Port Augusta to Port Lincoln

2/5/16

STIRLING NORTH TO BUSH CAMP

22.7km's

https://www.strava.com/activities/567943680

We got dropped off at Stirling North by a truck. Ash so kindly picked us up from Kangarilla at 9am and gave us a lift with our bikes. Lots of chatting, laughter and fun was had all the way to our drop off point including the near miss of running out of fuel. Ash helped us unload the bikes and waved us goodbye. As the truck drove away and we started pedaling and shaking with nerves and wobbles from a fully loaded bike we looked at each other and said “here we go let’s roll”.

The navigation across the causeway and into Port Augusta through the traffic on a weird feeling wobbly bike gave me nervous and I found myself shaking like a leaf. We pulled into McDonalds for a coffee, the only decent coffee you can find in Port Augusta and sat down for a bit allowing the nerves to settle.

Back on the bikes, a little more navigating through traffic we headed out of the town finding Coroona Road leaving the crazy highway and entering onto a quiet back road which was more our style. We traveled this road with smiles and excitement and found our first camp spot. Just past the El Alamein Army Base and up on a rise we found a large park with no other campers and the ground full of really nasty little prickle bushes. Eventually we cleared a small spot to place our tent, cooked up a quick noodle dinner just as the sun went down and hit the sack very early.

At around 10pm we were awoken by a car driving up the track. ‘Oh shit’ was our first reaction. The car stopped and we heard voices which were in French so we calmly went back to sleep with the knowledge that they were just backpackers. Before we left home I had a conversation with a friend saying how much it would suck if we got murdered on our first night (just as a joke of course).....

Then at 12.30 another car rocks up. This time we were really shitting ourselves, this time the car drove past us, stopped, reversed, then pulled in next to us. No joke we thought this what it we’re going to be murdered. The 4 occupants turned off the engine and sat in their car with the lights on for about 10 minutes. With us too scared to get out of the tent we just laid low with Dave very bravely monitoring the situation!!! The 3 guys and 1 girl got out of their car and started talking in German, phew we will be fine just more backpackers. After lots of talking and organising they finally put their tent up and all was quiet once again. We had the feeling they had set up their tent very close to ours and when we got up at dawn there it was their tent no joke was not even a metre away from ours. We just started laughing as we think they were more scared camping in this spot than we were and used us security.

3/5/16
PORT AUGUSTA TO WHYALLA

63.2km's

https://www.strava.com/activities/567943698

We left our close neighbours just after 7am with no one stirring in the tent next door. One head popped up in the car as we left so I little wave hello/goodbye and off we went. We rode the continuation of Coroona Road which followed a pipeline. Coroona Road connected up with the Eyre Highway but we found that the pipeline had a dirt service road. This was fantastic as we now didn’t have to ride the bitumen and could follow this well maintained dirt road. We road for a good hour before stopping near a concrete pump station for the pipeline and had our breakfast. All fueled up we continued on this amazing dirt road. We knew Ash was coming through again somewhere along the way and he saw us from the road, stopped, did a U turn and came back to say hi. After quick hello’s we set back on our way and continued riding the track right into Whyalla. We hit the town  and found an organic café and had a great healthy lunch. A couple more km’s on the bikes and we were at the foreshore caravan park. We had amazing green grass to put our tent up on and awesome hot showers. Soon we felt refreshed and ready for dinner. The Caravan Park put on a BBQ, salad and beer night for $10 so we joined in and had a feast. Of course with me being vegetarian I saved my meat for Dave to eat the next day and yes he drank my beer too!! Bed felt really good and we both slept like babies.

4/5/16 
WHYALLA TO BUSH CAMP

69.1km's

https://www.strava.com/activities/567943700

https://www.strava.com/activities/567977247

Not quite the start to our day that we had planned. We were up early and all ready to leave when I sprung a little leak in my tyre after a small prickle was pulled out (I wonder where we got that from??) air was hissing out. This was sorted in no time with a couple of laps of the park to reseal the hole. Then panic Dave can’t find his cream for his ear and oh no he can’t find the second tube of cream for his ear. Ok we looked everywhere searching for the lost ear cream. This was important as he had just had a lesion removed just before we left and needed to apply this cream onto the site daily. Ok think straight lets go find a chemist and get a replacement…haha easy….found the address of the chemist on google and headed out of town and then just couldn’t find the shop. A lady stopped to help us and said they have just moved shops and it was back the way that we had just come from. We thanked
her kindly and headed off following her directions which just happened to be up bloody Mount Whyalla….I had no idea there were hills in Whyalla let alone this steep little bastard.  Haha and at the top of this hill is a look out!!! Soon enough we found the chemist and NO it doesn’t open until 9am. 20 more minutes to wait. Not being ones for standing around waiting we decided to recheck all the bags and there the lost tube of cream was found sitting in a bag that apparently had already been checked – pesky little tube of cream. The second tube was not found. So 2 hours later and 3km’s ridden with a mountain of a hill in there we were finally on our way.

The ride today was all on the bitumen, lots of hills that we didn’t really believe that were there and lots of friendly toots of encouragement from passing drivers as we were wondering what they were really saying in the privacy of their cabs. We stopped along the way and had a late breakfast, jumping a fence and sitting under a lovely little tree. The day was just km after km of bitumen and then we got excited as Ash was on his way back to Adelaide in his van with Jimmy and Sammy and rang us and said he had just driven through Cowell and had picked up lunch. We rode a couple more decent hills and just as we pulled over at a rest stop Ash and the boys pulled in with delicious salad sandwiches. This was the best lunch ever. It was really exciting to see the boys again and get puppy hugs and kisses from these two little guys. We fareweled them all as they head off on their own adventures with Ash heading to London to be with Lauren and the boys heading to their foster families until Lauren and Ash return in November.

With more road we finally found our turnoff onto Plane Road. Yay dirt again, oh how we love the dirt roads. We followed this up about 4km’s and found an awesome spot in the bush for our camp. We shared out little camp with just a few little ants but they soon all disappeared as the sun went down. Peace and quiet and darkness and we had the whole bush to ourselves. We could hear the buzz of the motor vehicles from the highway in the distance as the sound just seems to carry for miles when there is no other noise around. Once again early to bed and we slept soundly this time,  I wasn’t quite as insecure and scared as I was at our first bush camp. I think each time I will gain a little confidence as we go.

5/5/16 
BUSH CAMP TO COWELL

60.1km's

https://www.strava.com/activities/567977392

An early start to pack up our Mallee Camp, our new early start breakfast was trialed, english muffins, pan fried with olive oil and then vegemite from a tube, yummo. I'm not talking about the coffee at the moment.

Onto the bikes and it's off the bitumen and on to some awesome back roads where the fat bikes really came into their own, long gradual descents for the first 20 ks, we got back all that climbing that we gained yesterday. When the loaded fat bike plows into a fine talcum powder like sand swale at 40+ k's per hour, it just eats it up, any other bike would make you pay dearly for daring to attempt that. We continued rolling on into open cropping land and views out to the Spencer Gulf with a warm tail breeze helping us along. 

Finally a right turn for the final 15k's into Cowell saw the wind shift into a nasty hot head wind, making it a real grind. 

We got a great sandwich at the bakery for lunch to refuel before heading to set up camp at the caravan park.

Bakery Good

Pub Meal Good

Caravan Park very poor for the price.

6/5/16 
COWELL TO ARNO BAY

https://www.strava.com/activities/567943738

From Cowell we headed down beach road continuing south along the coast. We had a lot of corrugations for the first 10ks around the Franklin Harbour section but it then turned into nice graded gravel allowing us to pick up the pace a bit. Mary had a little bird flutter past her so she stopped to see if he was ok. Poor little fella couldn't see as he must have been hit by a car and received a knock to the head. His eyes were stuck down closed so out came the first aid kit to see if we could help him. After a little gentle effort we were able to clean his eyes and soon enough he was able to open them and see once again. We had on hand some eye ointment so a little bit of antibiotic cream he felt much better, regained some strength and was able to be released.
We decided to have breakfast at the Northern end of the Port Gibbon Beach, WOW. Just Mary and I having a chilled brekky soaking up the sun. Then we decided it would be cool to ride the beach south and see how far we could get. What a beautiful beach to ride, it was warm, a dramatic sky as the weather was beginning to change, caves in the cliff faces big enough to swallow two fat bikes, just awesome. Then a pop out into the little shack community of Port Gibbon. A fairly uneventful ride the rest of the way into Arno Bay. The weather bureau was predicting armageddon at this stage so we decided to get a cabin at the very nice little caravan park there, rather than camp. We had a very nice meal at the pub. The bad weather didn't arrive.

7/5/16 
ARNO BAY TO PORT NEIL

https://www.strava.com/activities/567943749

With the weather forecast still quite bleak, we got an early start and decided to make a fast ride to Port Neil to try and get there before the approaching storm arrived. Really just a tarmac run today we arrived at Port Neil with the change of wind and the darkening skies following close behind all the way. By this time we knew that it was not going to be the sort of night you want to stay in a tent. Lovely little town but I must admit that we stayed hunkered down in our cabin as the wind and rain blew in, so we didn't see much of it.

8/5/16 
PORT NEIL TO PORT LINCOLN 

94 kms

https://www.strava.com/activities/570239859

By dawn the rain had cleared but the wind remained, a strong Northerly, so we were on the bikes soon after sun rise and began the dash to Tumby Bay in hope of a decent coffee. We did the forty ks there in quick time with a brilliant tail wind, so we were having late brunch at the beach side cafe (and good coffee). The forecast was for the Northerly to continue for the rest of the day, but tomorrow a change to the south, so we decided to dig deep and put a big effort in to make it to Port Lincoln. Legs and Butts hurting we rolled into town