August 27, 2024
Cycle day 94 - Karoonda to Parilla
Cycle day 94 - Karoonda to Lameroo = 86km. 7581km cycle toured on this trip so far.
Parilla rest area - donation for hot shower!
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Had a great rest day at Karoonda to let the weary legs rest up. Karoonda has a silo art and it also has a light show presentation each night for this year. Each month the artist changes and this month is a mixture of artwork. It is part of the SALA - South Australia Living Art festival which is a state wide event so some towns/places are participating and some aren't. They were very good some of the art work and of course there is a lot of variety and I had my favourites and Neil had his - mine were any of them that were bright! Here are some of my favourites ...
The next day we went to have a look at the silo art itself
Now we are nearly finishing this trip and over the past 4 months we have had alot of situations where we have experienced (especially on the road) or witnessed alot of "entitlement" but this is surely the icing on the entitled cake - when we came back from dinner in the camp kitchen last night it was dark and we could see that outline of a small van near our tent and upon closer inspection it was parked part of the way over our drive through. This caravan park has a paid section and a free area - this van was part of the free area which is behind the drive through section. So we ummmed and ahhhhed and decided that it was a bit rude of them to do this and take advantage of the fact that we don't have a car so they can just park there. So in the morning I took photos ... and it was alot closer than what I thought and I am surprised they didn't hook up to our power that we paid for!
We were on the road at 7am and had a quick check of the winds today incase they are no longer blowing in our direction or as hard as what they are saying it will be - they did have a slight change and we will have a slight cross headwind to begin with as it is a north north easterly then moving to a north north westerly. Our road to Karoonda is in a south east direction. They road is a back road and quiet and the wind didn't affect us as the road side had lots of trees/bushes to shelter us from any of that wind for the first 40km.
After 40km the road swings more south than east to Lameroo and we had a good tailwind. It is predominantly flat and any hills were just rises that you could easily ride in a gear down.
We get to Lameroo and got some food for tonight and the next few days and had a look at the silo art there
This guy is doing what alot of the farmers are currently doing now and that is praying for more rain.
We joined the Mallee highway and it is a B highway so not alot of trucks but more than we would encounter on the back roads. We have done this highway a few times and it is a good one for us. It has a shoulder that is ridable. By now the wind is a straight northerly and is very strong - 45km per hour and gusting to 55km per hour so quite strong for a cross wind. We only had 14km to go along here before we get to Parilla - yesterday we thought we might make Pinaroo if the wind swings more around to the west to be a tailwind rather than a cross wind, but alas it didn't so we stopped here at Parilla. Only a few houses and the pub is up for sale. It has a rest stop that welcomes travellers to stay. It has a shelter over a table, toilets and hot shower. We are camped under trees near the silos and railway line (no longer used!) In the garden are some quirky artwork
The forecast for tomorrow is for the wind to be just as strong as today but swing around to a westerly wind which would be a straight tailwind once we get to Pinaroo. So we are hoping for a big day tomorrow on the bike - hoping to make Underbool. We will also cross the state line and be in Victoria tomorrow - almost home!
Today's ride: 86 km (53 miles)
Total: 7,581 km (4,708 miles)
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