Day 6: Reaching a Haven of Rest

The alarm goes off at 03:45am but I’ve been awake most of the night as the town’s church clock has been signalling the time every 15 minutes! Its pitch dark outside and we want to be on the road before sunrise as we have 140kms to cover. It’s freezing outside and we’re dressed in every warm piece of cycling kit we have including newspaper down our shirts to keep the wind in. Unfortunately as we leave Carnarvon towards Loxton, we are greeted with an unwelcome climb of about 5 kms and we are not impressed! Upon reaching the top we are sad to see no downhill on the otherside but just these LONG uphill drags in front of us. There is an 11 degree headwind and I am already wishing the day to be over. My body is definitely not as strong as before and I know its going to be a long and mentally challenging day. Jaco even notices that he’s pulling some dead weight and I try with all my energy to keep the pedals turning and get up those never-ending drags. We are still in the middle of nowhere with a few farmhouses dotted in the distance with their faithful windpumps turning slowly.





There is not much to keep our minds busy, except for the animal spotting where we saw lots of dassies, eagles, springbok, sheep, 2 horses and some cows. We eventually reach Loxton, which is totally dead and no movement in sight due to the public holiday and I know we have reached our halfway mark. To get some rest and motivate ourselves, we stop quite often to indulge in our bag of cycling food and enjoy some yummy treats at the picnic spots on the side of the road.



I see the 10km sign to go for Victoria West and am so relieved but there is no town in sight – please let it be close! We have to go round this big mountain first and then suddenly it appears …and what a treat! Such a cute place with lovely Victorian cottages on either side of the road which have such character. We visit Hannes Horne’s house who is Lize-Mari’s dad’s uncle (stay with me here!) who lives here and he welcomes us with a cooldrink and shows us to the Kingwill B&B which is one of the best in the town. And what a stunning place it is !! We are so glad to see the cold swimming pool, a little shop selling trinkets, treats and interesting stuff and then we walk outside to the beautifully manicured gardens and watch some ladies making custard biscuits with yummy filling. Of course I had to sample one every time I walked past!! We enjoyed a restful afternoon swimming, lazing round the pool and watching TV in bed! Tonight we have been invited to Hannes’ boutique restaurant for dinner where he’ll be cooking up a storm for us! We cannot wait!

Today’s Stats:

Total time including stops: 5hrs
Total Distance: 141.7kms
Average Speed: 29kms/h
Maximum Speed: 48.6kms/h
Average Heart Rate: 122 (Jaco), 136 (Christie)
Average Temperature: 19 degrees
Minimum Temperature: 11 degrees
Maximum Temperature: 37 degrees
Climbing: 555 meters
KCalories Burned: 2142 (Jaco), 2583 (Christie)
Number of Bottles of Energy Drink Consumed: 6 and 1 Coke Zero
Number of wee stops: 7
Number of cars which passed us on the road (both sides): I got bored of counting ;-)
Number of Windmills (actually windpumps): 83

Christie’s highlight:
Eating baked potatoes and chocolate brownies all in one mouthful! Mmm!
Christie’s lowlight:
Legs were sore and tired and 10kms into the ride, I was wishing it was over already

Jaco’s highlight:
Appreciating the unique arid scenery
Jaco’s lowlight:
Riding in 11 degree temperatures for the first 2 hours of the ride