Distance: 111.33 km
Ridetime: 6:59:59
Average: 15.9 km/h
Max speed: 23.9 km/h
Total distance: 15290 km
In the morning I was happy to learn that the wind had died down considerably compared to yesterday. It was still there, but cruising along at 15 km/h felt fast compared to the 8km/h I was sometimes doing yesterday.
At 1:30 pm I reached Glendambo, the first roadhouse for 254 km since Coober Pedy. Perfect timing for a break as the midday heat was setting in. I enjoyed the usual cold coke as a reward of reaching the destination and payed 4$ for a shower at the caravan park (I had sneaked in before to check the door, but there was a code on it).
When my clothes had dried I was back on Stuart Highway. With the head wind reduced it now again looks likely that I will reach Port Augusta in two days. There I have an appointment with Paul from Warmshowers.org. There are several signs that the end of the outback is getting closer: There are more and more trees and animals (kangaroos and flies mainly), the prices in the roadhouses are going down, and the traffic is picking up.
In the super market in Coober Pedy I stocked up on different kinds of food. As I’m not carrying a stove I’m making a small fire when I’m going to cook. With all the dry grass and wood around it doesn’t take much to get it going. After a long day of cycling, cooking a simple meal and setting up camp under the stars feels very good.
