June 1st, 2011
Norseman to Grass Patch
Distance: 132km
Total distance: 4805km
Who needs a rest day when you can still ride? My legs were fine, probably stronger than ever, haha. Actually, the main reason was the sad state of things in Norseman. Not an ideal place to have a rest day. Hence, after loading my stomach with a bowl of cereals, a couple of weetbix, a glass of milk, orange juice, yoghurt, and 4 slices of toast, I began my final leg (Leg 5) on the first day of winter and head down to Esperance, about 200km away so I should be there by tomorrow. I planned to have my rest days in that coastal town.
Today, for the first time in 20 days I’m riding on a highway that is not Eyre Highway. No more oversized trucks and every other vehicle being a caravan. So does the frequent toots, waves, and thumbs-ups. Road trains still exist though. The best part of the ride today was a strong tailwind! Wasn’t very consistent but whenever it’s present I felt a thrilling push forward. The road undulates quite a bit when exiting Norseman but smoothens gradually as the scenery transitioned from the mallee woodland to farmland. The road runs adjacent to a railway line so the undulation was relatively mild. Passed quite a number of lakes too, which makes good resting areas for lunch break.
I entered Salmon Gums where I immediately noticed it was surrounded by thousands of salmon gums, duh! Those are quite beautiful trees though. Stopped at a roadhouse in Salmon Gums to enquire about the next town Grass Patch. Yeap, a town called Grass Patch, such creative town names they have here. Turns out they have a caravan park, and the town was only 26km further south of Salmon Gums.
Reached Grass Patch caravan park and shocked to find the grass patch area for tents was so tiny it can only fit two tents at most. But this park has the cheapest price I’ve ever seen, what’s more the facilities were all very clean and new. Apparently, they only built this 3 years ago. The only thing I didn’t like about this caravan park is the unleveled grass patch area, meaning I must endure sleeping on little bumps and dips on my back. Mrs Mac’s beef pie and ginger beer for dinner, and I’ve also cleared my remaining two packets of instant noodles, burp.
