Day 4 Southern Cross to Bush Camp 130 kms

Pretty cold again this morning. The fire in the rec room had gone out over night and it was too hard to get it started again. Ben woke up feeling alot better after a good night's sleep. He and Woody shared a caravan last night and he had picked up some drugs to assist himself along (nothing illegal). The rest of the group slept pretty well also. Annie went for a massage early yesterday afternoon for an issue she has been having with one of her legs. The masseuse was a lady from Thailand and the best masseuse ever according to Annie. She walked on her back and everything. The pain is apparently much better today.
The wind was in their favor again today. Chris is managing very well since she got back onto the bike. It hasn't taken her long to get her fitness back. The new riders to this group are getting stronger each day. The group were once again spread out with Woody at least half an hour behind the next to last rider.

Collis' friend from his first ride across the Nullarbor in 2001 when he rode the route himself and before he started these supported rides. His friend Les (quite a character with a very long beard) and 2 of his mates have been on a road trip and were on their way home, knowing we would be on their route so organized with Collis to meet up at morning tea time. They had perfect timing arriving just after we had set up. Les gave us some tips on what sites there were to see up ahead and tested the wind direction with his beard. Nice to see you Les!
Lunch was at the Boondi rest area, which was quite a nice 24 hour camping spot and I did suggest we stop here for the night. The wind was too much in their favor for them to stop too early and who knows how it will be tomorrow. We sent Georg up ahead to find a good camp site (Ben and Mark went with him). He chose a site at another 24 hour campsite which was a huge area and perfect for our needs (it was a little short to the predicted 150 kms on the itinerary, oh well just a little further tomorrow).
This campsite had heaps of fire places and I wanted a fire started pretty early so that I could get the coals that I needed for cooking the dinner. John was spotted riding past the campsite and by the time we caught him, he had ridden an extra 15 kms so Collis brought him back in the car. John had just mended a flat tyre and had his head down and missed the cycle x sign. As our previous fire master and Ben our fire meister- both were obvious by their absence when I needed them for the fire building. So Chris and I took charge with Mark and a few others collecting wood and Jim chopping the branches. The fire did occur! I spoke to both Ben and John after the fact and I feel both may want to give up their titles.
Dinner went very well (even though I took over the rice cooking from Collis) and most went back for seconds. I still managed to burn the bottom of the cake but not as bad as some of my previous efforts. The fire was great and we sat around listening to some of John's new literary efforts and Annie's pop quiz.

Annie went for a walk around the camp site earlier in the night spotting a car further in the bush and then a chair sitting under a tree on it's own. She managed to scare herself so badly that I had to take her to her tent when it came time to retire.