Outback Odyssey 2019 - Melrose to Blinman

The start of the final leg of the Outback Odyssey and the part that I was most looking forward to. I remember being completely awestruck by the incredible scenery as we travelled into the heart of the Flinders Ranges during our Mini Mawson 3 adventure in 2015 and was keen to relive that experience.  Our 2015 Outback Odyssey held many positive memories and so there was a kind of relief as we headed into this section of the trail, even though I knew full well that it would certainly not be easy going.

Some might even say that from this point, the serious cycling begins.

Day 11 - Melrose to Quorn - 71 km

We awoke to a magnificent sunrise over the plains outside of Melrose! The location of our cabin away from the main street of town was perfectly positioned to take full advantage of the spectacular sight. So while we waited for the luggage truck to arrive to take our stuff back to the main camp, we could admire the show that nature was putting on for us.

Stunning sunrise at Melrose

Riding out of Melrose we stopped at the Goyder monument as a bit of a tip of the hat to our work with the Goyder Institute; naturally we sent photos to our work colleagues who were in the office at the time, which also served to humble-brag that we were having fun while they were busy working.

Lynskey and Maretta check out the Goyder's line monument

Miss V and myself. No work today.

Fortunately we had a dry night and morning, so there was little to no mud on the back roads outside of Melrose as there was in 2015. In fact, without the mud the roads heading to Wilmington were actually quite enjoyable and we rolled almost effortlessly along them, no doubt assisted by our well rested legs. Also, with at least a week of riding the Mawson under our belt we were quite tuned in to looking for the Mawson markers. It really does seem to make a difference. In 2015 we managed to get ourselves partially lost in this bit!

Having passed the Goyder line outside of Melrose, something that is quite noticeable is the dramatic change in scenery.  Prior to Melrose, there is an abundance of trees and vegetation. Onwards from Melrose the vegetation thins, the number of trees reduces and the landscape changes to that of wide open plains, bound by the magnificent and imposing ranges.

Our morning tea stop was in Wilmington. It was quite the contrast to last time we rode into here. In 2015 with all the muddy roads there was a mad scramble to get to the taps to clean off bikes. None of that today fortunately, in fact the conditions we pretty much perfect.

Our lunch stop was at the road leading to Richmans Gap. In 2015 we were unfortunately directed away from Richmans Gap due to poor trail conditions (which we later found out were nowhere near as bad as reported!). This time however there were no such concerns and so we could ride the Gap. First however, we needed to get there.

Not a problem today.

Choices. The old and the new.

And what a ride to get there. Smooth rolling dirt roads, cresting hills with breathtaking views at the top; and with the added promise of more fun roads to follow. What's not to like?

This looks fun!

Hurry up!

Before long we'd reached the turn off to Richmans Gap. We weren't really sure what to expect from here, except that there was a climb. It turned out that the climb was quite a challenging rocky climb initially, quite enjoyable as long as you could keep the momentum up and minimise wheelspin on some of the loose sections. The upper section was a bit smoother and a nice way to arrive at the gate at the top. Somewhat disappointing, there wasn't too much in the way of views at the top due to the surprising amount of trees at the top.

Lynskey at the top of Richmans Gap

Chris and Ralphy at the top of Richmans Gap

That disappointment was short lived however as the scenery along the downhill run from the top of the Gap opened up and we had a views across the plains once again. The fast downhill run continued into Quorn, providing us with the perfect end to our day on the bike.


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Day 12 - Quorn to Hawker - 111 km

A massive day for us, and one that we were probably feeling a bit apprehensive about prior to setting off in the morning. In 2015 we took the short cut into Hawker, cutting out approximately 20 km and still was struggling to get into camp at a reasonable time (admittedly with a stop to check out the awesome Kanyaka ruins). With this trip being all about travelling the bits that we'd missed out on previously we were determined and committed to travel the loop out to Craddock.  Could we make it to Hawker before sunset?  Before we answer that question however, there's a whole heap of really awesome cycling to do!

The roads outside of Quorn were a really easy way to get into the day. Nice and gentle, and reasonably smooth going. Combined with the near ideal weather, it was the perfect way to start the day.  Everyone was rolling along easily, happily chatting away. 

Miss V - On the wide open road outside of Hawker.

First stop was Yarrah Vale Gorge. This is a pretty special bit of trail. The not too difficult climb through the gorge is initially fairly tightly enclosed by the small hills around it, almost claustrophobic in places; then you turn a corner and then instantly the scenery opens up and you're suddenly looking across a wide open expanse from a nicely elevated vantage point. A very nice place to stop and take a few photos.

Yarrah Vale Gorge.

At morning tea we were joined by an American traveller and his companions doing the Mawson Trail unsupported (save for the couple of snacks they grabbed!). It turns out that he had the same bike as Miss V (except the extra cool titanium model). So obviously they're best friends now.

After morning tea, we set off towards Simmonston. I was really looking forward to this part of the day. The scenery is just breathtakingly awesome. Wide open plains with a backdrop of the ranges. It's an environment which make you feel so tiny in comparison to your surrounds. Very hard to beat.  We stopped by Hugh Proby's grave for a few photos but were quickly back on the road to Simmonston. On reaching Simmonston, we stopped for a few more photos, and to take in the views across the valley. I find Simmonston quite a moving place, imagining the early Europeans, full of optimism trying to make a life out here and ultimately failing.

Epic scenery that makes you feel tiny

Miss V and CLP at Simmonston

The run down from Simmonston was relatively smooth and quick, though we knew from experience not to get too comfortable. A 90 degree turning and we were travelling on Gordon Rd, and the start of approximately 10km of corrugated, dead straight road. Just for good measure we had a bit of a head wind to make things extra fun. I put myself on the front for this bit, hoping to give Miss V a bit of a break as her knees had been starting to act up a bit during the last couple of days. I felt pretty strong, so there didn't seem to be any problem with doing so.   Even so, it was damn hard work at times and so when we saw a small cluster of trees by the roadside about half way along, we took the opportunity to take a quick break to recover.

Finally! After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the end of the corrugated road. We turned off  onto the highway briefly and then onto a small section of track that we apparently didn't do last time. Winding our way through some scrub area alongside and through a dry creek landed us at our much needed lunch stop.  Both V and I were pretty exhausted at this point. Even with our determination to get to the Craddock hotel, I'll admit that there was a small voice in my head telling me to take the shorter option up the highway. Shut up small voice!

And with that we crossed the highway and headed into the unknown once again. Unlike on the previous side of the highway, the trails heading towards Craddock had curves and elevation changes! Quite fun, but tough going after the previous section of trails. Eventually we made it to the Craddock hotel and found ourselves a nice place to sit outside.  Have to say, as far as pubs go, this one is a cracker!

Alexa and Lawrie Checking they are on track for beer

Made it. Happy days. Beer time!

After an altogether too brief beer stop, we figured that if we wanted to get into camp before sunset we ought to head off. Only 27km to Hawker, and according to the ride briefing the previous night, all downhill. Should be a breeze! Except, our expectation of "downhill" was somewhat different to reality. So it was a bit more of an effort than we'd counted on.   

It was on this short stretch that I had my one and only trouble on the trip. A few kilometres along the road from the Craddock hotel I started feeling quite lightheaded and dizzy. I was finding it difficult to believe that a single beer would have had this much impact on me! I tried to ride through it, but eventually I felt I was risking a crash and was becoming a danger to myself so I pulled off the road.  Rummaging around in my backpack I found a small bag of scroggin which I demolished in short order.  Almost like magic, the dizziness went away. It turns out that I was just hungry! I suspect that the effort along the corrupgated road took a whole lot more out of me than I noticed and only now I was paying the price. Something that I'd need to watch out for on tomorrows ride.

Road to Hawker

With my head back in gear, we rolled away, maybe a little bit cautiously at first, but we soon got back up to speed. The final little section into Hawker was a nice downhill to enter the town just as the sun was starting to go down. We made it, with not much time to spare!

I think this is where our decision to go with the deluxe camping option came into it's own. I don't think there's any possible way that we could have done this day, at the relaxed pace that we generally travel, as well as pack up and put up our tent at either end of the day. Deluxe camping...worth every cent!

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Day 13 - Hawker to Rawnsley Park Station - 94 km

Our second big day in a row. While the total kilometres were marginally less than yesterday, we knew from experience that this day had a very nasty sting in the tail in the form of a stretch of about 25km of corrugated roads.

The trails in the morning have a significantly different feel to previous days, tending to wind their way around bush tracks though sheep stations, rather than staying on unsealed roads. Not a bad thing, but it certainly adds to the feeling of isolation.

Recalling our Mini Mawson adventure in 2015, we were keen to revisit the somewhat mysterious tomb of Douglas Bruce. During dinner the previous night Miss V borrowed Ray's book about the Flinders Ranges. It turns out that while Douglas Bruce wasn't famous in his own right, his brother Robert was a noted poet and writer of the time.  Perhaps this goes some way to explaining the massive monument in the middle of nowhere!

The mysterious tomb of Douglas Bruce.

Equally mysterious - Grave site of E & M Bone

A few more twists and turns through the scenery and we were set to head upwards Wonoka Climb. This is a fun (read: steep, and a loose) little climb which puts us on top of a plateau. The way down however is even more fun.  There were warnings about this part (and recommendations to walk the descent) in the ride briefing the night before. However, casting my mind back to 2015 I found that I was more than half way down the climb before I realised I should have been walking. So knowing what to expect, I decided to ride it. I'm glad I did. While it needed full attention, it was a bit of fun. That said, we did have one lady who crashed pretty hard and had to substitute riding the rest of the day for a trip to Hawker hospital. Doesn't seem like a good trade.

CLP - Attack position! Photo c/ B. Sayer

CLP descending. Photo c/ B. Sayer

Even after this descent, the fun didn't stop with even more descending to follow as we headed towards morning tea. We could get used to this!



After morning tea we were treated to yet more trails winding through the bush land.  There's the occasional ruin that reminds you that you're travelling through a station, but for the most part there's the feeling of unlimited open space.  Eventually the fun has to stop, and we're spit back out onto the highway. No problem, 10 or so kilometres of cruisy riding until lunch, right?  Nope.  Apparently Miss V wants to do a team time trial. I'll leave the reasons for this as an exercise for the reader.

Once there was a house, now there isn't

We arrived at lunch in a pretty little spot in a shaded dry creek bed. The ride had been so nice up until now, but we knew what was to come.  Morilana Scenic Drive with its 25 kilometers of corrugations. Sadly, this isn't up there on my top 10 places I want to cycle.  Which is a pity, because the scenery, like much of this region, is spectacular. The road surface is less than spectacular on a bike however.

The body language of someone who is preparing themselves to ride Morilana Scenic Drive.

I think knowing what to expect on Morilana Scenic Drive helped us a fair bit. It didn't make things any easier on the body, but I think it let us prepare mentally for the battering we were about to receive. On the plus side, this time around the wind was far less of a problem so we could just concentrate on dealing with the 25 kilometres of corrugated roads. This gave us a bit more opportunity to appreciate the scenery through this valley, which is pretty spectacular.  I think we coped a little bit better this time, and found the time to stop and take a few photos along the way.

Morilana Scenic Drive delivers - Scenery!

Nigel's car was a very welcome sight, indicating that we had reached afternoon tea, and perhaps more critically, the end of Morilana Scenic Drive. The run from this point is on the highway. While  stretches along the roads are generally not favoured, in this case the smooth surface was most certainly welcome. Our home for the night was Rawnsley Park Station, which to be honest, we weren't really looking forward to. Mainly because the food has historically been fairly average on previous Outback Odysseys. This time they did okay, so credit where it's due, I think they have redeemed themselves.

Home for the night - Rawnsley Park Station.

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Day 14  - Rawnsley Park Station to Wilpena Pound - 30 km

More of a transition day for us with a relatively easy and relaxed 25 km to get from Rawnsley Park to Wilpena Pound. This was quite welcome after two big days in succession. With such a short day the morning routine was a little more relaxed than usual, especially compared to the previous two days.

The trails leaving Rawnsley are an interesting way to start the day. A bit rocky in places, so it's possible to get yourself into trouble, but they generally have a nice flow to them, and they feel a bit special being under the watchful eye of Ranges, and in particular Rawnsley Bluff.

Miss V on the trails. No rush today.

Mostly easy going today.

While my general rule for the Outback Odyssey is not to try untested equipment, with the day being so short I couldn't help but want to try out my new Over the Edge cycling kit that I had picked up in Melrose. So it was new kit day for me! Though I did feel a bit conspicuous in my bright orange jersey and knicks!

Miss V - trying to convince us she's having fun

New kit day for me!

The day for us was fairly uneventful, though certainly enjoyable. After the Rawnsley trails we jumped onto the highway for a bit and then, via a hidden little turn off onto the telegraph track. The telegraph track lead us onto some nice wide tracks which mirrored the route of the highway all the way up to the turn off into Wilpena Pound. Too easy.

Of course, that's only part of the story really. Throughout our day we were riding alongside the outer faces of Wilpena Pound. Such an imposing natural monument and a good reminder of the epicness of our journey to get to this point. 

Home for the night - Wilpena Pound. 

Arriving at camp, we had quite a bit of time to spare, so we spend a bit of time just relaxing, and then a short walk on one of the trails within Wilpena Pound. Very nice way to spend the afternoon and reinforced our resolve to get back here at some point in the future.

The day ended on a slightly sad note, with us finding out that our ride buddy Allison had fallen on some of the early trails and had broken her wrist, leaving her unable to ride the final day into Blinman. She will clearly have to make amends and ride the next Outback Odyssey.

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Day 15 - Wilpena Pound to Blinman - 70 km

Our last day on the trail! I remembered this one fairly well from 2015 as being much harder than it appears on paper. Lots of creek bed crossings and short, sharp punchy climbs is a sure way to smashing the legs! There were also memories of washed out sections that were tempting the unwary to crash in a screaming heap. Hopefully we'd get through this okay and stay out of trouble.

The day started poorly though. As we were leaving, Chris was frantically searching for Ralphy as he'd gone missing around breakfast time. So as we rolled out of camp, feeling a bit helpless,  we were concerned that we might not see that happy little face again. Not really the way we want to finish things off.

The trails exiting Wilpena Pound are quite pretty, threading its way through a wooded area with a bunch of creek crossings. Fortunately there were very few washed out sections, so the trail was in pretty good condition for us and we could enjoy the scenery just that little bit more.

Fun ride through the trees.

Miss V looks like she's enjoying things.

We detoured off the trail briefly to look for some interesting geology that we were told about last night. We were about to give up when someone else yelled out from a nearby creek bed that they had located it. Talk about frustrating! Ultimately though, it was really good so see this. What we were standing in front of was the debris of a meteor strike that occurred ~300 kilometres to the west on the Eyre Peninsula approximately 580 million years ago. Pretty damn amazing.



The next part of the day is one that I'd been really looking forward to.  Riding along Bunyeroo Gorge road and up the the iconic climb to the Razorback Lookout. There's a good reason that the views from this lookout appear so often in advertising material for the Flinders Ranges. It's simply stunning.  I managed to get up the climb quicker than last time as well, which I was well happy with given the number of kilometres in my legs by this stage. Photos were taken. Lots of photos!

Spectacular view from Razorback Lookout.

Massive effort from Miss V

Smudge Monkees at Razorback Lookout! :)

It was only a short cruise to morning tea which had an awesome surprise for us...  Ralphy! So much relief! He was okay. I reckon Ralphy received more attention at morning tea from everyone than he did during the rest of the tour!

From this point onwards it became a bit more difficult. Maybe not from a technical perspective, but from a strength and fitness perspective.  A constant barrage of punchy up and downhills served to really test the legs leading into lunch. There were certainly a few people that looked worse for wear, but despite it all everyone was still relatively cheery and looking forward to a well earned refreshment at the end.

Ride buddy Kathy	Ride buddy Judith
Ride buddy Patty	Ride buddy Ralphy & Ride Marshal/buddy Chris

The run into Blinman from lunch is, to be honest, a bit of a drag. About 15 kilometres on the bitumen, and most of it uphill.  Not actually that much fun and a bit of a hard slog at times.  The mood does lift a little when you pass the turn off to Alpana Station and you see people returning from the Blinman Hotel, yelling out encouragement. Then the mood lifts a little more as you pass the road sign signalling that you're entering Blinman and you can see a few buildings clustered ahead. Then finally you crest the hill and you can see the North Blinman Hotel, with all your ride buddies there celebrating. Magic!

We made it!

Success!

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