Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 098 - Hawker to Blinman

Day:  098

Date:  Wednesday, 07 October 2020

Start:  Hawker

Finish:  Blinman

Daily Kilometres:  121 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  10251

Weather:  Cold, wet and windy

Accommodation:  Hotel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Ham & pickle sandwich/Chees & gherkin sandwich

  Lunch:  Roast beef & pickle sandwich/Ham & salad roll

  Dinner:  Bangers & mash & vegetables/Chicken schnitzel, salad & chips, ice-creams 

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Hot showers in our hotel at the end of a very cold, wet and muddy day.

Lowlight:  Many to choose from, but maybe the first squall that hit us about an hour after leaving Hawker.  The road was through open treeless country, and along with heavy rain came a bitterly cold crosswind, strong enough to cause unexpected sideways moves on the bike, on a morning when the base temperature (excluding wind chill and wet chill) was high single digits Centigrade.  We were both chilled to the bone, unable to feel our fingers or feet, and shivering uncontrollably.  There was no possible shelter from the elements, so we had no choice but to continue pedalling towards Parachilna, 70km away.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Last night, after reviewing the weather warnings for heavy rain and strong winds today, we modified our plans slightly.  Originally, we were going to camp at Angorichina, midway along the 33km of unsealed road through Parachilna Gorge, but the idea of setting up camp in the rain after a day's riding in the rain, did not appeal.  I called the only hotel in Blinman and was lucky enough to get a room (school holiday time in this tourist area) which I booked, even though somewhat overpriced.  Thus we were committed for the day to ride 90km north to the tiny settlement of Parachilna and then eastwards on the unsealed road up through Parachilna Gorge to the tiny village of Blinman in forecast heavy rain and strong easterly winds.  Of course, there was a temptation just to stay for a second night where we were, but I have booked accommodation for the next week plus an overdue service for the bikes in Adelaide, so changing plans would have been a pain in the butt.  Also, often when dire weather is predicted, it doesn't turn out to be quite so bad when you get out in it.

We decided to make an early start to give ourselves some buffer time, and left the motel at first light around 6:15am.  As if to warn us of the perils ahead, the motel carpark was entirely under water following heavy rain overnight, which wasn't obvious in the dark until I put a foot in it.  Getting out of the motel without wet feet proved a challenge but, in retrospect, we shouldn't have worried since we were soon soaked.  Out on the road, although it was very cold and raining lightly, there was a tailwind which was encouraging and we sped along as the gloom lifted to reveal fog-capped mountains to our right.

As the road climbed some gentle hills it became more exposed to what was now a crosswind, and it began to rain hard, with big cold drops whipped into us like bullets by the bitterly cold wind and life became quite miserable.  As the rain continued, we got colder and colder with still 70km to go before the first likely shelter.  I was worried about Julie, who I know feels the cold, becoming hypothermic and was mentally running through our options.  Stopping to put up the tent, was one option, but would have been very difficult in the conditions.  I decided that, so long as Julie was willing to keep riding, it was best to keep going.  If things really deteriorated, we could stop one of the few vehicles travelling in the other direction and seek assistance.

The first rain squall eventually passed and we had a period of relative dryness, but still with the wind.  Up ahead we could see eerie cloud-cloaked mountains and low grey clouds, some of which were unloading rain, so it was only a question of time til the next squall arrived, which it duly did.  This squall was even longer and colder than the first, but we were closer to Parachilna and motivated to just keep going.  It finally passed and we gradually dried out a little in the wind as we pedalled as quickly as we could to the tiny town.  We reached there around 10:30am, not having stopped once on the 90km journey, and found the small old station house/museum which offered protection from the wind and spitting rain and ate our breakfast sitting on the dusty concrete floor.

The second part of the day's ride first took us for 8km to the mouth of the Parachilna Gorge directly into the very strong easterly wind on a rocky gravel road across the treeless plain.  Progress was slow and energy-sapping and the mountains never seemed to get any closer.  Eventually we reached the mouth and traded gradual climbing for a lighter headwind as we entered the very picturesque gorge.  The sides were steep and rocky while the base was mostly dry rocky river bed and stately eucalypts.  Even in the wet difficult conditions, we appreciated the beauty of the place, as apparently did a lot of other holiday-makers.  The higher we climbed in the gorge the wetter the road became, while each dip required crossing a large puddle or water flow.  Soon we were riding through a kind of soupy mud, about 2cm deep with the consistency of custard, most of the time.  On the steeper climbs, our road tyres sometimes lost traction, making for some excitement.  Passing vehicles generally slowed, but it only takes one idiot and my panniers and I got covered with sprayed mud.

We could have stopped at the campground half-way along the gorge road for a hot chocolate and some shelter, but we were still cold and wet, so opted to carry on another uphill 15km to our hotel in Blinman where a hot shower was becoming increasingly attractive.  As we climbed higher, the scenery changed to rolling park-like hills covered with conifers and no undergrowth, before we emerged into sheep grazing country near Blinman, which claims to be the highest town in South Australia.

We reached the hotel just after 3pm, covered in mud, as were our bikes and gear.  It was packed with holiday-makers seeking wet-weather alternatives and it took me a while to check in.  Meanwhile, Julie was outside entertaining a group of guys having a beer on the pub verandah interested in what we had been doing, eliciting loud cheers and applause.  I asked the proprietress if there was an outside hose or tap and bucket we could use to wash ourselves and gear down before going to our room, but she declined to help, so we felt entitled to bring all of our muddy gear and selves into the room, locking the bikes to a post on their rear verandah.  By the time we had unpacked, undressed, showered and washed off the gear in the shower, the bathroom was a muddy mess which Julie later mopped up superbly with their supplied flannel.

We later had dinner in the hotel, still busy with vacationers dodging the weather, and retired to our room, decorated with drying gear and clothes, for the night.  The TV doesn't work, the heater is struggling, and I found a used condom wrapper (not mine) on the bedhead, but it's nice to be out of the rain which we can hear being driven into our window by the wind.