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

Heading east with the masterchefs!

Well, the heavens opened up around 2am this morning and it has been wet and raining all day. I set off at about 7am from Norseman and the first two hours were particularly awful with teeming rain and wind. On the upside the wet weather meant that there weren’t many caravans and other vehicles out on the road so the traffic was light and the conditions were good for cycling.

For the first time in the journey to date , I started travelling east after reaching the most south western point yesterday at Norseman. It was a really hilly ride today though which made it difficult to get into a rhythm, the heart rate would go up on the uphill and slow right down on the way down only to go straight back up again. Not much wildlife around either, we only saw one dingo for the whole 190km.

The scenery continues to be fantastic, I was riding through another national park today so there were lots of gum trees and the occasional lake that had filled up with all the rain but would normally be dry.

Not sure why but I was feeling a bit sick for the last 40km but we arrived in Balladonia around 1.30pm and I’m feeling much better now that I have had something to eat.

With all this miserable weather it’s lucky that I have my gourmet meals to look forward to which are being whipped up by the Masterchefs! Last night KT cooked up a delicious Syrian Chicken Curry which received a perfect 10/10 from me! Tonight Petah is preparing an Asian cabbage salad with toasted almonds and crunchy noodles served with teriyaki chicken, followed by fresh fruit cake and custard for dessert… YUM!

It will be another 190km day to reach to Cocklebiddy tomorrow so looking forward to a good rest tonight. Unfortunately we have no reception at Balladonia so there are no new photos and videos, hopefully we will get reception in Cocklebiddy tomorrow.

Craig