It's not all Plain Sailing

You would think that the toughest days mountain bike touring are those that pass through the most remote and rugged terrain, those days where you have to get off your bike and push because the incline is too steep or the rocks too big to ride over. But strangely enough those days were in fact the best. And not in the way that you look back on some challenging experiences and think 'I hated doing it.... but I'm glad I kept going now it's over'. We really enjoyed these experience in the moment; there was so much anticipation, we had no idea what was around the corner or over the next hill and nothing was ever the same - the landscape was always changing, always different.

It was quite a shock to enter this next phase of our journey. In some ways we had been looking forward to what appeared on the map to be flatter terrain and better formed roads. But in reality these days turned out to be the toughest. The dirt roads were corrugated from being driven on by vehicles and the roads, although flatter, stretched out into the horizon for as far as you could see. Every mile seemed the same and the vast open plains although quite spectacular offered little variety in terms of scenery. It was the only time during our journey that we became destination focused, watching the speedo and willing the miles to tick over.

Counting the kms on our trusty map

Day Six

Merna Mora Station - Hawker

After departing Merna Mora Station we spent the better half of the day on a sandy and bumpy track which passed through a massive cattle station. In the distance could be seen the plateau that we were slowly but surely headed for. Sometime after lunch we finally reached it and in our weary state were quite demoralized by the steepness of the track that we could see heading straight up onto the plateau. We looked at our maps and decided that there was a better option than having to get the kids out, unhitch the trailer, unload all of our panniers and then make about five separate trips up what we later found out was called Heart Break Hill. Our revised route involved a 6km dirt road out to the main drag and then what we thought would be an easy 20km ride on the bitumen into town. We didn't factor in how boring the main road would be or how trapped we would feel by the fences on our left, the cars passing on our right and smooth but somewhat soulless black road that lay before us. 

Fixing the only 2 flat tyres of the trip - both on the
chariot at the same time.

The face of despair....

In hindsight we wished we'd just kept on the trail and done those shuttles up to the plateau, as I'm sure we would have been in a better mindset at the end of the day. As it was we rode into our first town, Hawker (population 492), not in the greatest of spirits and vowing never to willingly take the main road again. By this stage of the journey the kids were covered in dirt and Tahlia from a distance appeared to have gotten one of those horrible orange spray on tans so we took the opportunity of staying in a caravan park to shower the kids. 

A whole new take on becoming one with the earth.

Day Seven

Hawker - Cradock

We woke up to rain this morning. Our tent was wet and instead of being covered in dust was now covered in mud - joy! You can ride in the rain but it's a bit more tricky with two little ones who need to get out and play at regular intervals. So we decided to hang around town until it cleared. Delicious french toast was cooked for breakfast on an undercover BBQ and followed by an outing to the local general store to stock up on ridiculously overpriced but much needed fresh food. Once the weather fined up we took the back road to Cradock and saw many emus and wedge tailed eagles throughout the afternoon. I wouldn't describe Cradock as a town, more of a locality, where about five people live - oh and there's a pub of course! The owners of the pub were lovely and allowed us to camp for free on the side of the road right outside.

Back in 5min......gone to the Cradock pub

Day Eight

Cradock - Warren Gorge

Today ended up being our longest day in terms of distance travelled and time in the saddle. Sixty five kilometres of dirt and almost nine hours on the bikes. We rode through the Willochra Plain to the ruins of Simonston (the town which never was) which was where we encountered our first strong headwinds and found out that the chariot catches the wind beautifully and is about as aerodynamic as a brick wall. While having lunch in the middle of nowhere a lovely couple traveling around Australia in a 4wd stopped to ask if they could take a photo of us and our entourage. We brushed off some dust and tried to look like we were doing it easy! You know you're a bit odd when tourists want to take photos of you......

We didn't arrive at warren gorge until 5:30pm having chosen to reluctantly push on past the first potential campsite 15km earlier. We were absolutely shattered. We must have said this out loud a hundred times as it is now Tahlia's newest saying! She was apparently 'shattered' after cleaning her room this morning. 

Tahlia and Zephyr Cam

Round the Pound

You could say that the first five days of our journey saw us ride 'Round the Pound'. Beginning in the small South Australian outback town of Blinman we almost circumnavigated the famous Wilpena Pound, a huge natural basin around 10kms in diameter, which is encompassed entirely by a circular mountain range. Below is our first blog entry of these first five days. Two more entries to come.

Wilpena Pound

Day One

Blinman - Alpana Station

Being dropped off on the side of the road with nothing but our bikes, bags and two little kids was quite daunting. In the dust we slowly took stock of our situation and began the process of loading our bikes. Not many people stopped to say hello as we sorted our gear, which almost entirely took up up one side of the main street. Nappies, water bottles, helmets, handle bar boxes, bikes, panniers and gear were strewn in all directions. 

Fun and Games in Blinman

As we rolled out of town the reality of our situation began to sink in and we couldn't help but wonder what important piece of equipment we may have accidentally left behind in our car 400kms south. It wasn't long though before our minds turned to the vast open landscape that lay before us. Such anticipation! We were on our way.

Chariot Cam - Leaving the Security of Blinman

It was a relatively short ride to a sheep station where we were hoping to camp for the night. They pointed us down to the creek and told us we could camp wherever we wanted. After bumping our way through several paddocks we arrived at the creek, which we soon realized was completely dry. (It turned out that every single one of the hundreds of creeks and river beds we crossed during our journey would also be dry). Seems like we would be carrying a lot of water! 

Tahlia enjoying some solo time down at the creek!

Day Two 

Alpana Station - Trezona Campsite

First stop this morning was the water tank and we filled up with close to 20litres of water before rolling out of Alpana Station with a feeling of excitement about our first full day ahead. Crossing the boundary into the Flinders Ranges National Park saw us turn off the main route and pass through a locked gate. The locked gate was significant and meant that the trail we would follow was inaccessible to vehicles. We were pretty happy about this; it enhanced our sense of remoteness and meant that we wouldn't be likely to run into any noisy four wheel drivers or motor bikes throughout the day. There's something nice about being in an area which you have to work hard to get to. 

Fully Loaded Bikes

No Shade in Sight

The trail was dry, dusty and rocky. We wound our way through the arid desert landscape which offered little shade. Some time during the afternoon after a solid day of riding a line of river gums appeared on the horizon - we knew the campsite wasn't far off. Arriving at the dry river bed felt like stumbling upon an oasis. After being couped up in the chariot all day the kids were up for some play time. They decided to climb on every rock, walk on every log and jump all over whatever was around. It was a slow process to set up the tent and cook dinner given that there was always one of us on 'yard duty'. The last thing Marty wanted was the extra weight of a plaster cast to tow around the South Australian Outback. Turned out the dry creek bed was a great natural playground  - for everyone! Some interesting rock sculptures were created, and abruptly destroyed by Zephyr :(

Rock Balancing

Day Three

Trezona Campsite - Wilpena Pound

A bit of an epic day. We rolled out early this morning around 8am and didn't arrive at Wilpena until 4.30pm. The first half of the day saw us continue further south along more remote trails with Wilpena Pound slowly coming into view. After a solid morning of riding we found ourselves coming out onto a popular 4wd track and not long after passed the Bunyeroo Valley lookout (apparently the most popular point to photograph the Mountains surrounding the Flinders Ranges).

So naturally - we took a photo!

The Mawson Trail Sign Posts

After eating the dust of several land cruisers over the next few kilometers we were more than happy to exit this track and follow the Mawson signs to the the path less travelled through yet another locked gate. The long slow climb for the rest of the day seemed to take forever - but the scenery was amazing as we were riding up the valley formed by the Heyson and ABC ranges. 10km of uphill through a hot, dry moonscape saw us digging deep and at times we were moving at no more than 3km/hr. It was also the first time we encountered a few steep pinches that were too difficult to ride up with the chariot and forced us to shuttle bikes, kids and bags up and out of several creek beds. To finish the day we had 5kms of single track to tackle that posed a few challenges for our heavy and wide load. 

Arriving through the rear entrance of Wilpena Pound campsite can only be described as a complete sensory overload. After being virtually on our own for three days we were suddenly thrown into a jungle of campervans, vending machines, kids, buses, tourists, caravans, BBQ's and other people.....it was all too much. If we could have ridden straight through we would have. We contemplated the situation for some time before deciding the only way to escape the masses was to  book a room at the Wilpena Motel to protect us from the wild throng of people and provide a refuge. It also served as a convenient way to charge up camera batteries, do some washing and have a shower. 

Day Four 

Wilpena Pound - Rawnsley Park 

Heading out on the sealed road for a few kilometres we soon turned off and followed the Mawson Trail along an old telegraph track in the foothills of Wilpena Pound. Rawnsley Bluff is an impressive feature on the southeastern side of Wilpena Pound and we kept this on our right throughout the day as we moved from National Park to private property.

Well and truly in the rhythm of the journey we settled in and enjoyed some of the lesser seen parts of the area. Our daily routine had become second nature. Regardless of when we woke each morning it was generally 8:29am when our weary legs made their first pedal strokes out of camp. Sitting in the chariot Tahlia and Zephyr became comfortable with the adventure, and quickly got quite used to the idea of stopping for second breakfast and a second lunch each day. Every stop saw them exploring their new little playground of tress, rocks and dirt before jumping back in and continuing on our way.

Lunch Number Two

Day Five 

Rawnsley Park - Merna Mora Station

It's a little disconcerting when the first 10km of the day is all downhill as it usually means that the rest of the day is going to be up - luckily we had a tail wind behind us. Today saw us change direction and start heading north to take in the views of the western side of Wilpena Pound. Despite being on a vehicular track we only saw one or two cars all day. It was a little chilly today so our lunch included hot soup cooked on the side of the road. Our food and gas fuel supplies were going well so we figured we deserved to indulge!

The trip so far was going to plan. Tahlia and Zephyr were traveling well and as a family we had already overcome some big challenges. This first section provided some amazing scenery and interesting landscapes to travel through. Arriving at Merna Mora Station marked the beginning of phase two.

"Camp Nowhere"

Under normal circumstances planning a family camping trip over the Easter weekend would be out of the question. Marty tends to cringe at the mere thought. I would say it is a combination of bad traffic, hordes of people, booked out campsites and the general chaos that is associated with getting away over this iconic weekend. However, this time it seemed that we really had no choice. With only eleven sleeps to go before we headed off to the Flinders we desperately needed to have one last practice trip. It was a chance to see if Nemo lived up to his name, dust off our gear and prove to ourselves that we were indeed still up for the challenge.

So off we went into the wilds (or not so wilds) of the Buderoo Plataeu. It was stunningly beautiful with sweeping lush wetlands and the odd view of the escarpment to the west. A fire passed through the area not so long ago and the contrast of new green fuzzy regrowth against black burnt out trees seemed an appropriately hopeful landscape for the season.

Thirsty work

Surprisingly enough despite passing through several traffic jams en route (one in Burrawang - a town of a whopping 177 people), upon arriving at our destination we were the only car in the car park. Granted, Buderoo National Park probably wouldn't make the Sydney Morning Herald Top Ten list for places to take your family over Easter, but you would surely expect there to be someone else! We gave each other what was probably in hindsight a bit of a smug smile and got on with the task of unpacking the car and and loading up the bikes. Oh the serenity!

There were several eventful moments worth sharing, the first being that in the space of about an hour and a half I managed to not only ride over a snake but also step on one. The second was about an hour along the trail when we realized we had entirely forgotten to pack any breakfast for the following morning. The third and perhaps most significant was the moment when we came to understand why all other budding campers had chosen to forsake The Buderoo Plateau for perhaps more suitable options. For a quite weekend camping on your own just head somewhere with nowhere to camp!

Tahlia's face says it all....."Nooooooooooo"!

There's got to be a campsite around here somewhere!

By the time it got to 5pm we were still riding, still searching and seriously contemplating camping right in the middle of the gravel track. Luckily, we soon stumbled across what seemed to be the only cleared flat piece of ground for miles and despite being a little rocky it made a nice little home for the night!

Nemo.....standing proud.