In Which We Bid Goodbye to the Eyre Peninsula

We experienced yet another day of contrasts today between Whyalla and Port Augusta, with the first half being lovely quiet cruising and then the second half becoming noisy and less enjoyable the further we went, as traffic went rushing, rushing, rushing past.

Northward from Whyalla to Port Augusta

With a relatively flat 80 kilometres or so ahead of us a leisurely start seemed in order. And it was very pleasant having a relaxed pack up and a chat before setting off. In terms of the riding however it would have actually been better to have made our prompt get-away, as you will see later in the post.

Nonetheless, it was quiet heading through Whyalla on a Saturday morning. I spotted a "French Hot Bread Baked on the Premises" shop as we headed out of town and thought a little something to nibble might be nice. Di and I hadn't had much breakfast fixings left in our food boxes and I fancied a French pastry. Unfortunately even that was closed, so that gives an idea of just how quiet Whyalla is on a Saturday morning.

Di and I started out through town slowly and thought the others would soon catch us as they looked only a minute or two from leaving after we did, but to our surprise no-one caught up. Unable to resist the favourable conditions we started to slowly accelerate our spin and were soon rolling along nicely at about 30 kilometres per hour.

We knew for certain after we'd passed the steelworks that we had a slight following breeze as we could smell the plant for a few kilometres down the road. On the right was the ever-present water pipeline that brings drinking water all the way from the Murray River as far south as Port Lincoln. As Peter says, the communities down the Eyre Peninsula would be in strife without the water from further north.

Also running alongside us on our right for most of the day was the rail line, and just as we got to 30 kilometres out of town we heard a train a'coming. It was quite long and took some time to get past us. I pulled my arm down from above my head a couple of times to try to get the driver to blow his whistle, but he wasn't playing.

Traffic slowly increased for the first 50 kilometres to where the Lincoln Highway intersected the Eyre Highway. Collis had designated this as our morning tea stop. Dianne and I arrived about five minutes before Kathy and sat enjoying the sunshine while we waited for her to roll up. It had warmed up considerably as we rode north; enough for Di to take off her wind vest, her fleecy headband and her warm gloves - but not enough for her to take off her long-sleeved top ...

Warming to the day

For my part, I set out with bib shorts and a long-sleeved base layer under my jersey and was more than happy to get rid of the base layer. It felt great to be on the bike for only the second or third time on this long ride with just a short-sleeved jersey and shorts. (The day we left Perth was gorgeous, but only 1 degree overnight and about 3 degrees when we left.)

Peter rolled in a little while after Kathy arrived, and then Jim and Jacquei rolled in. Jacquei payed out on Jim for sprinting the last couple of kilometres to beat her to morning tea after she'd taken point for him since leaving Whyalla - or so she'd have us believe!

About five kilometres after leaving morning tea we crested a small rise and got good views of the Flinders Ranges ahead. Di wanted to stop to take a photo for the blog, but I thought I might as well try a video ...

As I said earlier, the traffic gradually increased the further we rode north. However, once we hit the Eyre Highway it was much heavier again. Everyone seemed in so much of a hurry, which is no surprise when the speed limit is 110 kilometres per hour. There seems, however, to be less room and more traffic closer together on this section of the Eyre Highway than when we were last on it at Ceduna after traversing it for so many kilometres across the Nullarbor. And, unlike the previous six days on the Eyre Peninsula where every day we had the joy of hearing a bustle in a hedgerow from busy birds at least once, there was none of that today.

Alas, the road surface on this section of the Eyre Highway was also not as silky smooth as we'd experienced before Ceduna and around most of the Eyre Peninsula on the Flinders and Lincoln Highways. This made the last 20 or so kilometres a bit of a slog, especially as our tail wind had - well, tailed off - so I decided to just tow Di for the rest of the ride. We finished up averaging a respectable 28 kilometres per hour. Here is an image of the ground we covered today ...

Whyalla to Port Augusta

If you look closely (and/or enlarge the image) you can clearly see the Flinders Ranges to the northeast of where we're at here in Port Augusta. We now get a day and a half rest before we head southeast on Monday. It's good to have arrived, but it was a real mixed day, with lovely conditions early on and little traffic, culminating in a finish on very busy roads with some less than sympathetic drivers. Di wants to go and check out some food for our dinner so I will leave it there.