Melbourne to Adelaide - South Australia

Nelson to Mount Gambier – 37km 

After lunch in the tavern at Nelson, we said our goodbyes to Kerry and Dave and set off for a short ride to Mount Gambier, a town set on the side of an old volcano.

The camp site here was right in the centre of the town but surprisingly, was very quiet. There was another cycle touring couple there. They had been on a one week circular tour of the area and were totally fed up because of the weather and the strong head winds. They weren't particularly sympathetic when we told them that we too had had the same struggle.

That evening Karen went to clean her teeth and put down her head torch on the sink. After walking back to the tent she realised she didn't have the torch and went back, but in the 3-4 minutes it had disappeared. No reading in bed for a while.

Mount Gambier to Millicent - 54km

Before leaving, we climbed up to see the famous Blue Lake in the crater of the volcano. During the summer this lake is an incredible bright blue colour. During April the colour gradually fades to a more normal blue grey but then the bright blue reappears over just three days in November. All of the town's drinking water is pumped from this lake.

Mercifully today was warmer and the wind was less, meaning faster progress. We turned off the Prince's highway to follow the Southern Ports highway. There was a sink hole at the side of the road which we stopped to look at. There was a cave entrance with deep, clear water and just as we were leaving a group of divers arrived to go into the depths.

We had lunch in a park in Tantanoola at the side of the now disused railway line. The original station building was still there and seemed very sad and dejected. Just outside the town was a huge Kimberley Clarke wood pulp mill, it took ages just to ride past it.

As we continued Karen's back wheel started to display the same symptoms as Steve's had three weeks earlier in Tasmania. There was a definite bulge and riding it felt like the wheel had gone square. It too had split along the inside. Luckily it wasn't far to Millicent where Steve did his best to patch it up with a splint of plastic from a milk carton. We would have to try and get a new one on the way to Adelaide.

Millicent to Robe – 85km

At last, a summers day with clear blue skies and sunshine. We'd forgotten where the suntan lotion was. Progress was fast again today along flat country which had been marshes before being drained.

About halfway we rode down into Beachport, a popular tourist resort. As today was Anzac day we were treated to free Anzac biscuits with our coffee. Beachport is famous for once having the longest jetty in South Australia (or maybe the whole of Australia?) The original estimate for the construction of this jetty in 1876 was 26,000 pounds! When completed it was 1,220m in length, but is now a mere 770m, still pretty long.

The road from here runs at the side of three large lagoons, separated from the ocean by sand dunes. This area is very popular for 4WD vehicles, driving along the beach and through the dunes. There were large convoys of vehicles passing us, all equipped with large orange flags and ropes and spades to dig themselves out.

We rode up to the top of a small hill to see the Wainwine Cutting. An enterprising local farmer decided that he would cut a channel through the hill to the coast to drain his land on the other side. Despite advice that it would not be possible he excavated a deep channel with almost vertical sides and managed to turn the marshes into productive farmland.

Robe was another tourist magnet, crowded with Easter holiday makers. It was also very expensive to camp, $35.

Robe to Kingston SE – 70km

Old Custom House and Marina

The Obelisk

We were woken at 4am by the camper van on one side of us leaving early, then again at 5.30am as the ones on the other side started packing up too. At least the sun was shining to cheer things up. Before leaving we took a quick tour of the town's attractions, the Obelisk, Doorway Rock, the marina and old customs house.

Exhausted by these tourist exertions we had to have coffee before leaving but passed on the very expensive cakes. At the cafe we met Irene and Garth, a South African couple living in the Barossa Valley. They both enjoyed cycling and chatted for ages.

As this was the last day of the school holidays the road was busy with families returning home after the long weekend. They all had trailers loaded with every possible accessory for the perfect camping holiday, chairs, tables, canoes, inflatable things to drag behind the boat, bicycles, surf boards. One even had a settee roped onto the roof rack. That's my kind of camping.

To avoid the heavy traffic we took a minor road detour around Cape Jaffa. The quiet road had wide verges full of autumn wild flowers that in the warm sunshine were a-flutter with hundreds of butterflies. The air was also full of flying bugs and huge grasshoppers.

Kingston was a much less touristy place than Robe and the camp site was on the sea front. It was warm and for the first time for weeks a hot shower wasn't needed to thaw us out. The sunset was stunning, the sun dropping below the sea horizon and turning the sky crimson and orange.

Kingston SE to 42 Mile Crossing – 71km

There were a few housekeeping jobs to be done today. Steve had to write a letter to NSI which involved begging a sheet of paper and envelope from the camp office and then going across to Tourist information to get on the internet. Then a new tyre had to be purchased for Karen's bike as she was sick of bumping along the road. By the time we set off it was gone 11am and, believe it or not, the wind was still strong and head on. Kingston has a big Rock Lobster fishing industry and there was a particularly large specimen on the way out of town.

At least it was sunny and the traffic was lighter today. The road had a hard shoulder but it had a very rough surface so we cycled on the road mostly, skipping onto the shoulder to let traffic pass. We saw three other tourers today, all traveling towards Melbourne. The first were a young couple who were traveling fast and just shouted a greeting. The second was another 'young man', Andy who had cycled from Liverpool over the last 15 months through Turkey, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Mongolia, China and across Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. He looked a little weather beaten but still very happy.

As the road was straight and fast there was more road kill, lots of large kangaroos and lizards. The road follows the coast for 145km along the Coorong National Park. Most of the way there were trees and shrubs which gave shelter from the wind, but in some places there were huge flat grass pastures where the wind slowed us to 12kph.

The camp site at 42 Mile Crossing was a National Park one, there were toilets but no drinking water or showers. That night there was a clear sky and the most fantastic view of the millions of stars.

42 Mile Crossing to Meningie – 82km

Today was basically a repeat of yesterday, same weather, same scenery, same road. The only difference was there was a more rolling road which gave better views over the salt flats to the high sand dunes. Except for a welcome coffee stop at Salt Creek the day was a relentless battle against the wind with very little to inspire interest. It was an "i-pod in" and keep pedaling day.

Stopping for a coffee at Salt Creek we saw a swallow's nest with a bird sitting on eggs. It is very confusing here. March is the middle of autumn but this week we have seen new born lambs and swans with young cygnets.

Meningie to Wellington – 48km

Meningie is on the shores of Lake Albert, a fresh water lake famous for its pelicans. The road continues along the shore of the lake then heads more inland. For the first 20km there were some low hills but then the next 20km was just one long, straight flat. We don't think we could cope with cycling across the Nullabor.

The road to Wellington turns off about 8km from Tailem bend. To get to the town there is a chain ferry across the Murray River. The ferry is one of twelve still operating across the Murray, all free and funded by the Australian government.

We camped at the small camp site near the river, just across the road from the hotel which served very good food and was very busy with local diners. After dinner we went to the bar to watch the wedding of William and Kate on the television.

Wellington to Strathalbyn - 42km

The final whisky the night before caught up with Steve in the morning and he was decidedly jaded, complaining also of a stomach ache, for the second day. It was dry but overcast with threatening rain in the air. Just as we finished breakfast the first drops fell and we rushed to pack everything up, but then it stopped again.

The ride continued along flat plains skirting around the top of Lake Alexandrina. The wind was light and we were rolling along doing 20km+. We soon arrived at the start of the Langhorne Creek wine region and rode through acres of vineyards. At the village of Langhorne Creek we deliberated whether to do a vineyard tour, but Steve was suffering with his stomach ache and stopping for alcohol so early in the day would probably not have helped. Instead we opted for a coffee at the village shop. By now it had started to rain persistently.

The terrain was certainly more interesting now, being more rolling and diverse. It was only another 16km to Strathalbyn, our final destination for a quite easy short day's cycling.

Strathalbyn was settled by the Scots in the early 1840s and made its fortunes from wool and farming. From the start the town was well planned straddling the Angas River (yes, that is Angas not Angus). One of the first buildings was a small log cabin hotel which was later replaced and still stands today as the Terminus hotel. The Uniting church overlooks a lovely park dedicated to the Anzac forces, on the banks of the river and the town has lots of bric-a-brac and collectables shops.

Due to the rain and our unsettled stomachs we checked into the cheapest hotel we could find, The Robin Hood, but still had to pay $90 per night. It was basic but dry.

We also noticed another cyclist arriving, but didn't have chance to talk with him.

Steve's stomach was still causing concern and Karen seemed to be having similar symptoms. Our thought turned to one of three things. The rainwater that we had been drinking at the 42 mile crossing, the mosquito bites that we had received at the same site or the sea food that we had eaten the night before. We ate light and went to bed early.

The next day we awoke to rain, but packed our things anyway ready for our departure.

Over breakfast we got talking with Ernst from Switzerland who had cycled from Perth across to Ayers Rock and then south to Adelaide. He had done a lot of cycle touring and had also spent two years in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand. He was very interesting to talk with a and a mine of good information.

The three of us talked each other into not cycling anywhere today and staying put in the dry of the hotel. We spent the day working on the blog and touring the town.

Strathalbyn to McLaren Vale – 50km

At last, sunshine and no rain. Ernst was ready to leave by 8.30. We were slower as we were both still unwell. For the first time in 10 days there was a decent hill to climb, views over green fields, mature gum trees and small river valleys. After a long climb out of Strathalbyn there was a super slow descent for about 10km down a pretty river valley.

Going past a field of milking cows we spotted one lying on its side on the ground with its legs stuck out rigidly and rolling its eyes. Stopping at the farmhouse nearest to the field we found the farmer who was chatting to a pair of delivery men. We reported the cow problem and he glanced over at her, “looks like she's dead”. He went off to see while we chatted to the delivery men. When he returned he had a smile on his face. The cow had fallen over and couldn't get back on her feet. With a bit of assistance she was now up and happily grazing as if nothing had happened.

We were now into the McLaren Vale wine area and passed numerous vineyards. The vines looked quite pretty with their autumn golden leaves. In amongst the vineyards was a field with camels, ponies and donkey

Even though we were still feeling rough, we couldn't pass through this famous wine area without having a tasting. So after pitching the tent we rode about 500m up the road to Maxwell’s (this was the nearest)  for a tasting of their red wines and a honey mead.  We brought a couple of bottles to share with our hosts in Adelaide tomorrow. The red that we chose is called 'Silver Hammer' after the Beatles famous track and had been the subject of a failed copyright action.

McLaren Vale to Adelaide – 35km (total 14,685)

The night was very chilly but when we woke we both felt a lot better and keen to finish our ride into Adelaide. From the town we took the rail trail called 'Vines to Coast' which winds its way through the hills. There had been no internet connection for a few days so when we spotted a McDonalds we stopped for coffee and checked the location of our Warmshowers accommodation on Google maps.

It was actually not far from where we were.

As it was still early there was an excuse for a long lunch break, sitting in the sunshine in one of the parks on the cycle route. After lunch we left the rail trail, turning onto the 'veloway' which runs at the side of the Southern Express-way. It climbed up to the top of a hill with fleeting views over the CBD then a fast downhill into Marion. From here we had to navigate our way to Mitchell Park and did get a bit confused at one point, especially as Steve thought we were going to Marion Park.

Once we were going in the right direction again we easily found David and Noelene's house which is about 10km from adelaide CBD. David is a keen photographer with some fantastic collections of photographs of Australia. He also has one of the largest collections of cycle touring books we have ever seen.

They made us very welcome and Noelene is a fabulous cook who fed us well with home made biscuits, bread and roast dinner. 

The following day we relaxed, did our washing and thoroughly cleaned our bikes, ready for crossing "The Nullabor" (see next entry). David and Noelene plied us with great coffee, biscuits and great meals.

Thursday was the day of our departure.  David and Noelene rode with us into the town and we said our fond goodbyes. Our train didn't leave until 6-40pm so we shopped, ate lunch, and looked around the CBD before heading down to the station.

David and Noelene