and I reasoned he ’ d turned off his headset - one of his foibles . This left me with my immensely heavy bike saddled with inexperience trying to negotiate the softer sand . The back wheel slipped and snaked beneath me , I tried to keep her steady , which was fine , until it wasn ’ t .
Fortunately , my face took most of the impact , but I then had the ungodly task of righting my baby with the tide lapping just metres away .
Shouting at that useless bastard I was travelling with as he disappeared off the end of the beach proved unfulfilling , and with a bit of a yelp
I summoned the help of an old lady and gentleman walking their dog . Clearly the chap cared not a jot , and so left me and the lady – more Sampson than Delilah - to pluck my baby upright . With thousands of blessings issued and first-borns offered , I sped out the best I could , eventually reaching Justin at the end of the beach where I hit another load of soft sand and catapulted off the bike again . This , I didn ’ t mind , mostly because I was away from the rising tide , but that was a close call !
Justin , being a good friend , laughed in my face , like all good friends should .
We passed a wonderful moonlit night at the campground , being woken by confident wallabies skittling within centimetres of our heads . A most unsettling experience , and I determined to eat more kangaroos in the future as recompense .
Neither of us had expected the beauty of the Great Australian Bight , the land falling away sharply to the aquamarine water far below , the incredible tiered , banded rock evident for kilometre after kilometre . If there was one highlight of the trip , it ’ s that unexpected incredulity of walking close to the edge and gazing
TRAVERSE 59