May 16th, 2011
Poochera to Ceduna
Distance: 146km
Total distance: 3378km
Today is another big day, though not as big as yesterday! I must ride 140km if I wish to get to Ceduna, and hence to finish riding Leg 3. I had a feeling that my body would not be able to match the speed I was doing yesterday. No biggie, I just had to wake up and get ready earlier. But I overslept! Was suppose to wake up at 5 but didn’t until 6.45! I quickly ate, packed, and got myself ready in a record 45-mins! Like yesterday, it was crazy cold this morning but thanks to the rush, my body generated enough heat to survive the cold morning.
There was only one town between Poochera and Ceduna and that was Wirulla at about 50km from Poochera. Despite my early start, I reached Wirulla nearly midday, had my lunch there while doubting myself that with nearly 100km more to ride, I may not make it to Ceduna. I must give it a go anyhow. Riding got even slower with a full stomach but after a couple of hours, when those hot dog and apple juice turned into usable energy, I blasted all the way to Ceduna.
Somewhere along the road, I saw a long rubbery black strip laying on the shoulder lane that I sometimes falsely identify as a snake when in fact it’s always just been a piece of truck tire. But I was wrong this time, it was in fact a half-a-metre long black snake! I found out about 1 second before coming into contact, when it moves. By that time it was too late to brake or steer clear from it so my left and rear wheel rolled over the poor snake. Slammed my brake hard after that to check out if the snake was ok and whether or not I’m safe since the snake might have climbed onto my trike to delight me with a venomous revenge. The snake was still on the road, and I think it got stunned (as much as I did) as it laid there motionless for a few seconds before quickly slithering back into the bush.
I was strongly motivated on my riding today as I’m seeing this as my final training for the harsh riding across the Nullarbor. Countering every single discomfort and pain in my muscles with my positive mental strength, the remaining 70km quickly flew past beneath my ankles. Even with this enormous speed, because I was slow in the morning, the sun was gone before reaching Ceduna.
About 2km to Ceduna, I saw some street lights from afar, and then the lights at the landing strip from the Ceduna airport. “OMG, I’m reaching Ceduna!”, I blurted, never had I been so happy to see a major township! It has only been 4 days since I left the last major town but I guess the longer distances per day I did in this section makes it feel a lot more rewarding. I had planned to get here from Port Augusta in 5 days but I made it in 4 days. In fact, the entire leg from Adelaide to Ceduna was expected to take me at least 10 days but it only took me 8!
Pedalled with an idiot smile on my face straight into the town centre and head to the caravan park adjacent to it. First thing I notice when entering the park was this place is so crowded! It’s like they’re having a carnival or something. Looked at vacancy sign and the powered site and cabin says no vacancy but unpowered site, vacancy! Found myself a nice shady spot to pitch my tent. Shortly after, the sign for unpowered site flipped from vacancy to no vacancy, lucky me!
While unpacking, the camper next to me came and said hello. Little did I know he’s the guy who is walking across and around Australia! Heard about this guy from a couple of travelers I met. Andrew showed me his storage rig, which was a high-end baby pram equipped with drum brakes, DIY solar panel and battery charger. He’s been walking from Sydney for over 6 months now. He’s doing this to raise funds for the cancer council. Have a look at his website for more info. It was an honour to have a chance to meet and speak to Andrew. Tomorrow he will start walking across the Nullarbor, where he hoped to complete it in 25 days covering an insane 45-50km a day. Looking forward to meet him again in the arid lands. As for me, a few rest days in Ceduna is in order after finishing a short and fast Leg 3!