Skating on Eyre

"Take it easy today Dave," say the team. "We've just had two rest days and you need to edge your way back into skating again."

So I did. 94km later I write from the landlord's computer in a homely pub which sits right in the middle of Wirulla. A small town with a secret, according to the signs leading to the place. Thing is, nobody knows what the secret is. Ghostly noises around the vans tonight, I think. We've been given free camping across the road on a concrete slab that used to be a tennis court. There are showers in circular concrete huts which have prison-like doors and Huntsman spiders sat menacingly in the corners. Looming over our campsite, which we share with no-one, are two enormous grain silos. Wirulla doesn't seem to be home to much, but we're happy to be here, not least because I thought it would take two days to get here, not just one.

The team pushed me on today, towards our second longest push this journey. A new bicycle, purchased in Ceduna in order to give the crew an outpost for the energy they build up in the vans each day, had a baptism of fire today. Dim started, Bev continued, Becs had a bash, Kate peddled for ten km. And then, as I decided with shadows lengthening to push hard for 30km and finish a day ahead of schedule, Dim patted his paunch and declared, "I'm going to try and push home with you, I've got some steak to burn off." So he did. 30km later The Lens had earned himself some blisters on his hands (about time, as Dan and I have been suffering from similar after the team took on Ceduna's best yesterday in a tug-of-war) and a fine pair of jelly legs. Proud of the boy. A couple of days back, in the linear 100-strong village of Penong, a surfer-chap shook my hand in a pub as I bid hinm goodnight. "Good luck," he said.
"I don't need good luck," I told him, "I've got a good team and that's more than enough."

After pushing out of Perth almost six weeks ago (it seems more like twenty, by the way) we can almost smell Adelaide. Another 700km to go until we reach our second Australian city, of course, but earlier today we passed over the 2000km mark and 700km seems almost dainty sometimes! Ridiculous, I know, but we're beginning to enjoy life on the road more than our rest days. A clockwork-like eagerness to experience what's around the corner seems to be wound up every night. The BoardFree team are on a roll, and loving every minute.