Day: 172.41km
Ride time: 7hours 59minutes
This morning was raining non-stop, making it difficult to leave early as planned. I woke up on time and ready to pack everything up to make a big day towards the next roadhouse. I was up around 6:45, packed my sleeping bag up, my mattress up and waited for the rain to stop to pack my tent away. It's always an annoying feeling sitting in the tent as it rains, as on one hand it's very relaxing but on the other you are well aware all your gears getting saturated and negative thoughts enter your mind such as mould forming in your bag, books getting wet, clothes smelling of dampness and a whole range of other things.
After around an hour and a half the rain only became stronger. I had no intention of camping there again tonight so I got out in the pouring rain and packed my tent up. The outer layer was saturated, the only thing I could try to do was make sure the inner layer remained relatively dry. Would've been a bigger laying in a wet tent tonight..
I packed all my gear up then went to a public toilet to fill up my drink bottles. The water tasted heavily chlorinated, not being so desirable yet at least giving me comfort of being good enough to drink. I loaded up on cheap discounted bread so I would have something to snack on over the next few days until I get to another type of shop.
I am pleased with my spending since leaving Perth, having now only spent $10 in total and covering roughly 800km. The budget is perhaps just as challenging as the rest of the journey, as I have to sacrifice many basic luxuries that I previously would of taken for granted - wholemeal foods, organics, cold drinks, yogurts or any other type of food that is in the middle price range bracket. For $2 a day it usually consists of day old bread, discounted biscuits or discounted milk drink. Something cheap that can suppress hunger temporarily. The other day I was fortunate as I was at the back of an IGA and come across a stash of chocolate milk in the skip bin. They were so fresh they all had moisture on the containers as they must of just been taken out of the fridge. This was an unexpected luxury that's for sure.
The ride was very hard in the first half of the day, and overall a very long days riding. I took off in the rain and think a mixture of hills, heaviness from all the water on my gear as also a slight headwind made the first half of the day very difficult. I wanted to get as close as possible to the next road house that way I could load up on water again before a big day tomorrow.
Late in the day the rain cleared completely and the clouds had gradually diminished. On either side of the road it was pure wilderness so I certainly had no lack of camping areas. I was keen to get some distance from the road so not to be disturbed of road trains during the night and also the bogan traveller who might feel the need to annoy me in my tent.
I found a nice little area hidden about two 150 meters off the road. It was a surreal feeling pulling in, as the sun was jus setting and it was just pure wilderness. Many animal tracks surrounded my camp area, some I could identify (emu, lizard, snake, feral cat) and others I had no idea of. I set up my cooker, did some stretches and relaxed after 8 hours straight riding in what started as rain, overcast, then pure heat in direct sun.
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