My French friends are just a day in town and the Schnitzel-Place is already being hijacked and put under new management …
Let’s see what the cooler box will carry after the rest day.
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Progress
In 25 cycling days we covered the distance of 3169 kilometers to travers the Australian continent from north to South. 
But it is not over yet. Twenty more challenging and exciting days wait for us to ride along the south and east coast of this vast ‘island’ to finally get us to Sydney.
73 cycling days since starting in Medan on Aug. 18th, with 8714km on the odometers for the full tour riders.
Tweet ##transoceaniaDead Man’s Pass
What kind of test was this? We all survived the Outback, the warm coke and beer, the dangerous bugs and critters, the road trains, the brutal heat and gusty head winds, hangouts in roadhouses, cold and hot pools, … Why are we being sent over this pass, instead of riding the much shorter and flat road into town? Are we cycling zombies or still considered to be alive?
If the Indonesian road builders had been trained by Australians, the whole country would be plastered with these ‘walk your bike’ signs.
No way I push my bike, unless it is to cross a river or alike.
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A TdA Surprise.
Today, everyone received a certificate to document the successful traversal of the Outback via the Stuart Highway on a bicycle. Starting in Darwin in the Northern Territory all the way south to Port Augusta, a 2786km journey in 22 cycling days through the dry and hot Australian outback.
Kangaroo Day
Today was kangaroo day. They showed up at almost every corner.
The Great Great Grandfather of all living kangaroos in Australia
‘Easter Bunnies’
On the run …
Bye Bye, and over the top
I can see you!
Skippy
As fast as I can, I come …
… to your rescue.
Stage 72: South Australia
| Jamestown to Riverton | |||||
| Date: | 11-22-2014 | Time: | 05:28 h | Σ Time: | 404:08 h |
| Distance: | 129 km | Σ km: | 8590 km | Temp: | 19/39°C |
| Up: | 562 m | Σ Up: | 75298 m | Down: | 730 m |
| Calories: | 2120 kcal | Σ kcal: | 182184 kcal | ||
| Conditions: | Tailwind for the first 110 km. The last 20 km to Riverton against the wind. Riding through grain fields and vineyards. | ||||
Leaving from Jamestown was easy: Setting the bicycle into the wind, and off you go. The tailwind blew us almost directly towards Adelaide. If it wasn’t for some photo stops, lunch at 72km would have been reached by not later than 9am. The first 60 km were on tar, the last 60km on compact and fine gravel; after lunch it was a nice bicycle trail on an old railway track, away from traffic. It was as if the kangaroos wanted to say goodbye to us. In the morning, all of a sudden, they showed up around every corner in the corn fields, under trees, in the grass and on the rocks. No time to store the camera away. This changed once I entered the wine area. At least I haven’t seen any in there. Seems they don’t like grapes or carry wine bottles in their pouches. After lunch we continued on a nice trail, the ‘Riesling Trail. It is built on an old railway track that cuts through narrow valleys seamed by pine trees covering the trail into cooling shade. It almost felt as if riding thru parts of the Black Forest, so dense and dark where the rows of trees. Several vineyards have wineries and offer wine tasting. However, my French friends stood me up with a meeting at a vineyard for a joined wine tasting, thus I continued to see, if I can find them somewhere else. The nice tailwind was over after turning onto the second trail, the ‘Rattle Trail’ in Auburn. Only about 20km to go to Riverton. I was arriving in camp very early; somehow unusual for me. Time to stroll through the sleeping town. Because it is a Saturday, Riverton was almost shut down completely. Only a deli and a bottle store was opened, where I could buy some pops and ice cream. Thereafter enough time to relax and prepare for the final riding day, which will lead us to Adelaide tomorrow, with another rest day, that closes the Opal, Missiles and Vino section. Some riders will leave us here, 7 others will join us.
Into the Wine Tasting Stage
Left Jamestown with a blazing tailwind that drives us fast into the Riesling lands.
Leaving Port Augusta
It was only a short visit to the beaches of Port Augusta in Southern Australia. Before we return to the coast again in 3 days time, to start into the Great Ocean Road section, we take a detour into the wine lands, giving us a chance for wine tasting and practice our climbing skills, that we didn’t need since we left from Indonesia. It was a real change, the first day riding outside the outback. First a climb over the Horrack’s pass into the Beautiful Valley. Some very small towns – every building is a kind of museum, corn fields, sheep, alpacas and some humans! However, it looks as if time stopped in the mid 19 century in these places, except for a well equipped bike shop in Melrose.
Below are some photos of todays ride into a different Australia, compared to the past 4 weeks cycling in the outback.
Watch for Cyclists
What a surprise. Now that the chances to see a kangaroo, emu or other wildlife are much lower than in the outback, the motorists are informed to look out for cyclists! Obviously a rare and dangerous species, too.
I understand the meaning of the road sign above, as well as the reminder on the right, that there are kangaroos and other wildlife to expect to be on the road. However, what is a DIP?
Can it fly or swim? How big is it and what color does it have? Has it fur or hair? Is it endemic to Australia or can it be found in other countries, too? Has anyone seen a DIP on the ride today?
Tweet ##transoceaniaStage 71: South Australia
| Port Augusta to Jamestown | |||||
| Date: | 11-21-2014 | Time: | 06:23 h | Σ Time: | 398:40 h |
| Distance: | 130 km | Σ km: | 8461 km | Temp: | 14/35°C |
| Up: | 982 m | Σ Up: | 74736 m | Down: | 539 m |
| Calories: | 3045 kcal | Σ kcal: | 180064 kcal | ||
| Conditions: | Cool morning, hot afternoon. Into the Flinders Range, a short climb. First 28 km on a bumpy tar road. | ||||
The first day cycling outside the outback and without road trains. It was so different and for those, who did not cycle in Indonesia, a completely new experience. The first 28 km where on very bumpy gravel road; almost as if build by Indonesian prisoners. A constant head wind was accompanying us. The first 36km were also a constant climb from sea level to 480 m. First almost not noticeable, but the last 6km with grades up to 6%. Nothing compared to what we had in Indonesia, but a lot for what we had so far in Australia. You even saw fellow cyclists walking their bike up the hill. Huge trees were seaming the slopes of the mountain range. We ended up in a ‘Beautiful Valley’ in the Flinders Range. Fields of grain as far as the eye could reach. Large herds of sheep and even alpaca were farmed. The times where we had to carry extra water are over now. Coke stops should be available in shorter distances, as the density of settlements will increase. Wilmington after 40km and Melrose after 64km were our first stops. These are really sleep old historical towns founded in the 1860 range. They still appear as if time stood still since then. Toys and puppet museums are main attractions, as well as old farming tools. Lunch was in Melrose, at a bike shop & coffee house. Yes, a real bike shop! Cycling is very popular in this area. There are even bike lanes and special bike tracks & trails. Since the outback wildlife will more and more disappear, road signs are now warning to watch for cyclists and less frequent to watch for kangaroos. After a cool start in the morning the temperature raised as usual. Unfortunately, I had two flats today, which slowed me down significantly. The first was 8 km from lunch and I could pump up the tire at the bike shop. The second was 30 km from camp and with my little pump I could only get 1 bar air into it instead of the usual 4 bar, making the final 34km a bit more difficult. It was still early in the afternoon and I finally arrived in camp at 3:30pm. First thing was fixing the punctured tubes to have spares for the next two days. X-fingers that I don’t run into more problems in the following two cycling days. I’d rather spend extra time with wine tasting in the vineyards that we pass, than fixing tires!
