30 days to go!

Wow! 30 days to go. Two thirds of the journey now covered and only four states and one territory left to cover. I have been thinking just how lucky we are to live in this country as every day brings something different.

Cool weather this morning made me start the day in layers of cycling clothes to keep out the cold breeze from the movement of cycling. When I left the Nullarbor Roadhouse there was a sign indicating we were just about to start travelling across the treeless plains. I expected the plains to last for about 100km’s, but unfortunately they only lasted a short distance before hitting some ranges in the Aboriginal land of Yalata. The ride was very similar to the Balladonia area of the Eyre Highway with long undulating straights, through area’s covered by stringy bark gum trees. As the sun started to rise, a mist came in over the land making visibility awkward. For the first two and a half hours of riding the only thing I could see was within 30 metres of where I was riding.

I stopped at the 100km mark and had breakfast with the crew and per usual and then continued on cycling to Nudaroo Roadhouse. We have then travelled a further 29km to the coast and plan to stay at a sea side fishing town called Fowlers Bay.

Yesterday afternoon we mentioned that we had visited the “Head of the Bite” to view the whales and their calves. What an amazing experience. I will let the photo’s and video tell the story.

Craig

Yesterday's whale watching

 

A truely amazing experience to be so close to these enormous creatures

Day 62 - Misty Morning

 

Yalata Aboriginal land

Crossed the border into South Australia

This morning I cycled over the border into South Australia and left Western Australia that occupies 32.9% of the continent. Western Australia was spectacular and it changed every day from the top end to the start of the Great Australian Bite at Eucla. The morning was very clear and with no cloud cover it got down to 3 degrees. One thing I am amazed with is the lack of wildlife and therefore the lack of road kill. Last time I cycled across the Nullarbor in 2000, it was a sea of life and a continual smell of dead kangaroo’s on the side of the road.

Within the first 40km’s the sun rose and I rode along the Eyre Highway that for some distance followed the cliff face of the Bite. With low lying vegetation and clear conditions the coastline looked awesome. As the sun rose higher the deep blue colours of the Great Southern Ocean gleamed from the bottom of the rocky cliff faces. We managed to stop at a number of lookouts and enjoyed the beauty, standing in amazement of how the country just drops off into the sea.

As we stood at the last lookout 60km’s west of the Nullarbor Roadhouse, we saw a Great Southern Whale frolicking at the base of the cliffs. At the same time a storm blew across the ocean straight towards us. I immediately jumped back onto the bike and made the most of the strong tail wind. I managed to stay reasonably dry and made great time in reaching our days destination at 1.30pm.

I have travelled 196km’s today and we are now going down 12km’s to the coast to spot more whales and just chill out with the landscape.

A special thanks to the Bayfield family who own a number of Bottlemart hotels. They ran a Rugby Luncheon last week and donated almost $20,000 to the charity – FANTASTIC.

Kindest regards, Craig

View from the cliff top

 

Great Australian Bite

 

Whale watching