Cold mornings at Iron Knob – South Australia

Sleeping under the stars

It has been two days since the last blog due to our location between Ceduna and Port Augusta. In the last blog I wrote that my body was running on low and it continued that way on Saturday from Minnipa to Kimba. The 160km’s was again very rural with green pastoral lands covering both sides of the road and going as far as one could see. With rolling hills and green country side I heard Billy call out from the campervan that it just looked like something out of Tour de France. At the time I was climbing up a small hill and some of the fields also had a bright yellow colour from the flowers of canola plants.

I rode just out of Kimba into the Lake Gillies National Park area and we decided to have a camp out in the bush with a fire. As soon as we found a suitable spot just off the road, a fire was lit and we sat around all afternoon and into the night enjoying each other’s company. During the night the clouds that had been lingering around all week decided to disappear, putting on a fantastic show with the thousands of stars. It also showed us just how cold it can get of a night.

I was back on the road in darkness this morning, cycling in a mellow minus 2 degrees. I even put on a beanie under my helmet to try and get some warmth back in through my head. We travelled 45km’s to an old mining town called Iron Knob and did the weekly interview on 2KY/Sky Sports. This town was famous for iron ore and had the most profitable hotel in SA during its boom, but now is virtually a ghost town with only a few residents.

As the sun rose, I started to thaw out and began peeling off layers of clothing. Between Iron Knob and Port Augusta the roads reminded me of the Nullarbor. They were long, flat straights with low harsh vegetation and reddish sandy soil. I was happy to finally reach Port Augusta around midday for a shower, and to throw about a thousand loads of washing on. The support crew have once again been fantastic and only have four more days until another change over.

Regards Craig

Long slow climbs

Craig takes a breath

Support crew tackles the long straights

Enjoying the warmth by the campfire