Nervous, to say the least. All my research and investigations said that we had a 99km ride, mostly uphill, to Frazer Range Station. I don't know if I'm up for that yet. Our training was partly unloaded, and we had it all back, and more. Are we really going to do this crazy adventure? Bloody oath, at least we'll give it a red hot crack! But we'll cheat again today. Bazz must of enjoyed Part B as much as we did, because he is going to give us a 3 hour head start, then meet us for lunch before dropping our gear at the station. What an awesome support crew we found.
Team Fluro today, we want to make sure those caravaners see us.
So after re-sorting, packing, and loading, we wave good bye to Barry, then dropped in to see Nicole at the hospital before finally hitting the road. As we turned onto the main road out of town, we went straight through the stop sign, and turned to see the entire town Police contingent having a meeting in the rotunda in front of us. Luckily, they didn't see us do it......phew, good start.
Thank you awesome friend for supporting Barry, who was supporting us.
It was a nice morning, and we were off. Lots of long hills (bumps, really) and some good rolls down, but we went from 260mtrs up to 414mtrs at Frazer Range. We were actually going along pretty well, and we'd done 50kms when Barry caught us up. He couldn't wait three hours and left a little early, and bought us pies and ice tea. So awesome. We pulled into a rest stop and enjoyed our treats, before heading off again. We were looking to be at our destination by 3pm if all stayed the same.
Oh, why did I look at this sign? That is so far.....1986 was a good year though.
Now there are two more Straya Animals roaming the Eyre highway.
There is obviously a heap more traffic out on the Eyre Highway, with the majority of the campers and caravans. Lots of big trucks carrying mega loads, and a few motorbikes. The traffic seemed to stagger themselves nicely, so we didn't often have both behind and oncoming traffic. This was great, because when that did happen, we had to get off the shoulder onto the gravel. A bit scary when you're pumping along down a good hill. All the trucks were fantastic, even moving right over to the wrong side of the road if possible. The vans and campers were great so far too.
Pushing up another hill, long but not steep. Not a bad shoulder though.
A pie, sooooo good! And a good dose of sugar energy with the ice tea. Thanks Bazz.
This is how a Will checks if I'm still coming along behind......yes, I'm coming!
At the 70km mark, we spotted Barry heading home, and paused to say one last thank you, and find out all was good at the station. He also told us we actually had another 33kms or so to go......WHAT? No Way! Ugh! Shit! Where is the westerly wind we are supposed to be getting? I'm going to need it.
After 80kms, I told Will I'd had enough, and he said, "Just smash out another 20 kays, Jen, and we'll be there." Oh jeez, ok, come on wind! Up some hills, my feet are starting to burn, down some hills, my butt is starting to hurt. 90kms....."Will, I've had enough now!", "Another 10 kays, come on, just smash it out!"...... From here there was lots of groaning, huffing and swearing, and finally we saw the final sign.....1km to the turn off! Oh my god, thank you! But then, 2kms up a dirt road to the station. Oh frickin hell, I need to get these shoes off, and these pants, and this helmet.......ugh!
Finally, the turn off! Maybe the extra kays were from weaving all over the place.
Hey Bob, is it much further mate? I'm knackered!
I have to say, that Frazer Range Station is an absolute gem. It has everything, in a lovely setting, with great facilities and friendly staff. We had an awesome night, chatting to Grey Nomads, campers, and holidayers. They were all very supportive of our stupidity, and made us feel very special. We paid for the dinner, which was a buffet, all you can eat, and man did we eat. We were starving. Two dinners and pudding, each. With beer and cordial. God it was nice to have cordial after drinking just water all day.
At last, an oasis. Saved!
I'm off to have a lovely shower before dinner! Can't wait to get out of this gear.
After dinner there was more chatting around a fire out where we camped, then to bed. I passed out, and had an awesome sleep. Totally knackered!
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