Sunday March 16, 2014

We did get an early start today.  As we were loading panniers on to the bikes it started to rain.  The forecast was for showers, we carried on.  We left Mount Gambier at 8:15 in a light shower.  Unfortunately for us the heavens opened and we were cold and wet for the first 40 kms.

We crossed into the State of Victoria at the 17.5 kms mark.  It was still raining.

It stopped raining as we came towards Dartmoor. I told Ralf about the tree carvings in Dartmoor but we decided because we were cold to by-pass them.  However, as luck would have it Ralf noticed the sign for the public toilets and we diverted into the Village.  It was well worth the stop.  As Ralf was taking the photos a little old lady came out of one of the cottages and gave him two brochures telling us about the Village and the carvings.  The Memorial Streetscape was created from nine trees that had been identified as dangerous.  The trees had originally been planted in September 1918 to commemorate WW 1.

The Nurse – Nurses were beacons of hope and comfort

Sad News – Telegrams notifying deaths were sent to local clergymen so they could break the news

At Arms – Australian soliders were respected for their courage

The Boy at War – it was common for young men – boys- to lie about their age

Three Services – Men from the local area served in all 3 services

Over the Top – A digger climbing the trench

Rest in Peace

The Parting – some men were \’farewelled\’ by a wife and children – others were held by the their parents

The Game – “Two Up” The phrase “The Game” was also the Soldier’s euphemism for The War and just as luck determined a win at “Two Up” so did it often determine survival on the battlefield.

We were going to stop at Winnap where there was supposed to be a campsite.  Apparently the campsite has been closed for 10 years, it is still showing on the maps. No campsite to be seen but we had already decided to carry on to Heywood, as it is a bigger town and we would have a couple of choices for camping or motel.

We chose to stay in a cabin tonight.  It has everything and we have decided that this is all we will need when we have finished the Grand Adventure, maybe a bigger bathroom.

Saturday March 15, 2014

We woke early to rain pouring down on the steel roof.  We had planned an early start, but after checking the weather forecast we realized that it was going to rain all day.  At 8:00 a.m. we called our host and asked if we could stay an extra day.

Although we are not made of sugar, we really didn’t want to be wet all day.  Sandy very generously said we could stay an extra night.

I spent a couple of hours updating the blog and Ralf worked on his photos.  I then found a book to read, what luxury a day spent reading.  It was a really interesting book.  Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin.

Friday March 14, 2014

A lovely rest day today.   We decided to cycle to Blue Lake and around the Town, Ralf estimated to see all the sites we would be cycling about 15 kms.  He was pretty close with his estimate.  We removed all the panniers and had a nice ride.

Blue Lake, Leg of Mutton Lake and Valley Lake were lakes all created by volcanoes.

Leg of Mutton Lake was planted with eucalyptus from all areas of Australia, European hardwoods and North American pine species.  With falling water table levels over the last century, the original lake has disappeared.  As you can see by Ralf\’s photo the colours are changing, it is going into the autumn season here.

Blue Lake has a strange phenomenon, in the winter it is gray and in a few days in November it changes to an incredible turquoise blue.  During March it gradually changes back to grey.  Fortunately for us it is still a stunning blue with a tinge of turquoise around the edges.

There is a very scientific explanation why it turns blue in the summer, in a nutshell it is because the calcite and humic substances which are present in the water fall to the floor of the lake.  During the summer, the surface waters have the humic substances removed and hence the natural blue colour of the water is more evident.

We met a nice couple who were on a belated honeymoon. His description of the lake was \”It looks like a giant plug hole in the Art Department sink, it leaves a blue bit with turquoise around the edges\”.

We also went to the second major sinkhole in the area.  This garden was created in 1884 by the then owner James Umpherston, it fell into disrepair but was restored by the Woods and Forests Social Club.

New plantings provided a mix of native and exotic species.  Umpherston’s original vision of the sinkhole as an attractive and popular recreational area was once more a reality.  The City of Mount Gambier obtained the site in 1994 and is responsible for all maintenance.

There were signs warning of bee activity.  This was one of four hives that Ralf got a photo of.  This one is the size of a basketball.

Both bikes got cleaned today as well, although it is forecast for rain tomorrow.

Mount Gambier is a really nice City, but needs more bike lanes!

Thursday March 13, 2014

A relatively short day today because of our longer ride yesterday.  The scenery in South Australia is not as stunning as New Zealand however, I realized that we still need to take photos of our day and the scenery we are seeing so that you can see it too. When we stop for some electrolyte or something to snack on which is about once an hour, I will take a photo.

Ralf and I were trying to decide which came first the wooden structure or the brick structure.

At 24 kms we stopped just before this hill.

Today\’s route was very gentle rolling hills, no major climbs until we came to our warm showers house which was once again up a hill.  This time there was no “hill” in the name so no indication that there would be climb at the end of our ride.  If Sandy has been reading these blogs I am sure he is laughing.  Sandy is our host or at least he would be if he was here!  This is another situation where the host has trusted us with his house while he is away.  A neighbour is keeping an eye on the house while he is away and we were given the key and told to make ourselves comfortable. Sandy has also invited us to stay with him when we get to Anglesea. Incredibly generous.

We arrived at about 11:00, and settled in, then we went for a walk downtown to see some of the historic buildings and to get some provisions for the next few days. As we passed the catholic church and convent we noticed the door was open.

We went inside and there was a school group doing a project.  The Father came out to talk to us and was a really nice guy.  I told him about Scott joining the priesthood.  His comment was “Good on him, we need all the priests we can get”.

We also visited the first of the sink-holes which is in the centre of the downtown.  Early settlers settled around this area to access the ample supply of fresh water.

Not sure how deep this one is, the sinkholes are formed when the roof of a cave weakens and collapses in or falls to the bottom of the cave.

The City of Mt Gambier has a myriad of caves below the City.

Wednesday March 12, 2014

We were up early to get on the road by 8:00 am and as usual it didn’t quite work out that way.  We both got chatting to other campers and got away by 8:40.  However, we have been invited to stay with a couple (Gay and Ron) when we go through their Town (Lara) near Geelong.

Today’s plan was to stop in Beachport for lunch and to pick up some provisions and then camp at Southend.  We did stop in Beachport for lunch which has a jetty that is over 770 metres long it was completed in 1882. Beachport has a very active rock lobster fishing industry.

We also chatted to two older couples about our ride, they had seen us cycling in Kingston.

When we were in Kingston the campground owner told us about the Woakwine cutting and that we should make the detour to see it.  Apparently a farmer wanted to drain a swamp area on his land and dug a cutting to allow it to drain.  Of course it also redirected fresh water to the ocean and damaged the Coorong resulting in the die-off of seaweed, which now deposits on all the pristine beaches.  When we were chatting to this fella about it, we thought it had happened recently, but it was ‘cut’ in 1957.

We came across the area today and were undecided whether to cycle up the hill to see the ‘cut’.  Both of us are glad we did, it is unbelievable.

The work was undertaken by two men Mr. McCourt and an employee.  It took them three years to complete using a caterpillar 7 tractor, a 7 ton drain ripper. Letourneau 8-11 yard scraper and explosives.  The cutting is 1 km in length and 28-34 metres at its deepest point it entailed the removal of 276,000 cubic metres of material.  Ralf cycled down the gravel road to view the land that had been drained.

When we got to the turn-off at Southend we checked on the map to see how far it was to Millicent and how far to the camp-site in Southend.  Millicent was another 20 kms away and the campsite was 8kms.  We were both feeling good, the weather was comfortable so we decided to carry-on to Millicent.

Today\’s route was nice, a mix of farming and coast line.  We also saw 2 more emu, they spotted us and took of in the opposite direction.

Millicent is a fair size Town with a Kimberley-Clark paper mill.  The Town seemed very quiet and when we stopped for a drink in the pub, the bar person said there had been two paper mills but one was closed down.  The paper mill and farming were the two biggest employers in the area.  Quiet a few of the stores were empty.

The camp-ground was a nice small site with a good camp kitchen.

Tuesday March 11, 2014

A short ride today.  We got started a little after 8:15 as we had a couple of rain-showers and were chatting to other people in the camp kitchen.

The route today was varied with a south-westerly wind.  We cycled the 5 km cycle path out of Kingston and then onto the B101.  The first part was typical scenery of bushland and pastoral land, grazing beef and sheep.  We then passed a managed forestry area about 10 kms of straight rows of pine trees.  We actually had some hills to go up today !! Mount Benson – on our Garmin\’s we had an elevation of 30 metres. No I haven’t missed a zero!

We arrived in Robe at about 11:30 settled into the camp site and headed into the historic downtown of Robe, along a shoreline path.

Robe is similar to Kingston a coastal Town.  Robe is more compact as most of its historic buildings are centred around the Bay.  The historic buildings all have historic plaques telling you the history of the building.  Kingston did not have the historic plaques. It is helpful to have the plaques on the buildings.

The shoreline near Robe is very rugged and was the cause of many shipwrecks.

Monday March 10, 2014

A lovely relaxing day in Kingston.  When we arrived yesterday we went to the Information Centre we picked up a pamphlet of “Interesting walks around Kingston”.  There were five self-guided walks and we did four of them.  However, before starting the walks, we had to visit the Lighthouse.  This lighthouse was originally sited out at sea near Cape Jaffa.  The lighthouse was dismantled and re-sited in its present position in 1974 and is now managed by the National Trust and a group of very dedicated volunteers.

We got a guided tour by Vanessa who looked remarkably like Dame Judi Dench.  A lovely woman who gave us the history of the lighthouse and the keepers who lived there.  We of course had to climb to the top and viewed the surrounding countryside.

Ralf took this photo of the prisms.  We are definitely Down Under!

This life boat was also placed here after being found washed up in the Coorong (42 mile crossing).  It had broken away from the MS Oliva which had run aground nearly 10 nautical miles off Nightingale Island in the South Atlantic Ocean – over 8,000 kms away from Australia.

The historic walks took us to Cooke’s Street.  The Cooke brothers were involved with the Town’s development as they wanted a safe port from which to ship their wool directly to England.

Rosetown was a private town which grew up on the sand dunes beside the Maria Creek. It has this fantastic Analemmatic Sundial which was erected as a Bicentennial Community project.  It was designed and crafted by Adelaide sculpture Silvio Apponyi.  Granite was selected from outcrops 18km north of Kingston.

To \”work\” the sundial you have to stand on the corresponding dates, facing your shadow.  If you are not tall enough for your shadow to reach the numbers you have to raise your arms.

The most photogenic part of the walk was the core area, the post office, old police station and cells (which were used up until 1974) and the hotel all of the buildings were built around 1870’s.

It was a great day and we really enjoyed staying in Kingston.  One of the couples we were talking to at dinner told us not to tell anyone about Kingston.  Sorry guys I have to tell people Kingston is a great Town and well worth a visit.

Sunday March 9, 2014

We had a NW wind for the first 60 kms, which was good enough for us.  It wasn’t a head wind.  We had a tailwind for the last 20 kms.  We did 85 kms in under 4 hours, awesome.

It was a very early start this morning we got up before the sun and the birds (5:30 am).  We were ready to go by 6:30, but it was still dark, we puttered around for 15 minutes and decided to head out with all our lights blazing, it was getting lighter but the sun didn’t fully rise for another 40 minutes.

The first 60 kms we were riding along a very straight, flat road.  We had trees, or shrubs on either side of us for the majority of that distance, which made it relatively cool and good cycling temperatures, but nothing much to look at.  However, being on the road so early we did get to see some wildlife.  We saw 3 emu, crossing the road about 50 metres in front of us.  Unfortunately we were not quick enough to get the cameras out to take photos of them, and it was still a little dark. We also saw our first live kangaroo hopping across the road, a red fox and our first wombat – dead.

The last 25 kms we were in the open coastal area – we still couldn’t see the sea because of the dunes.  A few beef cattle are grown in this area.

We also saw these granite outcroppings.  The area around here is completely flat then these two bumps appear.  I think it looked like an elephant, but maybe the sun was getting too hot.

When we came into Kingston the first thing we did was check out the giant lobster.  It is supposed to be the big attraction in Kingston.  In the early 80\’s a couple of business men thought it would be a good idea to build a giant road side attraction, restaurant and information centre too attract people to Kingston.  All that is left is the giant lobster, a rather expensive large and empty restaurant which had a very limited choice for food and no information centre.  Across the road was a superb little bakery, where we had a lovely lunch.

We had lunch then continued to cycle into downtown Kingston and found the campsite.  A nice, clean site opposite the beach.

We got into the Kingston Caravan Park at 11:30 am.  After setting up the tent and showering we took a walk back into the downtown along the coastal road.  Kingston has a population of about 2,000 with the main industries being fishing, farming and viticulture.

Tomorrow we are taking a rest day and will have a good walk around the Town and take photos of the historic buildings, may be take a ride along the bike path.

Saturday March 8, 2014

Although we were up at 6:00 am we still didn’t get going on the road until 8:45 am.  We did chat to a fella for about 15 minutes, but it seemed along time to break camp (2.5 hours).  If we want to do longer distances and get our ride done before it gets too hot then we have to get going earlier.  However, once we were on the road we motored, 61 ks in 3 hours – pretty quick for us.  Of course on our road bikes that would be pretty slow, but you go with what you have.  Todays ride was good.  The scenery was different from yesterday, although not stunning.  There was a pull-out with a camera on the sign indicating that this was a good place for photos – judge for yourself!  Maybe we have been spoilt by New Zealand.

We had three options for camping today, Policeman Point (50kms), Salt Creek (61kms) and Chinaman Wells (79kms).  Policeman Point was too early. We stopped at Salt Creek for something to eat and to ask what camping facilities were available at Chinaman Wells.

Stuart told us that to get to the campsite it is down a dirt road for about 3 kms and the campsite was very basic, which means that there are no hot showers, possibly no potable water and only a long drop for a toilet.  If we had gone on to Chinaman Wells, it would have been another 18 kms, very manageable and would have made tomorrows ride 69kms.  However, we need to have water. We decided to stop at Salt Creek, which will make tomorrows ride 85 kms but we will be able to get fresh water and start early.

We have chosen to stay in a cabin tonight, which means we can be up and on the road at first light – 7:00. Fortunately checking the weather forecast we should have a tailwind.!!

Salt Creek is a very small place.  However, at Salt Creek there had been some exploration for oil – none was found.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Another short day of riding, not because we are lazy, but because we have to judge our distances between camp sites carefully.  The next campsite after Meningie is another 50 kms down the road.  I never thought that I would say that 100 kms was too far to cycle, but 100 kms is too far for one day on a loaded touring bike with the wind against us.

I made a slight error when deciding to cycle from Adelaide to Brisbane, we are cycling against the prevailing winds.  That is similar to cycling from Halifax to Vancouver instead of Vancouver to Halifax with the prevailing winds or John O’Groats to Lands End instead of the other way around.  Prevailing winds make life a lot easier, especially on a bike.  The wind was not a full-on headwind, but it was constant at about 20 to 30 kms.  Ralf and I took our turn at the front as we usually do when it is windy.

We left Wellington at 9:00 am on the ferry crossing the Mighty River Murray.  A ferry has been offering travellers continuous ferry passage over the Mighty River Murray for about 170 years.  The 3 minute ride is free and runs 24/7 every day except Christmas Day.

It is amazing what the ferry can carry, on our crossing it had 6 cars, a transport and 2 bicycles. On the return one gravel hauler and a couple of cars.

The first 20 kms the road was long and straight, a couple of slight curves in it but basically very long and very straight.  At 25 kms we went up a hill!, well a bump in the road really.  Then it was back to long and straight.  At 35 kms we had a couple more undulations, then back to being long and straight.

Can you spot the change in scenery!

The road was so straight that when it had a dip in the road there was a warning sign for the dip!

Meningie is another small coastal town.  It has a lovely waterfront on Lake Albert.

The folk lore about this Ostrich is about an Irishman who held up travellers and stole their jewellery, he liked to wear the jewellery.  He was only a small man and was able to get away from the police on the ostrich, because it could go across the sand dunes a lot easier than the horses.

Tomorrow we will be heading down the Princes Highway with the Southern Ocean to our right.  This is called the Limestone Coast.  It should be a nice ride.