from yesterday with a few short ups and downs then began to flattern out, shockingly there was now farmland off to our right, even occasional houses with telegraph poles and power lines, it’s civilisation Jim but not as we know it.
Farmland shock
G’Day all, my Australian stereotyping is getting better. Another good nights sleep despite one man’s attempt to run his generator for as long as possible, there was only us and him here, why go somewhere so peaceful and quiet then run a generator? It defies all logic, but that is what men do.
Once again the Night sky was unbelievable, just so many stars.
Then we were on the rollercoaster ride that is the Eyre Highway, it had gone from flat to quite hilly in this section, getting 1 km down then 1 km up, 2 km down then 2 km up …. This is the hilliest section of the whole Nullarbor crossing. Typically we have only done around 30 m of climbing each day so far, today it was 497 m.
Not much happening today so here is a picture of a road and Janet
What better way to spend your birthday than cycling across the Nullarbor to go and see some whales.
It was a nice early start for us, the couple in the caravan next to us made us tea, coffee and toasted our bread, very nice of them thank you.
A very lonely tree on the horizon
Today started with a very heavy (2000 kg at least!) mist covering everything inside and out in a sticky dampness, it was the first time the inner tent had been wet with condensation despite me asking Janet to not breathe last night. The proximity of the sea, dead still air and a rapidly dropping night time temperature all conspired to give us this mist.
A lonely tree
Oversleeping a little meant a very late start for us today, but eventually we were packed and ready to go. A farewell and thanks to Dirk and Lena who were having their fried breakfast (no jealousy there at all!).
This is how all Australians dress now, well Dirk anyway, Lena is more sensible
During the night the winds lost a little of their strength but it continued to rain on and off until the early hours.
As we would be wild camping for at least 2 nights we took all the water we could, around 20 litres, and wobbled our way on to the road again. It was lovely to be assisted by the wind for a change and actually saw speeds in excess of 20 km/h.
From Eucla it is a mere 12 km to Border Town, this is a “town” on the border (bet that shocked you) between Western Australia and South Australia. Note how the normal definition of a town is different from this “town” in fact there is nothing here except a roadhouse.
The border checkpoint
The wind strength increased considerably overnight, powering in from the north. We made a late start today hoping to take advantage of the wind changing to a NNW. We managed to pack (wrestle) the tent away in the wind just before the dark foreboding clouds more over and then proceeded to heavily rain.
Roadhouse forecourt
Cycle Travellers 