The way home from Margaret River proved quite challenging, not due to the riding condition but due to what tracks and deserts were open due to rain.

From Margaret River we hugged coastal roads until Esperance. The riding was extremely cold, wet and windy.  After a ride along the coast surrounding Esperance our plan was to access the beach via a 40km ride along a dirt road that leads to Israelite Bay. From Israelite Bay the plan was to cross some 450kms of beach, sand dunes and headland crossing to Cocklebiddy.

Unfortunately we were stumped before we commenced as the past few days before we arrived saw several inches of rain close all the dirt/clay roads accessing the beach.  The local authorities believed these roads could be closed for up to several weeks.

This left us with no other option than complete an inland road ride to Cocklebiddy.

Our next plan was to cut up to the Trans Australia Railway and follow the service road across the Great Victorian Desert to Coober Pedy.  This route was also not viable as the service road was closed from Cook to Lyons (just short of Coober Pedy).

Instead we forced to complete an 800 kms tar section across the Nullarbor from Cocklebiddy to Ceduna in South Australia. This was by far the most monotonous and mind numbing part of the trip.   This coupled with extremely heavy rain and gusty winds made this section almost untenable.