Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 114 - Buronga to Balranald

Day:  114

Date:  Friday, 23 October 2020

Start:  Buronga

Finish:  Balranald

Daily Kilometres:  156 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  12062

Weather:  Mild, humid, overcast, with occasional light rain

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg & lettuce rolls

  Lunch:  Chicken, cheese, tomato & lettuce rolls

  Dinner:  Lasagne/Spaghetti bolognaise, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant 

Highlight:  The weather conditions for riding were much better than anticipated.  The weather forecasts issued both last night and early this morning contained warnings for heavy rain and strong winds, so we were anticipating a miserable day, with 155km to ride.  However, we only encountered periods of light spitting rain, barely enough to warrant donning a rainjacket, and the winds were relatively light and neutral in direction.

Lowlight:  None really

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We expected miserable weather today (see above), so set off apprehensively in darkness at 5:40am for our 155km ride to Balranald.  We carried our supplies for the day, since, although our route took us close to the town of Robinvale, we could not use it for resupply as it would have required crossing the Murray River into Victoria, and we wouldn't have been allowed back into New South Wales without quarantining (we could see the police checkpoint from the Robinvale turnoff as we passed by).

There were vineyards and orchards early on, but then it was mostly Mallee woodland - red sandy soil, small gnarly eucalypts and low scrub - on both sides of the road.  We reached our planned breakfast stop at 54km without encountering rain or headwinds and decided to take advantage of the conditions to go another 15km to the next rest area before stopping around 8:40am.

As we were getting ready to leave, it began spitting with rain and we put on our rainjackets, though the humidity was high and we were soon sweating.  We rode 35km to another highway rest area in the spitting rain, skirting the hamlet of Euston and passing the Robinvale turnoff en route.  Around those places, there were some more vineyards and almond orchards, but before long we were back into the Mallee woodland and then some sheep grazing country and the occasional grain field.

At our next break, we decided it was too warm and not raining enough to warrant our rainjackets, but we hadn't gone too far before the rain intensified enough to make us stop and put them back on.  Despite the Sturt Highway being the main route between Sydney and Adelaide, traffic was relatively light, and we often had extended periods during which we had the road to ourselves, which is always enjoyable.  As the light rain continued, we ended up riding 45km to our final (lunch) break, a little further than planned, so that we had a rest area with a sheltered picnic table.

It was then only 15km to our motel in Balranald, reached about 2:30pm, after a comfortable and better-than-expected ride.  The balance of the day was the usual showers, shopping and recovery.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 113 - Renmark to Buronga

Day:  113

Date:  Thursday, 22 October 2020

Start:  Renmark

Finish:  Buronga

Daily Kilometres:  145 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  11906

Weather:  Warm and sunny

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg & lettuce sandwiches

  Lunch:  Beef, tomato & relish sandwiches

  Dinner:  Bangers & mash/Chicken pasta bake, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Being allowed back into New South Wales (NSW) without being required to quarantine, having transited through 100+ kilometres of COVID-stricken Victoria on our way from South Australia (SA).   The NSW government says on its website you can only travel from SA to NSW through Victoria by private vehicle along the Sturt Highway, which is what we did, but we doubted they expected to see any cyclists.  The NSW police were mildly amused and bemused by our arrival, and we were sent to another checkpoint to fill out a form and have our ID checked (by a policeman who turned out to be from our home town of Terrigal), but all was fine and in 15 minutes we were on our way.

Lowlight:  The flies, when we stopped by the road under a tree to have lunch, were of plague proportions.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were both awake at 3:45am, perhaps in anticipation of crossing back into NSW today, and decided to get up and on the road early.  I also hoped, fruitlessly as it turned out, to see the Orionid meteor shower which was supposed to be visible between 4am and 5am.  We got on the road at 4:30am and rode south-east out of Renmark after crossing the Murray River again.  Although the sky was clear, the meteor shower was supposed to be visible in the northern sky, that is back over our left shoulders, so it was a bit hard to keep a close watch.

It was cool, though not cold, and apart from a gradual climb away from the river, the riding was easy in the darkness, made even better by very little traffic.  We reached the Victorian border as the sky was lighting the east and we were then treated to another beautiful sunrise as we traversed the arid woodlands of the Murray Sunset National Park.  While the rising sun was low, we had some concerns about our visibility to vehicles, mostly trucks, approaching from behind, but fortunately the road edge was quite wide and rideable, so we stayed there and had no problems.

We stopped in a roadside rest area for breakfast after 50km, where it was still cool, though you could feel the temperature rising by the minute.  After breakfast, a mild headwind sprang up, slowing our progress a little, as we passed through vast fields of wheat and hay, interspersed with scrubby sandy woodland.

After another 30km, we stopped for a break in another roadside rest area.  We had the option of stopping at a store in the tiny hamlet of Cullulleraine, just a few kilometres ahead, but we had decided it was better not to enter any stores or other businesses in Victoria as we transited so we had a better story to tell to the NSW police at the border, if asked.

Our last break, for lunch, under a tree by the road with 30km to go, was spoiled by the flies and we didn't dally.  By now the country included some huge vineyards to accompany the vast grain fields, and there were orchards and more signs of civilisation as we approached Merbein South and then the city of Mildura.  It felt a little strange, pedalling through the Mildura urban area, to see everybody wearing facemasks, which are compulsory now in Victoria unless exercising or eating, or in private homes/vehicles.  For nearly four months, we have been passing through areas where there is no COVID and few facemasks.  We had purchased a facemask each in Adelaide, in case we had to stop while passing through Victoria, but as it turned out we reached the "mighty" Murray River, and the NSW border, without needing to stop in Mildura other than for an endless string of traffic lights.

We crossed the river and border without much difficulty (see above) around 1:30pm and rode a short distance further to our booked motel in the small town of Buronga.  It was an early and welcome finish to a day during which we travelled through three states, and we are now in the home straight.  I later rode 1.5km to a supermarket to buy dinner and supplies for tomorrow, given it will be another day with no resupply options, and we had a quiet afternoon.

Later, we microwaved dinner in the communal kitchen of our motel, which also serves as a hostel for fruit-pickers, and had an early night.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 112 - Pinnaroo to Renmark

Day:  112

Date:  Wednesday, 21 October 2020

Start:  Pinnaroo

Finish:  Renmark

Daily Kilometres:  146 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  11761

Weather:  Cold early, then mostly sunny and mild with occasional spits of rain

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg & lettuce sandwiches

  Lunch:  Chicken schnitzel & mayo sandwiches

  Dinner:  Fish & chips/Hamburger & chips, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We left our motel around 6:30am on a cold and sunny morning and made a short  detour through the centre of Pinnaroo to have a look around.  Our impressions were that it was a well-kept little town and that large scale agriculture was the main local industry as there were huge machines in sales yards and repair shops.  This was confirmed as we headed north and saw vast crop fields stretching as far as the eye could see on low hills on both sides of the road.

Further along, there were fewer fields and we saw more and sandy and hilly woodlands.  Some of the latter were in conservation areas but, to my uneducated eye, it was hard to determine why there were crops in one place and arid woodland in others when the topology seemed to be the same.  Maybe fertiliser explains it, or perhaps land-clearing regulations.

We rode the first 70km without a break to the tiny hamlet of Browns Well, where there was a tiny picnic area/campground, a few shuttered old buildings, a few houses, and not much else.  Seventy kilometres without a break is a bit longer than we usually like to go for our first leg of the day, but if we have the option of a picnic table and/or toilet block we'll usually ride a bit further (or shorter) to take advantage of that.  And, even though it was further than we would have liked, it's always nice to have put a big dent in the day's mileage by breakfast time.

From Browns Well the country continued to be a mix of crops and sandy hilly woodland until we got closer to Loxton where we started to see orchards and vineyards.   There was a long stretch of roadworks on this section and we got to know another traffic controller.  We also had the driver of an eighteen-wheeler pull his rig over to the side of the road in front of us and wave us down for a friendly chat about where we were riding.

In Loxton, another well-kept town, with 104km done for the day, we stopped for a snack in a park and then followed the out-of-sight Murray River eastwards for 20km through irrigated orchards and vineyards to another sizeable town, Berri, where we crossed the Murray and found a service station and some sandwiches for lunch.  From there, we had an easy 18km to the regional town of Renmark and our booked motel.  On the way into town, along an attractive tree-lined avenue, Julie commented on how many roses were blooming in the beautiful gardens of houses, and we later found out that this is the Renmark Rose Festival Week.

We checked in around 3pm, and did the usual showers, shopping and relaxing before walking down to the town centre to buy take-out for dinner (no microwave in our motel room).  We took the opportunity to have a look at the attractive riverside on the way, and then ate our food back at the motel.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 111 - Bordertown to Pinnaroo

Day:  111

Date:  Tuesday, 20 October 2020

Start:  Bordertown

Finish:  Pinnaroo

Daily Kilometres:  132 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  11615

Weather:  Very cold early, then mild and sunny

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg & lettuce sandwiches

  Lunch:  Chicken schnitzel & mayo sandwich/Chicken & avocado sandwich

  Dinner:  Tuna mornay/Fettucine carbonara, ice cream

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  As we rode out of Bordertown in light fog we saw a fog bow, or white rainbow.  A rare sight, to me, anyway.

Lowlight:  It was very cold this morning as we left under clear sunny skies in light fog, and our fingers and feet were soon frozen.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

As we had a relatively short day (~130km) planned, and the overnight temperature was forecast to fall to 3°C, we decided to leave a little later.  This proved to be a wise move, as it was still very cold at 6:45am when we left Bordertown after stopping in at a service station to buy drinks and sandwiches for breakfast and lunch.  There were no places to resupply on today's route, so we needed to be self-sufficient.

The clear skies and layered fog across the farmland as the sun rose was a beautiful scene, despite the cold, and although we were soon riding in the fog, it wasn't thick enough to make us feel unsafe in the light traffic.  After a few kilometres, we turned north off what was the main Melbourne-Adelaide highway to follow the sign to Pinnaroo, our goal for the day.  For the first hour it was very cold riding, particularly where the roadside trees cast long shadows from the rising sun.

It was noticeable, the further north we rode, that the roadside trees became smaller and gnarlier, the farmland more open, and the soil more sandy.  There was little traffic and for long periods we had the road to ourselves.  We stopped for breakfast around 9am, and although we had warmed up, we sought a spot with some sun.

On resuming, we entered the Ngarkat Conservation Area, where scrubby arid country stretched out as far as the eye could see both sides of the road with the occasional sand dune visible.  It was quite a contrast to the countryside of the previous day.  We have seen quite a few squashed skink lizards over the past week, so it was nice to encounter, at one point, two live ones on the road.  To give them a chance of a longer life we stopped and, after photographs, shepherded them off the road.  They moved very slowly, probably because they were cold, so it's not surprising we see so many squashed ones.

After another break by the roadside, it was getting warm enough to strip down to our T-shirts, the first time for a few days, and we continued the pleasant undulating ride through the Conservation Area, stopping occasionally to admire the view, although there were no really high points.  Around 1pm, we exited the Conservation Area and entered a rural landscape with huge fields on low rolling hills.  Shortly after, we found a nice spot at a field entrance, with just 30 kilometres to Pinnaroo, and had an unusually leisurely lunch on a very pleasant day.

The last leg, which included a long stretch of roadworks (and the usual chat with a traffic controller), passed quite quickly and we reached our booked motel in Pinnaroo at 2:45pm.  There are police vehicles here, no doubt connected with the COVID controls at the Victorian border, just a few kilometres away.  The COVID outbreak in Victoria seems to be almost under control (just one new case yesterday), and there is lots of news chatter about when restrictions there will be eased further and what this means for travel from there to other States, but no firm commitments. Unless something changes in the next 24 hours we will be turning for home the following day.

There is a large service station next to the motel and, after showering, we bought microwaveable frozen dinner from there, along with sandwiches for tomorrow's breakfast. There was then time to relax before dinner and an early night after a very pleasant day.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 110 - Mount Gambier to Bordertown

Day:  110

Date:  Monday, 19 October 2020

Start:  Mount Gambier

Finish:  Bordertown

Daily Kilometres:  186 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  11483

Weather:  Cold and overcast

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Quiche, donut/cupcake

  Lunch:  Chicken & bacon melt sub

  Dinner:  Chilli con carne/Chicken parmigiana & vegetables, ice-creams 

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Around noon, we turned off the busy Adelaide-Mount Gambier highway onto the relatively minor road to (the imaginatively named) Bordertown.  The traffic noise was replaced with the loud primeval screeching of squadrons of white cockatoos and the less cacophonic high-pitched cheeping of flocks of galahs, seemingly following us along the road lined with magnificent old eucalypts.

Lowlight:  The highway out of Mount Gambier was busier than expected, with plenty of trucks.  We had to stick to the narrow road edge, often rough bitumen and barely six inches wide, for safety.  The scenery was good, but most of our attention had to be on the road.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Given we had 180km+ to ride today, we made an early start, riding north out of the dark Mount Gambier, accompanied by a surprising amount of traffic, at 5:15am.  It soon became apparent that the highway was the route of choice from Mount Gambier and south-west Victoria to Adelaide, meaning that we had plenty of traffic for the first 125km on a road not kind to cyclists (see above).

On the plus side, there was a following breeze, the road grades were gentle, and the rural scenery interesting.  Initially, it was mostly lush grazing country but, as we neared Penola, where we stopped for breakfast at a bakery, there were vast vineyards and many familiar winery names (even to me).  The vineyards continued the other side of Penola for many kilometres and then became less frequent, with more grazing country and some crops.

We reached Naracoorte around 10:15am, with 102km done, and stopped at a service station on the outskirts for a snack and to buy lunch for later consumption.  While stopped, I booked accommodation in Bordertown, our goal for the day, having heard nothing about changes to New South Wales regulations for entrants from regional Victoria following the latter's eased COVID-19 restrictions today (read yesterday's blog).

After Naracoorte, the surrounding lush rural countryside became a little hillier, though the cycling remained easy, apart from the volume of traffic.  We were happy to leave that traffic behind when we turned off the busy highway to take a relatively minor road towards Bordertown.  Suddenly, apart from the birdlife (see above), peace and tranquility reigned.  There was little traffic and the wide roadside easement was a forest of magnificent eucalypts, later joined by prolific grass trees.  With 40km to go, we stopped for a picnic lunch on a patch of roadside grass, before continuing on to little Bordertown, the birthplace of the famous Australian, Bob Hawke, where we arrived about 3:45pm.

We stopped in at the town supermarket to buy some snacks and drink, but didn't buy microwavable dinner because the motel had said our room didn't have a microwave.  Of course when we got there, 1.5km outside of town, our room did have a microwave.  So, after unloading the bikes I rode back into the supermarket and bought some frozen dinners.  Not a big deal, but not something I needed at the end of a long day.  Just one of those travel hiccups.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 109 - Mount Gambier

Day:  109

Date:  Sunday, 18 October 2020

Start:  Mount Gambier

Finish:  Mount Gambier

Daily Kilometres:  17 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  11297

Weather:  Cold, overcast and windy

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs on toast

  Lunch:  Fish & chips/

  Dinner:  Spaghetti & meatballs/Chicken pops & vegetables, apple crumble & custard

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Umpherston Sinkhole was an unusual and interesting sight.  A sinkhole (collapsed limestone cave) was developed in the late 19th century by a wealthy landowner as a sunken English-style garden, then fell into disuse before being restored in the late 20th century.  It was unique, like a terrarium nestled in a hole, with creepers forming a curtain around the sides and lawns, paths and exotic plants at the base.

Lowlight:  None really

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We had a day off in Mount Gambier today, partly as a rest and partly to await the scheduled announcement about the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria.  We are only 32km via our originally intended route from the Victorian border, but we don't want to go into Victoria, which has been fighting an extensive second coronavirus wave, unless we can get back into New South Wales (NSW) without undergoing two weeks of self-funded hotel quarantine, as is the case now.  [One hundred metres from our motel is another motel, temporarily-fenced and guarded by police and military personnel, with a row of neatly parked civilian vehicles outside, which we presume is the compulsory quarantine site for people entering South Australia from nearby Victoria.]

So, we slept in late, ate Julie's microwaved scrambled eggs on toast (delicious), watched (me) the Sunday morning current affairs programs on TV, and then rode our unloaded bikes to two of the local scenic highlights.  Firstly, we cycled up to the rim of The Blue Lake, a water-filled volcanic crater dating from just 5,000 years ago.  It was very impressive with sheer walls descending to the mirror-calm 70 metre deep lake, which apparently changes colour at different times of the year.   The rim trail also gave excellent views over the very green rural countryside and the large town of Mount Gambier.  We rode the 5km lap, stopping at various points to admire the views and take photos, before descending through the centre of the historic town and pedalling out to the Umpherston Sinkhole.

The Sinkhole was unusual and spectacular (see above), and we locked our bikes to a pole (which we later realised had a base plaque saying it was a heritage gaslight pole!) and descended into the exotic garden for a look around.  It was lunchtime by the time we left, so we rode back to our motel via the local fish and chip shop and supermarket.  After lunch, Julie did the laundry while I watched Australia get trounced by New Zealand in the second Bledisloe Cup rugby match on TV.  It's called division of labour!  Later, we returned to the supermarket to buy some microwavable dinner and other supplies, had dinner in our room, and had an early night.

Victoria did announce some easing of restrictions, but not enough to allow us to follow the coast through Melbourne back to NSW.  However, restrictions in regional Victoria, which already has looser restrictions, were also eased and there's some chance NSW might change its regulations to allow regional Victorians to enter NSW without quarantine.  In the absence of such a change, we will head north tomorrow, paralleling the Victorian border, for three days and then cross into NSW and head for home.  If NSW favourably changes its policy regarding entrants from regional Victoria in the next couple of days, we may turn eastwards and at least ride some of western Victoria including the Grampians and the Great Ocean Road before heading home.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 108 - Robe to Mount Gambier

Day:  108

Date:  Saturday, 17 October 2020

Start:  Robe

Finish:  Mount Gambier

Daily Kilometres:  137 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  11280

Weather:  Cold, mostly overcast and windy

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Apricot bun & donut/Sausage roll & apricot bun

  Lunch:  Chicken, bacon & cheese met sub

  Dinner:  Pulled pork & rice/Lamb rissoles & vegetables, apple pie & custard

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  On the road out of Robe, foam whipped up on one of the small lakes by the wind blew across the road.  Out on the highway, we were buffeted by the raw south-westerly, straight off the Southern Ocean, under a gloomy heavy overcast with occasional spits of rain, as we rode past dunes and across flat farmland.  It was elemental and invigorating ….. at least for the first hour or two.

Lowlight:  There were no easy kilometres today.  The cold blustery wind was either across us or against us, and never gave us a break.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

As usual, we both groaned when the alarm went, this morning at 5:15am.  It's always hard to get out of bed, but once we do, we each fall into a routine that generally sees us packed and on our bikes in 30-45 minutes.  There are never any groans when we start riding, just a pleasant anticipation of the day ahead and what surprises it might hold for us.

We rode out of Robe at 6am, aiming for the the small resort of Beachport, 52km away, for breakfast.  It was cold, gloomy and windy (see above) as we followed the coastal dunes to the south-east. Initially, it was flat with a mix of coastal vegetation and farmland, but further along we encountered some gentle hills and rolling green pastures.  Near Beachport, the country was more open and the cold wind fierce.  We stopped to look at the resort's wind-whipped ocean beach, before riding into the town along a bike path which passed a surprisingly well-patronised, but very bleak, caravan park.  It was hard to imagine what outdoor activities the holiday-makers could have on their menu for today.

We bought breakfast from the deli/newsagent on the tiny main street and ate it at an outside table, shivering in the wind.  We didn't hang around and rode back out of town around 9:30am, bound for Millicent, 32km away.  This area is known as the Limestone Coast, and the white rock could be seen in small outcrops and in bare patches in some of the fields.  Despite the wind and cold, the increasingly undulating countryside was varied and attractive, populated with plenty of well-fed cattle.

Millicent is quite a large town, but looked desolate today, with the cold wind whistling down the very quiet main street when we arrived at 11:30am.  We bought a snack for morning tea, which we ate on an exposed bench outside the Visitors Centre, as well as a sub which we carried with us for a later lunch.

After Millicent, pine plantations became a common feature, which was good for us, because they had a dampening effect on the wind.  We had one final break, to eat lunch, on an exposed picnic table by the road, before cycling the remaining 30km to Mount Gambier, our goal for the day, which we reached about 2:45pm.  It is a large town, and it took a little while to get from the outskirts to our motel, during which time it began to rain. Fortunately, the rain abated and we checked in, very pleased to have finished the day and to get out of the elements.  Although not a huge day, kilometre-wise, it was hard work, offset by varied scenic interest.

After showers we walked to the nearest supermarket, 600 metres away, to buy dinner, and got caught in a light rain shower on the way back.  After a microwaved dinner, we (well, me, anyway) watched the football finals on TV, enjoying the warmth of our heated room on a very wintry evening.