The Home Stretch: Cycling Across the Nullarbor Plain, Balladonia to Caiguna

My latest bicycle touring update from Australia: after cycling over 8,000 miles across the world to Australia from the UK, I’m now on the home stretch. Cycling across Australia and the Nullarbor Plain. Balladonia to Caiguna. 114 miles. I’ve now cycled Australia’s longest straight road, ninety miles without a curve or bend. And in a fast time. (for me) I’ve managed to cycle the 114 in less than seven hours. And I arrived at the roadhouse in Caiguna before three o’clock.

The day got off to a good start. I hadn’t even reached “Australia’s longest straight stretch of road” when a car pulled up beside me with two young men who asked me about my trip. After chatting for a few minutes, we parted company. But before they left, they gave me an apple. I’ve never been so pleased to see a piece of fruit! I’ve not seen a single piece of fruit since leaving Perth.

I expected today’s ride to be boring, but my psyching up for a boring ride must have worked. And with a slight tailwind, I flew down the road. I’ve seen a lot of dead kangaroos along the side of the road today. And even more owls, they must fly into the trucks at night.

I stopped for a break at one of the rest areas along “Australia’s longest straight stretch of road.” I parked my bike against the bench, got a drink and a muffin out of my panniers. I’d bought the muffin from the roadhouse this morning, just before leaving and was looking forward to it.

So Much For A Break

As I sat on the bench, I started to unwrap my muffin when a pretty little yellow and brown bird landed next to me. I thought that’s a friendly bird and continued to unwrap my muffin. As I was unwrapping my muffin, the bird came even closer and tried to peck the muffin! I tried to shoo it off. It moved away briefly, but then came straight back and started to attack the muffin. Then another five or six other birds joined in and began to attack me! I scoffed the muffin down as fast as possible and made a hasty escape with the birds still attacking me! No matter how hard I tried, they wouldn’t leave me alone! Once I’d moved from the rest area, they left me alone. That’s probably why I finished so early today. I didn’t have a break!

So now, apart from spiders, kangaroos and snakes, I now have to watch out for birds! And to top it all, apparently, I won’t have a phone signal until I get to Ceduna, which is about a six-day ride away!

Tour Information

It’s been years since I took this ride, but the memories (and the data) are all archived:

• Photos: See my photos on Flickr
• The route: View my journey around the world
• Videos: Check out my YouTube videos
• Tour page: Ride overview

Follow My Bicycle Touring Adventures

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I continue to travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always buy me a beer. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page.