June 29, 2015
Port Augusta: The bike's holding up okay
The busy streets of Port Augusta came as a bit of a shock after so long in the wilderness. In some sources I’d seen it described as a small city, and, although that would be pushing it, the biggish town certainly qualified as the largest settlement I’d stumbled across since making my way out of Perth three weeks earlier. Because the shop in Kimba had been closed over the weekend I’d not been able to stock up my food supplies, which had once again dwindled to such an extent that the first thing I did was rush into the Woolworths supermarket and buy a ton of fresh groceries. I then made my way to a large green park across the street and sat on a bench in the sunshine, eager to enjoy a filling breakfast.
I made a tremendous sandwich, stacked with cheese, tomato, onion and lettuce, and topped with a hearty dollop of whole-egg mayonnaise. It looked absolutely delicious. My lips salivated. I was so hungry, I was really going to enjoy this. I lifted it up and prepared to take a big bite. But then -
“Hello. You look like you’re traveling a long way.”
I pulled the sandwich away from my mouth and saw a man approaching me across the grass.
“Oh it’s good to see young men like yourself getting out and seeing the country.”
He was an older gentleman of mixed complexion. He had a face a bit like a caricature, somehow he seemed too jolly to be real. He spoke with an accent that was strangely English, considering his ethnic background, which he went on to describe at length:
“I’m a south-sea islander myself. Part aborigine as well, on my mother’s side. When I say south-sea islander I mean Vanuatu you see. Now my father he came here in eighteen-dickety-two. Lots of us south-sea islanders we came over to work in the sugar cane fields, you see. Now we always worked hard, you see, for our families and we did what we were told and…”
With some regret I put my sandwich down and listened, politely, to the man’s monologue for several more minutes.
“This is a nice town here you see. Now I’m retired you see. My wife, she’s got that old dementia, poor soul. Got to the point I couldn’t look after her anymore on my own, so we had to put her in the nursing home over on McKenzie Street. I’m going to see her this afternoon. I go and see her every day you see, and that’s all you can do isn’t it, but we all have to make the best of it and…”
I put down my sandwich. My stomach grumbled in disapproval. Several more minutes passed.
“On Sunday I go to church. Now I don’t know much, but I believe in the Lord and I try to work hard and do my best for our saviour Jesus Christ, and that’s all you can do you see. And I don’t know what you believe, but that’s what I believe, and, well, goodbye now.”
And with that he suddenly stopped and left abruptly.
Unfortunately there was no time to loiter and see who else might stop by to talk at me. I quickly ate my sandwich, which was truly delicious and probably all the better for the anticipation that had been built up, and then headed out of Port Augusta. I was then able to take a very small road which, although a little bumpy for a man with a precariously welded chainstay, was by far the best that I had taken in all Australia. In fact it was the first time since Perth that I’d been able to get off the highway, and it was a pleasure to be able to relax on this little lane as it climbed steadily up towards a mountain pass.
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At the end of my peaceful little detour I bumped into another cycle tourist, and yet another not-unattractive female one, if you can believe such a thing. I didn’t ask about her career, and it seemed unlikely that I could be lucky enough to meet two exotic dancers on bicycles anyway, but it was a moot point, because naturally she was going the other sodding way. Alida was on a cross country ride from Canberra to Perth, and she talked enthusiastically about her trip so far and seemed very much to be looking forward to the Nullarbor. If you’d like to follow Alida, click on Facebook, and go to ‘Follow Alida’, which I think is just a really super play-on-words. Except I just checked it, and it’s taken me so long to update this journal that you can’t follow Alida’s trip now, because she’s already finished.
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After that brief pleasant interlude I joined a slightly busier road and went up and over a pass which, though not technically difficult, was a bit of change after so much flat. That brought me on the other side of the mountains, into a not-very-flat valley that I would now follow south. Once again I decided to cycle on after dark. Although I was now into a more populated region, the smaller country roads that ran between villages here had no traffic at all after the sun had set. It was generally quite nice cycling under the stars, except that it became extremely cold. I hadn’t experienced such a cold temperature in many months, and I was pleased when the road climbed up because it kept me warm, and I cursed every time that I had a descent. I cycled for a long time, long into the night, passing through the empty streets of several small villages along the way. Eventually I set up camp just before the village of Laura, and even sleeping with all my clothes on, shivered my way through the rest of the night.
Distance completed: 2704km
Distance to go: 1106km
Days to go: 9.5
Average distance required: 116.4km/day
Today's ride: 126 km (78 miles)
Total: 43,585 km (27,066 miles)
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