Super Biker Woman's Bike Touring: Part 3 of the Nullarbor: May 25-28

May 25: Vote For Your Favorite Title

There are a few options of today’s blog post title. You can choose which one is the most appropriate from these options.

She is Really a He
Copious Kangaroo Carcasses
For the Birds
Sakes Alive It’s Windy!

I was a little worried this morning as the sky was a pinkish hue. You know the saying...red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky at morning...yeah. I put my rain gear on the top, and grabbed an extra two liters of water in case the wind was too strong for me to make it the 92kms to Cocklebiddy Roadhouse.

Turns out, the wind was the same as yesterday, perhaps a little stronger, but still easterly. That made for a tremendous tailwind at times, and a strong crosswind at others.

At the top of the escarpment of Madura Pass I went to the lookout. I think it would have been more photo-worthy if it had been sunny. But, it was still a nice view.

After the lookout, I headed on down the road. I can hardly believe it, but there seemed to be even more dead kangaroo carcasses. If I went more than 50 meters without seeing a carcass, it was a miracle. They were in all stages of decomposition, from skeletons to looking like they had just been hit. It was awful, really. I did manage to spot 8 live Roos, but that was it.

What I saw more of today was birds. The largest bird of prey in Australia is the Wedgetail Eagle. Today I saw 4 of them! They are really magnificent (not quite as striking as the Bald Eagle, but great nonetheless). I also saw two of the little green parrots (I think they call them Lincoln Parrots). Then, to top off the bird sightings today, at the roadhouse, there is a cage with probably 50 budgies, and two cockatiels, and another enclosure with two Wedgetail Eagles.

As I was riding along today, I could see another cyclist heading toward me. This person was pulling a trailer. Ah ha, I thought, this must be the woman I was told about! I crossed to the other side of the road and waited for her to roll up to me. As she rolled up, I thought, uh...that’s not a woman. Indeed it was not. It was a Japanese guy named Yoshi. He started in Sydney at the beginning of March. He rode to Perth, then turned around, and is going back to Sydney. Yes, he is doing the Nullarbor twice! Sheesh, that’s gumption!

Since the wind was not so bad for me, I made it to Cocklebiddy by 1:30. The caravan park (aka the barren dust bowl) costs $20 for an unpowered site. I think that’s a bit steep considering it’s nothing more than a big parking lot. At least the shower is included. Really, if it wasn’t for the shower, I’d have considered going on, but I might be bush camping tomorrow night, so I’d rather have a shower.

I scrounged around for some big rocks to anchor my tent. There is no way the stakes will even go in the ground, let alone hold in this wind. I was able to set up behind the lone tree/overgrown shrub in the unpowered area...not that it is making that much difference. One thing is for sure, there will be no cooking happening. According to the weather report on the TV in the roadhouse, this wind is going to continue. Also, according to the news, there is a big brushfire in Albany right now. Albany is where I’m supposed to start the Munda Biddi. I do have several days before I’ll be there, so we’ll see what happens.

May 26: The Westerly Has Arrived

My time of Nullarbor tailwinds has come to an end. I was hoping to squeeze out one more day, but it was not to be. In addition, to make things more interesting, just as I was getting ready to pack up the contents of my tent, it started to rain. I threw my rain gear in the tent, put my food panniers under the vestibule, and dove back into the tent. Then it stopped raining. But, it was too windy for cooking anyway, so I fixed myself a peanut butter and Nutella tortilla, and drank a bunch of water. Breakie done! I even brushed my teeth (spit into the dirt under the other vestibule).

It spit rain a little more, then stopped long enough for me to load up the panniers, and take down my tent. As I rolled over to the office to return my toilet key, and get my $10 key deposit back, it started to rain again. Since I didn’t put my shoe covers on last time it rained, and it took two days for my shoes to dry, I decided to put them on while I had a chair to sit in. It rained off and on for a short time more, then I felt I was safe taking my rain gear off. I left the shoe covers on for awhile longer, just in case.

While it didn’t rain anymore, the wind was very strong. It wasn’t quite a full-on headwind. However, the crosswinds were doing their best to push me off the road. A few times they were successful. I just growled, and got back on the road. I also got off the road on purpose a few times to let the truckies go by. Depending on which way the road was going, sometimes the trucks didn’t have much effect on me.

When it takes all my focus and energy to just stay on the road, it’s difficult to play the wildlife spotting game. Even so, I did see one red kangaroo off in the distance, and I saw 3 Wedgetail Eagles. I also saw some more Galahs. There didn’t seem to be quite as many dead kangaroos today.

My itinerary that I did at home had me doing just the 65kms from Cocklebiddy to Caiguna. I had decided yesterday I would, instead, try to do more to lessen the distance from Caiguna to Belladonia (181kms). That would mean two nights of bush camping, which was okay. Well, that was when I had hoped to get another day of tailwinds. As you know, that didn’t happen. Still, as I left Cocklebiddy this morning, that was still my plan. Then I got to thinking, as I was trying to stay on the road. If I did stop at Caiguna, maybe the winds would change tomorrow, and I could do the distance to Belladonia in 2 days with just one night of bush camping. And, if the winds don’t change, I could split the distance into 3 days with two nights of bush camping. There is a very slim chance the wind is going to change, but at least I’ll have three shorter days instead of two long ones (that I probably couldn’t do anyway if today is any indication). I think it’s a good plan.

I arrived happy to see Caiguna at 12:45, but really, since I have now crossed into the Western Time Zone, I arrived at 12:00. The clocks go back another 45 minutes. Now it will be getting dark around 4:30, but light around 5:30am. Since I seem to wake up around 5:00 anyway, and finish riding around 2:30 (usually), it will be okay. When I’m bush camping, I’ll just be getting in my tent even earlier. At least at the roadhouses, I can hang out in the restaurant/snack bar.

When I went into reception at Caiguna, out of curiosity, I asked how much is a motel room. I expected it to be exorbitant, but the budget room (no TV) was $80. I decided to go for it. I justified it (not that I need to) because I haven’t slept in a bed since Adelaide, I haven’t stayed in a motel (the hostel in Adelaide, at $21/night, doesn’t count since it was cheaper than most of the caravan parks), and I will be bush camping the next two nights. So it’s more like the room was $40 (camping last night was $20, and would have been here too, and the next two nights will be free). It was nice to dry off after my shower with a real towel. The room also has a kettle, so I will be able to make breakfast in the morning.

This weather is coming from a storm in Perth. They got quite a bit of rain. I hope to not have so much rain in addition to the wind. I watched more of the news last night. It’s pretty likely I won’t be able to do at least the first part of the Munda Biddi. It has burned (may even still be burning).

In the morning, since I don’t have much to pack, I’m going to take ANOTHER shower...what a luxury!

May 27: Taking a Bite Out of the Long Straight

I slept so good last night! The merits of a bed can’t be overstated! Funny thing...I set the alarm on my phone because I didn’t want to oversleep. My phone was still on South Australia time (the last time I used it off of airplane mode). I thought I calculated what time I should set the alarm, but I was wrong. The alarm went off at 3:45am instead of 6:15. I was way off! Then, somehow, my phone switched to the correct time. My iPad is still on SA time. Anyway, I still got up early, and was on the road by 6:30.

Right at Caiguna the 90 Mile Straight Road begins. It’s the longest straight road in the world. People here just call it the “Long Straight”. However, long straight does not mean long flat. Okay, there aren’t any “climbs”, but when you are battling a headwind, you notice even the slightest rise.

For the first 11kms, there was really not much wind (note to self: get an even earlier start for a longer time with no wind). Then, my nemesis, the Westerly, reared it’s windy head. Since the Long Straight heads directly West, it was a headwind. However, after yesterday’s horrible crosswinds, a headwind was better. True, I go slower, but at least it’s easier to stay on the road! Because I fully expected to have the wind, my mental game was okay.

My plan was to get to the rest stop at about 65kms. At about halfway, I turned on my music. Taking breaks now and again, I arrived at 12:30. That was 5:30 of ride time. That was enough for today. I’m more than 1/3 of the way to Belladonia, which was my plan.

As for wildlife sightings, the kangaroos came in at 7, and the Wedgetails at 4. Still no emus or camels (although a couple here at the rest stop said they saw two emus today).

May 28: Day 2 on the Long Straight

When I went in my tent last night it was pretty calm. The wind had died down to almost nothing. After about 5 hours of sleep, I woke up to the wind blowing very hard. It was 11:30 (yes, I go to sleep with the chickens...if there were chickens...which there isn’t). I had left Tilmann on his kickstand. Just when I thought, uh oh, he’s gonna fall over in this wind, I heard him do just that. Since I had to pee anyway, I got out of my tent and set him up, leaning him against the picnic table.

By morning, the wind had died down a little, but was still very blustery. For the first time ever, I heated up water for my breakfast in the vestibule of my tent. I was very very careful. It worked out okay...whew!

I was on the road just a little later than yesterday. It was colder, so I wore my black jacket for the first 25kms or so. It wasn’t that it was so cold, but the wind made it seem colder. Plus, in the strong wind, my white button up shirt that I have been wearing makes so much noise flapping in the wind (the sleeves), and I can’t help but think it creates more drag (and I need all the help I can get), so I didn’t want to wear it.

At about 20kms in, I saw another cyclist coming toward me. It was a guy named Ian from England. He is doing Perth to Sydney. He felt very bad for me, as he was sailing along with a tailwind (I, on the other hand, was going about 11kms/hour if I was lucky). I told him it was my turn to have a headwind as I had had 9 days of tailwinds on the Nullarbor. He said I had a good attitude about it. That’s not to say I didn’t have thoughts of how many kilometers I could have gone if I had the tailwind...but that was just wishful thinking.

It was 65kms from the Baxter Rest Stop to the Woorlba Rest Stop, another camping place with vault toilets (but no water). Although the wind was blowing the whole time, there was a number of kilometers where there were trees lining both sides of the road, so it seemed like I had a bit more protection, and could go a little faster. I’m thinking the null arbor part of the Nullarbor is maybe done.

There was only one other caravan here when I got here, but several more have pulled in, and it is pretty full. One couple came over and talked to me. They are from the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. This is their first time across the Nullarbor. I did not catch their names. Another guy, Brett, from Perth came over and talked to me. He was quite interested in Tilmann. He seemed to know a bit about internal geared hubs. He was a nice guy.

The wind has died completely. Tomorrow it is supposed to be a very light wind. We shall see. It doesn’t really matter because I only have 50kms to go to Balladonia, which is the last roadhouse before Norseman which is the end of the Nullarbor (I’ll still have another night of bush camping as the distance between Balladonia and Norseman is too long to do in one day). Still, it would be nice to be able to put the Da Brim back on my helmet.

The only wildlife I saw today was one Wedgetail Eagle.