Today was a day of many firsts! Our total planned distance for the day was 290 km (180 mi) - the longest ever day on an Amazon Heart ride - longer even than the records set on the UK ride this year.

The sun had come out again in the morning although the temperatures were cool - we are still wondering where summer has gone, although it is better than sweltering each day in our leathers.

We rode down through Robe and stopped for photographs in front of the sea, which again was that incredible colour we have seen all week. Then it was back on the bikes for a short ride down the road to Kingston, and the Big Lobster (or big crayfish, depending on how accurate you want to be).

Australia is a land of many big things, and we all counted off the ones we had visited in the past..the Big Banana, the Big Pineapple, the Big Prawn, the Big Sheep, The Big Cow, The Big Apple....I think this is the fifth big thing we have ridden past on our Australian rides!

Our route on from Kingston took us an hour down the road to Salt Creek, and began to enter the Coorong National Park. Not long down the road, we had some excitement - all of a sudden a new Mercedes went flying past us on the wrong side of the road, in the face of the oncoming traffic and swerved in front, accelerating away.

Meredith had a few choice words to say in her helmet, and had slowed the group and pulled them to the left when she saw him coming. This was followed a minute later by a police car with all sirens and lights blazing, and then a second police car, which led to much cheering in helmets by our group who thought they police were after him for dangerous driving.

As we continued along the road we expected to see them pulled up on the side of the road, but as the miles ticked by with no sign we began to suspect the Mercedes driver may have been wanted for more than speeding. About 40 km down the road we came to roadworks, and learned from the workers there that the Merc had overtaken a caravan and gone flying through their stop signs without slowing down.

Finally at Salt Creek we pulled over for gas, to find one of the police cars there filling up as well. He told us the Mercedes had been stolen in Victoria, and they had lost him along the road - he thought it may have pulled off on a side road, and they were continuing to search for it.

Then Dimi dropped a bombshell, saying she was sure the car had been parked at our hotel in Robe overnight and the thief had been staying there. We checked Meryl's video from the morning, and sure enough, there was the car in the car park. We passed on the details to the policeman, and then after a late morning snack/early lunch for some, it was back on our own journey.

Not far out from Salt Creek, the shrub on our left cleared away and we had spectacular views along the Coorong. When Megan and Meredith had ridden the route in March this year, the Coorong was mostly dry, with patches of water reflecting the blue sky in the middle of expanses of pink salt crystals.

This time the Coorong was full of water, although either side of the road we saw ponds of pink salt crystals with blue pools reflecting the sky. We saw a few big red Kangaroos today, as well as an emu who popped her head up to watch our progress.

We stopped again for a quick snack in Meningie, and were visited by their local policeman for a chat about our ride and an update on the hot pursuit.

Still no sign of the thief, who we figured was hiding out well behind us at that stage.

Our final 90kms into Strathalbyn had one final surprise and first for us - the first ever river barge crossing on an Amazon Heart ride! We crossed the Murray river at Wellington, riding our bikes on to a barge that crossed the river guided by cables.

Lined up two by two, we made quite a sight, and the dragon boaters couldn't help themselves but paddle sitting on their bikes as we crossed the water.

Our last little run into Strathalbyn brought us through our first vineyards and as we rode into the historic town, Jo's family had a huge welcome waiting for us in front of the hotel, waving signs and banners and a sea of pink.

We stayed in the historic Strathalbyn hotel, with lovely new motel units out the back, and a terrific bistro where we congregated for dinner that night.

The local Rotary group was having their monthly dinner, and Peri snuck in to tell them who we were and what we were about.

Before we knew it, we were invited in to talk about our ride, and they presented us with a $100 cheque! All along the ride we have received generous donations from people we have met, and Tanya and some of the girls have worked hard at shaking the collection tin. Before dinner we counted the coins we've picked up so far and it was over $400!

Today along the Coorong we passed the 1,000 km mark on our journey, and we still have four fabulous days of riding left.