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Free Wheelin - March 2001 |
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| The few weeks I spent in Perth were boring. It's a 'nice' city; very clean and well organised but too conservative for my liking. Not that I saw very much of it, I spent most of my time at Sharon's house, sitting in front of her computer updating this site. The computer I was using was steam driven ('Sorry Sharon'). On one day I spent seven hours trying to up load pictures to the site, at the end of the day I had managed one successful upload.
Wednesday 7th March - Cycled distance 107km Destination - Northam I left Sharon at 8:30am and by the time I had done 30km, my legs felt so tired and sore I contemplated giving up for the day. However, anyone in the know, will know that I am not one for giving in so easy, I'm too stubborn. Normally I would kick myself up a gear, but on this occasion I actually dropped down a gear. It would be wise to take it easy for the next few days, I didn't know what the terrain ahead of me was like and the temperature was in the high 30's. topping for my lunch at 12:30 under the shade of the native Gimlet Gums, I had covered 50km and felt exhausted, the perspiration seeping from every pore. I rested for an hour while enjoying a couple of cheese sandwiches. Then 'stiffly' remounting I pushed towards my destination. I say pushed because that's what it was, I had a head wind. Never the less I managed another 57km before 5pm. My first day's cycling across the 'Nullarbor' over. I pitched my tent behind some bushes about twenty feet from the road and by seven I was sound asleep. Thursday 8th March - Cycled distance 112km Destination - Kellerberrin The start of the day was a 10km gentle climb, it seemed that I had been pushing up hill since I left Perth, each time you think you have reached the summit, another hill would appear in front of me. Friday 9th March - Cycled distance 63km Destination - Merredin I had planned on an early start but I got my first Nullarbor puncture just as I was leaving the campsite. It was 7:30am when I finally turned onto the Kellerberrin main street, it was quiet not a soul around. I pedalled along the Great Eastern Highway, the sun already hot and a strong headwind pushing at my face. I had been told that the prevailing winds across the Nullarbor were South Westerly. This was good news to me, as it would mean that I would have a tail wind all the way to Adelaide. Ha, Ha! Not true, as I was about to find out over the next couple of weeks. I had a 'headwind' all the way to Adelaide. I had been hoping for a good day today, I planned to reach Southern Cross some 165km from Kellerberrin. It didn't take me long to realise that I was being over optimistic. It took me 3 hours to cover 30km and another puncture. The sun was still hot at 32 degrees and combined with strong headwind; drained all my energy. My odometer clicked over to 63km as I arrived in Merredin. I had been cycling for 4.5 hours; it was time to call it a day. Saturday Day off. Sunday 11th March - Cycled distance 116km Destination - Southern Cross By 12 noon I had covered 70km, the wind was slight but the sun was still hot. My knees were starting to get sore; every now and then I would get sharp shooting pains and had to rest regular. I was probably pushing too hard, I had made the conscious decision to slow the pace to a more comfortable and sustainable speed, this is not easy when fighting headwind. I still had a lot of ground to cover. I arrived in Southern Cross at 4pm and booked myself into the Palace Hotel. The Hotel had been made famous by the singer Slim Dusty when he had his biggest hit with a song about a pub with no beer. That pub was the Palace Hotel. Slim had come to Southern Cross on tour and found his hotel to be a 'dry house'. The hotel was no longer a dry house and sold a great selection of beers and Shooters. A shooter for those who don't know is a small glass off spirit or liqueur that you down in one gulp. The shooters on offer at the palace were many but here's a few of my favourites. FESTERED CHOOK - 2thrd white Sambuca, 1 third Advocaat and a splash of Grenadine. Monday 12th March - Cycled distance 94km Destination - Bush camp, 60km east of Bullabulling The road I was travelling along was skirted by a huge water pipe; it was built in 1890 and stretched for over 700km, ending in Kalgoorlie where it supplied water to the gold mining community. It was classed as 'The greatest engineering feat of its time. I found out why, the pipeline climbed uphill 1200 meters over 700km. This would answer a lot of questions; I now understood why I seemed to be struggling every day. Cycling uphill all day, every day was not easy. It was 4pm I had cycled 94km and was knackered, I had hoped to go a further 40km but I just couldn't go any further. I pulled about twenty meters into the bush and made camp. I sat down to some Tomato and Pasta soup followed by; Rice with Onions and Tomatoes cooked in a Tika sauce and a cup of Green Tea. I watched the sun go down over the quiet bush. Tuesday 13th March - Cycled distance 106km Destination - Coolgardie I was up with the sun at 5:30am and had a breakfast of Oats and Honey - my water was low (1.5 lt) so I couldn't have my usual cup of sweet coffee. As I didn't have much water I wanted to get moving before the sun got too hot. I loaded the bike, which was leaning against the pipe and was ready to leave... Aaarrrghh! I had another puncture. It was 7:30 before I pushed the bike onto the road - still climbing and still with a head wind. My 1.5lt of water was gone by the time I had covered 40km, There was still about 30km to go before I reached the next water tank. I slowed my pace so I wouldn't loose too much fluid and stopped quite regular to cool down. At 1pm I passed a sign that told me I would get water 5km further up the road. Great I thought, I was averaging 16kph, I should be there in about 20 minutes. I wish 'the wind got stronger and the road steeper'. I was slowed to less than 8kph, my legs were tired and my mouth parched. I kept going, eventually arriving at Bullabulling - a small tavern miles from no where. I entered the tavern and bought a small bottle of coke followed in quick succession by three tins of swan light beer. I know! Not the best thing for de-hydration but I wasn't caring I was ready to pitch my tent out the back of the pub. I sat chin wagging to the owner of the bar and feeding my face for an hour. Feeling refreshed with plenty of water, it was just after three oçlock with only 30km to go before reaching my planned destination, I pushed on. I was going further into Australia's wild centre, the road was littered with dead Kangaroos and Emu's. The break done me good I had plenty of energy and was in Coolgardie just before 5pm. Coolgardie was a 'ghost town' made up of a main street and a few ramshackle buildings, a museum and of course a caravan park. I cycled into the caravan park looking for a place to pitch my tent but when they asked me for $12 I moved on. One of the rather dilapidated looking buildings was a backpackers, I enquired a price $25. I was shocked the place was honking. I mean, I've stayed in some places but at twenty-five bucks, I would expect a palace, especially in this ghost town. I opted to cycle a couple of kilometres back down the road I had just came, to the Haven Caravan Park. This was more like it, owned by John from New Zealand. The place was set out nice with plenty of amenities and a very functional kitchen. At $5 I was very happy. Wednesday 14th March - Cycled distance 146km Destination - Bush camp 30km north of Norseman Now we're cooking, 82km before 1pm with an average speed of 19.5kph. 'It didn't last?; I only covered another 66km in the next five hours. My knees were killing me. It was a big day for me, I had hoped to get to Norseman but my knees couldn't take any more. I cycled until 6:30pm, a lot later than normal. The sun was sinking fast and I had to find a campsite. After several detours down tracks into the bush, I finally found a suitable spot with a large clearing, I was lucky the sky was clear and the moon full, which gave enough light for me to pitch my tent and make tea. Thursday 15th March - Cycled distance 30km Destination - Norseman Friday 16th March - Cycle distance 134km Destination - Bush camp 20km East of Newman Rock I had stayed the previous night at Norseman, the gateway to the Nullarbor crossing. I arrived at 9:30am and stayed at the caravan park, resting before the next real challenge of the 'Nullarbor' itself. Saturday 17th March - Cycled distance 119km Destination - Bush rest area, 50km East of Balladonia Today, while stopping at the side of the road admiring some part of the scenery, I was approached by another couple driving in the opposite direction. The woman told me how brave I was, sleeping out in the bush on my own, she said I should have someone with me. I told her that I was quite happy cycling along on my own at my own pace. She asked how old I was. 39, I said. Oh, that's too old to be doing something like this... I thanked her and left. My knees were becoming a bit of a concern. Every day after only a few kilometres they would start to ache. By the time the day was finished, I could hardly walk. If I sat down or even stopped cycling for any length of time, my knees would lock. It would take five or ten minutes to straighten my legs. As I pedalled on again after a rest, I would be in agony for about ten minutes before the pain would subside. Every now and then while cycling, I would get a sharp pain in my leg causing me to yell out. I knew I was pushing too hard; I should stop for a day or two. But out here it wasn't practical, it wasn't as if I was carrying gallons of water and a weeks supply of food, I only carried what I needed to get me to the next roadhouse. The roadhouses were only geared up to cater for the truck drivers; the staff and owners didn't seem too interested in whom, why, what or where you were from. The food was well over priced and if you asked to fill up your water bottles, they looked at you as if you were robbing them. My campsite for the night was a purpose built rest area, which had toilets (long drop) and BBQ area. I hobbled around looking for a suitable wee corner to pitch my tent. Using my 'Thermarest" as a seat I started brewing the tea. Shortly afterwards a couple of caravans pulled in. It was two retired couples touring Australia, they made camp and shouted me across. I painfully got up from my seat and slowly walked over to them. They saw that I was in pain and immediately got me a chair. Oh, comfort at last. I was handed a beer and we settled down chin wagging till way past my bedtime. Sunday 18th March - Cycled distance 140km Destination - Caiduna It was a good cycling day; the sun was high and burned at 36 degrees. The road was flat; I was on the 90-mile straight, the longest straight section of road in Australia and maybe the world. Things were going great until I was about 30km from my destination. The road was being re-surfaced; it was full of potholes and loose gravel. This slowed me right down, so much so that I questioned myself as to whether or not I should keep going or stop and camp. I asked one of the road workers how far it was to Caiguna, he said it was only about 20km. It was getting dark and I wasn?t sure if I would make it before the sun went down. The road worker said that if I was still on the road when he finished work, he would give me a lift in his truck. I thought, well, OK and pushed on. The sun started to set behind me - a beautiful red glow outlined the gimlet gums and open bush, it was a brilliant sight. I still had 10km to go as the light faded, "should I stop and camp in the bush?" No, I'll keep going. There must have been one hundred workers on the 30km stretch of road, all staying at the Caiguna roadhouse and they all must have passed me; not one of them offered a lift. Yes, they sounded their horns and shouted encouragement out the window, but didn't stop. For the first time in my trip, I had to use my lights, something I didn't want to do. I had told myself that I would be off the road before darkness fell. By the time I reached the roadhouse it was about 8pm, pitch black (no street lighting out here) and with no lines on the road I couldn?t see anything. I had to move at almost walking pace, watching not to cycle into the ditch at the side of the road. Monday 19th March - Cycled distance 69km Destination - Cocklebiddy Even though I set out late today (10:15am), I had hoped to cycle at least 110km but my knees were causing a great deal of discomfort right away. I was fighting a strong headwind and there was, for the first time on the Nullarbor, rain in the distance. By 2:30 I was cycling past Cocklebiddy and decided to call it a day. It wasn't any more than a car park for trucks. But out the back of the road house there was two small bushes, just large enough to shield me and my tent from the wind which was getting stronger. After a hot shower, I went into the bar where I met Chris, another cyclist. Chris was what I call a lightweight. His bike was a light carbon fibre framed racing bike, he carried nothing more than a lightweight sleeping bag and a wallet. He was studying some sort of audiovisual technology at university in Canberra. Chris somehow managed to get the university to finance his 'Perth to Sydney' cycle trip. He told them it was something to do with his research. Tuesday 20th March - Cycled distance 123km Destination - Bush camp Moodine Bluff My knees were hurting like hell, but I had to keep going, pushing hard against a constant head wind. While going through all this agony, I reach my destination, sit down to supper and reflect. I feel great, the day over and another 100+ kilometres under my wheels. Wednesday 21st March - Cycled distance 122km Destination - Bush camp, 30km east of Mundrabilla I am beginning to feel tired, well no, exhausted. I'm still managing a good daily distance but my legs are like lead weights on the last 20km. One of the biggest problems on this stretch of road is the lack of nourishment. The roadhouses are well stocked with beer and expensive burgers. But they have no provision for travellers wishing to stock up on their own supplies. No fruit, no veg, if you are lucky you can get tea bags and a box of biscuits. For a cyclist burning so much energy, it's just not enough. Neither is it practical to carry a months supply. Another thing about the roadhouses, apart from their extortionate prices. Is the manner of the staff, the bottom line is, they don't give a stuff. The couldn't care whether you were there or not. Thursday 22nd March - Cycled distance 93km Destination - Bush camp on the Great Australian Bight The first 40km of the day were gentle, leading to a small 50mtr climb into Eucla. Located just 12km west of the South Australian border, Eucla came into being in 1877 when the first Overland Telegraph Station was built. The ruins of this station are still visible though they are slowly being covered by the moving sand dunes. Just past the SA border is the start of the Nullarbor National Park. The translation of Nullarbor is 'Treeless'. A fact that can't be missed. For days I had been lucky enough to have had a few trees to shelter me from the burning sun, but here there was nothing, just small shrubs about twelve inches high. Most of the way from here is going to be vast open spaces. I took several pictures here but they don't do justice to the vastness of the place, just miles and miles of nothing. At places I was only a few meters from the cliff edge of 'The Great Australian Bight' and an 80mtr plunge onto the foaming breaks of the Southern Ocean. The views were spectacular. It was getting late and time to find a camping spot. However, for the first time there was no place to hide. In this open barren place all I could do was choose my spot and pitch the tent. That is exactly what I done, I cycled as far from the road as I could (20mtr) and made camp. The sun was sinking in the west, which afforded a great photo opportunity. I slept under the stars to the sound of the crashing waves below. Friday 23rd March - Cycled distance 41km Destination - Bush camp 10km east of Nundroo. I awoke this morning stiff and cold (freezing) I couldn't get the cooker working so had nothing for breakfast. I was so cold when I woke up, I couldn't do anything, I spent an unsuccessful hour trying to light my stove before giving in and doing without breakfast. The sun was coming up over the Bight; it was beginning to warm my bones so I decided to stay where I was until the sun was high in the sky. I sat watching and taking photographs. I headed on at 10am, still hungry. I had gone 40km and was ready to lie down and give in. I pulled into another viewing area. While there I was approached by a couple from Perth, they were on their way back home. They asked me if I could use any Oranges (you can't take them across the border) I looked at them, almost drooling. What! fresh fruit? Certainly I can use some. I was given two Oranges. Then I was asked if I could use some onions, yes I said. As they said goodbye another couple arrived, they gave me potatoes, fresh fish and more fruit. I thanked them as they left, then another couple came in and gave me a tin of salmon and a jar of jam. Was I going to have a feast tonight? I was beginning to feel great, my energy returning. Then another small camper van pulled in. Gary and his son Ziggy had been on the road for eight months, I told them that there was a great photo opportunity another 20mtrs along the cliffs and asked if they could use any onions or potatoes (I couldn't carry what I had), they said no, but here have some plums. We stood chatting and sucking on plums. Then Gary opened an icebox and handed me a beer. What a day I'm thinking. We had another couple of beers and Gary said, "we're only going another fifty or sixty kilometres along the road, jump in we can share camp". I hesitated, is this cheating? I felt guilty but then I thought, what the hell, it's only a few kilometres. I said OK and justified it by saying, "well what's 100km when I still have a world to cover?? Saturday 24th March - Cycled distance 140km Destination - Ceduna. Woke up this morning with a hangover. As I poked my head out of my tent, I saw Gary had already lit a fire and had the billy on the boil. For breakfast I had billy tea and the rest of our stew. It was 10:30 before I had the bike loaded and ready for the road. Feeling full and energetic I headed of towards Ceduna with an encouraging tail wind which helped push me along at 30kph. Reaching Penong at 1:30. Signs of civilisation were beginning to show with huge white Wheat silo's guarding the entrance to town and people milling around. The town was made up of a woolshed and a few other buildings but it was a welcome sight after days of nothing. I was also encouraged because I knew now that the distances between towns would get shorter. I would pass through a town or Village every day from now. I stopped for an hour in Penong and had a burger & chips. The going was good so I should reach Ceduna at a reasonable time. Famous last words.... The wind changed direction and it became a hard slog for the last 40km. I arrived at the checkpoint at 5:45pm. I was in desperate need of a shower and a laundry (phew). I booked into the main campsite in the centre of town. As I pitched my tent, I heard my name being shouted. Hi, Malcolm, how's it going. It was the two couples I had met at the bush camp east of Balladonia on the 17th of March. They shouted me across and gave me a chair and a beer. They had been at the campsite for over a week and wondered where I was. On our previous meeting we had a conversation on how flat the road seemed to be when you were in a car. They had spent the time from when we met until now pointing out all the undulations in the road. Oh, Malcolm won't like this one! Oh, this looks like it'll be hard work. I had a few beers with them, then I had to go and visit another few campers. I had borrowed a hammer to put the pegs for the tent in. When I went to return the hammer and was invited to join them for tea. There were ten of them; they came to Ceduna every year for fishing. I sat down to huge helpings of freshly caught fish, squid, and crabs. And of course several beers. Another late night..... Sunday 25th March - Cycled distance 100km Destination - Bush camp 10km West of Wirrulla. There was a dramatic change in the scenery after Ceduna. From being flat and dry with low shrubs, the road started to rise and fall more. I cycled through miles and miles of wheat growing territory. It was like cycling through a huge dust bowl. In the distance I could see little miniature tornadoes whipping up the dust and moving it for a few hundred yards before dissipating into the air. The wind at times blew thick clouds of dust across the road in front of me, making it difficult to breathe. I reached Wirrulla at a reasonable time and thought I would be able to find a suitable camp spot. The place was dead; it consisted of a main street with a garage and Deli. At the entrance to the town were the now common, huge white Wheat Silo's standing stately as if on guard. There was no one about, no cars, nothing; I began to feel as if I had wandered onto an old Alfred Hitchcock movie set. As I left the town to cycle further along the road to find a place to camp, I met Clive. A fellow cyclist heading to Sydney. Clive was going to Sydney to meet up with his wife Lynne, who was running in the Australian Veterans Olympics. We both cycled on for another 10km and found a suitable spot by the railway line. Monday 26th March - Cycled distance 137km Destination - Bush Camp, 5km West of Kyancutta. Both Clive and myself were feeling drained, the Nullarbor was hard work. I was exhausted and would liked to have a few days of recuperation. However, we helped push each other along, taking turns at leading the way. Today was not my best day, the weather was fine, cooler than it had been and the road was reasonable. But after 3 punctures in one day, I was getting frustrated. The last straw was when we stopped in Minnipa to stock up on various supplies. We were just about to leave when I noticed I had my fourth puncture. I asked one of the locals if there was a tyre place in town. The only place available was an agricultural repair workshop. They stripped my wheel and fixed the puncture only to find that when we put the wheel back together, it went flat immediately. Start again.... We found a minute slither if wire piercing through the tyre wall. The repair cost me my last $5. To make matters worse, not far out of town I was booked for not wearing my crash helmet. $51. Still I pedalled on for a further 5 hours before making camp on the firebreak of a wheat field. Tuesday 27th March - Cycled distance 175km Destination - Iron Knob. Wow what a day, my knees were killing me, I was hungry and totally exhausted. We broke camp at 7am, it was freezing cold and a heavy mist hung over the rolling hills around us. To the East there was a brilliant orange glow from the sun, which was hiding behind the clouds. It shouldn't take long for the heat to warm my frozen bones, 'I hoped'. The road was getting hillier as we cycled east through the rolling landscape. The South Australian dust bowl turned greener as we approached the Gawler Ranges. By lunchtime we had covered 85km. We stopped at Kimba for a well-earned break. It was also a psychological achievement, as Kimba was the halfway across Australia mark. After lunch both Clive and I agreed to try and make it to Iron Knob, a further 87km of uphill struggle. My knees were hurting like mad, I should have slowed the pace, not increased it. The last 20km was a killer. I had always tried to stop before dark but on this occasion I didn't arrive in Iron Knob until well after 7pm. Clive arrived at Iron Knob about 15 minutes before me and booked into the motel. The room was small but had all the essential amenities. A HOT shower, tea and coffee, a couple of very comfortable beds and a TV - Luxury! I feasted on Chicken Curry and chips (payed for by Clive, Thanks Clive) before crashing out. Wednesday 28th March - Cycled distance 90km Destination - Bush camp 20km South of Pt. Augusta. I paid the consequences of doing 175km yesterday. I woke at 7am my knees locked and excruciatingly sore. I hobbled almost crawling into the shower, hoping that the hot water would alleviate the pain and loosen my joints. The pain almost crippled me as I pedalled the bike out onto the main road. I told myself that the pain would ease as I warmed up. It wasn't a good day, I was tired, hungry and there was the headwind. My knees kept locking up, which meant I had to stop quite regularly. The going was slow, we left Iron Knob at 8am and I cycled for a total of 6.5 hours just to cover 90km. Clive pushed on ahead of me where we parted ways. I cycled on towards Adelaide, desperate to reach my final destination. What, with no money or food, every minute of cycling time was important. Thursday 29th March - Cycled distance 135km Destination Clare (home) Pedal time 9 hours. I was up at the crack of dawn, 5:30am. The sun was just beginning to peak over the Flinders Ranges behind me. It was feezing cold and I couldn?t be bothered. However, a breakfast of 'rice pudding' well rice with the last of my sugar in it, would be good. The blasted cooker wouldn't work. It was freezing cold; I was tired and just couldn't be bothered. Slowly I started to pack, if it had been warmer I would have snuggled back into my sleeping bag and stayed put for the day. I very lethargically loaded the bike and pushed on. I was now heading south towards Adelaide. The next challenge was to get through the Flinders. I was moving at a snail pace, even though I had no headwind I couldn't make my legs push any faster than about 10kph. My stomach was rumbling like mad and I began to feel sleepy. Each time I stopped I wanted to curl up and go to sleep. I Knew that, that wouldn't help so I kept going, it didn't matter how fast I went, as long as the wheels kept turning. I pushed and pushed and very slowly edged my way towards my final destination. After 9 hours of pedaling and only 20km to Clare, I was cycling through a small village called 'Yakka'. I had $2 left on my phone card, the sun was beginning to get low in the sky and the Adelaide hills loomed ahead of me. I called my Brother 'Stuart' and said, Ï need a lift". I cycled a further 5km before being picked up, the first leg of my Australian crossing over. STATS I left the UK weighing in at 13.5 stone or 86kg; I arrived in Adelaide weighing 10.5 stone or 67kg. |
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Material Copyright © 2000 Malcolm Campbell