Another deviation from the direct route to camp led me to the ‘Granites’, the first real beach access to the Southern Ocean, just 20km north of Kingston S.E., 3 cycling days south of Adelaide. The endless beach is used by 4x4s to drive along. I had a race with a quad …
… after having already 145km in my legs that day I happily accepted the 2nd place. 
The Granites
The Granites
Tweet ##transoceania| Beachport to Nelson | |||||
| Date: | 11-28-2014 | Time: | 06:30 h | Σ Time: | 435:07 h |
| Distance: | 122 km (129km) |
Σ km: | 9254 km | Temp: | 7/34°C |
| Up: | 587 m | Σ Up: | 78698 m | Down: | 550 m |
| Calories: | 2735 kcal | Σ kcal: | 197890 kcal | ||
| Conditions: | Wind, wind, wind. | ||||
Everybody was happy to leave the ‘storm center’ of Australia and headed eastwards into the wind. In the morning I cycled with John and we shared the work to break the wind for the other. I warmed up myself with a nice breakfast stop in Millicent, with banana bread and a pot of tea. In the afternoon I cycled with Lydia, who joined us in Adelaide for the final stages to Sydney. In Mt. Gambier we decided to detour to the Blue Lake, a crater lake which changes its color, twice a year. We were told at the information center, that it is a huge climb up to the crater and lake. Well, huge in connection with elevation gain has a different meaning for Australians. It was only 60m up within a few kilometers; nothing for an Indonesian ‘certified’ rider. The circumvention of the lake on the rim was stunning. I’ve never seen a lake as blue as this one. Definitely worth the extra 7 kilometer, even on an already long and wind battered day. The camp ground in Nelson is away from the sea and sheltered from wind. We got kangaroo/wallaby visits at dawn. Some of them seemed to be used to humans and stayed right between us.
Today I took a detour from the town Mt. Gambier to the Blue Lake, a crater lake that changes its color every year in summer and winter. A blue I’ve never seen before.
There is a 3.5 km scenic cycling route along the rim of the crater (TdA should add this alternate route to Nelson to their ‘tour bible’)
There are 2 more craters with lakes, but too much to add on to another wind battered cycling day.
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