Day 29 Bush Camp to Northampton 110 km

Woke up early to a very cold morning, the tent was covered in dew. Put the stove on to make a cup of coffee and had some muesli before going for a walk and calling Lisa.

Back at the tent I started to pack up and it started to rain. Fortunately it was only a brief shower but the wind started to blow so it was going to be another slog. I wanted to get to Northampton so I could watch the footy tonight but with this wind that was going to be tough.

My first goal was to get to Galena Rest Stop 45 km away.  I just slogged away with regular stops to get pictures of wild flowers along the way. I got to Galena by 11.00 am and was hungry so I stopped for an early lunch.  Cup-a-soup and cheese and crackers and a pear.

The turn-off to Hutt River Province is a bit underwhelming. I wanted to visit Prince Leonard but as a republican I knew the 60 km round trip wasn't worth it.

After lunch the wind was directly in my face and I wasn’t getting any faster. Eventually I got to Binnu which is just a service station and a grain silo. Fortunately I was able to get some Gatorade and some sausage rolls from the servo.

Compared my ride with the bikes that the Coffin Cheaters were riding. Must be a bikie convention somewhere because there were lots of bikies going the other way. Quite a few tooted and waved. Not sure how I feel about getting respect from outlaw bikies!

After Binnu I still had 37 km to go. Most of the day there had been hills but I was really feeling it with wind and the hills particularly as I was having to pedal downhill to maintain momentum.

  Almost home

The last 25 km just got slower and slower but Northampton finally appeared and I rewarded  myself by getting a room at the pub.  Bonus the room had a TV so I could watch the footy. I ended up watching most of the game in the bar where most of the patrons were cheering the Bulldogs. Naturally I had to celebrate – 2 beers! And I paid for them myself!