This morning I arrived in Port Augusta with a nice welcome and a reminder of what I and the other cyclists have achieved … It was a long, dry way from Darwin to here and even longer from Medan on Sumatra, the start point of the Trans-Oceania.
Medan to Port Augusta: 8331 km
Darwin to Port Augusta: 2726 km
And it was DRY out there, TOTALLY DRY!
Tweet ##transoceania| Range View Rest Area to Port Augusta | |||||
| Date: | 11-19-2014 | Time: | 02:25 h | Σ Time: | 392:16 h |
| Distance: | 63 km | Σ km: | 8331 km | Temp: | 10/30°C |
| Up: | 49 m | Σ Up: | 73754 m | Down: | 177 m |
| Calories: | 1207 kcal | Σ kcal: | 177019 kcal | ||
| Conditions: | Tailwind let us fly down the 62 km out of the dry outback to sea level. | ||||
Conquered the Outback!
Only 16 riders and the TdA staff had an early morning wakeup call in the bush camp. All others enjoyed a long sleep and a 2nd rest day in Port Augusta, where they already escaped to yesterday afternoon. The bush campers however had a stunning night under the stars and a beautiful sunrise over the clos mountain range. And finally we were awarded with a nice tailwind that pushed us into town. The ride was easy and no rush, but still fast. The landscape changed as we descended to sea level into the Spencer Gulf, where Port Augusta is founded. We are out of the outback, at the entrance to the green coastal belt that we will follow to the east from now on. At 10am everyone was at the new campsite and those who decided to not take a cabin, pitched a tent on green ‘grass’, but no shade. Camp is located in a lagoon and it was said, that dolphins have been seen the night before.
Gerald has a cabin and organized a wine tasting for the late evening. I am busy to prepare a ‘best of’ selection of my photos to show during the tasting tonight …
A final look back to where I rode the past 4 weeks and a farewell to my bouncing friends. This marks the end of the Outback.
With only 20 kilometers to go to reach Port Augusta and the south coast, running over probably the last cattle grid on Stuart Highway I can say that we backed out from the harsh and deserted Australian interior.
