Mount Gambier to Naracoorte

You are here:
> Travelogues > Mountain Biking Australia - Travel Diary > Day 14

Cycle Australia - I left Mount Gambier around 8am. The way takes me north, some nice tailwind (as forecasted) makes cycling easier. The highway is very busy. I thought that becomes less when I get a bit out of the city but I was wrong. The Riddoch Highway is the main supply route from Adelaide to Mount Gambier. But the road is good with a nice shoulder to cycle on. Today I have nothing to complain about the truckies, nobody puts me in a dangerous situation.

The first part of the cycle tour went along endless pine plantations especially around Tarpeena and Nangwarry. These towns have also a mill. Then the landscape changed into a bit of farmland. Penola has some beautiful flowers along its main road. It’s a nice little place. Here starts the wine growing region and continues along Coonawarra which comes right after Penola. Everything is very tidy. Lots of flowers line the road. The shoulder of the highway is very wide. So I could cycle well off the traffic.

Just after the wine growing area is a nice resting place with a roof. That was my perfect spot for my lunch break. These resting places are sometimes hard to find. The weather cleared up, I got some sunshine. I carried some wet clothes on top of panniers. That stuff didn’t dry properly the night before. So I dried everything in the sun.

The trip went on and all of a sudden some big noise on the rear wheel – the chain jammed….
Oh sh…. I stopped and had a look. I wasn’t really sure what happened then I realised that I caught a wire in the rear sprocket. Usually I was always very careful and had a good look on the road but this time I was a bit sleepy. Anyway it took me 10 minutes to get it out, what a mess…

I got closer to Naracoorte when I saw some great artwork next to the highway. I reached the “Father Woods Park” with seven big wooden statures. Absolutely amazing!!

The southerly wind took me eventually to Naracoorte where I couldn’t find any sign of the caravan park which is quite unusual for an Australian town. So I went to the tourist information and they told me the right way.

The Facebook and Twitter buttons above are just jpeg images with a simple link to Twitter.com and my Facebook fan page. The buttons are not “Plug ins” which affect our privacy. Read more about “Twitter and Facebook plug ins” and privacy protection on my disclaimer page. To get to my Twitter profile just type “ WalterAustralia ” in the search bar on top of the Twitter page after you signed in to your Twitter account.

© 2009 - 2012 Walter Leven