18/2/2010 Harvey to Ferguson Valley

18/2/2010 Harvey to Ferguson Valley 64km

Had a camera failure so had to use the phone until we buy a new camera

Reluctently left Anthea and Justin after they spoilt us with an amazing bacon and egg breakfast.  The morning was cool and once we got going we felt pretty good and that showed in our average speed.  It was beautiful riding the back roads from Harvey and there was the slighest hint of a tailwind which was the first time of the trip so far so we felt great.  As we headed down the south west highway we felt great but the temperature was rising.
Today's plan would see us hit the hills for the first time and the first climb was 130m over a few km which tested our legs.  Unfortunatly we met this hill (and the subsequant ones) with increasing temperature and as you climb you lose your apparent wind so we swealtered in 34ish deg C.  Despite the temperature we both felt pretty good on the climb although we both used our lowest gear so maybe I should have spec'd the bikes with lower gearing :)
We stopped for lunch at the Ferguson Valler town hall under the shade of a gum tree as by then we were both very hot.  The thought of continuing on dampening our spirits.  It was a bit unfortunate that the route we chose didnt really have anywhere we could camp so we plugged on.  It wasnt far down the road that we faced more climbs and more heat and we had already covered 55km and the prospect of another 30km to Donneybrook started to seem like a dumb idea.  As we rode along we saw a sign advertising a 'Retreat' so we had a quick discussion on the road and knocked on the door.  A nice mad came out and after enquiring if we just wanted a room suggested he might be a bit expensive at $275 and he was right.  He then rang a mate down the road who was closed but would give us a room in his B&B.  After receiving some quick directions we headed off.  What this bloke failed to mention was the 500m dirt road that was too steep to ride up so we had to push our bikes.  Very hot, very tired, very sore we knocked on the door of the B&B and took a room at $160!!!  Desperate times call for desperate measures so we paid the price as the prospect of a bush camp with no water in the searing heat did not sound like a good alternative.
We had showers and lounged around in the cool room and ate the complimentary Tim Tams with a cup of tea....life was good again.
Cooked our Thai curry on the Trangia outside our room and settled in for the night.  Tomorrow we head back toward the coast hoping to reach Peppermint Beach.  Hopefully the weather forecast is correct and temperatures will be a bit cooler.