Tuesday 9th October - Over 80 miles at over 20 mph thanks to an unexpected tailwind.

Tuesday 9^th October

The finish line of my personal record run is this rather bizarre sponsored sign of a fruit quarantine line on the Sturt Highway. As tyres have nothing to do with fruit flies, it is rather distracting to people like us who encounter it for the first time. 

Western Grey Kangaroos down by the river Darling

Australian Pelican

When you come across wreckage like this half a car on a rough track by the river you have to ask if if it is time to turn around!

I had a shortish day today so we went out to the town and the park by the river to enjoy the birds. Only a Little Eagle was new but we enjoyed the mixture of parrots and relatives.

Well it looked like a day of cloud, showers and a cold sidewind from the south as I travel west. I’m wearing overshoes, leg and arm warmers and a gillet as I set off leaving Mandy to pack up and book more hotels. The wind is increasing but against the forecast it is a tailwind i.e. the first westerly wind since we started – despite westerly being the dominant wind direction for Australia. It also brightens up in part and we never see any rain.

A few stops for birds including Sulphur Crested Cockatoo and a noisy group of White Winged Choughs but it becomes apparent I am keeping up a fast average. I decide to keep this up and eventually set a record distance for me to keep up an average in excess of 20 mph.

Near the end of the ride Mandy goes into Renmark for shopping whilst I carry on over the River Murray on the cycle track over an old girder bridge and climb away from the river to a point 125 km away from Mildura. Can’t take the car quite that far as there is another fruit quarantine border and Mandy has new bananas and tomatoes on board! I go on under the oddly placed Dunlop tyre arch over the road to the finish point then gone back to load the bike into the car.

We drive back to view the Darling River at various locations, the waterfront in Renmark, buy a replacement bottle cage for my broken one and finally try (unsuccessfully) looking for Freckled Duck in the National Park near Berri where we are to stay for two nights.

We go to our hotel which is right on the riverfront and seemed really good value for a smart, well positioned hotel. Surely there must be some catch? Mmh there is. Parking nearby is for less cars than are needed in this ram packed hotel and the rooms in the main hotel are a bit tired. Oh yes and although they have en suite wash bowl and shower there is no loo! It is a fairly long walk down the corridor.

Tomorrow is a day off cycling and a day out with a local bird guide who we met at the Birdfair in the UK before we came out here. Let us hope he can find us a few of the rare birds that occur near here.

131.12 km today in 3 hours 56 minutes – an average of 33.0 kph. Total so far 3025.86 km. This was a record for me 130 km in under 4 hours and it is the furthest I’ve been able to travel at over 20 mph -  81.95 miles at an average of 20.6 mph. Thanks for the unusual (for this trip) westerly tailwind!