Road To Nowhere

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It wasn't a bad view from our cabin door when we rose this morning.  We were up a little later than usual, having had to digest half a cow and rather more ice cream than is medically recommended, but we were still on the road by 8:15. 

Our route continues to follow the coast and, having done Streaky Bay, we decided to do the bacon double and diverted off to Smokey Bay for lunch.  Despite doing 74 miles we were in our cabin by 13:30.  The cabin was booked on the internet and cost a paltry £37.00......when we arrived we found out why.  Apparently we have been 'upgraded' but it requires considerable imagination to imagine how crappy the one we booked might have been.

We are back on Highway 1,  in Ceduna - gateway to the Nullarbor.  Probably, like us prior to our trip planning, you don't know much about the Nullarbor (literally 'no tree').  It is basically 750 miles of flat, featureless wilderness containing no towns and crossed by Highway 1 with a handfull of roadhouses to provide fuel, food, water and accommodation.  The biggest gap between roadhouses is 115 miles!!!

The first crossing by bike was in 1896 and took 31 days.  We plan on just 9 days, though we do have the benefit of tarmac, a luxury completed in 1976.  We have been both excited and nervous about this stretch and tomorrow we will start to find what we are made of (mostly still beef and ice cream at the moment).

We added lots of goannas, a couple of kangeroos and a possible wallaby to our zoo today.  To be honest our enthusiasm is waning - pickings are pretty slim and the smell is becoming a bit of an issue.  Even putting all the rotting carcasses in one pannier and clothes in the other doesn't help.....the smell of the clothes gets everywhere and taints the animals.




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