The Cycling Adventurer

   Perth-Adelaide 1997

Day 22   

Home  |  About Me  |  Touring  |  Ultra-Cycling  |  How-To...  |  Advocacy  |  Sailing  |  Links  |  Contact Me

Index  |  First  |  Previous  |  Next  |  Last

I cross the Nullarbor Plain in 15 minutes!

I had almost finished up last night when the bulb in my torch expired. I just snuggled down into the sleeping bag and went to sleep.

The service station at Nullarbor did not have a suitable replacement bulb, so I am using a combination of the headlight from the bike (for outside) and a candle from my "just-in-case" kit for the inside. I mounted the candle on the wide cap of one of my empty plastic cannisters, and I have to say the light from it is brilliant. It is not as safe as it could be, obviously, but there is not much to be done except to be careful when I moved around inside the tent. I had seen candle lanterns in camping shops in Perth, but had not really considered them for the trip. I may acquire one for future trips.

The day was satisfactory. I am happy to be camping out tonight again rather than over-extending myself to go the extra 15km to Yalata. I would have set a new daily distance record had I gone the distance, but I might not have been able to get on the bike again tomorrow. My strategy of changing into dry bike shorts seemed to work well today, but I did not want to push things too much. It was the hills that finally caught up with me. After so long pedalling on relatively flat country, the hills were a shock to the legs, especially when the climbing was quite close to Nullarbor... the plain without trees!

I put my watch forward last night by 45 minutes to bring it into line with Central Standard Time. I broke camp and left at 8.30am. The morning was beautiful with light cloud against the blue sky, and only zephyrs for wind. I made sure I had a good breakfast this morning because I have run out of "nibbles' for my regular stops. I trundled along at an average of 20km/h for the next three-and-a-bit hours, until I arrived in Nullarbor.

Nullarbor is not an Aboriginal name, but is made up of the Latin words, Null (for no) and Arbor (for trees). Hence its description as the plain without trees. The Nullarbor Plain also is a con-job, at least from the perspective of Eyre Highway travellers. Many people believe the Eyre Highway traverses the Nullarbor from Norseman right across to Port Augusta. In fact, the highway crosses only a 5km section of the plain, which starts as a narrow north-south strip on the nearby coast, then extends northwards of the highway to spread out like a mushroom east-to-west. The Indian-Pacific railway line about 100km to the north of the Eyre Highway actually does run the full length of the plain.

A sign marks the beginning of the Eyre Highway crossing of the Nullarbor, but no similar sign marks each ending. It leaves travellers thinking they are still on the Nullarbor well to the east and west. The plain is indeed remarkable for its treeless landscape to the north.

The presence of the Nullarbor settlement was signalled today about 10km out by a mountain of light brown aggregate stockpiled for eventual roadworks. I was puzzled by the shape as it increased in size against the horizon, simply because it was way too big to be a building.

The roadhouse is of good quality, and the showers operate on the same coin system as Eucla, so $1.00 gives five minutes of water. I took a break of 45 minutes here, bought something to eat and a milk-based drink, and had a shower. I rang my father who sounded quite ill, but told me I was on a shortlist for one of the job applications, and that an interview had been arranged for 21 October. I told him I would try to arrange a phone interview in Adelaide rather than go straight to Hobart.

Having zipped across the Nullarbor Plain in 15 minutes, I noticed the terrain suddenly started to change.

The start of one of Australia's legendary landmarks... except it is only a 15-minute
ride along the highway on a bicycle.

Then the first of the hills loomed on the horizon. They started gently enough, but soon became longer and steeper. The last one I climbed was about 2km straight up from a valley to the top of the range. I am now camped at the top. The campsite is on a high cutting and overlooks the highway. It is a bit noisy as I look down on the trucks and other vehicles but I feel like I am in a castle and almost impregnable.

The area is lightly treed, and that has brought welcomed relief from the saltbush of the Nullarbor Plain. The wildlife seems to have returned, too. After hitting the coast along the top of the cliffs, the roadkill virtually disappeared. But I saw my first live snake on the road today; it was what I took to be a coppery/coral coloured death adder a little over a metre long. It slithered away towards the verge and stopped with its head raised when I went past, as though deciding whether to strike. Its shiny skin, colour and slenderness made it remarkably beautiful.

I am careful to make plenty of noise when I go into the bush looking for a campsite to ensure the more dangerous wildlife moves off elsewhere and leaves me alone. I have just heard a mopoke owl, which adds a new dimension to the wildlife scene. Earlier today, I saw the largest wedge-tailed eagle so far on this trip; it had a wing span of at least two metres. It was magnificently majestic as it took off from a fence post and glided into the bush.

The country before Nullarbor was fascinating in the sense that it was even more Savannah-like. The grass was like a carpet when viewed from a distance, although on closer observation, it was sparse. I did not see any grazing animals, either introduced or native.

I met two couples at the Nullarbor roadhouse. The first were middle-aged and from Victoria. She was very interested in my adventure. It transpired that she had been a keen cyclist, too, and had ridden the Great Victorian Bike Ride a couple of times on the Great Ocean Road, a trip well worth the effort, she said. She and her husband were heading off from Nullarbor by car to follow my route in reverse, then go on to Albany and finally to stay with relatives in Boyup Brook, south of Perth.

The other couple, from Yass in New South Wales, were in their 20s, and had just completed a full tour of Western Australia with a panel van and trailer. They had two mountain bikes and intended to ride across the narrow neck of the Nullarbor Plain, just so they could tell their friends they had cycled across the Nullarbor. They said they pedalled 20km a day, if that, when they rode their bikes, but enjoyed it immensely. We chatted for about 15 minutes before I headed for the showers, and they headed off for their Nullarbor crossing.

I set out from Nullarbor with all the intentions of making Yalata, but I soon found the hills and a change in the wind strength and direction put an end to those hopes. I could have persisted and got in about 6.45pm, but I did not feel inclined to pitch the tent and cook a meal in the dark. As it was, I had plenty of time to gather firewood, pitch camp and cook my steak and some chicken noodle soup by dark. The bugs here are large, and about five have flown straight into the fire to cook themselves alive! It's a spectacular sight, although somewhat gruesome.

I think that is about it for the day. I am very tired again, and I still have a big ride tomorrow, about 150km to get to Penong. At least my daily average is getting back up to 100km. This is Day 22 on the journey, and now I have cycled more than 2000km since leaving Perth. I ticked over the magical mark five kilometres after leaving the Nullarbor Roadhouse. Tomorrow's effort should see me achieve the 100km per day average.

Index  |  First  |  Previous  |  Next  |  Last

Top of Page