Day 26. Monday, 12th January. 2009.

This would have to be the toughest day so far for Mike. He rode for an amazing 165km's in the blistering heat with a strong head wind. It was 44 degrees today, which means that it was probably over 50 on the hot road which also had some big hills. I gave him some fresh cold water about half way & before long it was so hot (water) that you could have made a cup of tea out of it. Mike actually was meant to ride a further 26km's but I went back & picked him up. He would have ended up in hospital if he went any further. This is the first day where I can honestly say that the heat was unbearable. Mike rode this far to avoid another night camping. The wind was so strong & the heat so hot that trying to erect a tent & set up camp would have finished us off for today. There was no relief even in the shade today. So, we really thank the Gateway Caravan Park in Norseman for giving us a cabin for the night. Yes, it did have an airconditioner. It struggled to keep us cool in this weather, but it was a luxury that we were very grateful for. It is after 10pm at the moment & a cool change has come thru, what a relief. It is also the first town we have been in for days. That is why I can finally update this web site. All the other places we have stayed in are just literally a roadhouse in the middle of no where, so there has been no mobile or internet connections. Lachlan & I went into town to the local IGA supermarket to buy food to cook for dinner, while Mike had a shower & a rest. We would probably liked to have had a bit more of a look around, but it was so hot we just wanted to unpack the shopping back at the cabin & try & keep cool. We did not take the camera to take photo's of the town either, so if we have time in the morning we will go & take some pics to post them tomorrow.

That's all for tonight everyone. I will report in again tomorrow night.
Cheers, Julie.