Betten On Bike: DAY 60 - 8TH JUNE 2013

Day 60– 8 June 2013 - Dongara to Cervantes

Up at 6am as today’s ride is somewhat shorter, it takes a lot longer to get light and my God it was cold this morning. Walter left at 7am and we left about 45 minutes later with a drive through the Dongara township to buy a phone recharge card for Walter. The friendly lady in the news agency / general store / a bit of everything store said it had been around 3 degrees this morning. Then on the coast road and we stopped once again to see the Irwin Estuary and the birds on our departure from this lovely little seaside place.

Cycling Stats: 167 kms

Cycling Average: 30.3 per km

Walter had 3 layers on again as well as full winter gloves. It had been a really clear night and so a bitterly cold one (thank you Andrea once again for that lovely warm quilt !) and so as a result in the morning the tent, inner and outer & Walter’s bike cover was soaking wet. This was somewhat of a dilemma because the tent is usually collapsed down complete with mattress and placed onto our bed in the campervan. So a bit difficult – we had to lay all our towels on the bed, wipe down the soaked items as much as possible and lay larger items on the bed before placing the tent in so that it sat above the bed a little. Anyway the decision was made that we need to purchase a heavy duty plastic tarp which could then be laid down in the campervan bed before the tent complete with mattress is placed on top.

So we went on the hunt for a hardware store. The one in Dongara was closed so we needed to find a hardware store in one of the towns we would be passing through today. So we decided to stop at a little place called Jurien Bay and wow it was hard to find the hardware store as it was tucked away in a back street somewhere but we got one. Yes !! Andrea loves the Op shops so we stopped at one before leaving Jurien Bay and I was happy to find a pair of silver / grey plastic crocs which will serve me well with thick socks for the journey ahead as these have thicker soles & heels so heaps warmer than the shoes I am currently wearing and only $2. I have been wearing them ever since.

Dune landscape with low shrubs and limestone and sand mining so a huge change from the reds now as we can see white dunes and light yellow sandy soil. There was heather and lots of banksias and still some beautiful late blooming wildflowers to be seen.

We arrived in Cervantes and decided to stay in The Pinnacles Caravan Park where once we told them about our charity ride we were given a free stay in a site very close to the dunes and beach. Thank you Pinnacles Caravan Park – we enjoyed our stay. Walter is constantly amazed (touch wood) that he has only had one flat tyre over the whole trip from Brisbane to Perth and with the original front tyre still in excellent condition. The rear tyre was replaced in Broome due to wear and because he had had a flat. Thanks Specialized the Roubaix Pro.