Days 17 and 18 (November 19, 20)

A beautiful pink and grey Galah common to Australia

From yesterday to today we have ridden a bit more than 200km.  As most of my attention while riding is split between gazing at the plants and scenery and trying to hug the shoulder of the road, much of my comments of the road conditions refer to the size of the shoulder.  Yesterday, from Frasier Station to past Balladonia Roadhouse, the shoulder was very nice: wide and smooth.  Today was another matter.  The shoulder narrowed to less than six inches with an uneven  break onto the soft edge.  This is unnerving with the road trains and caravans rushing by at 100kph.  The road trains are much better at moving into the far lane than the caravaners. 

Highlights of the ride: yesterday we saw an emu with five chicks (each chick four and a half feet tall!), today we saw our first live kangaroo (it hopped parallel to us for a number of minutes before darting across the highway; no wonder so many are roadkilled!).

At Balladonia Roadhouse, none of the caravaners had water to spare so we were forced to pay a high fee for unnecessarily refrigerated water.  We just entered the “longest straight stretch of highway in Australia” (146 km, or 90 miles) before camping for the night.  From there the shoulder diminished in size and quality!

Balladonia Roadhouse of the Eyre Highway.

There is an astounding amount of litter along the highway.  Included in this trash is an unexpected number of abandoned shoes: flip-flops, tennies, slip-ons… you name it!  There must be a lot of people missing shoes once they arrive at their destination.

Oh boy, here we go!

Today we rode on a perfectly straight road across the Nullarbor (not quite treeless at this point).  Although we are on a straight road, I cannot seem to keep from weaving about.  I know the inefficiency of wabbling down the road (Scott seems perfectly capable of riding in a straight line!), but I would much rather rubberneck in hopes of spotting wildlife or a cool shrub.  I am not much of a cyclist, but you would imagine my skills would improve after reaching the 1000 km mark of the trip (wahoooo!).

Snack break at an Eyre Highway rest stop with a luxurious picnic table and food to match!

Tomorrow will bring much the same as today with the high likelihood of a shower once we reach Cocklebiddy Roadhouse for the evening.  As I write this, the wind is buffeting my tent and rain is threatening (rain on the Nullarbor!?).  We had a stiff cross wind in the afternoon (about 30-50 kph).  Who knows what the weather will be tomorrow?

Posted by Mattie