Into South Australia – Gateway to the Outback

I spent much of my last day in Victoria cycling in the Lower Glenelg National Park. One of VIC’s best kept secrets – I paddled down this river over Easter with my best mate Tom for the second time and cannot recommend it highly enough for beginners, experienced paddlers and families alike (For more info: http://uji.anc.temporary.site/jg5g)! I was stoked to see mobs of kangaroos and emus in their natural habitats.

Before I knew it, I was cycling past the ’Welcome to South Australia’ sign. I whooped and cheered, stoked that I was officially off home turf and that it all lay ahead of me.

The trying rain turned into trying headwinds as the south westerly that had been blowing consistently turned into a northerly just as I turned north myself.

I took dirt roads where I could as I moved up through the Coorong, a long section of swampy marshland. It was great to escape the highway and before long I had reached the banks of the Mighty Murray River. For a long time, I was unaware that the Murray reaches the sea in SA. I’ve literally cycled across this awesome river system up near it’s knee deep headwaters in NSW/VIC high country and it was cool to see the river at it’s journey’s end.

I could see the first creases in the land that would eventually become the Adelaide Hills. A very spicy climb out of a deep valley brought me to my friend Gabriel and Olenka’s place in Mt Barker. I was a stones throw from Adelaide and it was lovely to have couple of days off the bike, a warm shower and do some laundry. A huge thanks to Gabe and Olenka for such a lovely time!