Tuesday 16th October - Cycling passed West Wyalong and a little help with birdwatching.

Tuesday 16^th October

Birdwatching does result in some wonderful sunset views like this one at Nudges Dam, a small pool near our hotel.

Art on a grand scale - on the side of large silos at Weethalle

I suppose Mandy thinks she's funny!

A few wrinkles are appearing in the roads now.

Perseverance has certainly been required on this trip.

Douglas Dakota preserved as a memorial at West Wyalong where we stay tonight.

West Wyalong is in the region of Bland. 

Even they have to acknowledge the humor in the name.

Most roads are well maintained with very little patching. 

This bit, near Quandialla, is an exception!

Our kind host Mikla shows us the work she and Duane have done to make their property good for birds and other wildlife. When I rang her from a UK phone number she thought initially I may be a crank. After meeting me she was probably sure I was one.

Start day with breakfast at sunrise at Nudges Dam but nothing shows up. The wind is strong and it rained in the night so I suppose the birds have a choice of puddles near their roosts. At least this means I get on the road early and although the wind is strong it is from the north so it is no hinderance and at times it helps. It also means I don’t have wind noise in both ears so I can hear bird calls as I ride. Lots of parrots but main sounds are from Galahs and the explosive calls of groups of Apostle Birds and White Winged Choughs which line the roads.

I’m managing 25 kph or more so I catch up with the cold front which has passed over Rankins Springs in the night heading east ahead of us. I then manage to ride clear into the sunshine beyond and the day goes really well apart from some long sections of rough road surface.

We pass through a very sad run-down settlement of Weethalle which as empty closed shops and some sad old buildings. It does however have a spectacular example of Silo Art – a giant mural on grain silos. The figure of a sheep shearer and of a farmer. Really very impressive.

Along the way Mandy sees a pair of Cockatiels by the roadside. Lucky I saw one yesterday so I could carry on covering ground to get to West Wyalong before noon. We are staying here tonight and it looks an interesting sizeable historic town. I see a pair of Turquoise Parrots but they are gone when Mandy catches up.

In order to free up time for bird watching long the way tomorrow I carry on to the small town of Quandialla and a little beyond before finishing my ride at just after 3pm. I pack my bike in the car and we drive on to Grenfell and after viewing the bird friendly sewerage works we visit Mikla who does indeed show us round her property which includes two moderately sized hills with gum and wattle trees. She shows us the trees she has planted with her partner, Wayne, with a view to recovering the land from a former unnatural sheep grazing area. In just a short time she has attractive many birds and was able to show us a Speckled Warbler and several of the range restricted Superb Parrots which feed on trees and on the ground and fly over in the late afternoon to roost near the road. These are the two birds I most wanted to see here.

After leaving our kind hosts we drive back 100 km west to West Wyalong into the weather front we had passed earlier in the day. As it gets dark the sky is lit with an impressive lightning display but no rain until we are about to book into our motel when the heavens opened! The lady booking us in reveals the British woman who cycled across Australia earlier in the year as part of a round the world record attempt stayed in the same hotel. I remember seeing her website and she had cold weather including snow. It was her blog that warned me to expect the weather might not be all hot and sunny.

We manage to unload under cover without getting wet and prepare for another early start tomorrow. We can rest when we get home but a lie in does seem appealing.

All in all today was a good day. Let’s hope the rain passes in the night and that I don’t catch up with it again.

155.64 km today in 6 hours 3 minutes – an average of 25.7 kph. Total so far 3759.11 km. Only four more cycling days left.