Ceduna to Eucla
28/5/16
CEDUNA TO PENONG 72.2km
https://www.strava.com/activities/598743941
https://www.strava.com/activities/598743941
We flew back to Ceduna on Thursday evening after spending a
few days back home at Kangarilla. David had a specialist appointment and got
the all clear from his doctor regarding his skin lesion that he had removed
just before we started our journey. The graft has attached perfectly and
everything has healed really well. It was really lovely to be home for a few
days catching up with Evan and Ruby and Owen who took a couple of day’s annual
leave so he could spend some time with us. It was great to spend some time with
mum. We even had made the same hair appointment times without consulting each
other. And of course it was great to see my puppies again. I really miss the
dogs but Evan and Ruby have been doing a great job and they all look really
happy and really well. The ponies are all doing well and they all got a good
old worming just before I left so should all continue to do well over winter.
Mum has been spending lots of time with little old Kristie and she is doing
really well considering she turns 34 in a few months.
Friday in Ceduna was windy, blowing a gale so luckily we had
already planned to stay another night and head off on Saturday morning. Dave
had the job of changing over the back tyres on both the bikes. Priscilla took
to her new tyre with no problems at all but Larry, well he decided to be just a
little difficult. With things fairly sorted, bags packed, last minute shopping
done, bikes all set up we were pretty much ready to leave early in the morning.
Overnight Larry decided to continue to be difficult and produced a very slow
leak in the new back tyre. Pump it up and just ride was the thought so off we
went hoping the continuous rolling of the tyres would seal the inside with the
sealant. It was all looking pretty good and confidence was growing.
The ride out on Saturday morning was awesome. Legs felt so
fresh and fast, nothing hurt, happy faces on both humans and bikes felt
perfect. We rode out of town and shortly came to our turn off onto Denial Bay
Road. We followed the bitumen for about 15km which had very little passing
traffic. Then the road turned to dirt which was wicked. Beautifully maintained
dirt road that both bikes just rolled perfectly on. Lunch was had in a little
quiet spot in the bush and then we continued the rest of the ride into Penong
on the dirt road. Whenever we are out on a back dirt road we always find some
pretty decent hills to climb and today was no exception. For quite a few kilometres
we had the roller coaster effect happening.
Once in Penong we set up our tent in the caravan park on a
nice patch of green grass with the shade of a couple of small mallee trees. It
was a lovely little park, very quiet and spotless amenities. As we were putting
the tent up we could hear the yells, shouts and car horns coming from the
nearby footy oval so we headed over to watch the last quarter of the local
footy. It was a really close match with unfortunately Penong the home team
losing by just 1 goal. The skill level from both teams was pretty impressive as
was both teams play set ups. It was fun to watch and awesome to see such a good
turnout of supporters and lots of young people and children running around
enjoying their day at the footy.
Over to the pub for dinner and the chef was really kind
enough to wiz me up a veggie pasta dish which was amazing. The meal size was
huge and even though I was really hungry just couldn’t get through even half of
it. I made sure he got the message that it was delicious but just a little too
big for mini Mary.
Penong has a large park set up with a collection of
windmills in it. Windmills of all shapes and sizes. It even has one of the
largest windmills ever built in Australia on display in there and it actually
looks big enough to be a ferris wheel.
29/5/16
PENONG TO FOWLERS BAY 66.8km
https://www.strava.com/activities/598743968
https://www.strava.com/activities/598743968
We awoke to a flat Larry once again so once pumped up,
packed up and fed up off we ventured to Fowlers Bay. The first 30km of the ride
was on the Eyre Highway. The truck traffic wasn’t too bad or scary but we stuck
to our system of when a truck is coming from behind we just get off the bitumen
onto the verge. The truckies seem to appreciate us doing this and often give us
a little toot as they go pass.
We met Narelle at the kiosk who organised our camp site in
the caravan park and made us awesome real coffees with actual crème on top of
Dave’s shorty. See we knew this place was going to be special. We spoke to a
lovely couple who live next door to the kiosk who both work out at Yalata. They
were very helpful with advising us of where we will be able to get water from
between here and Nullabor. We ordered fresh fish and chips for a very early
dinner and Narelle came out with a lovely fresh salad for us as well. Just on
sunset we raced up the sand dunes just behind the park to take some photos.
Dave got some great shots of the sun setting and I had a bit of fun videoing
the amazing colours on display. When we got back to the park the nightly
campfire was well and truly going so we hung out over there for a while having
great conversations with other travellers.
We certainly crashed out and both had a really good sleep.
30/5/16
FOWLERS BAY TO 25km’s west of NUNDROO 59km
https://www.strava.com/activities/598743983
https://www.strava.com/activities/598743983
We decided to have a slower than usual start due to the fact
that real coffee was available at 8.30am. We sat looking over the bay enjoying
our coffee and toasted sandwiches wondering if we should just put the tent back
up and stay another day. We decided to make tracks and headed out towards
Nundroo.
Despite the good quality gravel road, heading out through
beautiful scenery across the salt pans we realised that the wind today was
going to make things difficult. Low and slow seemed to be the order of the day.
About 10km’s out of Fowlers Bay we started to see signs of there being horses
on the road. Regular fresh horse poop and pony sized hoof marks were evident
over the next few km’s. There were no fences and we wondered why on earth these
ponies would be loose on the road. Then on the rise ahead we started to see
moving amongst the low scrubby trees what we thought were these ponies. Getting
closer we could see them, all different colours until one of them finally
spotted us coming up the road they seemed to melt away into the bush and we
couldn’t see them again. We couldn’t help but wonder if these were relatives of
the fabled Coffin Bay Ponies.
We continued on into Coorabie and checked out the beautiful
hall and school site before heading up a hill once again into even stronger
winds and threatening rain. Finally, with aching legs we emerged back onto the
Eyre Highway and pushed into Nundroo for a surprise lunch, food again at the
Nundroo Roadhouse.
After lunch we kicked on and started to notice the potential
of a side gravel road running along the paved highway. This is what we were
hoping would give us an alternative to riding on the highway with the trucks.
The first five km’s seemed quite doable but we decided to drop our tyre
pressures to smooth out the bumps. Shortly after doing this the side road ended
and continued on the other side of the highway but in much worse condition.
Riding was very difficult so after persevering for another few k’s we decided
to hit the bitumen as it would be unlikely we would make our camp before dark
if we continued.
We made camp in a nice bush setting off the side of the road
about half way between Nundroo and Yalata.
31/5/16
West of NUNDROO TO 40km’s past YALATA 76.3km
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744272
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744272
We awoke to a heavy fog that had soaked everything really
wet. Not having the time to hang around
and wait for things to dry out we packed up the wet tent and all our belongings
and had our ritual packet coffee and a bite to eat for breakfast and continued
on our way on the highway. The ride today was quite hilly, long steady ups and
rolling downs. We are quite surprised to have found that we had done over 490m
of climbing this day.
Lunch time seemed to roll in pretty quick today and before
we knew it we were riding through Yalata. We had been told to head towards the
old caravan park and out the back and we should find fresh rain water to fill
our bottles and if we needed to top up the batteries on our phones to plug them
into the old caravan power stands as the power was still turned on. This was
great information to have as we did need to top up our water and our phones
were out of battery. So while we ate our lunch we topped everything else up as
well. We even had another bonus too as there were guys working on the grounds
of the old road house and they had the toilets open. Today was just our lucky
day.
Our day continued to be just bums on seats and legs going
around and around. We did get a bit of a break with the continuous road ahead
when a lovely young policeman stopped to have a chat. He was on a very serious
mission and wanted to warn us that he had been alerted of a car driving at a
ridiculous and dangerous speed of over 160km/h. He was quite concerned for our
safety and wanted us to know of the possible danger. He didn’t have any real
idea on how far up this driver was and why they were driving so fast but hoped
to be able to grab them. He waved good bye and that was the last we saw of him.
We stayed very alert but didn’t see anyone speeding or see the policeman at all
again so he was probably well ahead of us before we turned off to our camp for
the night.
Our camp was at a truck stop. We didn’t fancy spending the
night in the tent on a bed of gravel surrounded by trucks parking and resting
so we went bush and found a nice private peaceful spot. Here we had a good
dinner, packet shower and a good night’s rest.
1/6/16
40km’s past YALATA TO NULLARBOR ROADHOUSE
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744001
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744001
Another heavy dew morning left us with a wet tent again,
seems to be the norm now, Winter is here. However the sun rose and started to
warm our bones quite quickly to what looked like a magnificent day. While
packing up we realised that every bush had a very complex spider web attached
to it, all sparkling in the morning sun with dew drops, amazing. 
We hit the road with anticipation for the day ahead, we were
going to see the whales at the Head Of Bight.
We were finally coming out of the Yalata Hills and with a good tail
breeze we made good time to the turn off to Head Of Bight. 
We stopped for a quick drink and as we did the cop from yesterday pulled up to say Gday and make sure we were ok. Really nice to know that he was looking out for us, Cheers.
We headed into the visitor centre, had a quick coffee before
grabbing the cameras and heading for the viewing platforms, with the promise of
several whales with new born calves in the bay. Well what a sight when we
arrived, the most amazing wild beach location shouldered by the dramatic Bunda
Cliffs on each side of the bay. And cruising around we could see 3 whales with
calves as well as a couple of solo whales further out the back. They were just cruising,
staying close to the calves and very obviously helping them to get moving and
get them through their first days of life. A little while later a Female who
had been waiting out the back began to move in closer to where we were
standing. She seemed quite agitated and was rolling, spy hopping and blowing
quite often. We got some amazing photos
and video, but most importantly we could see this amazing creature right up
close, purely because we had the patience to wait around. We were sure that she
was on the verge of calving, but unfortunately we didn’t know how long this
would take and we needed to ride another 25k’s to Nullarbor roadhouse before it
got dark. We left with an amazing
feeling of satisfaction that we had seen the whales in good conditions, fat and
healthy with hopefully an incredible long life ahead of them.
But of course, a real shower was calling. So on the bikes
for a dash to Nullarbor.
We arrived and decided on a motel room for the night, we
wanted an early start the next morning. Cleaning up and getting our clothes washed
is now one of life’s most satisfying experiences. We are easily pleased these
days, especially when that is followed up with good hot food cooked by someone
else.
We were just leaving from dinner when our friendly Highway
Patrol Cop walked in, so we had a chat for a few minutes and thanked him for
looking out for us, nice guy, and he did catch his crazy driver the day before.
2/6/16
NULLARBOR TO GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT Bush Camp 1 84.1km
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744012
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744012
All ready for another day on the bikes and the next two
nights camping out under the stars. We had breakfast at the roadhouse before
leaving and just happened to see a barrel full of wombats. How could we
possibly leave without adopting one of these gorgeous little wombats. So with
wombat firmly attached to the top of the food bag we started off on the
Nullarbor Road. It was quite obvious that wombat needed a name so we asked for
some help from our FB friends. It was decided that Wilma was to be her name.
Wilma Wonda Wombat it is. Wilma now has her own instragram account so she can
share all her adventures along the way. She seems to get herself into a bit of
trouble at times so keeps us both quite entertained.
There are quite a few unofficial tracks from the highway
leading to the Bunda Cliffs along the way but most of them have had a grader
rip into them and large rocks placed at the entrances with posts saying
‘revegetation’ stopping vehicles driving down them. We can see there is a need
for this as there are far too many tracks ruining the bush but we also see a
need for a few more official tracks to be made so people have the opportunity
to drive down for a look. We were lucky to find a couple of tracks that were
half ripped up preventing vehicles driving down but had a large walking path
left on one side which allowed us to follow on our bikes. The views from the
cliffs are just breathtaking, it really feels like you are standing right on
the edge of the world, just so magnificent.
We are now well past the dog fence and today saw our first
wild dog. Sneaking through the bush was a black dog with a big white tip on his
tail. He took sight of us and shot through very quickly. Awhile later we
spotted a dingo who was eating something in the bush. As we rode past we
startled him and he started to trot off. I whistled and called out to him and
he stopped dead in his tracks for long enough for Dave to grab his camera out
and take a couple of shots. He then just sneaked away into the bush.
With having had lunch on the cliffs and an afternoon tea
rest stop on the cliffs we were quite excited to look out for a turnoff where
we could find a camp for the night on the cliffs. We kept a close eye out and
soon enough found a rest stop that had a track that hadn’t been ripped that led
about 2km’s out to the cliff top. Here we found the most amazing and perfect
spot to place our home for the night. It was windy so it was all pegs out and
extra tie downs plus all gear inside just as an added precaution holding the
tent secure. By sundown the wind settled and here we were sleeping on the edge
of the world with the ocean crashing into the great vast cliffs, the starlight
sky and not another soul around.
3/6/16
GAB Bush Camp 1 to GAB Bush Camp 2 94.1km
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744292
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744292
Blah Blah,, Blah Blahh, to Blahh Blaahh Blah, No seriously,
it was another amazing sunrise,,,, seriously, it was. And then it poured with rain so we had to
duck back into the tent for 10 minutes while it cleared. Bugger, wet tent
again.
We rolled slowly back out the dirt access road towards the
main highway. We are a bit disappointed about the amount of dirt road we can
ride heading across here, but we have found that the fat bikes aren’t so much
the slugs we thought they would be on the black top. The advantage they give us when we need to
get off the road and onto the verge because of trucks or caravans is extremely
important to us. While the dirt will increase a bit later on, for now, we have
to suck it up and do the k’s to get us there.
We decided we were going to put a big day in today, the weather
for Saturday was looking bad, especially the head winds, so we thought that the
closer we could get to Eucla, our Saturday destination, the better off we would
be. We had no mobile coverage for the past two days so were unable to get an
update.
Along the way, we had a guy heading the opposite direction
pull over to say Gday, he didn’t stop long, but all he wanted to do was give us
food, a full quiche and a massive bag of nuts and dried fruit. What a nice
bloke and so very generous, we appreciated it, and are still eating the nuts.
We now have a system that when riding to bush camps, we will
ride till about 3pm and then start looking for a camp site, today, this had us
ducking down side tracks and following along cliff tops looking for somewhere
good. It was getting late and we had
travelled 94k’s when we decided on this beautiful rock ledge on the escarpment
overlooking the beach about 15 k’s East of the West Australian Border. We
started putting the tent up and soon found that we could only get a peg into
the ground in one out of six spots, and the wind was picking up. So we tied guy
ropes to exposed roots and scrubby half dead bushes that didn’t look like they
were going to hold much. Meanwhile Wilma the Wombat crashed Mary’s bike
Priscilla into a bush, disaster.
All was good again after the master chef boiled the billy
and hot chocolate was consumed followed by cheese and bickies, olives, Jerky,
Cheese pasta with our last snow peas, a vegemite sandwich and then a shared
picnic bar and kitkat. I think we were still a few calories short of replacing
the days effort. Sleep followed shortly only to be interrupted much later by Mary
saying,,, Darling,, the tent is hitting me in the head. Oh well back to sleep,
it was windy.
4/6/16
GAB Bush Camp2 to Eucla 28.3km
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744016
GAB Bush Camp2 to Eucla 28.3km
https://www.strava.com/activities/598744016
Red sky at dawn, cyclist be warned. We were only 15k’s from
Border Village, coffee, and breakfast, so we decided to pack up and go without
brekky. It was windy and bitterly cold,
we had to develop a strategy to get the tent down without breaking it, or
losing it over the edge of the escarpment. So Mary had to stand on one end
while I got back inside and took it down from the inside. This resulted in
quite a bit of laughter and swearing, but we did it. And would you believe the
tent was wet again.
We blasted into border village feeling like we had crossed
one of the psychological barriers of this trip off our list. Phheeewww. We had good coffee and a massive breakfast
before riding through the border fruitfly checkpoint (the nice guy there really
didn’t want to check our bags).
The final 13 k’s to Eucla were uneventful, and after eight
days straight on the bike, we felt like we deserved a rest day. Good riding.
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