Day 5 South Hedland to Peawah River Rest Area 85 kms

We got to sleep in this morning. I did anyway as I was the 2nd last out of bed with Woody being the last. I had a great nights sleep but this was not enjoyed by all of the riders. Apparently the trains blew their horns every 15 mins as they passed through the town. I heard one train, the one that woke me up at 6 am, when I got up to the toilet, observed Joan sitting on her own eating her breakfast, looked at Ben's tent and noticed no movement there and then climbed back into bed for another hour nap. Beautiful!!!
Annie and Mark were both up and about to pull their tents down by the time I climbed out of the back of the truck. Annie and I were going to McDonalds for breakfast and most of the others will be joining us even if they just have coffee, no rush today.
I felt quite guilty leaving Collis to the packing up but I did commit to riding again today and Annie was hanging out for her morning treat. Peter was leaving Maccas just as we arrived and Theo and Chris were just behind us with Ben not far behind them. As we left Georg was just arriving.
Annie and I left together and lucky we did as I may have ended up god only knows where if Annie hadn't listened to the briefing and was able to lead us out of town.
The wind was dreadful, from the side and really strong, I didn't think I would be able to meet my performance target today if that wind kept up, it was practically blowing me across the road. I told Annie a number of times to go ahead but I think she was worried for my safety as her and Ben nursed me all the way to my daily target. If they had left me I would have given up a lot earlier than the 31.5 kms that I managed.
Everything was aching from my knees, elbows, shoulders, wrists and of course the twat. I was very pleased to see the van. Collis was running late for morning tea so he opted out of jumping on the bike.
The terrain today has been flat with low shrubs that are half dead and very boring up till morning tea. Morning tea was at the Yule river at a rest area. Lovely spot and perfect for camping but not far enough down the road for tomorrow. The road turned slightly after this but so did the wind and was still across them for the next 35 kms. Some rocky outcrops starting but not much.
The traffic out of Sth Hedland was horrendous and really dangerous even if it was a Saturday morning. These mines work 7 days a week. After we passed the turnoff to New
man the road trains just disappeared completely but the road surface didn't really change. Hard work cycling today.
No water in the Peawah where we have chosen to camp (surprise, surprise). We moved in and took over the rest area causing the other campers to relocate(what a shame).
Dinner went well tonight. We even had other campers coming over to see what we were cooking. They were impressed by the amount in the pot. It was just a sausage casserole with heaps of vegies, potatoes and a little bit of rice. Dessert was an apple and golden syrup gluten free pudding with custard. Enjoyed by everyone.
We were mostly all in bed by 9 Pm. Annie and Chris helped with the preparation of dinner. Ben was the fire meister. Mark organised the spot light by climbing a tree and Theo washed the dishes with Peter and Woody drying. Annie did the quiz with Joan as the main subject. What a team.