A Great ride! - Northam to Meckering - 35kms

The motel tariff included a Continental Breakfast which we took advantage of.

Northam was clouded in thick mist when we left at 7.55am. Del turned on our flashing trailer tail lights for safety as we crossed the bridge over the River Avon and headed for highway 94 again.
We expected more hills today so imagine our jubilation when we discovered that most of the route to Meckering was relatively flat and rideable!
A brief stop for a swig of water and we were off again.
We cycled through canola country. In some areas, the bright yellow crop stretched way into the horizon.
Flooded streams and creeks and signs of the Super Storm's havoc were everywhere.

We arrived in Meckering and set up camp in a free camping area. It has toilets!
At the moment, we're the only campers! It's  fortunate as there were no witnesses to our fumbling about remembering how to put the tent together.
The local garage was using a generator as they had suffered a power outage, so we grabbed some water, baked beans and noodles. We'll save our dried dinners for bush camps!
Condensed milk coffee tonight! A special camping favorite.







Comments

  1. Plan My PlayAugust 5, 2022 at 10:57 AM

    Fabulous! Back on the road again. So very happy to read that! Go well xx J&J

    ReplyDelete
  2. Simon HenleyAugust 5, 2022 at 3:22 PM

    Yes, breaking in the tent for the first time is when it starts to get real. Hope you had a good night's sleep xx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oh! What a Night! Bush Camp to Cocklebiddy and beyond - 38kms

Image
It felt as though the tent was about to be blown away! All night long the wind blew strongly - interrupted by a period of rain! Del managed a bit of shuteye but I couldn't, with the tent howling about my ears. By morning the wind had lessened, though still a perishing head wind! We left camp at 6.30am and battled the wind. Discovered our 3rd road kill today. It was a beautiful bird- quite large (pelican size) with lovely plumage. So sad to see. Any ideas what  it might be, anyone? I had heard that Cocklebiddy Roadhouse was experiencing water pump problems - no water= no accommodation. I rang them yesterday to check. All good there. Today we arrived at Cocklebiddy around mid morning.  Imagine our disappointment to find that there WAS a pump problem and all accommodation, including camping, was on hold!  Another unplanned camp out tonight! Trouble is, we were hoping to replenish our stores there and, apart from the restaurant menu, they h...
Read more

Discovering Whyalla! Whyalla's Hummock Hill.

Image
I completed our NZ Passenger Declaration forms this morning. Then we climbed Hummock Hill, just behind the motel, to admire the views of Whyalla. This impressive sculpture of a scuba diver is just outside our motel. Below, views from Hummock Hill. Whyalla's unique, circular jetty. The foreshore is quite shallow. The sand beneath makes the sea appear pale blue in comparison to the dark blue of the deeper water. Whyalla has a busy steel mill. Steel and iron ore from the Iron Knob mines is barged out to awaiting ships. During WW2, the area was protected by a large, manned artillery gun. Behind the motel is a tranquil park with an aviary and the biggest tree I've ever seen! I forgot to mention that, on the way back, we detoured into Whyalla's main street and shouted ourselves to a lovely coffee and cheesecake!  Old habits die hard!
Read more

A Tiring Day! Kimba to Iron Knob - 93kms

Image
We started the day with the intention of a bush camp at about 50kms. We had the trace of a tail wind and decided to make straight for Iron Knob, 92kms away! We photographed Kimba's famous Galah statue as we were leaving. We passed fields of wheat and canola that gradually morphed into a landscape even more tree and shrub less than the Nullarbor. The highway was like a switchback railway- up and down, up and down. We walked lots and had some lovely long downhills. Then the bare hills came into view. Trucks and machines were at work and there seemed to be a mini settlement established at the base of the hillside. We eventually arrived at Iron Knob. It's a relative ghost town now. The caravan park is run by volunteers and mainly caters for caravans. We erected our tent on the only bit of green that we could find - right next to the toilet block! Unless the few caravaners here decide to have a rave up, it shoul...
Read more