To the Red Centre and back: Day 8: Pimba to Wilcannia (836 km. Total now 5,601 km)

[The comfort of home seems to have negative impact on my writing ability. Here’s the recount of Day 8, after the long break…]

Well, at least today started with the sun shining brightly. Hope it stays like this for as long as it can. I was all packed and ready to go and as soon as the sun is up, I was already on my bike. My buddy from Coober Pedy was probably still fast asleep but obviously he does not have a distance to cover as much as I have. I went for a fill up and to bid farewell to my nice hosts for last night. “Spuds” (the name of the roadhouse) does look very welcoming during the day.

As I was about to enter Stuart Highway heading to Port Augusta, the temperature was already showing 7°C and the wind was rather moderate but on the bike, it was freezing! I had an extra layer on and even put on my windbreaker underneath my jacket (this weather is for an “all-season” jacket; not this “airflow” one!). I even put a pair of thin cotton gloves on the inside of my leather ones, pulled my fleece neck warmer all the way up to cover my ears. By the time I’m done, I reminded myself of The Marshmallow Man! But hey, I’d rather look uncool than catching a cold! I prayed for good weather and safe path home… and turned both my grip and seat heaters on to “high”.

Apart from the wind and the cold, it was a very nice early morning ride. It reminded me of one of my Sunday morning rides back home. Although the sun was shining, I can still see dark clouds far in the horizon… the way I was heading…

There was no drama all the way to Port Augusta. During one of the fill-up and quick espresso stop in Port Augusta itself, I saw a big group of bikers. The guy at the pump station said there was some charity ride or something. Then I realized, THIS IS Sunday! Wow! How I lost track of time… I also noticed that all other bikers had their winter gears on, unlike me. Being this far South, I should have known and expected colder weather. Another flaw in my plan.

I didn’t think much when I saw the first drop of rain on my visor. Then the second, the third and then they really come… This is another complete misery, I said to myself; cold, wind, rain. Hmmm… what else could go wrong! You know what they say when on a journey? My Dad used to say, “Hang jangan dok tegork (tegur)!” [Translation: Just don’t say; or it will happen!]. As I was crossing from A87 to A32, up in the highlands along the twisty road from Port Augusta to Wilmington, and as the rain gets heavier, my SatNav broke down! It kept shutting itself off all the time. Now, with poor visibility in the rain and in between having to wipe my visor with my hand every so often, I just don’t really know where I was heading. Water must have got into it when I forgot to take it inside with me yesterday when I took shelter in the roadhouse in Pimba. The road shoulder was so narrow that I could not have stopped safely even if I wanted to. The risk of getting swiped off the road by cars or trucks are bigger than the risk of getting lost so I pushed on. Notice there’s no pics in this stretch at all – taking pics was the last thing on my mind obviously!

Anyway, I also noticed that the SatNav started going crazy when I had my heaters on high. It even showed an error message that says “Power Lost”. Maybe because the heaters were using so much of the power from the battery that the electrical system had to cut the power off to the auxiliaries. I could experimentally try to switch off my heaters and see what happen. I had to choose – getting frozen or getting lost. I chose heaters!

I made it to Orroroo safely and suddenly the sun was shining again, birds chirping and the scenery was absolutely stunning. And suddenly I’m in the mood of taking pictures again; so here goes some of the finest selections for the rest of this day…

The Giant Red Gum (eucalyptus camaldulensis) tree in Orroroo with 0.89m circumference is more than 500 years old!

Leaving South Australia...

...and into New South Wales

Simply stunning!

And, this one especially for the guys who have once in their live watched “Mad Max”. Check this out; me with Mad Max’s “Pursuit Special” at the famous Silverton Hotel in Silverton!

Despite the few stopovers, I still tried to push hard to get at least to Cobar so that the last day’s ride will be as short as it can be. I did well but as the sun was about to set, I just made it to Wilcannia. This little highway town was never even in the plan. With population of less than 600, I didn’t expect much from it but at least a nice bed to sleep in. I rode into the first one I saw, checked in and as I was about ready to park my bike I realized that there’s no other vehicle parked around the motel. I asked the lady at the reception and she confirmed that I am their only guest that night! By then it was too late to go anywhere else. And she also told me there are no shops or restaurants in town that would still be opened. All I had that day was half a plate of chips before noon.