from Port Augusta, with Coal
Right! I'm in Port Augusta at the first Internet since Coober Pedy about 1 month ago. And I ran out of interblag there before I could press submit. So I'm splitting this entry into 3 sections covering the last month and a half. Section 1 was written in Coober Pedy. 2 and 3 were written in Port Augusta. So, excuse the massive length of this blog. Enjoy :)
1. Headwinds, Road trains and Cyclists
The last week and a half or so has been non-stop cycling. I arrived in Coober Pedy yesterday after 3 days on the Lasseter highway and 6 days on the Stuart highway. During this time I have found bike tourer enemy number 1. Headwind!!! I've only had a tail wind for 1 day on this trip. It seems that when I go west I get a westerly, when I head south I get a southerly. These days I set off assuming a 15km/h Southerly is the norm. Anyway...
The Stuart highway has been a fascinating ride. There isn't much traffic at all. I'd say 60% is caravanners, and the rest are road trains. You learn to respect the trains. They plow through at 100k an hour and they simply can't and won't stop for a cyclist. Most of the time, there is no oncoming traffic so a road train coming from behind will pull out a good kilometre in advance so you know you won't get flattened. There are times however where two road trains cross paths at the exact point that you're cycling at. These are not good times. I get completely off the road and come to a halt then brace myself for the inevitable wall of wind that engulfs you.
I've met heaps of other cyclists on this trip including a French couple who are cycling round the world, three Japanese tourers, once who will have cycled for 2 years straight by the time he finishes in Esperence, 1 Taiwanese guy doing Adelaide to Darwin on a fold up bike, a 50 something yr old lady cycling round Australia for Kidney disease research. The list goes on. Who would have thought you'd meet another tourer in these desolate conditions!
For the last 4 days I've been cruising with Meredith and David, a retired couple from Canberra who are going to cycle home from Erldunda in about 6 weeks. It's not often you meet a tourer going the same way as you, but being a gung ho 24 yr old, I decided I didn't want to be slowed down by two oldies. Well!! I couldn't shake them. They caught up tome twice before I decided that we should all cycle together to Coober Pedy. Even then, they were setting the pace. So let that be a lesson for all you 60 somethings out there! David and Margaret, I take my hat off to you (David, I really did).
2. The Oodnadatta track
From Coober Pedy, I said goodbye to Meredith and David and started on the next section of the trip, that being of the Dirt highway. To get to Oodnadatta from Coober Pedy, you go through the Moon Plain (Where Mad Max was filmed), an incredibly stark desert comprising of nothing more than brown sand and bright shiny moonstone. There is no plant life whatsoever apart from when you dip into small creeks situated about 40km apart. I can't describe the feeling of cycling through this landscape. For 90km I had a newly graded road, a tail wind and NOTHING around me. This is truly what I came to experience.
The next day I was struggling my way into the Painted Desert on a 1 lane corrugated road from hell when a bloody B double fuel tanker rolls up behind me and blasts his horn. I scrambled up the side of the road to give him some room but he hopped out to have a chat. Introduced himself as Bull and offered me a ride to Oodnadatta. Now, I was thinking what you're thinking. "That's cheating". But then I thought a bit more and wondered how many times in my life I'd get to ride in a road train through one of the most remote places in Australia. So I said yes! And from that moment on, I justified this decision by claiming:
"This trip is no longer about endurance. I am now a tourist seeing Australia and my transport of choice is a bicycle". Ha!!
The Oodnadatta track was a test though, I must admit. I took it slow, doing about 50 - 75k per day. Mostly because I was pulling into every railway and telegraph station ruin I could find, but also because the first 200km were pretty shocking conditions. People tell me it's because there is so much traffic due to Lake Eyre being filled. At William Creek (Halfway through the track) I took a flight over the lake. It was about 30% full. All the bird life had since left, but it was pretty stunning seeing such a massive expanse of water in the middle of the desert. We also flew over the painted desert which was pretty cool too.
The road from William Creek to Marree was much better. In places it almost felt like tar. Marree was a brilliant place! I met the first people my age since Uluru and hung out with them at the campground and pub till midnight (that's late). The next morning when we all went our seperate ways, I felt like I'd met everyone in the town. Oh by the way, I lost my phone in Marree, so don't try calling my number.
3. The Flinders ranges
Marree was the "end" of the Oodnadatta track. The old gahn railway that I'd been following for 400km kept going south however, all the way to Port Augusta. So I followed it, pushed along by a lovely lovely tail wind so that by the end of the day I'd travelled 125km at an average speed of 22.1 km/h. My best day yet. Flying south from the desert to the mountains was an amazing feeling. On my left I had the start of the Northern Flinders and to my right were the ranges hiding Lake Torrens. In the middle, a vast desert plain. I made it to Copley that day, then headed east to Arkarulla. I can thoroughly recommend this drive. You pass through the Northern Flinders just under the Gammon ranges and then come out with a view over the plains towards Lake Frome. On this ride I hit my new "Anthony on fully loaded Long Haul Trucker" record speed of 57.5 km/h. On a dirt road! (Sorry mum).
Arkarulla and the Gammon ranges were definitely worth the trek. These are the oldest mountains in the world. They reckon the Freeling ranges north of Arkarulla once stood 13km high. Growing up in Canberra, I thought that all Australian mountains were just big hills, but I've been proven wrong here. Put some snow on these mountains and you'd swear you were in the Canadian rockies. While I was in Arkarulla, the owner of the station there offered me his car for the day to explore the area. w00t! Naturally I took him up on the offer, which allowed me to see heaps of gorges, ochre pits and more mountains. I also went on the ridge top tour; A 4WD ride through some ridiculous dirt tracks along the ridges of the northern ranges.
Next, I pedalled south to get to Blinman in the central flinders. This was quite the trip. The wind really really picked up. On my right were the rugged flinders, and on my left was desert and Lake Frome in the distance. Thankfully it was a westerly that day because to my left was the beginnings of a massive dust storm that would not let up for 2 more days. I camped at Chambers Gorge that night, which features some impressive aboriginal rock engravings. As I've mentioned before, I've been sleeping in my bivvy under the stars and haven't been using the tarp. That night I felt a few drops on my head a wrapped myself in the tarp hoping it would only be a light shower. Thankfully it was, but an hour later I got spooked when the wind picked up again. I hopped up and could see a freakin huge thunder storm going on to the west. Quick smart I setup the tarp in a very strong configuration and huddled under it as the storm moved towards me. In the end, the rain wasn't too bad, but the wind! My god! I spent the night waiting for the tarp to rip and float off to the top of Mt Chambers. Luckily it held strong and I survived the night.
The next day though proved to be the strongest wind I'd ever faced on a bike. It was only 75km to Blinman but I arrived 13km short of my target after 7.5 hours in the saddle at an average speed of just 9.4km. The wind was so strong that when ever my front wheel got air (going over a large rock or corrugation), the wind would catch the wheel and push it across me. So basically I felt like I was power sliding through fast turns the whole day, even though I was travelling in a straight line at 9km/h. Come on!!!! I was very close to calling it quits that day. But instead, my ten days of Vipassana meditation came down around me and I yelled abuse at the wind. I even kicked it and through rocks at it. I crawled into a creek bed that evening and crashed. Tired and defeated.
But, the next day the wind had stopped and I passed the massive ranges into the west where the wind had stopped and everything was green. After 5 weeks of arid outback, seeing green grass and pine trees really lifts the spirits. I pedalled through sheep, roos and stumpy tails into Blinman where I met my folks who'd come out to see the Flinders with me over the week of my birthday. It was nice to sit back and let someone else sort out the itinerary. Over the next four days, my folks and I saw heaps of the central Flinders. Dad and I cycled the Mawson trail from Blinman to Wilpena. What a ride! You pass through fire trails, gorges, single track and you hardly pass a car. The whole time you've got the rugged ranges to your right including the pound wall and St Marys Peak which is the highest peak in the Flinders ranges. We did a few more sections on bike, some by car. I was blown away by the scale of the mountains.
While driving through the Flinders with mum and dad, I have to say it was very tempting to throw in the towel and just head back to Canberra with them. However, when I loaded the bike up on our final morning together, everything felt right again. I said goodbye to them a few days ago and my path is set. I've pedalled 3000km already, almost half of that was off road. I'll be in Canberra in two months and I'll ride the whole bloody way.
Next major goal is Adelaide. I'll follow the Mawson trail most of the way. After that is anyone's guess but Victoria is looking mighty tempting.
