March 20, 2022
Watching ants marching.
Bothwell to New Norfolk
We were determined to have an early start for a change. With bags half packed the night before, stewed fruit(from the gardens fruit trees) and yoghurt in the fridge and the bikes all clean and lubed we were out the door shortly after 8am. Not before Pete cracked his head one last time on the light fitting in the lounge room.
It was a quick 20ks in brisk conditions mainly through dry dusty farmland before we hit our first gravel road and climbed over a saddle into Pelham west nature reserve.
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We had morning tea in the forest before the shorter of 2 climbs today, polishing off the CWA date loaf with gusto. Having run out of conversation we spent 15 minutes in silence watching ants from 3 different colonies carrying huge crumbs in front of them, bumping into twigs and avoiding tiny blackberry shoots to get to their nests.
We climbed for about 300m and then had a long sweep down to the small town of Gretna. The appropriately named Gretna Green hotel lured us in for a cappuccino before the big climb over Black Hills to New Norfolk. The sun only just broke through as we started climbing up on a smooth corrugation free road with few cars, no wind and silence.
Over the top it was a bonus to find a sealed road all the way to New Norfolk which we flew down in no time at all. We’re in the Derwent valley now.
There’s not much happening in New Norfolk on a lazy Sunday afternoon. We opt for delivered pizzas to the B and B we’re staying in for dinner with a Stefano Lubiano Pinot to wash it down.
Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 565 km (351 miles)
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