Friday, August 16.

Day 20.            Poochera.           to         Kimba.

Distance: 175 km  in 7 hrs 3 min.   At 24.7 km/ hr

Distance so far: 2212 km.

'Climbed':  2934 ft

Tonight's elevation: 882 ft ASL.

AHR: 113 bpm.

Punctures so far:   0

Out at 7.30 am.            In at 3.25 pm.

Very windy during the night but I didn't feel any of it snug inside Poochera Hotel but those in the tents spoke of it.

As Paul and I left at 7.30 a strong wind was blowing through the trees. Before we even got to the highway, I donned the rain gear as large drops began to fall and seemed to be intent on persisting. But within a few km I had it all off again for fear of sweating up underneath.

The sky ahead was dark and we just knew that the rain would come before the day was out. Indeed it did come around the 100 km mark and the wet gear was on again till we pulled into Kimba.  I was glad I had it all even though it seemed a burden to be carrying it over the last 3 weeks. I was completely covered with pants( purchased in Perth), helmet cover and a cover for the trunk bag. The rain wasn't of the cold wintry type that we get. Neither was it a driving rain but it was uncomfortable. A few times it eased off but we could see more grey clouds coming up behind us for the last 70 km.

Luckily we had a strong tailwind all day ( 35 to 40 km/ hr). That made the wetting more bearable.

When we reached Kimba, our destination, all I wanted was to get into a hot shower. Everyone has booked into rooms tonight. You just couldn't attempt to erect a tent in the conditions.

Today's route was across the top of the Eyre Peninsula ( get out your atlas and check it out) and to the south of the Gawler Ranges, an area of magnificent volcanic columns. It was just too far off the route to visit.

As I cycled along today I remarked to myself how similar to Ireland the colours of the landscape looked. Like ourselves they have had a relatively good supply of rain recently and so all is green. But all will be so different when the burning heat of the summer comes and all reverts to a burnt brown.

At Minippa, I spotted a notice as we approached another grain silo....Centre of Excellence for Low Rainfall Farming. Could we use their findings and practices at home?

We pulled into Wudinna, a small quiet community of 600 by crossing the rail tracks that had accompanied us for ages ( like the pipeline). This railway services all the silos during the season, but all quiet today.

Wudinna is the location of the ain't granite sculpture of 'The Australian Farmer' symbolic of the highs and lows of agricultural life in the region. We tarried there for a few minutes as the sun shone.

At the entrance was an array of Sturts Desert Pea, the symbol of South Australia.

Wudinna had a number of coffee shops that did extra business from our group and also had a tidy Catholic Church. The churchs of all denominations ai towns are of this size.

We had a lunch stop at  Polkdinny Park with its open- air museum featuring some of the machinery used in the early days of settlement...scrub roller, wagon, mouldboard plough etc. nearby, I spotted a busy chicken run with some similar to our own. They were as inquisitive when I approached and interrupted their scratching for rich pickings. The day was still dry at this point.

Just before coming to Kimba, a very large area was devoted to what I suspect were peas. Not sure, can be corrected. The field stretched for miles along the road.

Our accommodation is on the approach to Kimba and since I was in no form to move out again this evening ( for fear of another wetting) I have nothing of the local attractions as yet. I'll see them as we move on tomorrow.

For dinner, it was just over to the nearby roadhouse and back. Forecast for tomorrow is good - sunny and westerly winds again for our trip to Port Augusta. Clothes are hanging up to dry and the shoes are stuffed with newspaper.

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.