The
weather has been so kind to me… sure a
couple of wet days and always cold to start off, but when I checked on Hennie
in the morning her temp was 1… and I had
been so comfy inside with the heater on at 20…
stopped for a coffee in Avoca - to thank the owner for the
tip about St Pauls Cabins. I shared the table 2 motorbike riders - father and
son - who were doing a quick circuit of the island trying to keep away from
main roads too - so I tipped them off about the Old Coach Road, which they
agreed would be an interesting ride…
The
coffee shop guy confirmed that the detour onto the Nile road would be fine, but
there was about 20km of highway first - and it was so busy and so many just
scraping closely by - but having said that, there were also a lot that gave me
lots of room - but most don't worry about the "if safe to do so" bit of the rule… luckily no accidents today!
I rode
into Conara planning to buy some water, but there are no shops there - but a
nice little park made a good lunch
stop. A caravan turned up so I strolled
over and asked if he could spare a bottle of water and he willingly topped it
up. But a rest stop without a
loo??? Ah well, back on the bike again.
In less
than 2km I turned off onto Glen Esk Rd and instantly peace and quiet. A nice sealed road led down past a flowering
crop of canola!! Flashback time! So this
is a farming area - large farms - scary looking signs threatening death and
destruction if one were to venture onto their property - I must google
Vaucluse and see what they're growing - is this the legal heroin company?
My
dislike for farmlands was further added to today. Because yes, head wind (I know its mine turn
now but!!) and cleared lands means unimpeded winds - not the worst wind I have
had to ride into, but nevertheless, tiring.
Huge irrigation sprinklers danced across the paddocks, while in others
there were sheep and cattle grazing. The
sheep tend to freak out when I ride past, but a whole herd of
soon-to-be-hamburgers came galloping up to talk with me… not sure what brand of cattle but they had
such cute floppy hairdos… they decided
to gallop along with me until they came to a fence…
So no big
hills today, but just up and down, up and down…. There was a section of gravel, but easy to
ride and only about 8km - and then after crossing the Nile River I got onto a
straight road that went on and on and on…
and head wind and getting near the 80km and still it went on - going up
and over a couple of bumps but every onwards in a straight line. Nearly fell off when I came to the gentle
corner!
By then I
was getting pooped and decided that I would make Evandale my stop for the
night. I was about to book a room,
when I got a phone call and the offer of a lift into Launceston,
so I decided to go with that - I just knew that last 20k would take me more
than 2 hrs and already it was 6pm…
But
Evandale is a wonderful little town - historic buildings everywhere being used
and looked after - but so very English.
So I rode around a bit, took some photos and went back to the main road
to wait.
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