Welcome to the Nullarbor Plain Bernie! You’ve finally made it to Australia’s largest karst region, made almost entirely of limestone, and very few flourishing fauna or flora in sight.
A national icon, the Nullarbor Plain is the section of southern land between Norseman in Western Australia and Ceduna in South Australia. Spanning over 200,000km2 the region is incredibly baron, hence its name. Coming from the Latin language, ‘nullus’ meaning nothing, and ‘arbor’ meaning tree.
Which is why this leg of Bernie’s Ride To Connect is so important – it will test him physically, mentally, and emotionally as he ventures through one of the most unforgiving and arid regions in this great land. However, he is not deterred for the Nullarbor is filled with natural Australia beauty. His journey west to east along the Plain is one not commonly travelled by many. Which makes Bernie’s journey all the more inspiring, empowering, and important for the greater Australian community.
Bernie is riding solo, with no support vehicle and only a small bike trailer of supplies. He is hoping that friendly road users will continue assist him by providing him with some water or supplies if he finds himself short of either. Sleeping in a tent, Bernie plans to be as self-sufficient as possible, but hopes the goodwill and community spirit of fellow Aussie’s will help him across the country. The support he has received from those he has met out on the road has been phenomenal! Bernie has stopped for selfies with Japanese tourists, met other cyclists out on the road, has been gifted a gorgeous, ripe peach for that extra little sugar kick, and has enjoyed the gracious hospitality of his hosts and new friends out on the Nullarbor Plain.
His journey to date has been nothing short of exciting and eventful – each day holds a new challenge and a new milestone. One of the biggest challenges Bernie has had to overcome was a busted wheel out in the middle of nowhere. Luckily for him, the team behind Bernie at Neighbourhood Watch Australasia are very well connected. Enlisting the help of WAPol Kalgoorlie, Bernie was back on the road soon enough.
Bernie’s rear wheel was broken beyond repair – the spokes had come loose and the tyre had blown. WAPol Kalgoorlie were about to leave the station to conduct a prisoner transfer with WAPol Eucla, when they received a call from Neighbourhood Watch of Bernie’s situation. They quickly picked up the new wheel and spare parts for Bernie, began their long drive along National Highway 1 to Eucla, and found Bernie somewhere between Balladonia and Caiguna. Within six hours of the initial call to Kalgoorlie being made, Bernie had his bike back in one piece and was on the road again. Thank you to Rachel and Scott from WAPol Kalgoorlie for your generous help!
Bernie will be tracked and have his daily safety monitored by Neighbourhood Watch Australasia. Neighbourhoods far and wide are following Bernie’s progress via his GPS Tracking Spot. You can see his progress here.
Follow along with Bernie via the NHWA Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter – share stories with #journeywithbernie #ridetoconnect2017 #nhwkeepingyousafe
