June 29: Beautiful Bodies of Water
When I woke up this morning it was dark and raining. But by the time I ate breakfast the sun was rising, the storm clouds were gone, the rain had stopped, and a gentle mist had settled over the waters of Port Lincoln, creating a beautiful tableau of rippling grey blue waters beneath light sapphire skies, one of many stunning water views on my ride today.
Leaving my hotel, I stopped to admire the peaceful early morning port – the long pier leading out into the still waters, a fishing boat trawling for its catch of the day, and fluffy white clouds still tinged with a little pink from the sunrise earlier meeting the water in the horizon.
Riding north on route B-100, I marveled at how vast and colorful the landscape all around me was – enormous stretches of tundra stretching out as far as the eye could see filled with grazing sheep and cattle, buttes and plateaus in all shades of red, pink, purple and brown reaching up into the sky, and a myriad of lakes and bays providing delightful pops of blue along the way.
Reaching Lake Greenly mid morning, my jaw dropped at the beauty of the lake’s calm silvery-blue salt waters perfectly reflecting the brown and pink ridges beyond framed by sage green and brown sagebrush in the foreground.
Stopping in Elliston for gas, I encountered one of the most imaginative restrooms I have seen in all my travels – a cylindrical free-standing structure shaped like a small grain silo on the side of a gas station. I walked right by it the first time but got a good laugh out of it later when I saw two young men wandering around in circles in the same area – they too had no clue where to go and I was happy to show them.
Continuing north past Venus Bay just after the gas stop, I pulled over to admire the baby blue bay waters wrapped in pink and white sand and framed by beautiful tall leafy trees with branches blowing in the wind and lush green grass stretched out like a carpet in front.
Heading west and reaching Ceduna a couple hours later, the waters of Murat Bay rippled in the wind, shimmering and shining with a sage-blue closer to shore and a cobalt blue farther out. What an amazing day on the bike!
