Spotting emus: And, what's this? A new character?

June 16, 2015

I was back on the road at first light and still feeling good, although my progress was checked by an ongoing slight headwind and a surprising number of hills. Although they were not steep they kept on coming as I climbed gradually up into the ‘Fraser Range’ and it was here that I would reach the highest point on the Nullarbor, some 400 metres or so above sea level.

I knew that a couple of kilometres off the highway in the Fraser Range there was a sheep station, imaginatively called Fraser Range Station, and here I turned off looking for water. As I took the gravel side road a large ostrich-like flightless bird ran across the track in front of me and off into the trees. My first emu sighting! I was, however, suspicious as to whether or not this was truly a wild emu, as I’d just gone past a fence that seemed to be surrounding the area, and I guessed the emu probably belonged, at least loosely, to the station.

I went on and came to a collection of rusty old cars and a few dilapidated buildings, giving a slightly eerie feel to this remote outpost. I followed the track around to a reception building, where I was surprised to be greeted by a beautiful girl. I was surprised because beautiful girls in the outback are rarer than emus. She happily told me that I could get water out of a tank behind one of the buildings, and pointed me off in the general direction. I wasn’t entirely sure which building that she meant, and the only tank that I could find was clearly gathering water directly from the guttering of a rusty roof, but the beautiful girl had disappeared like a mirage, and there was nobody else about to ask, so I decided I’d fill up my water bottles here and chance it. On my way back out past the old cars I saw a whole herd of emus, clearly belonging to the station. It would be a very, very long time before I saw any more beautiful girls.

A whole lot of emus at Fraser Range Station, not so very wild

The rest of the day was as entirely uneventful as you might expect. The traffic was light, about one vehicle every two or three minutes and there was a decent shoulder anyway. The Grey Nomads all waved at me as they passed, which was nice, and kept my spirits up as I battled on across the repetitive landscape. Although Nullarbor translates as ‘No Trees’ all I saw all day was trees and shrubs. Forget that stereotype of the Australian outback as being an empty red or yellow desert, it’s not true. Everywhere I’d been so far had been covered in hardy plants. It’s really very green in Australia.

Mario had said he was looking forward to lots of rest areas where you could sit on benches along the Nullarbor. I hoped this sign wouldn't disappoint him too much

I'd been spending too much time alone, and this blog is in desperate need of a new character to replace hapless sidekick Tom, and so I'd like to introduce my Nullarbor buddy, Sockface

We were on the Eyre (pronounced Air) Highway, named after Mr Eyre, the first European to explore this land. This humorous joke out in the sticks sure made me giggle. It was even funnier when the Norseman post van came past - on the side was written 'Eyre Mail' Oh how me and Sockface laughed!

Distance completed: 1047km

Distance to go: 2763km

Days to go: 22.5

Average distance required: 122.8km/day

Today's ride: 112 km (70 miles)
Total: 41,928 km (26,037 miles)

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