Today was a day when Mother Nature blessed us with a full spectrum of her elements. On the drive to our running start point we could see a very faint rainbow among some distant clouds.
As we got closer the rainbow showed its full glory to fully span the road ahead of us in a double arc.
Looming grey clouds ahead threatened rain. Instead, the sky and vast plain yielded to produce a perfectly-formed rainbow, an auspicious portent for the day ahead.
A rainbow surely means rain is somewhere close and once we started our running we had some drizzle and a few heavy bursts of rain.
We were faced with a strong headwind for the entire 184km run today. On such a vast plain as we are on here in the Nullarbor there is no shelter, so we embraced the wind like an old friend and moved forward as best we could.
The road hugged the coastline today so we were able to visit some spectacular cliffs. We took a moment to appreciate both the power and majesty of Mother Nature as the ocean crashed against the cliffs.
The Wind, A Rematch
The wind was upset at yesterday’s defeat, and again today wanted to meet.
The wind said “it is a new day, yesterday you won, but today you will pay”.
The wind called upon her sister the rain, and asked her if she could increase our pain.
The rain loves her sister but also admires the Peace Run, so she decided to have a little fun.
She pleased her sister by increasing our woe, and she pleased the runners by creating a beautiful rainbow.
- Teekhnata
This morning I saw the biggest, digging-est yellow machine, outside the roadhouse . An enormous circular saw mounted to the front looked eager to chomp into the earth, preparing a trench to lay a big thick cable underground.
When I was very young I thought "Great Australian Bight" was named so because on the map, it looks like a giant bite had been taken out of the country. But now I learn that "bight" is an old word that means a curve or recess in a coastline, and is unrelated to "bite." But I still like my version.
Roni was the star runner today, doing close to a half marathon.
The weather was challenging, the team battled a steady headwind, and intermittent squalls of rain.
At the lookout, we were treated to a spectacular view of the cliffs. But so far the only whale we've spotted was the sculpture outside the Nullarbor Roadhouse.
Atulya was receiving pictures from back home in San Diego, where his garden had just yielded a bumper crop of cherries and berries.
He could only look at their images wistfully, imaging how sweet and juicy they were.
Today was not a day for hats.
After the disappointment of seeing zero whales at the Head of the Bight whale viewing site yesterday, the team made sure they got a good look at this fellow before departing the Nullarbor Roadhouse this morning...
This stretch of the Eyre Highway follows the shoreline of the Great Australian Bight, with several lookout points just metres from the road, affording panoramic vistas of one of the world’s longest, largest, most ancient and thrilling cliff faces.
Peculiarly, we spend tonight in an “unofficial” time zone. This village and the next,situate themselves precisely half way between SA time and WA time –so we are poised 45 minutes behind SA and 45 minutes ahead of WA . At some point in tomorrow’s running, we will merge fully with WA time.
I googled the next stop and was pleased and surprised to see a nice little town that even had.a.little river flowing through it. But then I remembered we weren't going to BorderTOWN, we were going to Border VILLAGE. The places are on opposite borders of South Australia. Don't get them confused! There is no river at Border Village, but there is a nice swimming pool!
The team is most grateful to Mark and the staff at The Border Village Roadhouse,right on the border with Western Australia, for offering free camping and a cabin for tonight.
