Thursday 7 October 2010 – So I waved good bye to my room-mate at the YHA on Tuesday and rode the 60-odd km to Cape Jervis where I caught the ferry to Kangaroo Island. It was a gorgeous sunny crossing and I even spotted a baby dolphin leaping through the waves.

My bike handling skills have been getting progressively worse over the last few days and, having now ridden round the island unloaded, I realise that the way I’ve got the bike loaded really doesn’t help matters. I have 2 large roll bags and a top box all on the back of the bike so anytime I stop by using the front brake everything lurches forward and throws the balance out – hence the reason I nearly dropped the bike in Warmnabool last week. So as soon as I get to Adelaide I’m going to see if I can get some panniers which will hopefully lower the centre of gravity and make the handling a bit easier. Otherwise, I’m going to become a nervous wreck and spend the entire trip avoiding any uneven surfaces, gravel or adverse cambers! Which given virtually everywhere outside the cities falls into this category, means I won’t be going anywhere much at all!

Anyway, back to KI (Kangaroo Island). So I set off from the YHA in Penneshaw yesterday morning to go and explore the island. I needed fuel so I stopped in American River. Another biker rode up as I was pulling away, so I stopped to speak to him. He’d flown his bike over from America and was finishing off a tour of the western half of Oz which had taken just over 6 weeks. As we were talking, a storm appeared from nowhere and threw sand and rain everywhere. After that the wind didn’t stop all day, so it was a hard ride. I got as far as Seal Bay (where I saw some lovely sea lions), then decided to head back. It’s quite a big island (150 km long and 50 km wide) with only 2 main roads. You have to travel about 50 km from Penneshaw before you get to the point where they split, so as I was freezing and knackered a trip a quarter of the way along the southern route was enough for me. Today the sun was shining in Penneshaw, but I decided to catch up on some domestic chores (like having a message) instead of doing the inland road as it was bitterly cold and I reckoned the weather wouldn’t be too good in the middle of the island. My room-mate later confirmed it had been wild, so I think I made the right choice.

Have decided to go to Adelaide tomorrow for a week where there will be a bit more to do on foot – see, I’m looking for ways to avoid riding already!