Sure they were just clearing coastal showers, but you still get wet. I packed up as quick as I could, ducking into the kiosk for tea and toast, vegemite for a change as there was no raisin bread: “We don’t have much call for it around here,” said the owner.

A cross wind whipped across those treeless paddocks of barley and wheat. A sign warned of stock on the road, another name for sheep, who look at me perplexed then run. Crows, galahs, fantails, and whistlers of a type I haven’t heard previously provided an alternative soundtrack to the wind and whirr of my wheels. I enjoyed just riding along on a good surface with no traffic to speak of.

I thought of Hero, the Japanese cyclist I met last week, I’m hoping he’s surviving the Nullarbor.

Venus Bay looked inviting, as did the turn-off to the spectacular Talia Caves but the road was gravel. With the rain, i thought  I’m just making trouble for myself.

Yellow seemed to be the color of the day, from the buttercups that grew along the verge to the various species of flowering low wattles, then the seemingly endless fields of canola just coming into flower. I almost collided with a fox that darted out in front of me, not sure who got the biggest shock.

Coming down along the cliff tops into Elliston, I passed Anxious Bay. I wonder how that name came about.

Looking out beyond the bay is Flinders Island, another one, obviously not the Flinders Island that sits in Bass Straight, but named after the same man. Another British explorer, navigator Mathew Flinders, passed this way on his voyage to circumnavigate Australia in an open boat which is no mean feat at any time, but a major undertaking under sail only, in the days before steam power.

Elliston is a town nestled up against Waterloo Bay. It’s much the same as the other holiday seaside fishing villages I have passed through; pleasant, well-serviced, and friendly. I visit the information center and then the local bakery before making camp at the caravan park in town, I have plenty of time to service the bike, do my washing, and ensure I’m ready for tomorrow’s leg away from the coast inland to Lock 95 km, as I cross the peninsula from west to east.

The weather forecast predicts clearing coastal showers, just for a change!