The End.

October 24, 2021

Adelaide

Well, that's the end of that.

Covid 19 put paid to the Slow Ride South, closing off our path through NSW and Victoria. Having finished work, completed the rail trails, and meandered through Queensland for a month or so, we were keen to get on the road to South Australia. We checked the border restrictions and, coming from regional Queensland, we were good to go once a bit of tedious paperwork had been done.

"Good" we said. "We'll drive down the Strzelecki Track for an adventure on the way."

Strzelecki Track

The Strzelecki Track was closed to 2WD vehicles due to high water in the creek crossings.

"Bummer" we said. "We'll have to go via the Northern Territory."

So we did, adding some 3000km to the trip but in the process revisiting a lot of remote places where we lived and worked a long time ago.

Once we got to South Australia we slowed down and explored the Flinders Ranges and the Eyre Peninsula. The scenery was spectacular, the stars at night were stunning, an icy gale-force wind blew 4 days out of 5, and always opposite to where we were going. We didn't ride our bicycles at all.

A down side of heading south was that winter came with us. While it's now a comfortable 35C back in Roma with spectacular (and destructive) storms firing up all over the place, here in Adelaide its merely what would be a nice winter day back home. I went for a short ride in Streaky Bay and had a problem with my front derailleur. "I'll fix this myself" I thought. "Youtube can teach me anything."

Youtube can't compensate for zero tools and too much impatience though, and as a result my bike is in a bike shop in Adelaide to have my fixings fixed. Oh, and to have the seat post replaced as it stripped out on the rail trails and is far less stable than is preferable for a seat post.

Which brings us to the end of the slow ride south, as there is no more south to go. We're already where we were going and although the borders are due to open before Christmas we've missed the window for optimum cycling weather on the coast between here and Brisbane. We will spend the next couple of months in Adelaide so another journal based on our bicycle explorations is waiting in the wings.

In the mean time, if anyone would like to read of our non-bicycle-based adventures over the last couple of months, you can do so here:

WhilenotWorking2

Thanks everyone for the support while we were riding, especially the tips for ongoing self-maintenance of bicycles. Youtube and I still have a lot to learn!

Gratuitous koala photo from Mikkira Station, 25km south of Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula. If you are touring in South Australia and get the chance to stay here, do so!

Second gratuitous koala photo to demonstrate how close the koalas are at Mikkira. Just watch out for drop bears: sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

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