DAY 111 - GAWLER SA

GAWLER SA

DAY 111

ADELAIDE - GAWLER

82.84 km

Total Time: 09.00 – 16.00 (7h)

Time on Bike: 5h 10m 03s

Max. Speed: 60 km/h

Av. Speed: 16 km/h


I made the return trip to Gawler and have arrived intact.

Final big thank youse to Geoff and Hellina Barnes as well as Steve and Anne Lewis for fine hospitality during the past week in Adelaide.

This is the 3rd and final transit through Gawler for this trip as I start heading east tomorrow for the journey through to Melbourne.

Overeating was once again on the agenda earlier this evening at the Gawler Arms.

I know it is only a treat so I don’t hold back.

If I was doing it all the time, then I think some kind of serious health problem would develop.

Something like a heart condition or an intestinal disorder or probably just plain fatness.

I think I actually have started on an intestinal problem already.

All the more reason to get riding back to Melbourne….

Adelaide to me was something of a disappointment initially.

Having used up at least 9 lives coming in along Main North Road, first impressions linger.

And knowing it as I do, I would gladly promote Sydney anywhere as one of the least bike-centric places on the planet.

On arrival in Adelaide, I may not have hesitated in nominating it as Sydney’s little sister.

The trick in Adelaide is local knowledge.

Bike tracks are prolific – you just need to find them.

And once you do, they are a pleasure.

The premier track in Adelaide is the Linear Park track.

This is a dual purpose track (bikes/pedestrians) with a north-eastern head in the Holden Hill area.

If you can pick it up from here, it runs for 25 kilometres along the River Torrens into the centre of Adelaide.

From the city centre, another 15 kilometres runs all the way out to the beaches with a western head at the Torrens ocean outlet in West Beach.

The Linear Park track is magnificent – beautiful as it runs the full length of the river banks in both directions and interesting as it passes through some of Adelaide’s more exclusive and impressive postcodes.

Some of the architecture is just top-shelf – not in a big, overbearing and excessive Sydney or Perth kind of way.

The uniqueness of Adelaide architecture is represented mainly by beautifully and tastefully constructed sandstone bungalows - more low-slung and compact than multi-level layers of concrete and glass.

Other materials like timber feature heavily – Australia has every kind of gum tree on earth as well as other indigenous hardwoods that are superb building materials.

And I sure would like to think these wonderfully crafted homes will hold their own down the years and not be sacrificed for more soul-less higher-density accommodation.

Prices don’t get any friendlier, that is for certain – not even in Adelaide.

So long as the population doesn’t spike for any particular reason, 1.5 – 2 million people will probably continue to live and work and play within the city limits for years to come.

For now, Adelaide has become a nice section of vista in my rear-view mirror and I press east towards the town of Mannum tomorrow.