Late start today as we both slept in. Perhaps because we were in separate rooms neither of us was woken by the others snoring? Had breakfast in the Motel as I got some groceries yesterday and so we had some cereal to start the day without a cholesterol load for a change. Muesli was a welcome change to eggs on protein with fat base. Loaded up and we headed off, Dad lead the way confidently speeding of in the direction of Perth! I shot forward and pulled him over to turn him around, and it works out he thought there was a fuel station on that side of town hence why he was going in that direction?
Fuelled up then off up the coast to Streaky bay. Eyre highway is not the most inspiring riding hence the Motorcycle Atlas recommends the road to Streaky Bay. The Eyre highway at this point must be dire as the road to Streaky bay was fairly dull. We are back in big agriculture country again, with massive paddocks that are either cultivated or have sheep or cattle in them. We saw the occasional machine doing some work in the paddocks and they use man sized tractors here, non of this limp wristed little wheels at the front, these machines have two large duel wheels front and rear, a cab in the middle that would house a small family and a huge rig out the back. We saw one machine near to the road today with harrows on and there were outrigger wheels on the harrows they were so wide.
Got into Streaky Bay late morning and the bay was streaky! Not streaky in the Gulf of Mexico way, as in oil slick, but streaky with the wind effect on the water, with lines of ripple interspersed amongst the glassy calm. This was a gorgeous little town on the water in a sheltered harbour. Rode around a bit then thought best to stop for a coffee. My Coffee radar, (that I just can not switch off), detected a good looking café on the way into town so we went back to have a brew. I had a look at my wheels and bearings as my bike was rumbling in an unusual way on the way into town however it all looked OK. A friendly guy had a chat to us on the way to get his alcohol from the bottle shop that we were outside. He recounted the stories of all of his injuries from riding motorbikes as a young man. I assured him that he has probably settled down now that he is older. He emerged a few minutes later from the bottle store and proudly announced that he did not have a carry out bag, and then pointed to his jacket pleased with his ability to conceal a bottle under his arm. Clearly public drinking is not tolerated.
Took some photos of the town, then had a chat to a couple that were riding electric assisted folding bikes. I am very interested in these and have come close to purchasing electric bikes in the past but have always convinced myself to harden up and keep peddling. This couple use their bikes to explore areas and they fold up and fit into their caravan for transport. They were full of praise for their little bikes and had a lot to say about the experiences they have from the saddle, they were preaching to the converted.
After a very nice Coffee and half a Cornish pasty each we headed further along the coast to see Murphies Haystacks. These were about 40km further along the coast and are Granite Inselbergs, which are granite outcrops that have been shaped by thousands of years of weather action into smooth outcrops that look like haystacks. They come out of a granite base like an Iceberg out of water, hence their name that is a reflection of the iceberg nature. It was a good spot to look out on the surrounding landscape and sure enough it is relatively flat for as far as the eye can see.
We continued along in an Adelaide direction, going down a minor road to get us back onto the Eyre highway. A few sweeping corners that were labelled as 80km/hr, they were not, and we did not slow down at all, but at least they were corners. We rode for a couple of hours to get a few k’s behind us. About 3pm the temperature started to drop noticeably and the cold started to bite. Not so cold to be a problem but we were both glade of the break and fuel up, and cuppa to warm up. Dad couldn’t feel his fingers for the cold, and hadn’t realised that he was that cold until he got off the bike. My hands were OK as I had had the heated grips on all day and on full heat for the last hour or so, it was the rest of me that was cold.
Fuelled up and warmed up we continued to Port Augusta. We rode through Lake Giles Conservation Park, then out onto the Giles Downs area, from a treed forest onto a treeless plane. Iron knob is a mining town along the way, and clearly it refers to the geographical knob that they are mining, which presumably has iron in it. However it is so heavily altered with mining that they will have to rename the town soon to “Iron hole in the ground”, or if the iron runs out “No Iron Hole in the Ground”. Perhaps they could fill it with water and call it “Iron Lake”, or “Lake Pallor” due to its iron deficiency.
As we rode into Port Augusta the sun was setting and casting a beautiful red light onto the Flinders Range behind the town. It was very striking and would have been a really great photo, the reality was that we were following a sheep truck with no opportunity to pass for several k’s and were being intermittently showered with sheep poo, which I guess added to the natural experience albeit reducing the grandeur of it all. But then that is one of the reasons for travelling by bike, to be more immersed in the environment, so you have to take the good with the bad. I do usually speed up and pass sheep trucks with the minimum of delay. Too much nature is not good for you.
Clearly Port Augusta was the limit of our travel for today as the Kangaroos were sticking their heads up and looking interested in the lights on the road. Time to stop. Found a motel and warmed up with a nice cup of tea and a soak in the shower.
Beer, food, beer, bed.
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