Sunday, August 11.

'Day 15.                 Bush Camp (4)        to.            Nullarbor Roadhouse.

Distance:  85 km in 3 hrs 45 min  at.    22.6 km/ hr.

Distance so far: 1599 km.

' Climbed':  267 ft.

Elevation tonight: 231 ft. ASL.

AHR: 94 bpm

Punctures so far:   0

Out at 8.10 am.             In at 12.30 pm.

Today is for the Abbey School in Tipp Town, for the pupils, the staff and the principal. Hope that all the results next week are excellent. Up the Abbey.

During the night there had been some light rain but it wasn't cold by any means because of the cloud cover. I went out in the early hours to view the stars, but all in vain. We're escaping all precipitation so far. How long can this last? It was a cloudy sky over my tent as I made my way over to breakfast around the remains of the fire. Within minutes all was packed up and we headed off at 8.10 while Collis and Cathy packed away after the very last Bush Camp of this tour which started last March. All those tents will now need a good clean out and airing before our next trips.

During the day temperatures never got too high but for me they were quite pleasant. The Australians found it cold....they're used to warmer times. We had cloud cover in comparison with the clear blue of yesterday. Again we're blessed with a tail wind for the duration of the ride, a north westerly. The wind doesn't register on the wiry mallee shrubs, but the angle of the grass tells the good news. The heart rate tells the story.

We made one side trip to view the cliffs. No whales on view but the cliffs and sun rays created something spectacular. As far as I could see those Bunda Cliffs stretched into the distance. As we stood there and the clouds changed the angle of the rays the whole scene changed. Whereas yesterday our timing meant we missed the whales by minutes, today our timing was spot on.

Especially towards the end of the ride, shrubs or scrub of any description fell away and it was just a carpet of green to the horizon. We are here at the lush period after the rains. In summer with temperatures often in the 40's everything takes on hues of a burnt brown. Not a time to be cycling the Nullarbor! The mallee shrubs, the tallest around here, are knurled and knotty. The thicker parts are excellent firewood and burn forever. In Victoria, land was cleared of mallee for agriculture, agriculture didn't flourish and thus created a dust bowl. So, even these 'ugly' growths have their place in the larger picture. Just before the Nullarbor Roadhouse we had large tracts covered just with bluebush.

Just before the Roadhouse a sign indicated the Western end of the Nullarbor. But the Nullarbor is generally taken to refer to that stretch from Norseman all the way to Ceduna. We have two more days before we arrive there. It also stretches from the Bunda Cliifs right up to the Great Victoria Desert, an area almost as large as the State of Victoria. It was the surveyor, Delisser that gave it the name 'Nullarbor'...the treeless plain. The aboriginal for it was the waterless plain. Both true.

Yesterday morning, we crossed the border into South Australia. That is a distance of 186 k ( Tipp through Cashel to Dublin) and on that road not a single dwelling or building ( not even in the distance),  not a hill or mountain on the horizon, not a trace of cultivation or land use, untouched by human hand (except for the few poles at viewing points). It boggles the mind.

Came across a few interesting creatures today. At breakfast a large spider scuttled across the ground among us. No one could put a name on it and no one was keen to investigate if it were venomous or not. This evening as we went to open the door to our motel room ( gone soft again!) a pink creature like a grasshopper was guarding the door. Again we didn't touch and in time it sprang away.

Nullarbor Roadhouse is the least equipped of those we have stayed in. For campers, no kitchen, no meeting area, no shelter of any kind and it's quite windy this evening. We had to have our briefing in the open camping area. The others were luxurious in comparison. Then again, not much local competition. Here you can take a 30 minute plane ride out over the Bight to view the cliffs and whales. It takes off just outside our room. At $160 a pop I wasn't tempted. 

A breeze of a day. And the whole after noon to relax.

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

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