The plan of action for the way out of Perth turned out to be very similar to the route I took, down towards the Southern Forests and onto Albany. They plan on going to Esperance and taking a few days off down there which is where I’ll be leaving them. When I was in Kalgoorlie I left a bag at the hostel, thought I’d be heading straight back and I didn’t need to be carrying the extra weight into Perth.
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Unfortunately the bike store in Kalgoorlie didn’t have a suitable rim or wheel in stock. The guy called around to see what he could get from the dealers but none of the ones on the west coast had anything so unless I found a store with something I was looking at a three day minimum before I got a rim and as the weekend was coming it could be more like five days.
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Well maybe meltdown is a bit dramatic a title but today I experienced a mechanical failure that put a complete halt to my efforts. On my way to Mundrabilla I noticed my bike was starting to feel a little wobbly. I watched the wheel between my legs, it appeared to be true and the bolts on the rack were still tight as far as I could see but still the bike was very unstable.
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Thanks to my early night I was wide awake, packed and rolling down the road before the sun even began to brighten the sky. I didn’t bother having breakfast I knew there was a nice rest area about 30km down the road with water tanks so I figured I’d do it there, with a picnic table and the sun would be up to warm things a bit.
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Today I left Balladonia to tackle the longest straight stretch of road in Australia. At 146.6km or 90 miles it is indeed a long straight. It doesn’t start until 40 or so kilometres from Balladonia and I was waiting for the obligatory photograph at the sign. There were roadworks though so after riding about 60km and not seeing a sign I realised that there wasn’t going to be one. At least not on this end.
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Yesterday I stopped only 80km past Norseman. I was just plain tired from riding into the wind for over 4 hours and there was a decent rest area so I decided that was it. Today it was another 110km to the first roadhouse (or last one depending on the direction you tackle this road from) on the Eyre Highway at Balladonia. I already decided that I was going to stop for the day when I got there.
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Today is Australia Day, something like St. Patricks Day to the Irish, nowhere near as good obviously. I got into Norseman in the early morning to find the Information centre was open. I grabbed a map of the rest area and facilities along the Nullarbor and a quick shower too. There was a BBQ going on beside the info centre and I got a hot dog before hitting the road east.
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Leaving Kalgoorlie behind me (I wonder what else I could score if I hung around) I hit the road south towards Norseman and the start of the Eyre Highway across the Nullarbor. The road south was nice, it was stinking hot but there was a stiff crosswind which kept me somewhat cool. Tomorrow when the road turns eastwards this wind will be in my face, so I’ll enjoy it whilst I can.
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Another good day brought me to the outskirts of Kalgoorlie. Instead of going into town I pulled up a few kilometers from the town limit and camped out. After the cool offshore breezes of the past few weeks I’m now back into hot 40+ heat everyday. Still it is nowhere near like it was in the Kimberley, the humidity is non-existant and I’m feeling good.
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From Mulkas Cave the road to Southern Cross is unpaved gravel. The alternative paved route would be 140km extra so pretty much an extra days riding. I’ve avoided dirt as much a possible so far this trip but I decided to give this one a go. It was about 120km so a good day in the saddle would see me get most of the way, at least that was the idea.
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