A Well-Deserved Break
Sunday, January 5th: a day without cycling – a blissful relief for my poor backside that has become unusually well-acquainted with the bicycle seat lately! I stroll into town, and the cafés are already packed. Australians are clearly early birds on weekends, eager to dive into breakfast delights.
I join the local breakfast culture and order eggs, bacon, and sourdough bread. Heaven in my mouth, it tastes like a million dollars when my body is screaming for calories after hundreds of kilometers traveled!
Fun fact: Australians consume over 6 billion eggs annually – that’s about 245 eggs per person per year! No wonder their breakfast culture is so rich.
I discover that several stores are open, including a bike workshop and an electronics store. Perfect! I need a charger, so I visit both Kmart and Target. And voila! A charger for just 6 dollars – a small but oh-so-wonderful victory when you’re traveling and living out of a suitcase.
At the bike workshop, I’m greeted by a friendly guy. We hunt for a 35mm tire, but it’s as rare as rain in the desert. I eventually end up with a 32mm tire that, fortunately, can be rolled up and disappear unseen in my luggage. Now it’s time to rest my legs, recharge the batteries (both mine and my phone’s), and hop into bed early before tomorrow’s stage.
Day 2: Donuts, Border Control, and Time-Traveling to Renmark!
Rise and shine! The day starts, as it should for a proper cyclist, at the gas station. A donut and coffee are mandatory fuel before the road calls. The rain drips a little and the wind howls, but thankfully the temperature has dropped – a small respite from Australia’s burning sun. The goal is Renmark, which means crossing the state border and a curious 30-minute time shift backward! Talk about time travel on two wheels!
The journey goes smoothly, and sure enough, the weather improves throughout the day and the temperature rises again. Perfect! The road winds past countless vineyards – Renmark is apparently one of Australia’s oldest wine districts, founded in 1887 by two Canadian irrigation engineers, the Chaffey brothers. The landscape is surprisingly green, well-maintained, and beautiful along the Murray River.
At the South Australia border, a flood of signs appears instructing me to dispose of all fruit, nuts, and food. I devour my last bananas at lightning speed before reaching the border control. It’s a curious experience having to stop within the same country to show what I have in my luggage. There’s clearly no “free flow” here like in the EU!
Renmark, located 254 km northeast of Adelaide, offers a desert climate flirting with semi-arid conditions, with scorching, dry summers and cool winters. Temperatures have reportedly reached a staggering 48.6°C! Good thing I’m here on a relatively “mild” day – even though the sweat still flows freely.
I arrive at my motel, and what do I see? McDonald’s, Hungry Jacks (Australia’s answer to Burger King), and a whole bunch of other tempting food chains. Dinner is saved! I check the weather forecast for tomorrow, and it looks like perfect conditions: warm, but with plenty of tailwind! I take a chance and book accommodation in a tiny town 240 km away, called Spalding.
Cyclist’s tip: In Australia, McDonald’s serves a “McOz” burger with beetroot – a local flavor you won’t find in other countries!
248 km to Church and a Nighttime Adventure!
The journey to Spalding goes smoothly – 1200 meters uphill according to Strava and 800 meters downhill. But the best part? I manage an incredible 248 km this day, with an average speed of 24.7 km/h! Wow! About 40 km before the destination, I stop in Burra to fill up on water, drink some cans of Pepsi, and relax. I chat with the local woman behind the counter. She tells me that life out here without a car is challenging. They have a bus for patients to the doctor, but otherwise, public transportation is sparse.
I continue pedaling through a landscape straight out of an Australian film – dry, sunny, and with the characteristic red earth. Apart from some annoying flies trying to eat me alive, the trip is surprisingly comfortable. At the speed I’m maintaining, the heat isn’t actually that bothersome.
But then comes the challenge: finding the accommodation. Finally, I discover it’s… in a church! Self-check-in with a code for the doors. I laugh to myself – from bicycle seat to church pew, that’s not an everyday occurrence! But the place is actually great and comfortable, and I sleep well.
Spalding, it turns out, is really tiny, with only 194 souls according to the 2021 census. No wonder I’d never heard of it! The town is located north of Clare Valley, another famous wine district, and is mostly an agricultural community with a slate quarry. The median age is 46 – clearly more grandmothers than grandchildren here.
Kangaroo Escort, Garmin Crash, and 460 km to Ceduna!
Early the next morning, I start the day in the company of some curious kangaroos. They follow me a long way, like my own private escort team, hopping bodyguards in the Australian wilderness! The morning is cool and crisp. My goal for the day is either Port Augusta or Adelaide. I think about it while cycling, and when the choice has to be made, I decide on Port Augusta.
And that, my friends, turns out to be a colossal mistake! No bike shops, no sports stores have what I need. Local cyclists shake their heads and tell me they order everything online. I don’t have time for that! Before I reached Port Augusta, I had to resort to a spare tube, as my tubeless tires gave up. I stop by BigW, a store reminiscent of an Australian version of Biltema, and find a 28mm tire I take with me as emergency provisions.
I was supposed to stay another night, but after checking out of Discovery Parks, I decide to start in the afternoon. And then it happened… I end up cycling all night to Ceduna – an incredible 460 km in one stretch! Along the way, I even manage to sneak in some sleep in a park in Kimba, on a bench among Aboriginal people who lived there. A unique overnight stay to add to my collection, I’d say!
In Port Augusta, I also started updating my Garmin computer, but it completely froze and refused to come back to life. I’ve also been conserving battery on my phone and watch, so sorry folks – there’s no documented route from this epic night journey! I arrived in Ceduna at 7:00 PM, ordered food like a hungry wolf, and decided to get up early again the next day. Australia is big, indeed, but not bigger than a stubborn Norwegian on a bicycle can conquer – one kilometer at a time!
Adventure fact: A kangaroo can jump up to 9 meters in a single hop – that’s like clearing two cars parked end to end! My cycling escorts were truly impressive athletes.
What’s Next?
Stay tuned for the next leg of this incredible journey across the Australian continent. Will my tires hold up? Will I find more unique accommodations? And how many more kilometers can these legs pedal in a single day?
#SyklingAustralia #SykkelLiv #EventyrReise #OutbackReise
