Below The Goyder Line

28/10/15 Gulnare to Burra 65km

An early start for us today, it was going to be a bit warmer, and we are prepared for the uphill ride to Burra. Basically the first 40kms today would be uphill. Gulnare is at 283mtrs, and our highest point today is 549mtrs. So after a delicious (Not) breakfast of muesli, no cuppa's, and a quick pack up, we hit the first uphill of 3kms. It wasn't very steep, and we just took it easy to the false top (it just flattened out a bit). Spalding is only about 18 kays away, and after ten, we found two options to get off the road. One was a part of the Mawson Trail (SA's version of the Mundabiddi), and the other a dirt farm road following the pipeline. We chose the second one, as the Mawson Trail was a real track, and a bit longer. Our choice was not bad, but very hilly and a hard push. By the time we got to Spalding, we were sweating buckets, and ready to stop for a coffee.

Not sure what is happening here, but don't think it is sheering....

Just behind me is the Mawson Trail, and a the pipeline we're going to follow.

Finally got to the top of this dirt road, it was a bit hard.

Green crops, and Spalding. We're definitely below The Goyder Line.

Our main reason for stopping at Spalding was to visit The Barbed Wire Pub, which boasts the largest collection of barbed wire and fencing memorabilia. Gotta check that out! But, bugger, the pub didn't open until 12pm, so we'll have to come back another time. It does look like a very nice little town though. 

Bloody closed! What now? Coffee and a toastie at the general store/cafe.

$1 bag of mixed lollies, so cool, just like when we were kids. Got some!

So many of these lovely old buildings in this region.

From Spalding, at 309mtrs, we are getting up another 240mtrs over the next 25kms, with no down hills in the middle. As we were plodding our way up the long hill, winding through some luscious farms, with full wheat, barley and hay crops, sweating our butts off, I was thinking about the "Goyder Hwy" that we were on, and where it got that name. I knew I'd heard of it, but kept thinking it was something rude and funny. I discovered, that I was thinking of Goiter, which is neither rude nor funny (It's swelling in the neck, caused by inflammation of the thyroid), oh! Goyder, comes from The Goyder Line, a line corresponding to a rainfall boundary believed to indicate the edge of the area suitable for agriculture. North of Goyder's Line, the rainfall is not reliable enough, and the land is only suitable for grazing and not cropping. George Goyder put this forward in 1865, with only 30yrs of farming experience, and it has proven to be accurate to this day. And it really shows in this area.

Below the pink line is cropping, above is better for grazing.

Ever so slightly uphill, slow, but great for checking out the sights.

Doesn't look it, but still going up.....

Almost there, only another ten metres up to go.....

I think that is the top......surely it is...

They are barely moving, just a breath of wind so far today, it is getting pretty warm.

This is it, 549mtrs! Thank god! Look at that slope down, can't wait.

With a few small breaks, we made our way to our highest point, of 549mtrs, and stopped to admire our downhill joy. We'd seen kangaroos in the fields, a "Ride & Drive " sprayer demo, and now we could roll, pedal lightly and cool off for the next 17kms into Burra. Yeeehaaa! We also had a light tailwind for most of it, until we turned onto the Barrier highway for the final 8 kays. It was a very nice reward.

Happy days, speed is up around the 30 mark, with light pedalling.....super!

We came into, what we thought was Burra, " Gees, I thought it was supposed to be a nice old town, this looks like little Alabama!". But we had only got to Burra North, which is the old copper mining section, and is still very industrial area looking. Another 2kms, and we found the lovely town of Burra, and it's pub. Of course. So we had a couple of cold drinks, cooled off and watched it rain very lightly, before finding the council caravan park, and getting sorted for a couple of nights stay. Just for a change, we met some other campers, and took over the camp kitchen, and spent a nice night chatting. This life is very tough, and not for everybody!

It says Burra, but it is actually Burra North....phew, not that pretty.

Remnants of the days of Copper Mining.

The Cornish have left their mark here, with this beautiful old church.

One of the pubs in town. We'll visit the other one tomorrow.

Kids out of the light rain, at the pub.....they're not drinking.

Will can always find a "hammer", everywhere we go......he's like McGiver!

The Copper Triangle and Away

25/10 - 27/10/15 Port Pirie to Gulnare 60km

What a great night, chatting with Paula and the girls. We met Paula's youngest daughter Aster, who is seven, and full of beans. They are all really lovely. Sunday was a nice slow morning, with lots of cuppa's and more chatting, some washing, before one of Paula's friends came and collected us all. Sue took us over to Warnertown, to the Flinders Rest pub, for Pizza and live music.   We also met Rachel, Jacko and Fraser(Jacko's son, about 12yrs), more friends of Paula's, and enjoyed a very fun afternoon listening to some strange guy (Billy February) playing guitar and singing. He wasn't too bad, until he started talking in between songs and trying to guess our names. Good for a laugh though.

First time in a car for a couple of months, it's actually pretty scary....

The Frasers Rest pub. Great pizza, lovely publicans, and great company.

This is great hey Will? A few flies, but we're used to them now.

The foreshore, port and smelter in Port Pirie.

The marina, full of old "plankies". There was and is a very large Italian contingent here.

That was pretty much it for Sunday, except for getting to meet Paula's parents, who are retired, and spend six months each year travelling in their caravan. They were really happy and chilled out, and didn't think we were mad at all.  Another quiet night at home, and another lazy morning on Monday. Will did some cleaning and maintenance on the bikes, while I finished the washing and sorted out our food panniers. We need to go shopping. Paula took the day off from her shop (New Wave Surf & Street), and took us for a tour of the top of York Peninsula. From Port Pirie to Port Broughton, then to Wallaroo, Moonta and Kadina, then back again. Wallaroo, Moonta and Kadina, form the Copper Triangle, as copper was mined from this area in the late 19th century. Now it is reliant on agriculture, mostly wheat and barley, and is one of the better growing regions of South Australia. 

Thank you Will, for taking care of Bettie. She is looking good.

It was weird driving around, we seemed to be going so fast, and we only managed a few photos. But it gave us a taste of a very interesting area, and we had a lovely lunch in Wallaroo, at the Cooper's Alehouse, after driving onto North Beach, in Paula's commodore sedan. It was rock hard. No beach volleyball on this one, unless you want to take some skin off. Better for cricket.

Paula said they usually play cricket and putt putt during summer along this beach.

Long drive, we need a driver reviver. Nice new hotel on a new canal development.

It's very tidal, so huge banks and floating jetties.

From here we checked out Moonta, which has a rich Cornish history, along with Kadina, and has a gorgeous old church (no photo from the car), and lots of lovely old buildings. This was my favourite today, and the beach and jetties, yes, there are two, are really beautiful. Kadina is very similar to Moonta, but is the shopping Mecca in this region.

Moonta bay main beach. This is one of my favourite spots so far. So nice.

One of two jetties, really good fishing in this area, Paula has told us.

Once home, we were all exhausted, and just relaxed and got sorted for departure the next day. It has been such a pleasure staying with Paula, and having a look at her home area. Worth more time here, for sure.

So, this morning we are away again. We said good bye to Aster and Paula, as they were ready and off before us. No surprise there, and we were loaded and heading out towards Warnertown by 9:30. Only six kays down the road we stopped to record our 3000th kilometre in 60 days, so far this trip. Way cool.

3000 big ones, woo hoo!

It wasn't long before we found the Frasers Rest again, and carried on along the Eyre highway for about 16kms before turning in to Crystal Brook. The highway had a bloody good shoulder, but lots of traffic. The road to Crystal Brook had no shoulder, and very little traffic. It was a very pretty town, so we had our lunch, and made a few phone calls, having a nice hour break before carrying on towards Spalding and Burra.

The harvest in full swing.

Coming into Crystal Brook, we were passed by three big army vehicles.

The first pub in town.

Foodland for a cheap drink before lunch.

The other pub, monitored by a "Monitor". Well, a goanna!

The weather was heating up, and so were the hills. We are at the southern end of The Flinders Ranges, and this is the least hilly area, they are not super steep, just long and slow, and just going up more and more. Our highest point so far was 305mtrs, lowest 4mtrs. Bit of climbing. But it was quite scenic, with the farming going on forever, and very little traffic. 

On the left is a field of Fava (broad) beans. So different than the usual wheat.

As we rode passed, a lone kangaroo went leaping into the field. Can you spot him?

At 305mtrs, what a great view behind us.

I look at that sign, and just ask "Why?". 1km! Not necessary.

By the time we got to Gulnare, and looked at the next hill, we decided to have a break in the only shop in town, the pub, and then decided to just stay put here tonight. It was hot, we were having a nice chat to Richard (the publican), and the hills can wait till tomorrow. There will be heaps more tomorrow, and we'll go all the way to Burra, with lunch in Spalding. For $10 a night, we get a nice little shaded grass patch, a toilet and hot shower. Awesome, we can afford to have dinner in the pub too. 

What a cute pub in this tiny town of 31.

Our little home for tonight, with a view of the silos.

28 Kays in Just One Hour

24/10/15 Mambray Creek to Port Pirie 55km

It was a really warm night, and the wind really picked up and blew. It was a good sign for our ride, as we've discovered, warm, windy nights here usually mean Northerlies, and that would be tailwind today. It is such a peaceful spot, that we took heaps of time getting organised. We had a visit from a couple of Emus, and lots of little birds. We chatted to a couple of other campers, and again had a great conversation with Morrie and his wife, who again gave us a couple of cold cokes for today's ride. They are really happy, lovely, people, in there late seventies. They looked much younger.

Almost packed, and we had visitors. Can you see them in the background?

Just wondering along, cool as can be.

Finally off at about 10:45, it was a great speedy start, with the five kay downhill ride, back to the highway. It was already pretty warm, and as we turned onto the highway, we took off with the strong tailwind giving us a major boost. I looked at my speedo, and I was screaming along in top gear, at 34kms/hr. What? This is crazy! Way too easy. It wasn't too long before we were passed by another solar car, one of the final few. There were millions of trucks, army vehicles, and there was convoy after huge convoy.

Downhill is always a great start to the day....

Zipping down the park road, racing towards the highway.

Oohh, another solar car. A fair bit slower than the ones before it. Still cool.

Just to add to the traffic noise, a huge train rumbled past.

Just a small one, heading in the opposite direction. We've seen all sorts.

After one hour, we thought we'd have a break and drink our cokes while they were still cold. We noticed that we'd ridden 28kms already. Holy cow, this must be a record for us. It was too easy today. So we contacted Paula, in Port Pirie, to let her know when we'd arrive, and get an address, then raced back out onto the highway, and caught the wind again. More army vehicles, and one more solar car, who gave us a little toot. We'd stopped to get the GoPro sorted, as we'd had a couple of huge convoys, passing us, and thought it would be good video. Before we got it together, a couple of massive oversize trucks came past, in both directions, and we missed the footage.

Now this is a shoulder......need it with this tailwind.

More army stuff, what's happening fellas?

This little guy gave us a toot, before getting out of the way of a massive truck.

Glad we were still messing about on the verge.......phew!

Zooming along, we passed Port Germaine, and noticed the harvest had begun. The fields were reaped, or being reaped. Looks like we got off the peninsula just in time. We might need to find a good back way through to Adelaide, to avoid the trucks. Just then we came across a roadhouse selling home made jams and smoked fish. We decided to stop for lunch, and also bought some quangdong jam. Can't wait to taste that.

Harvesters are busy at it now, time to find some back roads.

Let's see what Harry has for us to eat....

Yum, yum, Quangdong jam. Can't wait to try some of this.

The sad news was, we only had a couple of kays before we turned in towards Port Pirie. That meant we turned almost into the wind, or at least very side on. Bummer, cause we had enjoyed our speedy day. Another six kays, and we found town. Then we rode for another five kays, to the southern end of town, and found Paula's house. We were met by Darcy, one of Paula's twin daughters, who showed us were to keep the kids, introduced us to the doggies, and let us have a shower. Then we relaxed with the family, before a delicious home cooked dinner. Thanks Northerly winds, and Paula, for a zippy day.

Into the wind and Port Pirie....it just can't last....

Hi Paula, thank you for letting us crash your place....