SYDNEY NSW

SYDNEY NSW

Now that I'm back home in Sydney, the past 4 months will become an important part of my history - obviously full of wonderful experiences and memories but it is the ongoing connections that travel enables that make the extra effort worthwhile and makes me more even more determined to bother in the future.

Connection to a wide array of places, people and indeed to life itself is what matters most to me.

It is way too easy to become comfortable in some kind of rut; committed to any number of causes that may or may not mean anything in the bigger picture and before you know it, the best part of life has just skipped on by.

This is not what I want to represent.

So thanks once again to all that have shared time, energy and other parts of themselves with me over the past 4 months.

Many came and went but not before cooking me dinner, breakfast or loading me up with food, cups of tea, fishing equipment and anything else that was called for at the time.

I'm glad to have been part of your experience and to have had you be part of mine.

Finally to my hosts along the way:

Nathan, Tina, Lily and Phoebe in Katoomba, the Toms and Newcombe families in Orange, Geoff and Hellina Barnes in Adelaide, Raelene and Kingsley Mason in Port Lincoln, Steve and Anne Lewis in Adelaide, Shannon and Julie Moran in Beachport.

Special mentions as well to Val, Pushbike John, Jeff Lock, Les and Judy Beyer and Geoff and Hellina all for very helpful input at different times.

So until next time, I retreat once again to prepare for whatever lies ahead.

My aim is for bigger, better and even more inspiring.

DAY 127 - MELBOURNE VIC

MELBOURNE VIC

DAY 127

PORT FAIRY - MELBOURNE AIRPORT

63.35km

Total Time – 08.50 – 19.00 (10h 10m)

Time on Bike – 4h 04m 13s

Max. Speed – 54.8 km/h

Av. Speed – 15.5 km/h


I've said it all before, but good plans are meant to be changed.

After 127 days, 18 weeks, 4 months, 6100 kilometres I have decided to finish in Melbourne a week earlier than scheduled.

I actually started the day dry.

It didn't last long.

10 kilometres along Princes Highway A1 towards Warrnambool, blanket rain moved in and sat immovably over large sections of the southern Victorian coastline.

And unlike in Port Fairy, there was no wind to blow it all through.

I made Warrnambool in good time considering.

By 11 am, drenched to the skin, freezing cold and just a little fed up with the whole deal, my immediate options seemed particularly weak.

The primary cards weren't that smart and in hindsight I can see it even more clearly.

Having already eliminated the more direct route via Great Ocean Road, Plan B via Ballarat was looking even less inviting.

Ballarat is presently Australia's coldest destination outside the alpine areas and most likely one of the wettest in addition.

For an extra week and 300-something kilometres all I stood to be was cold, wet and just a little temperamental.

Warrnambool happened to offer a Plan C and this is what came to be, in not very long this morning.

First step however, was to check flights from Melbourne to Sydney and move my pre-booked flight forward a week.

If this could be done, a train to Melbourne from Warrnambool could also be done.

A 10-minute stint on the Warrnambool Library Internet later and I was in business.

Almost.

There were indeed seats on the last flight of the day to Sydney, so back on the bike and around the corner to Warrnambool Station where the next train to Melbourne was revving not so quietly on the platform.

In a 7 minute period, I queued for an enquiry, pulled my rig apart, got it on the train, pulled my bags apart for dry clothes, got changed, re-queued for a ticket and was on the move to my final destination.

That's exactly 1 minute per thing and I was quite proud of that.

Damn thing was, I ran out of time to re-book my flight.

The worst I could think of for the next 3½ hours was hanging out in Melbourne for a few days for a flight to be available.

Not so bad really.

By 3.30, I was set down at Melbourne's Southern Cross Station and confronted with another logistical horror show.

All I had to do was rip apart the rig and put it back together on the train platform, get warm clothes on, ring Virgin to re-book my flight, ring home to re-arrange a pick-up, get a feed and then somehow barrage 25 kilometres through city traffic as night fell and the fun at the airport was even yet to begin.

To make a great story a little shorter, I did make it to Melbourne Airport intact.

Dark it was and dry I was.

I did get lost a few times and ended up taking a most interesting and often precarious route to Tullamarine Airport.

One can survive on this, if only just.

By 7 pm and with 2.25 hours remaining until showtime, the final challenge persisted and I needed to get everything on the flight to Sydney with the least possible drama and inconvenience.

2 hours hence, I joined the boarding gate queue for my 9.15 flight with about 12 minutes credit - everything packed, onboard and no excess baggage charges although the Virgin staff were quite obviously lenient to my plight.

There is no way I'd have been off so lightly in a foreign land and I know it but this is surely a bridge for another day.

I'm now back home in Sydney.

'Twas indeed a day of high stress and action but I got there.

And of the ending, am I disappointed ?

Yes, of course I am.

Truth is that both my spearhead plans were flawed and I believe, in the circumstances, unnecessarily difficult.

After 4 months, 6100 kilometres and a marvellous, fulfilling period of unique experiences, places and people, there was nothing to prove in pushing for the sake of another week and a few more pissy cold and wet miles.

The deed is done and I absolutely can't wait for the next one.

DAY 126 - PORT FAIRY VIC

PORT FAIRY VIC

DAY 126


If somebody had offered me a little plastic lunch box at 8 o’clock this morning, with the events of today all neatly wrapped up inside and nicely sliced for easy access, I probably would have taken it.

All except the weather that is.

Another day for the record books I would say, although it is quite difficult to ascertain how much worse these days can get.

Deep snowfalls are one possible scenario that would certainly make the going tough into Melbourne.

Given that I am headed for Ballarat which is the coldest place in Australia outside the alpine regions at the moment, this may yet materialise.

I am guessing in such an event, it would be necessary to somehow slap chains on the tyres and just keep on pedalling.

Anyway, enough of this, as I actually have something positive to contribute from today.

I put my library/internet time to good use this morning as the weather really wasn’t compatible with much else.

There remained some meek hope that erstwhile clear skies would somehow hold in unison with a prevailing westerly gale and dry my wet clothes in about half an hour.

This was out to sea by 11 am and instead some of the heaviest rain of 2008 pounded Port Fairy for nearly 2 hours.

When the library closed for lunch at 1 pm, I was back out in the cold although it seemed timely for the rain to abate just long enough for me to get back to camp and chow some day food.

And looking about, growing patches of blue sky augured for an afternoon that may not have been about to develop so badly.

Plan A had always been to get about and explore Port Fairy this afternoon and by 2 pm, this was indeed the best option.

Winds were bad but with not much rain to speak of beyond 1.30 and more sunlight than could possibly have been predicted, I was out and about with camera primed.

All is well that ends well and I got around to most of what Port Fairy has to offer as well as keeping the faith that my clothes would be dry by dinner.

The main Fairy attractions are Griffiths Island with its Lighthouse and shearwater colony as well as the historic Port and Wharf.

Most of the wharf area is occupied by a fleet of crayfish boats on one side and absolute top-end tourist accommodation on the other.

Located where it is, Port Fairy is fair game for cashed up and stressed out city folk from either Adelaide or Melbourne who could readily come on by for a weekend, punch a rather large hole in $2000 and have quite a fine old time.

Loaded with beautiful National Trust and Heritage Listed buildings, typical numbers of Norfolk Pines as well as said upmarket-ness, it is an attractive seaside getaway that would reward those who make a slightly bigger effort to get away from the commercialism and popularity of the Great Ocean Road or some of Adelaide’s better known traps.

Get down here in the middle of a winter such as this and you’d basically have a free run of the place.

Port Fairy’s main claim to fame in recent history however, is the Port Fairy Folk Festival held in March of each year.

The regular population of 2000 blows out to around 40 000 and they somehow all fit in.

I believe it to be a typical fare of music, food and culture of International standing and I may also argue that the most unique and appealing aspect of the whole deal is the location itself.

I’d personally not be bothered with the masses, however this weather is not exactly the sweetest of timing either.

I will be moving ahead tomorrow as the final week of the trip commences.

Destination Mortlake, via the larger commercial centre of Warrnambool, which is generally regarded as the western extremity of a stretch of Princes Highway known as the Great Ocean Road.

I have decided against taking my part on this section of road due to legitimate concerns about safety (or lack thereof) and will instead take an inland route through Ballarat by early next week.

This will ultimately bring me into Melbourne from the north, mostly avoiding the worst of city traffic and more practically easier access to Tullamarine Airport, which lies 25 kilometres to the north of the city.

DAY 125 - PORT FAIRY VIC

PORT FAIRY VIC

DAY 125

PORTLAND – PORT FAIRY

86.66 km

Total Time – 08.30 – 14.45 (6h 15m)

Time on Bike – 5h 19m 41s

Max. Speed – 52.8 km/h

Av. Speed – 16.2 km/h


Less than 400 km to go now.

It’s still cold but maybe a just a piece of toast warmer.

I’m kind of lying low for now.

There’s not much left to go and I want to get there intact.

And the weather isn’t lending itself to much at all.

I’m doing the distances, getting in and doing what needs to be done.

A day around Port Fairy lies ahead tomorrow and it would be nice to explore a little.

It seems an appealing little place.

Lots of historic National Trust buildings in the main street and the Moyne River runs right through the centre of town.

It’s just so damned dank and cold.

I’ll get over it, but there’s no escaping the next 9 days ahead.

DAY 124 - PORTLAND VIC

PORTLAND VIC

DAY 124


A day around Portland - partly to recover from yesterday and partly because I’ve got some days to cover between here and Melbourne and this is one of them.

Much conversation I have taken pains to overhear today is about the weather.

Yesterday was the coldest in 25 years people in some quarters would have it.

So it wasn’t my imagination after all and things were only mildly warmer today.

Late this afternoon, skies cleared quite rapidly and unexpectedly.

If this points to better conditions tomorrow, I will most welcome it…..

Kilometre number 6000 clicked over yesterday amidst the suffering.

If anything was to be salvaged, then this was it.

Quite a round number 6000 – this is about double what I may have considered a fair effort on this trip and it should creep up on 6500 by the time I reach Melbourne.

Mission accomplished if this is the standard I have set.

11 days it is now until completion and I grow each day with anticipation of meeting my finish line safely and at least partly warm.

DAY 123 - PORTLAND VIC

PORTLAND VIC

DAY 123

MOUNT GAMBIER - PORTLAND

116.71 km

Total Time: 08.45 – 17.30 (8h 15m)

(including 30 min time difference SA – VIC)

Time on Bike: 7h 20m

Max. Speed: 56.5 km/h

Av. Speed: 15.9 km/h


There was some long, hard, stone cold, boring riding today.

Oh, and there was the small sideshow of a shitload of log trucks.

Everything that I could possibly dislike was laid on with abundance.

Only howling wind and pouring rain were missing.

It rates a podium finish on terms of least inspiring rides.

Truth be told, I did unbelievably well to get in as early as I did, especially losing 30 minutes with the time difference.

At one stage, 7 pm was not out of reckoning and I gave myself absolutely no chance of finishing before dark.

And it was so freaking cold.

Single figures today, no doubt and I don’t care a crap what the forecasts said.

I’ve got a tough skin and I was struggling.

My feet got cold at about 3 am this morning and stayed so until a hot shower after 6 pm this evening.

My hands just took turns with my feet – feet cold, hands warm/ hands cold, feet warm or all 4 totally fucking cold together.

I just gave up after a point when I realised there was no chance of getting any feeling back.

At least 50 kilometres of C192 between Mount Gambier and Portland travels through large tracts of plantation pine forest and I wish it didn’t.

Absolutely none of it was flat and more to the point, there was some seriously slow and punishing grind.

One pass in particular was layered in 4 different sections, dragging me over it at not much better than walking pace and plummeting the average speed as low as the temperature.

And not to mention the log trucks, although I believe I have already.

I was largely unimpressed.

With still 45 kilometres to cover at 2.30 pm, I started to get my night lights warmed up.

Each section of the ride was getting progressively slower and an arrival any time between 5 and 7 pm was all I could see.

As so often happens, with a little perseverance, a lot of effort and an accompanying bad mouth, things eventually improve and the final 30 kilometres into Portland was relatively acceptable.

I wouldn’t want to another repeat of today any time soon, however.

This weather is harsh and I’m taking a day about town tomorrow.

If things improve, then good.

If not, I’m onwards to Port Fairy on Thursday in the cold yet again.

DAY 122 - MOUNT GAMBIER SA

MOUNT GAMBIER SA

DAY 122


This should be my final day in South Australia for now, although I’d best not sound as if I’m glad about it.

3 months and 4000 kilometres is an effort I’m proud of – second only to what how the overall statistics will look in around 2 weeks.

Today was a day of 2 halves, 4 quarters or even 3 thirds as well.

2 halves was how it eventuated for my liking, taking care of business this morning and allowing the afternoon for sightseeing.

Business was mostly about fixing the tyre blow out from yesterday.

Bad news is that 7000+ kilometres has taken its toll and worn the tyre completely through, hence the tube explosion yesterday.

Good news is I bought a new tyre – one with knobbly bits, which should see me through.

The sightseeing part of the day then, was quite a unique one.

Mount Gambier is located in a formerly volcanically active limestone basin.

Most of the volcanic activity took place around 4500 years ago, meaning the landforms it created are merely babes in arms by Australian standards.

What remains are several good sized craters, lakes and a most interesting formation called a sinkhole.

Easily the most renowned feature is the Blue Lake and the surrounding Crater Lakes.

The Umpherston Sinkhole is located a little east of town, but I was still able to get around and see the lot.

The Blue Lake is so named for good reason.

Unfortunately it is not so blue at the very moment but I was hardly about to tumble into a sinkhole of disappointment over it.

It is the wrong time of year apparently, as the lake really comes into its own blueness between November and March.

The rest of the time it supposedly looks “grey”, although its inherent blueness was still on show today, despite the winter and despite the cloudy gloom about.

I actually had a slightly better time around at the adjacent Crater Lake, which also enabled a steep walk up to the 1904 Centenary Tower and panoramic views of said lake and the city of Mount Gambier as its backdrop.

Dropping back down to town around 3 pm, I took a late afternoon stroll out to the Sinkhole.

The Sinkhole was named after a former wealthy local named Umpherston who owned the land between 1868 and 1900 and created a place for people to visit and enjoy.

Mr U passed on in 1900 and for 70 odd years, various owners and others allowed the Sinkhole to degenerate and it was only repossessed and taken responsibility for during the 1970’s.

Since then, various community projects have tiered some spectacular gardens within the sunken limestone pit that is now filled with native and imported flora, vines, mosses, walkways and lookouts.

So this has been my Mount Gambier experience.

I am scheduled to cross back into Victoria early tomorrow morning, as I make for the coastal settlement of Portland, probably for a pair of evenings.

DAY 121 - MOUNT GAMBIER SA

MOUNT GAMBIER SA

DAY 121

BEACHPORT – MOUNT GAMBIER

94.05 km

Total Time: 10.00 – 17.30 (7h 30m)

Time on Bike: 5h 49m 44s

Max. Speed: 42.2 km/h

Av. Speed: 16.1 km/h


Mount Gambier is my final stop in South Australia.

The Mount is one of SA’s bigger and better known towns with some quite special features that I will be exploring tomorrow for the benefit of a future posting.

It is also one of Australia’s coldest places right at the moment although I’d be reckoning it’s just the beginning of more to come over the final 2 weeks of the journey.

Wheeling out of Beachport at 10 am this morning, my mood was strong with the weather having cleared to my satisfaction and the prevailing wind a lame shadow of its own self from yesterday.

I would stop short of describing conditions as warm, but the going was still good.

Millicent is only 35 kilometres onward from Beachport but at least 5ºC colder.

15º in Beachport is 10º in Millicent and there was still 50 km to Mount Gambier.

A couple of royal drenchings between Millicent and the Mount as well as a dramatic increase in the hilliness of the terrain made for some unhappy riding this afternoon.

I spent most of it either wet or cold and mainly both.

Oh, and there was the small issue of one of my trailer tyres blowing out 10 km from Mount Gambier.

Rather than commit to a running repair by the side of a fairly dangerous section of highway, the decision to push through in cold, wet and darkening conditions was absolutely the right one.

It was still cold and wet and almost dark by the time I found a camp this evening and I can confirm that if it weren’t for that wicked, freakish day about 3 weeks ago between Orroroo and Jamestown, then today would be in pole position by some distance.

And unfortunately, it just isn’t likely to improve from here, so I will be investing some warming type devices at some stage tomorrow.

This and a thorough look around the Mount should keep me occupied for the duration.

DAY 120 - BEACHPORT SA

BEACHPORT SA

DAY 120


A whale of a day around Beachport and in spite of all the rubbish weather.

Beachport’s permanent population is only 400 (not including the crayfish fleet) and after meeting around a quarter of them at the pub last evening, all that was left for today was something of a guided tour as well some attention to important logistics.

With hosts Shannon and Julie leading the way, there was not much to concern about.

A nice change to the norm has been 3 meals a day of a wholesome variety as well as the comfort of a warm bed.

My feet have been, well…..freezing of late, to be blunt.

Such have been the low night time mercury readings.

My +3 sleeping sack has been struggling just some and no amount of sock layering can improve a thing.

Once your feet are cold, that’s the way they tend to stay.

With only 2 weeks left and some of Australia’s southernmost areas immediately in front of me, I cannot expect any mercy from the winter depths of July and early August.

Today was no day to be riding anywhere anyway – this much I know and it was never going to be.

Instead, the fun of the day was something of a family 4-wheel-driving adventure around the sand hills between Beachport and Lake George.

Not exactly your everyday cycling expedition, but a spot of tobogganing and Frisbee frolic was more the order.

Myself, my hosts and their 2 young daughters took on the razorbacks with couple of sand sleds and a candle, with some Frisbee-ing in between for good measure.

I can’t possibly see the harm in breaking things up like this and there may even be new skills learned, such as the art of straight-line tobogganing.

Any fool can sideways lose before wiping out at speed towards the bottom, as I found.

My subsequent bravado was quickly nullified by a 6-year-old girl who plainly could do the thing.

It is rather too embarrassing to watch and learn in these conditions, so I instead settled on gentle on-the-job guidance from the child’s father.

Before long, I was charging down in a straight line with not a mouth of sand to be had.

And how good it felt when the kid totalled on the very next run…..

Final stop of the day was the Woakwine Cutting - a massive gorge that was dug out of the limestone by local farmers in 1957 as a means of draining their swamp into Lake George.

The humble machinery they used is still locked up on site as a display piece for the locals and visitors who pass on by.

As interesting as the cutting was, it was even more interesting to see how many bounces a rock will actually take to hit the bottom......

On return to base, a pre-dinner winter swim was on in the family pool and whilst this may chill to the bone at the very thought, it is nice to know of it as an indoor, heated affair.

31ºC in fact and some intense spa jet action was as good for massage value as any $50-an-hour therapist.

After 6000 kilometres, I reckon it’s well deserved and as I look forward towards a certain destination closer to Melbourne, it may not even be the last.

First things first though and as my Beachport stay concludes, it is onwards to the city of Mount Gambier tomorrow.

DAY 119 - BEACHPORT SA

BEACHPORT SA

DAY 119

ROBE - BEACHPORT

61.79 km

Total Time: 09.15 – 15.00 (5h 45m)

Time on Bike: 3h 18m 29s

Max. Speed: 32.2 km/h

Av. Speed: 18.7 km/h


Timing is everything and it is the right time to be in Beachport, if only for reuniting with my hosts for the weekend, Shannon and Julie.

We originally met by chance at West Beach in Adelaide around the beginning of May and a standing invitation to visit has existed if ever I should arrive.

Well, my path has finally led me here and all things come together in these circumstances.

I addressed the local school children on arrival – all 30 of them – and they collectively had it that I may have ridden anywhere between 100 and 100 000 kilometres on the current journey.

100 000 is certainly an impressive feat and whilst laying claim to this was tempting, some ooh’s and ahh’s quietly circulated the small room when the 6000 figure was finally nominated.

I’m not sure many of these children could grasp how much 6000 kilometres actually is – I probably couldn’t have grasped it 5 months ago myself – but the odometer does not exaggerate.

Still, it is not quite a cause for major celebration right now.

There is a distance yet to be travelled and I do intend to complete it safely and with my being intact.

Whatever the final figure is at this point will stand.

Until then, the journey must roll on.

The hospitality of my current hosts will extend now to Sunday.

Mount Gambier waits beyond and the final leg of the journey into Melbourne will unfold.

I cannot create an exacting time frame but 2 weeks is probably fair play.

The time is right to wind this trip to an end and the prospect of a finishing time is exciting.

With no questions left to be answered this time around, new opportunities lie ahead in bounds.

DAY 118 - ROBE SA

ROBE SA

DAY 118

KINGSTON S-E - ROBE

49.19 km

Total Time: 09.40 – 13.40 (4h)

Time on Bike: 2h 38m 23s

Max. Speed: 38.9 km/h

Av. Speed: 18.6 km/h


Another overnighter, this time in the town of Robe – a plush and rather spread out holiday settlement on the Southeast coast.

There’s not too much low-brow in Robe, although the local Foodland supermarket does plays its role for the common man.

I guess that’s why I bought dinner here.

Robe is generally a meticulously neat and well-kempt little hamlet as well as being absolutely full of a very attractive range of tourist accommodation.

Heck, even the Caravan Park I’m camped in is Heritage listed.

It runs the gamut of mid-to upper range B&B’s to niche seaside motels (only with heated pools and Jacuzzis on this occasion) to Backpacker and camping facilities (which do indeed happen to be heritage listed).

The town itself sits handsomely in picture perfect Guichen Bay, landmarked on the western extremity by Cape Dombey with its lighthouse and historic Obelisk.

With all this said, I do believe I’ve done well to be actually staying here for under $20, ‘cos it is all quite damn nice.

The town’s Royal Circus has possibly borrowed its name from elsewhere, but does feature in a fairly impressive heritage walk which is as close to what would be known as the Old Town in other parts of the world.

Said walk is apparently a self-guided affair, which suits me just fine and I am interested enough to have a small wander through before rolling on towards Beachport tomorrow morning.

As photogenic as Robe is and as keen as a photographer as I claim to be, the two have come together quite amicably so far and I am suggesting this blog will be the better for it.

For this reason, I’m not done yet and considering it is only a one-nighter, I am hoping for some fine conditions in the new day.

This weekend is a booking in the next town of Beachport with another set of hosts, Shannon and Julie Moran and I believe some good times will be had.

Until then.

DAY 117 - KINGSTON S-E SA

KINGSTON S-E SA

DAY 117

SALT CREEK – KINGSTON S-E

98.84 km

Total Time: 08.35 – 15.35 (7h)

Time on Bike: 5h 20m 30s

Max. Speed: 31.4 km/h

Av. Speed: 18.5 km/h


Kingston South East.

The South East moniker is to distinguish it from another South Australian Kingston somewhere in the north.

Kingston represents both the bottom of the Coorong and the top of what is known as the Limestone Coast.

It is the main holiday and service centre of the sweeping Lacapede Bay and is also a paid up member of Australia’s Big Club.

The Big Club is one of Australia’s more shameful and embarrassing contributions to tourism, whereby numerous towns around the place have something big that is supposed to put it of the map and get people to go and visit.

Some more infamous examples are Big Banana (Coffs Harbour, NSW), Big Pineapple (Palmwoods, Queensland), Big Strawberry (Yarroweyah, Victoria), Big Merino (Goulburn, NSW).

Etcetera.

Kingston’s rather lame contribution to this rather lame culture is a massive 5 metre high fibreglass lobster that greets everybody on arrival through the northern end of town.

It is most certainly big enough and ugly enough to scar small children throughout their childhood years and beyond.

And I most certainly won’t be recommending anyone to visit because of it.

Eating lobster on the other hand is certifiably one of life’s more indulgent experiences and one of the culinary world’s more extravagant delicacies.

There is nothing quite like blowing $50 on a fresh one and sitting there demolishing the beast until no more meat can possibly be located.

Juice and other bits should ideally run down to the elbow region at meals’ end and the sucking technique most suitably applied to each section of claw, no matter how fiddly and difficult to access.

The lobster sadly has a reputation as an extremely fatty item of consumption and would blow most cholesterol budgets to the Moon and back.

The good things in life are rarely good for you they say.

Bah Humbug, I say and if one is give oneself heart disease, then this sure beats the idea of smoking oneself into the grave.

The only issue is always my daily $40 bean count, or else……

Today was the best weather (probably anywhere) for about a month – beautiful bright sun, light northerly breeze and not even as cold as it might have been.

Keep it up, I say once again and more of the same from here on in.

DAY 116 - SALT CREEK SA

SALT CREEK SA

DAY 116

MENINGIE – SALT CREEK

66.31 km

Total Time: 10.10 – 15.30 (5h 20m)

Time on Bike: 3h 57m 08s

Max. Speed: 38.7 km/h

Av. Speed: 16.8 km/h


Salt Creek is about halfway along the Coorong between Meningie and Kingston S-E.

This kind of leaves me in the middle of somewhere or nowhere at once.

For tonight, it is the Gemini Downs Camp, which has lent me a strip of grass in the wide open, untouched expanse of the Coorong.

And untouched it is, in the real sense.

If something is untouched, I am thinking this means that humans generally stay well away.

I’m not sure we can be trusted anymore.

The Coorong therefore must rate as one of Australia’s continuously untouched strips of wilderness.

The narrow mud flats and wetlands that are the Coorong lie between the wilderworld of the Southern Ocean on one side and the National B1 Princes Highway on the other.

It is a 60 kilometre channel of fragile ecosystem that outdates human existence by eons and will hopefully outlast it by about the same.

For its own sake, it is not quite physically spectacular enough to be regarded as a monster tourist hoop.

The nearby settlements are Spartan and don’t support such heavy traffic anyway, and this is the way it should stay.

Most just pass on by but to stop is fair reward with guaranteed encounters of the natural kind.

For myself, it leaves a 90 kilometre coastal run tomorrow, towards the southeast holiday coast of South Australia which will occupy me for the next few days.

The weather has reinvented itself remarkably and this afternoon was the finest display of sunny clear skies for about a month.

It goes to say that I desire for it to hold in this manner, at least for tomorrow and the exposed length of southern highway to Kingston.

DAY 115 - MENINGIE SA

MENINGIE SA

DAY 115

WELLINGTON - MENINGIE

51.41 km

Total Time: 08.30 – 13.00 (4h 30m)

Time on Bike: 3h 44m 29s

Max. Speed: 42.9 km/h

Av. Speed: 13.7 km/h


Following the events of yesterday, I should be thankful to be anywhere, like alive for instance.

However, I am just a little disappointed to only as far as Meningie - disappointed mainly because the weather conditions determined the day’s outcome.

4 hours for just over 40 kilometres is a paltry return but I guess that’s what you get for riding into a stonker of a headwind.

Plan A in fact was originally to be where I am.

However after my brush with the afterlife yesterday, an innate determination to push beyond my fears probably expressed itself a little too ambitiously.

I worked up a Plan B overnight, which had me trundling halfway along the Coorong today – a 100 kilometre run which would have wrapped up a camp near Salt Creek for this evening.

It needs to be understood that the Coorong is a fairly long and lonely 190 kilometre haul between Wellington and Kingston S-E.

Beyond Meningie there isn’t much in the way of civilisation for 150 km.

A small camp and general store are located within 5 kilometres of the Salt Creek settlement, about halfway along and this is what I was going for.

Weather conditions – the wind in particular – made for hard, hard going this morning and it was always going to be a struggle to finish before nightfall.

And apart from this, there seemed no further point in battling the elements any further.

Meningie is quite a well stocked settlement so this was the obvious choice.

By all accounts then, it could be argued that I’m a day behind schedule but considering I have no schedule, this would hardly stand up in court.

So it is.

The Coorong will commence in the morning for real and I will make Salt Creek by tomorrow evening.

DAY 114 - WELLINGTON SA

WELLINGTON SA

DAY 114

MANNUM - WELLINGTON

70.26 km

Total Time: 09.30 – 14.15 (4h 45m)

Time on Bike: 3h 51m 19s

Max. Speed: 57 km/h

Av. Speed: 18.2 km/h


Somebody tried to run me over today.

I don’t really want to talk about it very much because I haven’t been as upset and pissed off about something in some time.

If the person had have succeeded, I would not be here anymore due to the size of the vehicle involved.

It is as simple as this.

What has upset me most is that there is obviously a rare but certain kind of mercenary fuckwit that shares the planet with everybody else and no matter how cautious and aware I may pride myself on being, there is nothing to be done if worst comes to worst.

No doubt this awareness saved my life today.

I wish I could make it sound less dramatic than it is.

In fact I am actually having second thoughts as whether to push through to Melbourne now.

It is impossible to tell when luck is going to run out and yet I am also not one to respond to fear.

I am hoping more than anything that in a running total of 5500 kilometres to date, this incident was a one-off so I should take heed and pedal on.

If this is the decision, I now make for the town of Meningie tomorrow before taking on a 150 km stretch of The Coorong come Tuesday.

DAY 113 - MANNUM SA

MANNUM SA

DAY 113


As promised, I took a day around town.

Not a bad move either, as I was feeling just a little licked for some strange reason.

A spot of dehydration perhaps or maybe just a little fatigue.

Whatever, but it does surprise how often just a few hours of rest can work a treat.

Mannum is quite a pretty part of the world anyway, so no excuse required really.

I’m back on the Murray River – somewhere I haven’t been for over 2 months.

The Murray being as long as it is allows one to engage it in vastly different regions and I am indeed in a vastly different region to where I encountered it previously.

In South Australian parlance, this area is known as “Murraylands” – as distinct from “Riverland”, where the Murray flows into South Australia from Victoria in the north.

This section of the river is very much regarded as “downstream”.

Only a matter of miles south of here, the Murray famously enters the ocean at Lake Alexandrina.

In fact, my next destination Wellington is located at this very junction.

Mannum is a popular tourist stop for numerous reasons - least of all it is a well situated and nicely stocked town – a handful of historic pubs, eateries, plenty of accommodation etc.

The main drawcards however are the houseboat and paddlesteamer culture, allowing folk to hire out luxury houseboats for day tripping or even longer excursions with all your wealthy friends.

P.S Marion is Mannum’s historic paddlesteamer in residence and is similarly open for tourist inspection and short-hauls down the river on demand.

The 24-hour/7-day-a-week vehicle punt adds to the ambience although this is hardly a feature exclusive to Mannum.

South Australian river towns north and south have these punts running across day and night, not something to be found so much in the Victorian Murray regions for some reason.

Alas, yet another nasty little storm front has blown into Mannum this evening, so I must anticipate tomorrow’s activity with contingency in mind.

I’d quite clearly prefer to get moving but this weather is for fools and ducks exclusively.

And being neither of these, I’ll just have to wait and see.

DAY 112 - MANNUM SA

MANNUM SA

DAY 112

GAWLER - MANNUM

79.74 km

Total Time: 09.00 – 16.30 (7h 30m)

Time on Bike: 5h 06m 44s

Max. Speed: 68.7 km/h

Av. Speed: 15.6 km/h


Someone mentioned a few days ago there would be some climbing between Gawler and Mannum.

They were right.

6 days off the bike and the Gods of Topography delivered a deluxe serving of Asskick today with a sweet raspberry on top.

The first 40 out of Gawler were as steep in sections as anything I’ve climbed to date.

16 km from Gawler, Williamstown is about halfway up one of South Australia’s biggest passes.

Well at least that’s what I thought until I took the Mannum turnoff after lunch.

This is when things got really serious.

Those hills that hem Adelaide in from the east kind of extend north of the city and then even further north they become the Flinders.

It was those bits just north of Adelaide that dragged me all the way over them today.

And no amount of yelping and screaming and swearing was set to help my cause.

In time, I actually came to realise I got the better cut.

For as much hardcore climbing as I did this morning and even after lunch, the downhill drop beyond the town of Tungkillo is where it really takes off.

It is a 10 km screamer – way long and easily as steep as Victoria Pass in the Blue Mountains just north of Palmer.

The speed limit through Palmer is 50 km/h and for good reason.

I breezed through at 64 km/h around 3 pm – I just couldn’t let the end of that final downhill pinch go to waste.

Nice town, Palmer - only you’d only ever find me flying through in one direction.

Beyond here, it is a 15 km run into Mannum that dreams are made of – flat downhill and fast and just a hint of tailwind with a late afternoon July sun finally sinking through the cold walls of darkness behind me.

Mannum was mine by 4.30 when at one stage any hour seemed reasonable.

I think I will stay here a day and have a look around.

It was well earned.

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.

DAY 110 - ADELAIDE SA

ADELAIDE SA

DAY 110

31.19 km

Total Time: 11.30 – 16.45 (1h)

Time on Bike: 1h 46m 04s

Max. Speed: 33.4 km/h

Av. Speed: 17.6 km/h


I leave Adelaide tomorrow for Gawler.

Another chapter is drawing to a close but not before one final round of gluttony at the Gawler Arms tomorrow evening and I refuse to take on any guilt about it….

I took the bike out this afternoon on another run to Semaphore and Largs Pier.

On certain days, photo sessions offer themselves quite freely but today just wasn’t one of them.

With every plan to seize the moment, the conditions make life rather a chore.

I’m guessing this means I must learn to use such conditions more to my advantage, no matter what the situation.

After all, I do take a high measure of enjoyment in getting some quality shots however it is gloomy affairs like today that make me work a little harder for the money.

By the end, I finished with some quite acceptable results of a fine subject on an average day.

I can be happy with this.

This evening was spent at the Buckingham Arms Hotel in the Medindie area of Adelaide for reasons of being invited to a monthly gathering of the Vincent Motorcycle Owners of SA.

Not that I own a Vincent (or ever will), but you see I’m in with the club now that I’m sort of an honorary member or at least a visiting tag-along or some other such thing.

If this makes sense to the uninitiated reader, well maybe I should clarify that we’ve previously met, the Vincent owners and I.

And I’ve kind of kept in touch with some of them over the time and they’ve kept in touch with me and my wanderings.

So with me being in Adelaide and them meeting in Adelaide tonight, it was a nice excuse to get together for a feed and drink and for me to show off some of my travel photography to an otherwise captive audience.

That’s all there was to it and a more than suitable way to spend my final evening in Adelaide.

I have wholly mixed feelings about the next section of the trip that officially gets underway tomorrow morning.

Too much for the current posting, but perhaps more to come in days ahead.

I thank you Adelaide.

DAY 109 - ADELAIDE SA

ADELAIDE SA

DAY 109

BLACK FOREST – HENLEY BEACH

18.36 km

Total Time: 15.30 – 16.30 (1h)

Time on Bike: 58m 38s

Max. Speed: 27.6 km/h

Av. Speed: 18.8 km/h


I moved across from Black Forest to Henley Beach this afternoon.

Massive thank you’s once again to Geoff and Hellina Barnes for some of the finest and homely hospitality anywhere.

And an introduction now to my current hosts in Henley Beach, Steve and Anne Lewis.

Steve, Anne and myself met in Blinman on a cold, cold night just on nigh 2 weeks ago.

Stoking that log fire in the Blinman Hotel dining room was the catalyst for our connection and I am most grateful to accept more of this South Australian hospitality that seems to be following me around over here.

My tenure in Adelaide is extended by yet another couple of days and the weather forecasts are loaded with gloominess for the next week or more.

I can’t be entirely sure whether hanging about like this is set to be help or hindrance but what I do know is that any kind of hospitality is usually good hospitality and it’s invariably best to grab it when it is on offer.

So this is what I’m doing.

Tomorrow has another exciting program of mini-adventures in store, so I will leave things until then to unfold as they may.