May 20th, 2011
Ceduna to Penong
Distance: 78km
Total distance: 3456km
And so begins Leg 4: the crossing of the Nullarbor. Earlier, I made plans on where I should stay for the first three nights. I felt it was necessary because the first three days of riding are mostly farmland areas. Finding a place to bush camp around here would be tricky. The actual wilderness only comes after the Nullarbor roadhouse it seems. Another issue was the Yalata aboriginal area, the area between Nundroo and Nullarbor roadhouse where camping is not allowed unless one have a permit. Therefore this 150km stretch I must overcome in a single day on day 68.
Kicked off from Ceduna pretty late at about 10.30am as I spent some time packing and repacking my food. I think my food weighs around 8kgs, but only enough for 9 days at most. The remaining 3-5 days I must depend on meals from the roadhouses. The food took a lot of space, so I had little left for water. Am only carrying 4L of water, 2 days worth at most. I’m hoping to just ask from the roadhouses but if they refuse, I’d probably sneak to the toilet to fill up a bottle or two. If that doesn’t work, I would have to ask from the grey nomads.
The ride today was pleasant. It was sunny the whole day but wasn’t hot. I only have 75km to ride today though. Apart from seeing a few oversize trucks carrying impossible load, there wasn’t much entertainment on the road. Landscape was all green pastures. Strange that I didn’t see any farm animals other than a dead sheep by the roadside. Flies were definitely more of a problem here than the Eyre Peninsula. In terms of riding conditions, there was almost no wind at all and the road surface alternates between rough and smooth, which I’ve gotten quite used to by now.
Despite my late start, I reached Penong quite early at about 4pm. Was expecting only a roadhouse but surprised to find there’s a general store (last I’ll ever see until I completed the Nullarbor), a bistro hotel, post office, and a dedicated caravan park where I’m staying now. I had to lighten my load, so I cooked up some Indomie noodles for dinner. This park is quite pleasant, it looks very tidy and clean and I even get to pitch my tent under a tent shelter (first time I see this in a caravan park). Apparently, the owner of the caravan park is trying to sell the business. Not sure of the reason but I have a feeling travelers would much rather drive for less than an hour to Ceduna to stay in one of the five caravan parks there. It’s almost 8pm now and the temperature is about 17 degrees Celsius, very comfortable for me as long as it doesn’t drop to below 10 tonight.
Good luck with your travels on this leg.