Day 18 - Coward Springs to Warriners Creek - 63kms
(Includes 24km to The Bubbler)

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Coward Springs is a real oasis in the desert. Which is great as when I awoke this morning it was raining. 

After breakfast and between the showers I had a ride back to The Bubbler.  The turnoff was about 6km back on the road I came on yesterday and then another 4km. The Bubbler is one of a number of naturally occurring springs along the Oodnadatta track. This is the main reason the track takes the route that it does. It follows quite near to these springs, as it was difficult to get a reliable source of water out here otherwise. 

It was interesting to see a spring of water where all around appears very barren and dry. After I had finished looking around I rode back to Coward Springs. I was going to take the day off, as the weather looked a bit crap, but I decided to leave as it had cleared up a fair bit. 

As I didn't leave camp till after 10.30am I didn't really have a final destination. The original intention was to go to Williams Creek. But seeing that was about 75kms away and I wanted to see somethings along the way I would find a spot somewhere along the way to stop.

The weather stayed nice and dry until I got to Strangways, which is an old ruin. When I pulled in I noticed a strong headwind and also dark grey clouds looming. I decided I didn't want to stay at Strangways, so I rode a few more kms to Warriners Creek. 

Had a look around and found a nice spot between the road, old rail bridge and creek. So I put my tent up and about 10 minutes later it began to rain. At least I was out of the wind and rain in my tent. 

When it did stop raining I had a little look around here. I'm pleased that I didn't have a rest day at Coward Springs, as it meant I was able to cover some kms today and still have a nice camp spot for the night. Tomorrow I'll be heading to William Creek.  It was certainly hard to leave the spa overlooking the wetlands though.

Day 19 - Warriners Creek to William Creek - 36kms

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What a nice camp spot I stayed at last night. After sunset I could here the howl of dingos in the distance and being next to a creek there were plenty of different birds making noise. 

This morning I awoke to the many different birds singing. Looked out of my tent at about 6am and the skies are clear and the air is still.  So went about making breakfast before the flies woke up.  One thing I noticed whilst making breakfast was that my pump had a lot of grit in it and doesn't want to work. I've tried opening it up but to no avail. Will have to try and see if there is any for sale in Oodnadatta.  Lesson for next trip, carry a spare pump and keep covered when riding dirt roads. 

When I had finished breakfast I was riding before 8am. After I crossed the creek I passed these really nice red sand hills on my left. Looked great against the blue sky. The road was really smooth and having a nice tailwind again meant that I got to William Creek by 10.30am. 

William Creek states it has a population of twelve and is the smallest town in Australia. There is a pub, cafe and campground here. I've checked into one of the donga's to give me a bit of a break from the flies. I gave the Pink Roadhouse a call to see if they had any bicycle pumps, unfortunately they had sold out. So I gave lovely wifey a call in Sydney to see if she could post one out to me. Hopefully it'll be here by Thursday, as that is when the next post delivery is due to arrive. 

For the rest of the day I relaxed and cleaned up. I've got no rush to get to Oodnadatta, so will most likely have a leisurely ride up over the next few days.  

Day 20 - William Creek to Duffs Creek - 67kms

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It was nice yesterday to relax in my own room. Yesterday another cyclist, Jim,  had caught up to me. He is cycling my way, so we will ride together for the next few days. Last night we both went for dinner.   It was nice to have someone to chat to about a similar interest.  Before leaving I refilled a couple of my water bottles. Took a while to find an accessible rain water tank but did find one just behind the cafe (next to the diesel pump). 

Re the bicycle pump, I contacted lovely wifey again this morning, as I worked out that it wouldn't get to Oodnadatta in time. So will get it sent on further up the road, so that it has plenty of time to get there before me.  This has meant a change to my planned route.  Originally I was going to go up via Hamilton and then through to Finke. Instead I will be joining my cycling buddy along the rest of the Oodnadatta track to the junction with the Stuart Hwy.  This will mean more cycling on bitumen, which might mean I get to Uluru a little earlier than planned.  So will need to find a few more things to do along the way. 

Prior to leaving William Creek this morning we enjoyed their continental breakfast at the hotel. The weather is very nice at the moment and we left at about 9am.  We had a great tailwind and made good time. 

We stopped after about 40kms for a break. During this break a car pulled up and asked if we needed anything? We said we were okay but noticed their tandem bike on the roof. They do a fair bit of touring in Europe. In the end we ended up having coffee and biscuits with them and they gave us some fruit to enjoy later. Nice couple.

After we carried on riding to Duff Creek.  The road surface was generally quite good. There were a couple of Sandy spots towards the end. We got here bang on 2pm. 

Duff Creek is a dried creek bed with a lot of shady spots near the trees. For the rest of the afternoon we chatted and towards sunset collected firewood for the evening. It was a nice end to the day to sit around the campfire chatting. 

Pictures from Coward Springs to Duff Creek - Port Augusta to Uluru tour