After getting kicked out of the camp kitchen with a heap of other campers, (it gets locked up at 9:30) we were all forced off to bed. The Solar car crew were in full swing, with generators blasting away, and lots of other very noisy activities. It was difficult to sleep, and some other campers had set up next to us too. It made for a restless night, but at least there was no rush today. A moderate ride to the Mt Remarkable National Park, to enjoy some relaxing nature, before heading into Port Pirie to catch up with a friend.
Some of our neighbors had left by the time this was taken.....got busy!
We'd chatted to a couple in the camp kitchen last night, Rick and Danyelle, who are moving back to Perth with their three small children. They are taking their time, and enjoying the journey. Rick told us about his super green smoothies, that they all enjoy every day before breakfast, and offered to make us one. So as soon as we had packed up all our gear, we headed over to their camper trailer, where Rick was busy blending the hell out of a heap of green things. He reckons one of his mates is a competitive cyclist, and has this stuff every day, so it should make us super. Well, it wasn't half bad, and after another great chat, we went over to the kitchen to have our brekkie. This took a while, as we relaxed and chatted with some more campers. A good start to the day.
Cheers, Rick, thanks for our super start to the day.
As we were getting ready to go, we realised that today was the one year anniversary of selling our roadhouse, and decided that we needed to celebrate it with a bottle of wine. So off to the bottle shop on our way out of town. It was the expected stressful run out, that goes with these bigger centres, but as we were heading over a bridge, we were passed by one of the solar cars. Cool, shame we were too busy not getting run over to take a picture. But then, just out of town, we saw a sign saying there was a compulsory stop ahead for all competitors. Awesome, we stopped in to see what was there. There were three cars, and lots of support crews busy doing stuff, so we rolled by, snapped some pics, and kept going.
Back over the old bridge, which was actually built in 1927.
This is what is left of an old barge. They've tried to remove it but can't.
Two Japanese teams. Washing the solar panels so they work better.
Another Japanese team. The actual winners were in Adelaide two days ago.
Pretty cool, aren't they?
By the time the first Solar Car caught us, we'd done 20 kays, and we were ready for them with the camera. Luckily, they had a couple of lead cars, with flashing lights and warning signs, so all the other traffic had to slow down too. So we got some cool pics and GoPro action too. In between the solar cars passing us, the traffic was very heavy. It was a nice surprise to find the road from Port Augusta had a Very Good Shoulder, nice and wide, and not too bumpy most of the time. The trucks just kept coming from both directions, and car, after car, after car. It was very tedious, and detracted from the quite interesting views of the ranges, to the left, and the Spencer Gulf on the right.
We were doing 25, he was doing well over 60. Very quiet too, just like us.
I'm happy because there is a great shoulder, oh and the hills are pretty.
Suddenly, we came to a long winding incline (not steep enough to call a hill), and there was a strange vehicle coming towards us with flashing lights. It also had a LED display, that had a message on it, telling us there were "2 X 8 metre" somethings coming behind. So we just pulled right off the road into the gravel, got our cameras ready and watched these two massive trucks carrying dump truck trays come past us. Another "Cool"!
Even with a VGS, best just to let them go by.
They weren't going that slow either, but fast than the solar cars.
Then it was back to getting up the incline. We weren't very far from our destination, maybe 10kms, so we pedalled along in 7th gear until it flattened out, after a few kilometres. A couple more Solar Cars came past us, they have until Sunday to get to Adelaide to complete the challenge, but as we noticed soon after, some of them didn't make it. A couple on their trailers came past us, and it was kind of sad. Poor little cars.
This one is pretty cut hey?
The difference in sizes was interesting. They had heaps of support cars too.
It was starting to get hot, and the wind had developed too, but we found our turn, and it was such a relief to get off the busy highway again. Now we had a five kilometre uphill (very slightly) ride to the camping area, but as we rode, we spotted a couple of Emus, a big goanna who ran up a tree, and a couple of small goannas just sitting together in the middle of the road. Hmmm, not sure they were "Just sitting", if you know what I mean, they did not move as we rode past.
Only five more kilometres, that's is good, it's getting warm now.
This guy, on the right side of the tree, did not trust us, and ran up so fast.
What are you to up to, you look like naughty children, pretending nothing is up.
Once at the campground, we have to book and pay online, only there isn't any phone reception here. Hey? Bloody hell! So Will unloads most of his gear, and rides back up to a rise about 500mtrs back, and tries. The site kept crashing and having issues, so he came back. We found a phone number for help, so he rode back again, and finally came back with a site location for us. Yay, I am hungry, and ready to relax. Thanks Will, you just sit now and drink your two cold beers you have in your cooler bag (better known as The Bike Eski). So we sat and made some rolls for lunch, and relaxed. Just as I was getting sorted to put the tent up, a nice man (Morrie) came over and asked us if we'd like a nice cold Coke. Thank you very much Morrie, that would be wonderful. How nice is that? Next I sorted our sleeping stuff, and then went and had a shower. Yep, this National Park has flushing toilets and hot showers. Very clean and eco friendly. When I came back, Will went, and while he was gone, a lovely lady (her husband is the ranger here, and they live across the highway, Russel and Joy) came and gave me two icy cold bottles of water, and two cold beers. Wow, wow, wow, guys, this is awesome! It feels like our very lucky day.
Good to get the bike gear off, and air out my hot feet.
A well deserved relax for Will.
All we have left to do is cook ourselves some dinner on the FREE BBQ's, and it will have been another fabulous day.
What a beautiful spot for dinner...
Cute little Euros came by to visit us while we cooked.
Mambray Creek actually had some water in it. Very nice.
Very nice day, hey Will?
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