In the heart of WA

Day 51 sunrise

Crew 3a brekky

Double trouble

Harsh beauty

2GO interview

Sandy desert

The last two days obviously affected me more than I thought as I set my alarm at Sydney time and woke up at 3.30am WA time. Once I woke it was time to hit the road in darkness with Pete and Tim. We left the aboriginal community at Wiluna learning that the last desert nomads believed to have been surviving in the bush finally came into civilisation in 1979. They had been banished from their tribe for being together as they were “cross coloured”. Punishment in their times were beatings that often led to serious injury and sometimes death. They feared returning and survived together with their two sons in the bush for over 50 years. When they finally got too old they returned to Wiluna and eventually died within weeks of each other.

Today was the true outback with rich red soil and sandy plains. We saw big grey kangaroo’s, emu’s, massive eagles, dingo’s and wild dogs. After narrowly missing a few roo’s in darkness the sun finally showed it’s head in true fashion making the country outback glow. The sun rose over massive mounds of dirt that had been dug up in a large open cut gold mine. There are six active gold mines in this area and funnily enough the road here is called the “Goldmines Highway”.

 I arrived in Leinster just before midday after cycling 170km’s. Leinster is another mining town of BHP which is on Aboriginal land. I will be resting the body for the rest of the day and ready to head off in the morning to Leonora.

Craig

Two days of torture finally over

Thank god it’s over.  Two days of off road torture to the body along 200km’s of corrugated sand and rocky road.  My body feels like I’ve been thrown into a barrel and rolled for 16 hours.  The land out here is just unforgiving and extremely harsh, but on the other hand, what an experience.

Today I hit the road without my support crew at 5am to run for an hour in solitude.  I had been feeling very sore from the previous day and frustrated with the conditions that didn’t allow me to get into a rhythm.  I had also gained a few new blisters on my toes and top of the feet from the fine sand and red dust that had got into my shoes from the previous day.  The sand had acted like an abrasive sandpaper, wearing away some skin and causing discomfort each step taken.  I enjoyed the hour of solitude but became aware that wild dogs roamed this area and had been told a story by a miner about an incident and how they were now baiting these dogs as they were a nuisance.

As the support crew arrived I did a quick interview via the satellite phone with the ABC radio and then started the slow ride along the corrugated dirt road.  Some sections weren’t too bad, but others were bone shattering and dame frustrating.  My hands, elbows, shoulder, neck and back took the grunt of the pressure and there was no relief until stopping for a second breakfast.  I didn’t stop for long as I wanted the day to finish and while eating breakfast I felt a head wind start.

The last three hours of cycling was tougher mentally as all I wanted to do was find some part of the track that wasn’t corrugated.  Unfortunately, no matter how much I changed position, there was no relief.  I went back to the theory of just putting my head down and getting the day over and done with.  Seven hours later I finished the 100km’s at Wiluna and rode straight into the amenities block in the caravan park to wash of the dust.  Tomorrow is just another day.

Craig

P.S. For those that can tune in Craig will be doing his regular interview with 107.7 2GO on Saturday morning at approximately 8:40am and will do another weekly update with 1017 2KY on Sunday at 7:45am.

Dry and hot

Nothing for as far as the eye can see

 

Approaching Wiluna

 

Feeling every inch of it