June 9th, 2011
33km East of Ravensthorpe to Jerramungup
Distance: 154km
Total distance: 5388km
A cold and foggy morning made a slow start. Didn’t bother wiping my tent dry though as I was already taking too much time packing up. Back to the South Coast Highway and immediately I faced the same undulating road yesterday. Nevermind, Ravensthorpe was only 33km away.
That 33km felt more like 100km. At about 23km, I started feeling hungry, very unusual for me. I might be burning more calories this morning due to the cold air and hills. But only 10km to the town, I resisted taking a bite until I reach there. BOOM! Yet another GREAT mistake! My hunger quickly progressed into gastric pain. By then, it was too late, a couple of snack bars did nothing to relieve the pain. Riding the final 5km into Ravensthorpe with this pain was awfully difficult.
After an insane steep climb, I reached Ravensthorpe. I thought of just settling here for the day and night. Filled up my stomach good with a mushroom beef pie, some chocolate, and a packet of strawberry milk. After resting for about 1.5 hours at this town, the pain gradually disappeared and I was back on the road. Almost midday now and I still have more than 100km to absorb before reaching my destination, Jerramungup.
The remaining journey to Jerramungup wasn’t particularly eventful. Perhaps I was too focused on trying to reach the next town before dark. At about 10km to Jerramungup, the sun went completely out of sight. Only the moonlight dimly lit my path. Tall trees lined both sides of the road and their large shadows forms an interesting silhouette on the road. The tailwind remained strong, so all I hear was the rustling of the tree leaves. Even though this is a highway, the traffic was incredibly light. I would be lying if I say riding in this condition wasn’t eerie.
As soon as I saw the welcome sign at Jerramungup, I quickly searched and went straight to the caravan park to checked myself in. The park manager was kind enough to allow me pitch my tent next to the camp kitchen for convenience. Folding up my tent this morning without wiping it dry means I now have to endure the wet odour inside my tent. I am only 180km to Albany now, I planned to chomp it all down at one go tomorrow. Hope the force (tailwind) will still be with me tomorrow!
