Day 20: A day of surprises; it’s a small world on a bike

Little did I know it as I rode out of Swan Reach Caravan Park, a fresh sunrise casting a lemon glow on the horizon behind me, but today was going to be a day of very pleasant surprises.

It seems that people were following my progress on the Spot tracker page more closely than I had realised.

Today’s route would see me keeping to the eastern side of the river and the unending flat terrain until crossing the river and cutting across a long bend in the river, it would be on to Mannum and the night’s camp. I wasn’t expecting much of the day.

The ferry crossing at Walker Flat was a highlight (I like ferries, they have a nostalgic feel to them) and I took the time to sit in the shade under a willow, have lunch and chat to a friendly duck. Totally engrossed in conversation, the arriving car and approaching footsteps went un-noticed until a familiar voice shouted a greeting.

To my surprise, my sister and some of her extended family had driven up from Aldinga, several hours away to meet me on the road. They had been following my progress and were able to find me easily. What a wonderful interlude, with lunch and conversation thrown it.

Until then I hadn’t realised how much I had missed sharing a meal with someone other than the stranger sitting at the adjoining hotel table. All too soon though it was back on the bike and onwards to Mannum.

And then again a voice called out to me as I passed some houses on Purnong Road.

This time it was a fellow from work; not anyone I knew but he knew of my ride and took a chance on calling out a greeting. A short conversation, stories swapped and a donation received, I was hardly on my way and a cousin stopped his car next to me.

Like my sister, he had been following my progress and insisted on my returning to his home in Mannum for coffee and a shower.

The coffee was great, but the shower was magnificent. It is these small, unexpected kindnesses that one enjoys the most when on the road for a long time.

An hour spent with ‘cus’ and again it was back on the bike and over the river to make the most of the remaining daylight and find somewhere to sleep tonight.