Monday, August 5.

Day 9.   Bush Camp 2 to Bush Camp 3.

165 km in 6 hrs 16 min at 26.2 km/ hr.

Distance so far:  1094 km.

AHR : 93 bpm.

'Climbed': 859 ft.

Elevation tonight:  458 ft ASL.

Left at 7.20 am.         In at 3.20 pm.

I wore my Providence shirt today as today's cycle was dedicated to the family of Providence School, Shillong, India, both pupils and teachers.

In Bush camp 2 all began to move about as soon as the sun rose, or earlier. All tents were dry after a calm and still night and were soon packed away and ready to load.this was to be a long day and everyone was keen to have breakfast and move on. I had my usual breakfast and then Paul and I pushed off at 7.20  and 7 deg C.

We cycled out a dirt road from the bush and turned left onto the Eyre Highway and into a 25 km straight. These straights are preparing us for the big one later on in the day. This straight wasn't level but the long descents compensated for the 2% ascents. At mid- day it was 26 deg and a lovely 24 deg as we began to set camp this evening.

In the early part of today's journey, little in terms of landscape had changed. Still plenty of gum trees and scrub on both sides until we came to Balladonia Roadhouse (50 km).

We had network coverage here and I uploaded yesterday's post with no difficulty. Balladonia was in the news in 1979 when a large part of Skylab crashed to earth just 40 km away. Part of the wreckage is on display in the museum attached to the roadhouse. These roadhouses are far apart ( 180 km or more) and absolutely no other services in between. Motorists are advised to stock up with water and fuel before attempting to cross the Nullarbor. On occasions water isn't available even in the roadhouses. Some roadhouses even charge an extra dollar for any purchases under $10. We had our morning tea in the car park behind the roadhouse.

After Balladonia the landscape started to change. There were fewer and fewer trees and more ground cover; looked like grassland. This is limestone country but the vast slab of limestone is well covered by vegetation.

The road now showed little in terms of ascent or descent. Various groups of our cyclists moved along at their own pace and had a few words as they passed or were overtaken. A pleasant tailwind blew up at this stage and stayed with us for the rest of the trip. Over the last 40 km we sailed along at 30+ km/ hr with very little effort....and the glorious sunshine added to the wonderful experience. Towards the end some fluffy clouds moved into the blue yonder, but not rain threatening ones.

I'm amazed that we have seen very very little wildlife except for road kill. Not even bird- song today. And there are those famous road- signs along the Nullarbor warning of camels, emus and kangaroos moving onto the highway. We've seen none of them so far. At one stage two galahs rose out suddenly right beside us as we cycled along and beat it into the sky. The other cyclists have also commented on the lack of wildlife.

At the 84 km mark we entered onto one of the highlights of this adventure - The 90 Mile Straight ( 145.6 k ) the longest straight road in Australia ( if not in the world) .in addition it is completely flat except for  a slight incline at the start. We assembled at the sign for a group photo with Collis ( Leader) beneath the sign. Paul and I lingered on for a while taking more photos of the sign and of the plants/ grasses about.

We have now cycled 81 km along this straight to tonight's camp and have another 64 km to do on it tomorrow. The steering department is on auto but the legs must still keep turning those pedals. In one place the road is widened to facilitate the Flying Doctor Service to  land there. Very few trees of any consequence around us as we pushed on at 30 km/ hr under those lovely clouds. It isn't completely treeless .

At 3.20 pm we pulled into Baxter Rest Area after a very quick 165 km. It was the nicest day I have ever spent on a bike. Quickly, I had the tent up and all organised - into a routine now for setting up and for packing up.

I helped to gather firewood to cook the dinner and captured some images of the limestone slab and of some of the local vegetation.

By 5 pm we had a lovely sunset, followed by directions for tomorrow's ride followed by a delicious dinner of chilli con carne (without the carne) rice and apple pie. Sat around the blazing fire for a while but now all is quiet. As I write this I hear some drops of rain on the tent; I hope our good luck isn't about to change. (PS: nothing came of those few drops)

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

                                 (Uploaded from Caiguna Roadhouse.)