Days 23 &24 – Quieter times

It's the multicoloured tractor as well in the back that makes this perfection.
Well done Eucla

It’s been a pretty functional start to the week. With seven days at near or over 100 miles coming up, always planned to have two shorter days in the middle of the Nullabor where services are more bunched up, then push straight on to Perth.

With 48 miles yesterday and 73 today I’ve been finished by lunch and taken the afternoons off. Which is all well and good, but there is literally sod all to do in these roadhouses. At Mundrabilla I slept for the most of the afternoon, and today I’ve been rested up reading and trying to avoid the TV.

In the sticks you are stuck on just the three or four free channels. Occasionally there is something worth watching, but mostly it just seems to be news on repeat. This can be unbelievably parochial at times, or just rather concerning in the case of Crimea.

Obviously this is all much more serious issue than some git bored in a motel room, but by a strange quirk of timing the history book I’m reading on the kindle got on to the topic of the Crimea the day before the news broke. And I have one small piece of new analysis that has certainly not made it onto TV here.

Sure I’m not the only one whose been slightly puzzled by the scenes of skin head pro-Russians, looking like caricature neo-Nazis, pulling pro-European students out onto the street giving them a shoeing then turning to cameras and accusing the pro-Europeans of being “Fascists.” Given the interim Ukrainian prime minister has the look, dress sense and charisma of a humanities lecturer at an ex-polytechnic, he seems an unlikely aspiring Fuhrer. 

Eucla Pass. Accept pic is
balls. Trust me it's pretty

According to the section of the book I reached today turns out Stalin (a Ukrainian himself) used Crimea as a dumping ground for members of the USSR he suspected had Fascist sympathies. He also accused the local Crimean Tatars of being Fascist to boot. Think this might explain these rather anarchic and out of place taunts that keep coming out of the pro-Russians on TV.

So there you go. If you spend too much time on a bike in the bush, by yourself, reading pop history books, and watching snippets of news you become a mighty dull chap. A little information is a dangerous thing and all that.

The cycling itself has been pretty functional. Left the coast and it’s flat bush land most directions. After the border hit the hamlet of Eucla. It’s the only settlement of any size since the first day out Ceduna last Friday. It is pretty amazing. There is literally nothing out here.

Counted six entrances to homesteads today (three oddly marked by old fridges), the first spotted in the three days’ cycling. To think some of these are over 350 miles from the nearest village of Norseman, which itself has less than a thousand residents. The distance of London to West Cornwall, and at the end is a village of 1,000 people, and nothing else. Home schooled, and you then work on the ranch all your life, it’s a truly extraordinary.

The Eucla roadhouse was smart and rather regretted not taking on the extra 8 miles the night before. The mozi infested shed at the border was not value for money. After Eucla pass with stunning views out to sea, the wind whipped up behind me and I made Mundrabilla in good time. Mundrabilla itself was pretty worn out, but they were friendly, kind and properly helpful, so no complaints. Again, most of the staff appeared to be backpackers. Still find this a strange way to spend time while travelling. Guess you get to see a proper slice of Aussie life, and it must be oddly peaceful out in the middle of nowhere, but still.

The ride today was, dare I say it, a little dull. Whilst the bluff that runs to the North of the road gives the place a feature, with the wind down for most of the day it was a hot sticky slog through the morning. Then it was tedious. The wind gusted in from all directions never settling for the last three hours. This is so tiring mentally and physically, because you never get into you rhythm, which is how you plough through the miles. Constantly changing gears, shifting riding styles and straightening the bike gets really galling

Was glad to make Madura, although this place is the definition of “better days behind it.” These older roadhouses feel like places time forgot, especially if there is a better quality option within 100 miles, drivers just pass them by leaving the place and the staff seem slightly outside normal life.

Confusing

They’re not aided by the fact this is 300 mile stretch is all in what must be the least used time zone in the world. Assumed at the border I’d go straight onto Perth time, but no. There is something called Western central time. It’s an official timezone, the GPS picked it up and the iphone even amazingly has a time settings option for Eucla (pop. <100 – Check if you don’t believe me). This time is not used North, East or West of here, just in this small coastal strip. It’s GMT - 8hrs 45mins, and don’t reckon it can be used by more than 5,000 people, if that, at any one time.

All rather adds to the feeling you’ve followed Alice down the rabbit hole.

Miles: 48 and 73 – Border Village – Eucla – Mundrabilla – Madura

Breakfast – Standard both days

Lunch – Steak sandwich both days. With a Magnum for pudding yesterday (which I’ve got rather hooked on)

Snacks – Energy bars and sweets

Dinner – Lasagne last night, meatloaf tonight. Both functional but good.