The couple that stacks together, eats together and still can't get their food across the border.

Day 5. 14/9/11: Cullulleraine to Ramco Point

Another wonderful start to the day. Sun shining on us as we rode then ran around the lake. 11kms included our first "couple stack". This is when one person (in this case, Tim) comes around and corner and buries his front tyre in soft sand and gets spat off to one side of the track, then Lily, riding the same line, comes around the same corner and throws herself to the other side of the track after almost running into Tim (or Tim's bike). This was Lily's first stack since 1912 and her first ever in riding shoes (SPD - clip in style - where her foot is clipped-into - i.e. attached to! - the pedal). The fact she lay there laughing showed what a good sport she is, and that she'll take a rest wherever she can get one.

But the run came after we'd both had a day off (we only paddled the day before) so our legs were fresh and it was the first time we've run together and really gone out and flung ourselves around a bit. We managed, from a slow warm-up jog, to almost run 5kms in the first 30mins, which felt great. 11kms took a bit over an hour, but it was the best run we've done together in ages.

Other highlights included looking up while riding to see a flock of eagles (yes - weird, strange, unheard of: eagles don't fly in flocks - but to see eight or nine eagles circling only twenty or so metres up was awesome. I still don't understand it - maybe a family just getting up and going for the day, kids old enough to go out but not old enough to move out just yet? Don't know, but pretty awesome.

Packed up again - getting better - after some more faffing with the boat racks (which had been moving about, causing some anxiety about us driving along the highway and seeing our boats sailing into the windscreen of some oncoming car or the van behind us). But with the addition of bits of one sacrificed bike tube, the problem seemed to be solved, the van got packed and off we went.

We left with a lovely eskieworth of fruit and veg and both had to slap ourselves in the forehead when we approached the SA border to see the signs saying "Eat all your food now!" "You are entering the fruit fly exclusion zone." "No fruit or veg can be carried across the SA border and into the exclusion zone." "On the spot fines apply for anyone caught being a fruit or vegetable." "Eat as much as you can fit in - even when you think you can't eat any more, fit one more serve of kiwi fruit in your gob."

So we sat for an hour at a truck stop in Victoria and ate. It was delicious, but sad throwing out our special lemon collection (hand picked from a back garden in Coburg). Finally, we got through - still having to hand over our potatoes, pumpkin and onions but oddly not sweet potato or ginger. (These fruit flies have weird taste.)

In Renmark we fulfilled our part of the dump-your-food-here scam and re-bought all our fresh fruit and vegetables, prompting the check-out kid to comment: "Just stopped in for some junk food, eh?" Eventually, we stopped in Waikerie, bizarrely, for more food - coffee and cake - then drove on to Ramco Point Rd, next to Ramco Lagoon, in Ramco. It was also next to the Murray River, and the site was brilliant - and free.

Ride

Time (hr:min:sec): 55:43:47

Moving Speed (kph): 13.5

Distance (km): 11.08

Run

Time (hr:min:sec): 1:12:14

Moving Speed (kph): 8.8

Distance (km): 10.45

Ramco Point at dusk. The only photo of the day!