Half Way - 2058kms down!

Here we are at Ceduna crossing our half-way path just a few kms back. Everyone made it into town albeit some later than others. The past 2 days have been wonderful riding days according to everyone, as a nice (strong at times) westerly wind blew them into both Nundroo, where we stayed overnight and again to Ceduna.
Once again supplies have to be gathered but the bulk work performed by Maureen and Ray in getting supplies is somewhat lighter than previously as now we are back in 'civilization' we don't have to carry as much at any one time. The statistics are somewhat amazing as Maureen stated the riders (mainly) go through about $500 worth of lollies and snacks a week! That's one-hell-of-a lot of sugar!
Although the days have been windy they have also been sunny, even if we did have a thunderstorm go through the other night, rain hasn't been a bother so far. The bother really is the starting time - 6:00 each morning for us, Ray and Maureen up at 5:00am. Then the riders gather at the start about 7:15 - 7:30am due to the longer kms needing to be covered per day heading out just as the sun comes up. As most of this trip is heading east...well you can imagine what it is like trying to see on the road. The drivers in the cars seem to be finding it most annoying especially Sally who sits a little lower in her car and has difficulty when the glaring light is all she sees when heading out. At least Paul and I can pull the visors down for a bit of reprieve until the suns gets a bit higher. Actually Sally let out a few expletives the other morning, only to be told off by her husband driving the support vehicle. Now, my theory is if  David really cared about his wife's language, he would have been driving their car and not the support vehicle.
The other bit of 'gos' going around is that little 'green aliens' are starting to take over the place. Green lights are starting to appear on vehicles in odd places like caravan windows, mirrors on cars etc, going from person to person! I don't really think it would be Paul that has started 'encouraging' this little light he may have, or have not found in a balloon the other evening when we had the party! Not him!!!!!!
Robert (Cowboy) also has a new friend and 'picked her up' at Nundroo last night. A cute little blonde number 'appeared' on his handlebars ready for a lift this morning - I wonder how she got there????
It is now time to go for tea, so will sign off again with some pictures sent to me or I have taken today or the other day. Enjoy.

Morning tea break, ready to roll again.

Birthday wishes to Darren's wife and Col's brother.

What the drivers face first thing in the mornings!

Riding along on my pushbike honey, when I noticed you.

A pretty bush I found on the side of the road

Cowboy (Robert) at Eucla

And again taking a golf shot on the Nullarbor.

South Australia - Here We Come!

Hello fellow travelers, here we are with internet connection once again and another couple of hours downloading, editing and uploading photos. The life of a 'Blogger' is never ending, but I'm not complaining, just hope you are all enjoying it.
We have now made it into South Australia, actually we are at the Nullarbor Roadhouse where the showers and beds are being made use of (actually my poor old  'hubby' is taking a well earned nap as I write).

The group at Eucla - SA here we come!

We once again had a bush camp last night and although the wood was in scare supply (yes, even we struggled to find enough, and of good quality). We were blessed with the weather gods having a lovely balmy 25C, with northerly breeze though. Mind you there was quite a discussion about using the 'good wind' behind us to further our camp, but democracy was at work and a camp was called earlier than some would have preferred. After going down the road this morning, I believe we made the right call, as the land became flatter with less cover than what was afforded and definitely less wood!
We had an early ride-in following the border crossing photos (of which I must thank a lovely lady by the name of Helena, who sent me her photos as I had inadvertently left my SIM card out of the camera. Here I'm supposed to do the official photo and haven't even checked the camera has a SIM card - What a dill!)

The Border - thanks Helena!

The other beaut bit about the ride was that everyone completed the day. This included all the injured personnel: Darren, Barry, David and Simone. Congratulations group - awesome!
With plenty of time to kill the people went in various directions for awhile: some for showers, some to read, some wrote a story about his life in a Riding Palleton (Cowboy - I'm hoping he gives me a copy) - even the 'Cook' went for a well deserved rest, reassuring me she "felt a new person" afterwards!
When all had returned to where the fire was to be, near Dave and Sally's caravan, I decided besides our physical health being looked after we needed some mental stimulation so 'sprung' a trivia quiz on them. After dividing them into teams (no 'stacking' allowed), I then presented the 20 questions. To say there were some wild answers would be an understatement, but when the one question about USA was incorrect from our Cowboy, I was really worried! Their mental fatigue must be greater than I thought, when he said that the Pentagon was in Washington! (Arlington, Virginia is the correct answer, in case you were wondering). There was lots more argy-bargy about 1/2 points (I think some of them are quite competitive!, with eventually Barry, Tim and Col coming out the winners (I think they were anyway,by the sqauking coming from Tim. Don't worry Tim, Saints still beat the Blues yesterday, so all is good)!
The other fabulous thing we did was celebrate another birthday. This time they were absentee: Darren's wife and Col's brother. Happy Birthday to both of you for yesterday if you happen to be following this blog!
Once again we had a movie (seems to be the done thing on the bush camps) with 'Charlie and Boots' the main picture this night. Lighthearted fun about a father and son on a traveling holiday, pity both Ray and Tim went to bed early!
In the morning we woke to a fine mist/fog, making the camp quite eerie, let alone damp. We had to delay our start time for safety reasons as all felt compromised if a truck happened to be thundering down the highway without knowing what else was coming the other way. When we did get moving it was about 30 kms down the road before everyone called in to take a good look at the Great Australian Bight. A wondrous view of the cliffs that make up the edge of our great country, something all thought worth the extra bit of mileage.
Well enough of the writing - pictures to follow - please enjoy our little hi-jinks!

Spider webs wet from the dew this morning.

An eagle's nest. You have to be desperate in the Nullarbor.

Barry praying to the Nullarbor gods...oh no just looking at the caterpillar!

There is his, the little blighter!

Old Telegraph Station - Eucla

The old Jetty - Eucla

Paul gets bogged in the sand.

Ray - "My beautiful car, what about my beautiful car?"

Col getting the 'good oil' on how to swing the club on the Nullarbor.

Paul and Jenny trying to eat baked beans in wraps - thanks Maureen!

Nick and Tim giving the Nymph a run for her money!

Temperature gauge on blow-hole - 8C... Brrrrr.

Paul's new blow-dry option.

The Great Aussie Bight.

Day off.

Today was a welcome day off from the rigours of riding and support for our riders. After the usual domestic choices were completed (Tim actually just pipped me this morning to the washing machine and I was up really early, for me), we then had some time to relax and enjoy the area. Oh course that was after the stock-take we had to do of all the supplies we were carrying and rearranging boxes to make sure everything was under control. Maureen as ever had everything in good order with menus for the next 4 days highly orgainsied. Fruit and veggies are an issue as in the next 3 days we need to dispense with all these commodities as we cross the SA border quarantine. I guess the cyclists will be well feed on fruit and veggies prior to this point.
At lunchtime it was time to spread our wings and head out in 4WDs to see what the countryside had to offer.
Frank and I decided to brave it and walk the 4.8 kms to the telegraph station ( nearly 3/4 buried in the sand). As we were early to pick up the others, we decided to continue to the beach and on arrival found the elusive 'long jetty' we had heard so much about. The jetty is in need of much repair, but the beach and water made up it. The Southern Ocean was at its glorious best with a calm demeanour, turquoise in colour and just a gentle northerly breeze.
After this we headed back along the track to catch up with the others who had now made their way down to us. Unfortunately we did go off the beaten track a bit and ended up trekking over sand dunes in a direction we ' thought was correct'. (At least the compass said we were!) Finally Frank spotted a tree that looked out of place with the remainder of the environment and remembering the tree at the back of the telegraph station suggested we head towards it. On arriving back we saw the last of our party heading back to the cars: a desperate plea of " wait for us", saw some of the vehicles wait up, as we rejoined our party.
All 4WD then headed to the jetty, of which we had just come!, only to find Paul had gone onto the beach and got himself bogged! Tyre pressures lowered and it was just a matter of climbing out again - no real harm done, but now we had to pump the tyres back up again!
Mention was made about how Ray was actually going off-road in his Toyota! Tim must have been very persuasive! Next on the agenda was the Nullarbor Nymph golf  course - well hole really (Par 4), about 4 - 5 kms off the main highway. Hijinks was had with Barry teeing off an imaginary ball, Nick and Tim getting their gear off to becomes the Nymph etc. Good fun and lovely to see, all the stress of the trip disappear for little while at least.
Then the  really adventurous group decided to head east along the Old Eyre Highway into the wilds of the outback WA in search for one of the Blow Holes supposedly 38 kms down the road. With only 2 of the 4WD group left with 5 people off we went. I had my trusty WikiCamp Google map showing the route to get to the blowhole and when approaching we saw a strange construction of iron, rocks and a dead twig hanging out the top of the construction. I said to Paul, that this was the place, but he didn't believe the strange coloured rocks were actually what we were looking for. BUT THEY WERE! On closer investigation these strange coloured rocks concealed the entrance to the blow-hole: a 600mm diameter hole in the ground, made of limestone and blasting a wind from beneath the earths surface. The wind was incredible as not only was it strong but also cold as well. Paul actually had a temperature gauge that recorded the temperature of the outside ground at 22C whereas the hole only registered 8C!
We had Mandy put her head over the hole to get a video of the effect it had on her hair. ( I think if she was a nun like Sally Field in the Flying Nun, she also would have taken off!) The Quarantine man we struck when reentering WA,  said that all the caves/ blowholes around here are connected to the ocean and the water in there is salty, but extremely clear. The earth is an amazing place!
Well enough of the frivolity, it is now back to real time and onward again tomorrow. Both Darren and Barry ( I hear) are both going to attempt to ride again. Good luck to all!

Eucla

We have made the 1509 km mark arriving in Eucla at ...whatever time it says (everyone is still confused at the time - even to the point the Eucla Motel has 3 clocks on it - Perth, Eucla and SA)!
We had another head wind today which made life a little uncomfortable at times, but most soldiered on thinking about the beautiful bed they would have tonight and the rest day tomorrow. Alas, Simone was a casualty of the day with "pain in all of my body". I have my suspicions it was just an excuse to snuggle up to Barry in the car!
The sunrise again this morning was a beauty with a lovely pink tinge although the wind this morning was extremely crisp and made the chill factor most unpleasant.
Paul's 'find' for the day was a life-jacket! Darren has claimed this, so in all the 'stuff' Paul has collected he proudly says he has found good homes for most of it!
Sitting in this caravan park we have a 180 view of the Southern Ocean as when entering Eucla the riders (and ourselves of course) have to climb a solid 5kms. Luckily the view is worth it (and the rest day also helps everyone).

Let the climb begin!

The view from our caravan park.

Well it is once again domestic chores that call, although the laundry is queued up for about 6 hours as they only have one machine operating! $1.00 for 5 min shower so as you can see water is also at a premium in this desolate and hostile country of ours. Please take your time and

Nick on his new stretcher found by Sally a few camps back

enjoy the photos below.
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Sunrise yesterday morning.

'Lande making the most of the Massage Machine.

Lunch break on the road.

Watch out of planes folks.You are now crossing an airstrip.

Life of the lone rider - Simone against the elements (and trucks).

Truck Up!

'Psycho Cowboy' doing his yoga thing!

Camping last night before movie and spit roast.

'Lande on her visit to the Eyre Bird Observatory with Robin (or was it the Telegraph Station)?

Simone looking totally relaxed - or exhausted!

The handy stuff Paul picked up! Tyre cover not Robin's car!

Last Cab to Darwin

The weather gods were mildly better today with lovely sunny weather 20C ( eat your hearts out East Gippslanders) although still quite a strong cross wind coming mainly from the North. 

Another bush camp has been set up with the obligatory fire wood collected ( once again the lack of trust we would find wood is astonishing). Find wood we did even if we had to do some 4WD to get to it and once again the wood is of a dense quality providing us with some wonderful hot coals to cook spuds and pumpkin in. The bush shower is getting a thorough work-out, along with Maureen's leg massager. Even the 'Cook' getting in on the act whiling away a few minutes while the machine does the work. (About time Maureen slowed down: she works like a machine herself!).

Traffic was generally quite today with only a few incidents of negativity coming from one truck driver calling us a " bunch of amateurs." How dare he!

As we were doing the 'tail-end-Charlie’, Paul (Hawkeye) once again spies some "good stuff" by the side of the road. This time it was a lovely aluminium kettle/teapot which he gave to David at the next rest stop. This actually only replaced one David had beforehand that met an untimely death in a fire by melting the side out of it! All is good on the road with 'treasures' being found on a constant basis. It probably is just as well I'm not allowed to drive ( although I did once on this trip), as Paul would be able to study the road debris even closer!

Last night our movie was 'The Last Cab to Darwin', which most people hadn't seen. We even gathered some back-packers to come and join us who would have wondered what they stumbled across as they drove in later last night.

Anyway another day has been completed with no major catastrophes ... Let's hope it continues.

Strong winds and demons in the mind!

Today was one tough day with north easterly winds making riding incredibly difficult for all - even the top boys. Emotions were running high and the head demons were playing havoc with everyone. Contingency plans had to be made due to the slow speed traveled by all, so an unplanned bush camp was improvised and set up as our home for the night. 

Jesse was a bit concerned about lack of wood for our fire but I assured him we would find wood. Paul and Robin took the camper out the back of the bush tracks where wood, although not plentiful made up for it in density. Good solid wood which was loaded up on top of the camper and carted back into camp. All hands on deck to unload and a wonderful fire was alight in no time at all.

Sally and David it seemed couldn't wait to see Paul when he had finally stopped at camp as Sally had a marvellous find in her role as 'Steptoe's Partner'. A portable camp stretcher and fishing rod - all in great condition was the find, which Paul has yet to surpass in his hawkeye gatherings.

Robert (Cowboy) decided to tell a tale about "How Mandy Taught Him to be a Team Player" with his mentor ( boss) Mandy saying he had to concentrate and follow the line to help the team make it in, not go looking around and making rhymes up in his head. You had to see it to believe it, accompanied by his harmonica - very funny!

Nick Sayle was the beneficiary of the camp stretcher and when asked about his night sleep replied " excellent"! I don't think Nick will give this up for anyone now.

As we had crossed the Western Central Time Zone yesterday we had now lost 3/4 of an hour for the day. This had a few people quite confused as some phones had caught up with the time difference and some hadn't. 

Discussion took place as to what time to leave in the morning with Tim making the suggestion 5:45am rise with a 6:30am leave or was it 6:30 am rise and 7:15 leave? It was then up to David to be official time keeper and beep his horn at the appropriate hour. I'm not sure what time Dave actually had but it was very dark out my window when I heard the call to rise! The saving grace of this early morning rise was a spectacular sunrise ( which I don't see many of - sunrises I mean, let alone spectacular) of which I even made Robin stop being a sook and leave his diesel heater to get out of bed and take a look. Unfortunately by the time he did rise the sun had risen and the colour had all but disappeared.

I did make mention in conversation to Paul this morning this early morning caper is not what retirement should be about. We both agreed somehow, we have been caught in a 50 year old's mid-life crisis - how did that happened?! Happy riding gang.

The Longest Straight in Australia.

We have conquered the Longest Straight in Australia with bruised and battle-weary bodies around camp tonight.

Yesterday although we had to make up the extra 30 kms we had left off the day before, all made it into camp unscathed. Another bush camp and the same scenario of chainsaws, fires and a wonderful tea put on by Chef (Maureen) and Sous Chef (Sally) with a little assistance from some others. Roast pork with potatoes and pumpkin in foil topped off with some spinach and some yummy gravy and you  get the picture I'm sure.

We did have a few ring-ins tonight as well with Peta, Annie and Dave joining us around the fire and camp.  Peta (supported by Annie and Dave) is walking across the Nullarbor from Norsemen to Ceduna raising money for various causes close to her heart she is wanting to raise $10,000 for:
* Food Bank, * Tiwi Bombers (footy team), * Blaze Aid, * Project Numbat ($2,500 each) and if you wish to contributed you can help Peta by donating at www.gofundme.com/nullarbor  . Peta is a "trekker" doing many of these fund raising walks and her philosophy is " I'm am about achieving goals and exploring the country on foot while fundraising for people who can do with a hand." As a contribution to her cause 'Bill' gave her some money from the '2 Pots' along with a presentation of a '2 Pots' t/shirt from Tim which she received with much gratitude and humility.

We ended the night with everyone around the fire and another movie on offering:this time Bran Nue Dae! Fabulous movie with all enjoying the music, story and outback scenery.

A very frosty day greeted us this morning with Sally telling us it was -2.5C at 5:00am! I think it deteriorated from there as well because the diesel heater in our camper stopped working. Why you might ask? Well the diesel actually froze!!! Along with the water pipes of the van - all frozen. Never in our 15 years of traveling have we encountered such coldness. I'm not sure how all the tenters survived but all emerged this morning albeit a little on the cold side.
When we reiterated this story to Maureen and Ray all she could do was laugh, as she slept in thermals and still had to get up and put more clothes on including beanie.
Well we are back in camp at a roadhouse tonight, so the tent people have cabins which I presume will have heaters in them making for a much more comfortable night sleep. And sleep is what is required as we head into tomorrow with 150 kms with another head wind. With Darren (back  and terrible cold), Barry (knee), 'Lande (with ongoing back and shoulder injuries) we are nearly running out of spare seats to carry people. Hopefully we can ride tomorrow without more casualties but it is a long flat road so who knows what will happen. Hopefully also we will not have revolting, foul-mouthed truckies giving us a hard time saying "all you people should be *&#$ run over"! and progressively getting worse than that. Luckily he was traveling in the other direction and gutless as he only spoke when past us and we couldn't get his registration number.  Stay tuned for more adventures!

Balladonia morning tea with Road train next to us

Another lunch break on the road

Lolly stop - water and snakes are the go!

Most riders starting out from Norseman

David and Sally getting 'down and dirty' with the 'rope trick'!