Wednesday 30 April 2014

Day 23. 35k W Kimba to Cowell.

Pitter, patter....rain on a nylon tent fly.. 
Not a great sound, but it's part of touring. The night was dry n warm. 

No morning pic today, camera battery died last night. :-(   Not much to see, just the wetness, which in these parts are always welcome by the locals. 

A break in the weather, looks like my chance to do breakky & pack, before the next band of rain hits. 

Almost made it. 

Rain is back just as I'm packing in the last 1/2 dozen items. Might be time to add on the rain cover under the Flevobike roof for extra warmth..& dryness. 

After about 45mins cycling, I noticed the sky was beginning to clear behind me, & the rain had ceased. The weather was hopefully moving faster than me. 

About 10km from Kimba, the rain had cleared, the blue cloud had caught me, the wind was up a little, again !! This time it's from the left rear..& staying there !
The hills just out of town sapped my energy pretty quick this morning, the last one WAS a bit of tough going :-/. 

3km to Kimba was a nice downhill pedal, cruising at just under 30km/h, tailwind, mostly sunny..though ominous clouds were still lingering. 

ROADHOUSE!!
Coffee, muffin, and hopefully some "electricals" recharged. Hmm staff here are still suffering Mondayitis :-/. Not happy workers ...must be the weather. Or because I asked permission to at least recharge my phone ..LOL

Hint::  Kimba Pioneer Park has free camping & excellent hot shower ($1-3mins) + leave a gold coin donation to help maintain upkeep. Great Value..

Cleaned & almost presentable, I had to get the obligatory "Big Galah" pic...not sure who's the biggest galah. LOL 



Half Way Across Australia. 


Much better luck here for recharging. :-) 
Better coffee & cakes too. I had a lovely chat with the Manageress, who informed me I'd like the last 10km run into Cowell as it's all downhill...I took this info with a grain of salt...20+ years of cycling, locals can get it wrong :-)

Fully charged phone, camera & iPod, time to bid farewell to Kimba & the Big Galah...then tackle the 90km to Cowell. 

Damn westerly had been up since arriving in Kimba, now heading south east it's a bloody crosswind again. 
"Shut up 'n put up".. Just keep pedalling. 

Well! Magnificent undulations..when the wind was behind it was easy going.. 35-45km/h..woohoo!!
When the wind want so flash..18-9km/h..
But the scenery !!







From a wet n soggy start this morning... these pics just don't do the view justice!!
I think there was a tear of joy in my eyes! AMAZING!!

Almost exactly 1/2 way to Cowell, I clicked up 2500km for the trip. Happy days!




The kindness of strangers, I met a farmer who'd just popped out to "check the mail".. the homestead must've been miles away... I couldn't see it. 
We had a good chat for 15mins or so. He also said I'd like the last 10k to Cowell. 
(I was changing my mind...locals might be right today). 
He caught up with me about 10k further on offering a cold can of coke & another chat, in exchange for som pics. DEAL !! :-)

Finally after the last long climb.. Probably 5k in length, was a view to make any cyclist happy...


Cowell. 15k in the distance..& yes!! It's ALL DOWNHILL!!
What a way to enter town! 60km/h most of the way! 
With the usual crosswind buffeting, which after sooo much of it lately, I'd gotten quite used too...sort of!! :-/

I rolled into town just on 5pm. Caravan park tonight, tent/fly needs drying. 


Errr, I'm the only tent here LOL
These nomads are amazed at how light I travel.  :-). 

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