Perfect riding conditions today, the road was excellent, traffic was moderate, wind was favourable and temperature was mild (18 – 28 deg C)

I pedalled north leaving Miranda to get on with her acrylic painting of the harbour view from the front of the Harbour View Caravan Park. There is not much in the way of civilisation between Cowell and Whyalla and the landscape returned to the salt bush and blue bush that had become so familiar on the Nullabor.

One of the scenic highlights was the Arrium iron ore mine which had produced an array of beautiful colours in the hill side as a result of its operations. The photos do not quite reproduce the vividness and richness of the colours visible as I ride past.

I rest briefly to eat a banana, some muesli bars and to refill my bidons at one of the roadside shelters. They have all been the same so far in South Australia, a shaded table of identical design, a rubbish bin and a rough dirt road leading in  and out. The shade is always very welcome.

I am making very good time and after about two and a half hours of riding I crest a small rise and can see Whyalla clearly in the distance, still 25 km away!

A bit less than an hour later, I arrive at the Whyalla caravan park, check in and wait for Miranda who arrives about 30 mins later. The wind that had helped me along the road that day had now increased in intensity so much that hanging around the park was unbearable. We decided to unhitch the pod and drive into town to look around and grab some lunch. The steel works are the main feature of Whyalla, and there is not very much else there to get excited about.

After a late lunch we headed for an air conditioned tavern near the caravan park to work on our blog and retain some sanity away from the mind numbing wind. On our return to camp we cooked dinner in the camp kitchen, which was thankfully somewhat sheltered from the incessant breeze. The aubergine steaks, asparagus and mushroom omelette with salad went down a treat.

There was a near disaster that night. Mosquitos were an issue at Whyalla, so we lit a mozzi coil and left it on the mudguard of the pod next to where I had left my bike with my riding gear hanging on it. During the night the wind had blown my singlet onto to the mozzi coil holder and the coil, still burning, had singed it severely. Luckily Miranda awakened during the night, noticed that my cycling gear was draping rather close to the coil and burner and moved them to a safer location. As the pod is built entirely from timber this incident could have ended very badly…..lesson learned.

I am looking forward to favourable winds again tomorrow on the road to Spear Creek near Port Augusta.