Muggy

Day 64: 22 December 2014, Monday.

It was a hot start to the day but not as I expected. It was difficult to get to sleep last night, it was very muggy and in the morning it was overcast so my tent was not in the sun after all, but it was hot. The temperature at nine in the morning as I was leaving the ‘Caravan Park’ in Euston was thirty degrees centigrade, with high humidity.

The wind was coming from the north-east so it was a bit of a headwind but not to debilitating. The problem was that I was told about the hot winds like this one, the wind does not refresh at all, is that it carries flies. After twenty kilometres I stopped at a rest area and this fly-wind thing proved correct. It was horrible, nearly as bad as in the south-west area of Australia. I did not stop long.

That fifteen minute rest was the longest I had all day, every other time I wanted to stop there were just too many flies. I was not a happy chap. I was back to riding with the fly-net over my face which stops the flies getting in your mouth, eyes and nose but they never stop buzzing around.

It was about eighty kilometres to the town I was attempting to get to, Balranald, with nothing in between, just the same old dull landscape…

The Dull Landscape At 4000km.

I arrived in Balranald at two in the afternoon, I was quite knackered as I had been on the road for five hours and four-and-a-half of those I was cycling in the humid heat surrounded by flies. As I reached the outskirts of Balranald I saw a park so I pulled over to rest as I had noticed about three kilometres before the flies had ceased to be a bother. I do not understand why but in Australia the flies tend to be more common in the countryside not in the towns!

After a half-hour rest I cycled the remaining kilometre to the information centre and got informed. That was when I found out about the Hay Plain. The next town I will be heading to is called Hay, and to get there will require a night on the side of the road as Hay is too fa for one days ride. The road to Hay crosses the first half of the Hay Plain, the second biggest plain in Australia after the Nullarbor! I thought all that flat boring nothingness was behind me but no, the Hay Plain has very few trees too.

Oh well that is tomorrows problem.

I went shopping and then to the local ‘Caravan Park’, the information centre said it cost twenty dollars but on arrival I was happy to learn I needed to pay only ten dollars. The ‘Belranald Caravan Park’ is a nice place, good facilities and good staff. I decided to fill both of my water bladders and put them in the fridge overnight as I had drunk a lot of water on this day due to the heat and humidity.

Later I went to get my bottle of water for overnight out of the freezer and checked the water bladders and found the large one was leaking! I must backtrack a bit as I neglected to mention that during the days ride I had noticed a small leak from the water bladder from the tap and as I had kept a spare liner for the bladder I had replaced it. The replacement had a small hole in it! I had to go to the rubbish bin I had chucked the old liner and retrieve it and just replace the tap. Fortunately there was no other rubbish in the bin!

Tomorrow it will be back to a road with no trees…

84.68km 4:26T 19.0A 33.5M Total = 4034

Euston, No Problem.

Day 63: 21 December 2014, Sunday.

What a horrid start to the day. The flies were out in force, I could hear them waiting for me to emerge from the safe confines of my tent. I dressed and climbed out of my tent into the swarm.

I went to my bike and the day got worse, both tyres were flat again. I had to find a area with sufficient shade and then remove both wheels and tyres. The front turned out to be a slow leak from a failed patch, not much I can do with that! The rear was a repeat of yesterdays tyre injury. The piece of metal I extracted had more to it than I realized and the remains had worked through the tyre yesterday and provided a tiny exit for the enclosed air. I couldn’t find the hole in the tube, it was too small and I didn’t have enough water to use that for a more thorough inspection. I removed the metal shard from the rear tyre and fitted my new tube and then put the slow leaking rear tube into the front wheel hoping it would be slow enough to get me to Euston, today’s destination.

I pushed my bike back through the sand and left the Bottle Bend area of the Gol Gol National Park at eleven in the morning, a late start and being Sunday I wanted to get to Euston quickly to make sure I could get to a shop! Luckily it was not too far (about sixty kilometres) but it was a very hot day…

This Is What It looked Like After 9km, At 3900km From Perth. It Didn’t Change Much…

I have to admit I did not enjoy the days ride, with the heat, my low water supply making me have to be frugal with drinking, and the constant worry about my tyres it made for a tough day. I made good time though, the road was flat most of the time and there was no wind. I arrived in Euston at two in the afternoon and the local store was still open and also happened to be the office for the ‘Caravan Park’.

The elderly couple running the store/’Caravan Park’ were very nice, they gave me a discount on the camping site (twenty dollars, down from twenty-five) as well as half price on some hot food, the lady said they were closing in a couple of hours so the hot food had to be got rid of. I sat in the air-conditioned room and consumed some sausage rolls and hot chips and relaxed before facing the wrath of the sun again.

I went to the ‘Caravan Park’ which was beside the store and pitched my tent in a shaded area the boss man had indicated. It was shaded now but would not be in the morning but it was the best spot available so I figured I would worry about a hot morning tomorrow.

The rest of the day I sat around feeling hot and just trying to relax and read…

58.65km 2:26T 24.0A 38.7M Total = 3949