Day 34 (December 6)

Australian road hazards – camels, wombats, and kangaroos

Today was a bit of a milestone for us – one month since we arrived in Australia (November 6 to December 6). We’re now only 170 kilometers from Adelaide, and nearly two-thirds of the way from Perth to Sydney. We’ll get to Adelaide the day after tomorrow, on December 8, then take a much-needed break from cycling for several days.

The trip so far has been pretty much what I expected. I figured we’d be facing long days of pedaling, days of headwind, fewer days of tailwind, and hot temperatures. And that’s what we’ve had, with the exception of really hot temperatures. We had one day of temperatures around 100 F early on in the trip (Day 2 of the Hyden-to-Norseman segment), but other than that, the temperatures have been surprisingly mild, considering we’re approaching the middle of summer. We’ve been told however, that the temperature will increase during our days between Adelaide and Sydney. We’ll see.

Mattie admires the Big Galah in Kimba, South Australia

We’ve now grown accustomed to our daily routine. We wake up around 5:30-6:00 am, and are packed by 6:15. Mattie is always the first to be packed up. I usually lag about 10-15 minutes behind her (no reason really – I just hate waking up early!). We then hit the road and usually pedal the first 20 kilometers before taking a breakfast break. For me, the day starts slow and the first 30 kilometers seem to take forever. I really start waking up around the 50 kilometer mark and, like a horse heading back to the barn at the end of the day, I start picking up steam around the 70 kilometer mark. The last 30-40 km of each day seem to fly by. It’s just the opposite for Mattie. She really enjoys the first half of the day’s distance, with the last 30-40 kilometers being tougher. Despite the difference in our body clocks, we’re able to travel at a pace that accommodates both of us.

Australian Bottlebrush in full bloom along the roadside

We’re usually at our daily camping spot between 3:00-5:00 pm. My favorite part of the day is relaxing in the tent for a few hours before dinner. It’s a fantastic feeling to be able to just lie still and decompress in the warmth of the tent after pedaling 100 or so kilometers.

One of our typical roadside campsites. This one is at the Bunda Cliffs in South Australia.

With nearly two-thirds of our distance done, we have only about 1,300 kilometers to go between Adelaide and Sydney. We’re hoping to knock that out in about 14 days, putting us in Sydney by year’s end. Our flights back home are on January 6, so if we have a few spare days in Sydney, we might rent a car and go touring – at 10 times the speed that we’ve gone so far!

Posted by Scott