May 4: A Long Day Out of Adelaide
I actually did get a butt-crack of dawn start this morning. I was up before daylight (I had warned my dorm mates that I would be leaving early). The gal in the bunk below me got up and actually helped me carry my bags downstairs. I feel bad because I never got her name. She was Asian, and her English was not the best, but she was very sweet. Megan, the other gal (a student who comes to Adelaide for classes on Thursday and Friday, then goes back to a farm in New South Wales for the rest of the week—its a 4 hour bus ride every week!), was still asleep when I left.
I left the hostel at 6:45. It was just getting light. Before too long, the traffic really picked up. Just like entering Adelaide, it was a long time getting out to the countryside. There was a bike lane on the A1 all the way until the turn to St. Kilda. That’s like having a bike lane on the freeway! Once the official bike lane went away, there was no shoulder, but much of the traffic had exited onto the motorway. Still, there were big trucks with signs on the back that said “Road Train”. Most of them didn’t seem any different than the trucks that said “Long Vehicle”. There was the occasional triple trailer. Eventually there was a shoulder again.
I had stopped at a truck stop about 20km out of Adelaide, but then didn’t stop again until the town of Dublin at 61km. There I had some lunch. I didn’t stop much because there was nothing to stop for. It was flat wide open space, and the wind was WSW, which was sometimes okay, and other times not so great. Over 97.8km, my average was 16.8. I didn’t think that was too bad.
I made one more stop at one of those rest areas. This one would not have been a good place to camp unless I absolutely had to. There was no way to be hidden (it bordered a military area that was fenced completely).
Due to my early start, I rolled into Port Wakefield about 1:45. I was ready to be done, though. Tonight’s camping is only $10. The camp kitchen is okay, but no cooktop. There is a microwave and a kettle. Port Wakefield is on the Gulf of St. Vincent. On the other side of the Gulf is the Yorke Peninsula. I kind of wish I had planned to do the Peninsula. There is a cycling route around the Peninsula, but it would add more than 500km. Instead, I will go to Port Broughton.
Long flat road
Port Wakefield
May 5: Traversing the Yorke
Today I traversed the northern part of the Yorke Peninsula. The first 17km was flat, but with a headwind. I could see the climb ahead for quite some time. I was actually happy to finally start climbing. It wasn’t that bad. At the top I stayed along the ridge doing rolling hills. The wind was no longer a headwind, so I made good time. I was rolling by harvested wheat fields. I passed a couple of unique sights.
The story about these toilets is that the guy who lives in the house, replaced his toilet, and set the old one out by the road. As time went on, people would bring their old toilets and leave them there. Now, as you can see, there is quite the collection.
Cream Puff Corner even had a sign about it.
I rode through Bute. Since I was about 43km into the day, I thought it would be a good place to stop for a snack and a break. At first it seemed like nothing was open, but I saw a guy go into a small grocery store. Ah ha! I pulled in and sure enough, it was open.
I had been told there were two caravan parks in Port Broughton. The one to go to was NOT Port Broughton Caravan Park. So, when I got to the town, I followed the signs to the Port Broughton Bayside Caravan Park. When I arrived, there was a sign that said “Find a site, Caretaker will call”. So, I rode around, but didn’t really see anything that looked like a vacant site. In fact, the majority of the park is permanent caravans. There was just a small area where there were some non-permanent caravans. I asked a guy what the deal was. He said the owner is out, but I could just set up my tent by his caravan. Well, okay...
The showers didn’t require a key, so that was fine (although Sean said they would find one for me if that was necessary). I set everything up, took a shower, and spent the early afternoon talking to Sean. Later we went to the other end of the park where there is a big shed with a big flat screen TV, and where all the permanent residents gather in the evening to watch the Footie game. I met everyone (Michael, Roger 4, Basil, Roger 2, Doug, Annette, Raylene, and Sean of course). We had a nice evening. They asked me lots of questions, and I learned more about the rules of Footie. They heated up a pan of little beef pies. The way to eat them was to stick the nozzle of the ketchup bottle into the pie, and squeeze some ketchup in (only they don’t call it ketchup, it’s “sauce”). They were tasty.
At about 7:00 I said my goodbyes and goodnights. Although I wasn’t that hungry, I made a peanut butter and Nutella tortilla.
Tomorrow, Sean wants to try riding Tilmann fully loaded. I’ll have to take photos.
Wheat stubble, and one lone tree
Commode row
Cream Puff Corner
Sean and me
May 6: Onto Another Port
Today was about 85km from Port Broughton to Port Pirie to Port Germein. The wind was not in my favor getting to Port Pirie. At times I was struggling to do 12km/hour. I took one pee break, and planned to take a longer break, but the flies were awful, so I kept going. That was a mistake. I arrived in Port Pirie at about 12:15. As I rolled through the town, I saw there was a Subway on the Main Rd. I found it, but had to wait in line a bit. I was starting to get lightheaded. By the time I got to pay, I was leaning on the counter, and things were going dark. I grabbed my sandwich, and sat down at the nearest table. It took a few bites before I was able to get up and get something to drink. But, once I finished my lunch, I was fine, and ready to continue on to Port Germein. Funny thing about Port Pirie. Both in Port Wakefield and Port Broughton people had told me Port Pirie was shit (their words). I thought the town looked pretty nice. It was definitely a bigger town than the other two (and Port Germein too). Maybe they were just jealous...
Sean, at Port Broughton, told me it was about 30km from Port Pirie to Port Germein. Actually, it was more like 20. That was good because I was back on the A1, and the shoulder was crap. There was too much traffic to play my game of riding in the lane, then getting over to the bumpy shoulder when a vehicle was coming. Good thing it wasn’t too far. Plus, the wind was better.
Port Germein has the distinction of having the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s 1 1/2km long. I wasn’t going to walk out to the end, but you know how that goes. Walk a bit, then walk a bit more, then next thing you know, you are at the end. I walked about halfway before I even got to the water. The tide goes out a very long way (hence the need for a long jetty). The water is the Spencer Gulf. Tomorrow, I will get to my 5th Port (counting Pirie)—Port Augusta. That will be the last Port for a few days (even though I will be continuing to follow the coast around to the other side of Spencer Gulf).
The old lighthouse
Walking toward the jetty
Long way out there
At the end
Southern Flinders Range
Sunset on Spencer Gulf
May 7: Long Hard Day to Port Augusta
There will be no photos for this day as I am currently at the library, and haven’t downloaded the paltry few photos I took today. Today was just 68km, but it was the longest 68km. The head wind was absolutely awful. I even took the brim off my helmet. There’s not much else to say about this day. I’m tired, and I need to get on to the caravan park. I am hoping, as I will be going south tomorrow, that the wind will be in my favor.
No comments:
Post a Comment