Retreat, retreat, retreat.

I awoke at 0415 according to my watch and was just about to turn over when I realised that was WA time and that SA time was almost 6.  I washed, dressed and went to the main building for coffee where I discovered that it was 0445 local time.  The WA and SA times make sense, but it's the "local
time" or the officially unrecognised Central Western Time Zone, which requires you to set your clock forward or back 45 minutes, which catches visitors out.  The time zone exists for about 340 kilometres and takes in the tiny roadhouse communities of Cocklebiddy, Madura, Eucla and Border Village.  Anyway, I had to kill time waiting for daylight when I set off heading for NSW, again in the rain.  The stream of traffic, chiefly 4x4s towing caravans, heading towards SA that morning to return before the border closed resembled a stream of refugees reminiscent of a disaster movie.  This was in contrast to the week earlier when I encountered traffic only every few minutes.  I knew that there was little chance of NSW closing its borders but I was less confident that Victoria would be the same so, although a route taking in Victoria was a little shorter, I headed for the nearest place in NSW, Broken Hill.  That was a 2 days ride and I stopped in a place called Wudinna on the Tuesday night.  Again take away food eaten in the room.
The forecast for Wednesday was for blue skies and no rain so I dressed accordingly but it was drizzling a little on departure and it was decidedly chilly.  I stopped to don my waterproof jacket and gloves after a while which was more comfortable.  The road after Port Augusta was superb starting with Horrocks Pass through the hills of the Flinders Ranges and then the hills to the east of Cockburn on the SA/NSW border.

One stretch of road must have been traversing a wildlife corridor because there were the remains of dead animals every few yards for a considerable distance.  The Barrier Highway is flanked for a large part of its length by the railway and I saw a couple of very long freight trains, one with two locos pulling a large number of rolling stock with various cargoes.  It was here that I began to see some of the large number of feral goats which populate the area.  When in Wilpena Pound I read of the effort in the Flinders Ranges to cull these goats which compete with native animal species for valuable and sparse fodder.  I reached Broken Hill and as I  refuelled I asked the young attendant if he could recommend a reasonable motel.  He directed me to the Red Earth Motel, probably the swishest, and most expensive, in town, the polar opposite to the one in Salmon Gums and only twice the price. 

I enjoyed a takeaway pizza from a local Italian restaurant and a takeaway (bars are closed to sit-in custom) six pack (cheaper than 4 individual bottles they assured me!) from the local pub.
I was faced with the decision whether on Thursday I should do the 829kms (515 miles) to Wagga Wagga in one or two days.  I decided to go for the long haul and I told my daughter to expect me at around 6pm.  Again I left just after dawn and although it was quite chilly the day was clear with blue skies.  The 265kms (165 miles) to Wentworth was interesting in several respects.  The road was very quiet with very little traffic; I calculated that I saw one vehicle, normally a road train, going in the opposite direction only once every ten minutes.  I did see a fair number of kangaroos, both grey and red, beside the road which was a little disconcerting given their reputation for committing hari kari in front of vehicles, in addition to a large number of feral goats.  The terrain was a mixture of scrub,
small trees, white and red sand.

  The ride was uneventful but I could have done with the Corbin saddle from my ST1300!  I arrived at my daughter’s at 1801, not very punctual I know.
2,235 miles covered in 5 days - not bad for a ‘small’ low powered bike riding into the weather for much of the way.

 Again, because I pinned it for most of the way fuel consumption was dire but with the Himalayan being generally quite economical and with fuel being practically half the price of the UK I was not overly concerned.  The rear tyre, however, was almost bald in the centre, the result of so many straight roads in the 9,148kms (5,684 miles) covered since 25 February.

It has been a frustrating few days.  I was well into the rhythm of the trip and I was feeling fitter by the day with the combination of long stints in the saddle and climbing in and and out of my small tent.  I was looking forward particularly to seeing the west and north of the country which I understand is very different to the areas I have visited already. Perhaps next year.
I am in Wagga Wagga weighing up my options as my return flight has been cancelled.