Keep Cycling! Perth to Gold Coast - 2022

Slept in, had a Continental Breakfast 'on the house' and did a reccie  of the town.  It's the first decent town we've been to since Perth.  It's a pretty town, well laid out and has an 'I' Centre, supermarket, chemist, hardware supplies and a variety of shops - all we need - even a hair dresser! Located on the beautiful shores of Murat Bay on the Australian Bight, Ceduna is the Oyster Capital of Australia. It is a famous whale - watching destination and has a spectacular jetty where one can view its amazing sunsets. Ceduna is also the first golf hole of the par 72 Nullarbor Links Golf Course. The hole is called 'Oyster Beds'. The hole at each roadhouse includes a green and tee and somewhat rugged, outback - style, natural terrain fairway. A Certificate of Completion is issued to all players that have their score card stamped at every hole. Ceduna is also a 'Dry Area'.  It is an offence to drink ...

Well, we got what we asked for. Tail wind!!  It's affect was hardly discernable to begin with. We said farewell to Penong as daylight broke. It's a lovely little settlement, towards the end of the Nullarbor, with an excellent caravan park, a well stocked general store (which also serves takeaway food and barista coffee) and a pub.  We took a few last minute photos as we left town. From Penong, the Nullarbor landscape quickly morphed into hectares of stock pasture (we saw another large flock of sheep) and wheat fields, fringed at the roadside by what little bush remained. The tail wind increased as the morning developed and allowed us to maintain good speed. The highway was in great condition and a wide, well sealed shoulder provided an escape route when road trains demanded all the road. By the time we approached Ceduna, the tail wind had become a strong side wind and we were fighting to stay on the road. 2kms before ...

Yesterday we bought food for an anticipated  bush camp today. This morning we discovered that we had a strong, westerly tail wind. We set off, determined to get to Penong today. Cliff and Nellie, whom we met at Nundroo Roadhouse, quickly caught up with us on their Harley Davidson. After a quick chat, they roared off towards Ceduna. Then the rain began! Road trains and cars with caravans shot past in both directions, sending up big clouds of spray, which quickly saturated us. Before long, our shoes, socks and cycle knicks were  waterlogged! The highway served us lots of challenging inclines but rewarded us with decent downhills. The tail wind, although blustery, made for good speeds and allowed us to take regular short breaks. From Nundroo, the landscape quickly became pastoral with vast areas of green replacing the bush.  We even saw our first signs of animal husbandry - a large flock of sheep! That explains the "dog proof fence" that Del noticed on a map of t...

A tail wind, cyclable hills and welcome downhills - nothing could spoil our ride today - or could it?  Just a few kms into the ride, Del had his second broken spoke on the rear wheel. The said spoke had quickly wrapped itself around the wheel hub.  Del straightened it as best he could but couldn't remove it, so he taped it to the spoke next to it - not a conventional remedy but might get us all the way to Ceduna (4 days away and the end of the Nullarbor Plain) - fingers crossed! We set off again. By now the wind had become quite strong and blustery, forcing us to grip the handle bars firmly. Road trains, overtaking us, created such a blast almost blowing my helmet over my eyes! Jody ( a TV2 reporter we met at the Nullarbor Roadhouse) drove out to meet us as we neared Nundroo and videoed us cycling. She's gathering stories about people she meets on the Nullarbor Plain. We arrived at Nundroo Roadhouse and were relieved that an en suite room was available. ...

No wonder the temperature was rising yesterday. We experienced a massive electric storm last night! We lay in our sleeping bags nervously counting the lightning flashes and the number of seconds before the thunder followed. Could the bikes or trailers be lightning conductors? I imagined two old ducks being zapped to a cinder, while huddled in their tent in the middle of nowhere! Make a good headline!  At least we'd be together! The storm seemed to last ages, accompanied by a little rain. But we survived and, apart from the bikes being blown over, there was no damage. Today we have a very blustery tail wind. The highway has become quite challenging. The wind from passing road trains is quite fierce and we now have hills to contend with, too. The bush has become scraggly and farmers seem to have constructed fences quite close to the road to keep their stock contained. Del had difficulty sourcing a suitable area for a camp. Eventually he found one, though it's quite close to the r...

How's this for an amazing night sky! The Nullarbor Roadhouse offers scenic flights over the Australian Bight to spot migrating whales. A 4 seater Cessna plane was parked in a small airfield behind the camping ground.  A large mural advertised the area and the flights. We got away this morning around 6.30am We battled an incessant head wind all day. It became very tiring so we took more frequent breaks to revitalise. The flies are increasing and show particular interest in any cuts or scrapes of which Del has many. I hate the horse flies and smother myself in Bushman or Off as soon as they appear. The tree-less landscape gradually morphed into untidy trees and low lying scrub. We stopped for lunch and had cheese and ham sandwiches that we'd bought at the roadhouse the night before.  Del fed some of his lunch to the hungry ants that scurried around him. The temperature is definitely rising now. It was 10C when we started out and by...

Up at 4.00am, away by 6.30am - and straight into a head wind! It stayed with us all the way! We're into the true Nullarbor now - low lying scrub everywhere and rarely a tree to be seen.  The ground is red sandy soil littered with stones, which makes hammering in our tent pegs a bit of a problem sometimes. Del uses the bigger stones to anchor everything down. We arrived at the Nullarbor Roadhouse around 1.00pm.  We were hoping to do our washing and recover from several days' cycling, but a cabin with no en suite for one night was all that was available. Well at least we get to sleep in a bed tonight! Mid afternoon and just been interviewed and videoed by a journalist from a nearby radio/TV station. She'll let us know the link to anything that goes to air.