Thursday 17 January 2008

Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta




Left Kalgoorlie and the Big Pit and took the train at 01.40 am.



The train ride across the Nullarbor Plain was spectacular and very long (24 hours). Saw a few kangaroos, feral camels and eagles. Went past Ziggy's place, a small cottage literally in the middle of the desert where a retired rail worker lives. Apparently when he retired he didn't like it in the city and built himself a hut in the desert. Everytime a train comes by (twice a week) someone throws him a few provisions and water.
We arrived at Port Augusta at 2 in the morning, already exhausted by 24 hours of sitting down. There was nowhere to go at that time of the morning, found two benches and I felt relatively safe enrobed in my sleeping bag. The station was empty but we were disturbed once by someone collecting some bags (John saw him hiding first at the end of the platform and we wondered who he was) and next by a security guard flashing his torch at us...
So we have sunk into the luxury of not cycling for 3 days! Booked a tour in the Northern Flinders Ranges which were absolutely stunning, and visited a most interesting arid botanical garden.
Off tomorrow up the Southern Flinders Ranges (we hope they are not as high as the Northern ones) towards Adelaide

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