The "Not the Tassie" trip - Flinders Ranges/Mid North SA November 2020

Davo1063 and myself were meant to be heading to Tasmania this month, in the end we could have gone at the very last minute but it was too late to organise properly and Dave didn't have the leave approved.

Out consolation trip, a ride through the Flinders Ranges and Mid North of SA, here's my take on the ride .............

Day 1, solo ride from Adelaide to Port Augusta





Monday I left Adelaide for Port Augusta and a meet up with Davo1063 the following morning. I had all day to travel the 300km and wanted to try and keep as far from the main highway as possible. I took the expressway out of Adelaide then continued up the highway only as far as Two Wells where I turned off and headed North via Mallala and Balaklava, from Balaklava I continued North before turning back towards the highway at Whitwarta.

After a nice ride over the range and a few nice corners I met up with the Port Augusta Highway at Nantawarra, a few kilometres North of there I turned off of the highway at Lochiel up over another small range and headed for the coastal resort of Port Broughton. By Bute I was needing a stretch and some relief so took a quick break at the rest area next to town





Back on the bike and the short relatively boring ride to Port Broughton where I stopped for fish and salad for lunch.



From Port Broughton I headed back North, turning off and recrossing the range through Clements Gap, at Merriton, I  re-joined the Port Augusta Highway for a short time then taking the old highway into Crystal Brook, my dad’s home town where I refuelled.

From Crystal Brook I headed across through Beetaloo Valley on the Wilkins Hwy, left onto Possum Park Rd and into my mum’s old home town of Laura.

At Laura I headed North on Horrocks Hwy/Main North Rd, at Wirabarra I stopped for a quick stretch and check out the local silo art



I left Wirrabara and continued North, just before Melrose I stopped and admired the view of Mount Remarkable  for a bit. Mt Remarkable is about 960 m above sea level and the Western side is close to Spencer Gulf, on the Eastern side the Valley is well above sea level so this is all that you get to see of a mountain over 950 m high.





As I was heading into Melrose I stopped for a quick closer up shot of Mt Remarkable.
 


I continued along Horrocks Hwy until  Wilmington where I took Horrocks Pass back to the Port Augusta Hwy, that is one of the best short distance windy roads I’ve ridden anywhere, I just wish it continued for another 50km

https://goo.gl/maps/9aXkMDdmpp9DwkuM9

Once in Port Augusta I refuelled, made my way to a mates house where I was spending the night with himself, his wife and their recent addition a 5 year old corgi cross rescue dog who was not happy to see a motorbike ride into “his” carport, an hour later and he was my best friend

Day 2
 
I met up with Davo1063 for pre ride coffee at a Café in Port Augusta’s West Side. David had made the 70 km ride across from Whyalla.



From Port Augusta we turned off of the Augusta Highway at Stirling North where we crossed the Flinders Rages on another gem of a ride, Pichie Richie Pass, at Quorn we headed North on the Flinders Ranges way to Hawker which eventually would be our resting place for the night



After a quick stretch and refuel in Hawker we continued on the Flinders Ranges way, stopping a couple of times to take in the scenery














We stopped for a break in Blinman and had lunch at the iconic North Blinman Hotel



Back on the bikes heading South and again, a couple of stretch stops to take in the magnificent views, none of these photos go close to doing it justice









With cheap 1970’s décor, never updated rooms at the pub costing $120 per single, this Airbnb house for $160 was a no brainer





After settling in we had about a 1km walk to the pub for a bloody good feed and a couple of ales, fitting end to an awesome ride

Looks like you guys are having a great time. 
Wish I could have joined you. 

madmax wrote:Looks like you guys are having a great time. 
Wish I could have joined you. 

We had a great time, got home yesterday


I was telling Dave about the Edenhope Vic/SA meet up and suggested we should do it again, what do you think?
Early 2021 assuming everything keeps getting back no a more normal life?

We never did do the Naracoorte Caves

Day 3
 


We were up fairly early and headed of for a nice walk around Hawker, the scenery is stunning in the early morning



On the walk we came a cross the local war memorial what an eclectic but stunning display







A quick stop for a coffee at the Flinders Ranges Food Co, this lamp shade was interesting



Back to the house, pack the bikes, refuel and we were on our way to Leigh Creek and Lyndhurst, Lyndhurst is where the ranges meet the flat which just goes on, and on, and on , and on …………
About 20 minutes or so from Hawker we stopped at a look out, the views were stunning, this look out was also a memorial to the overland telegraph









From there we continued North, not long after we were back on the road I slowed and eventually stopped for a young bull that strolled out onto the road, he wasn’t happy to see us and after a few minutes Mexican standoff we turned and rode the opposite direction. A few hundred meters towards where we’d come from and we headed back North to find he’d wandered off the road but still had us both in his sights,
After a short time I just went hard and rode past him, Dave followed soon after, I’ve got to admit the heart rate went up a bit for a while.
We rode into to Leigh Creek and stopped for a stretch and bought some supplies at the local IGA, soon after, back on the bikes and heading North.
I turned off the highway at the turn off top the former Leigh Creek coal mine which supplied the Port Augusta power station with fuel for decades, I was hoping to see the look out that looked over the pit, everything has been shut up, the old display bucket line had gone and there was no entry to any where near the site any longer.
From there we continued North to Lyndhurst, while we’d been travelling in the “Outback” for a day and a half, this was were the hills stopped and it is flat further than the eye can see.





Wee then left Lyndhurst, heading back south, a stop at the Copley Bakery and Quandong café for lunch, refuel at Leigh Creek and we were on our way towards Peterborough for the night.
We stopped at the famous Prairie Hotel in Parachilna for a beer and a stretch





Back on the bikes and another stop to take in the amazing views









We continued South past Hawker, Craddock and Carrieton, finally arriving in Peterborough with our gauges flashing, I put 18.4 litres in to refuel,  Davo1063 put in more than that.
We checked into the Peterborough Hotel, had a couple of ales and found out that since Paul and I stayed there last year the cook and kitchen has moved to the Junction Hotel down the road which he had reopemned, it was shut when Paul and I were there.







The bikes were put securely to be in a undercover area out the back of the pub, we headed to the Railway Hotel for a $15 Bangers and Mash meal, bloody awesome feed and left us both feeling more than full.

We headed of to the Steamtown museum where the only place in the world Narrow Gauge, Standard Gauge and Broad Gauge rail meet






I headed to the bar of the pub we were staying at for a short while, Dave headed up stairs, that was the end to a very long but enjoyable day.

Chook wrote:

madmax wrote:Looks like you guys are having a great time. 
Wish I could have joined you. 

We had a great time, got home yesterday


I was telling Dave about the Edenhope Vic/SA meet up and suggested we should do it again, what do you think?
Early 2021 assuming everything keeps getting back no a more normal life?

We never did do the Naracoorte Caves

Yep but at the bushman's Arm in Naracoorte itself

Sounds like a plan so long as they give me something better than a hammock to sleep in this time

Naracoorte does have a bit more to offer than Edenhope but Edenhope did have it's own special type of charm   

Good report  ...........looks like the weather was kind to you as well .

paul wrote:Good report  ...........looks like the weather was kind to you as well .

Ride home on Tuesday was a stinker, other than that 5 days of awesomeness, a couple more days still to come

Day 4




Sunday was a pretty cruzy day. When we did the Steamtown light and sound tour after tea last night we paid for the day/night double, today we had the day time guided  tour of the Peterborough Division rail workshops as well as a few other bits and pieces to do;



We headed out for an early morning walk exploring the town.....

 

.....before heading down to Steamtown, anyone with even the slightest interest in rail history should visit here at least once in their life







After Steamtown we headed back into town then visited the Peterborough Motorcycle and Antique museum, it is an eclectic mix of some very unusual bikes, and worth every cent of the $7 entry












After lunch we hopped on the bikes for the 1^st time that day and rode the 25km to Terowie, a town with a population under 100 that before the standardisation of rail gauge late last century had well over 2000 living there, all freight was moved from a Broad Gauge train to a Standard gauge train in the rail yards here, most of it by hand.






















Terowie is also famous as being the place General McArthur spoke to the media for the 1sxt time in Australia during WWII




Back to Peterborough for the night
 

Chook wrote:Sounds like a plan so long as they give me something better than a hammock to sleep in this time

Naracoorte does have a bit more to offer than Edenhope but Edenhope did have it's own special type of charm   

If you end up with a hammock again , ask to swap to another room. When we were there last, I fairly sure we were the only guests.

Day 5
 
We had all day to get from the Peterborough Hotel to the Airbnb house that we had booked in Clare, normally just an easy 120km ride or drive and check time was no earlier than 2:00pm
I was up early and headed off for a short walk, a coffee, then back to the pub for breakfast.



By 8:30 we were packed on the road heading out of Peterborough the same way we came into town 2 days earlier, heading for Orroroo, we rode into Orroroo after enjoying the Twisties left by the old rail crossing approach, once into town  we turned off on a road neither of us has ever travelled on before, heading for Pekina where we’d turn off toward Booleroo Centre. Paul, I’m sure when we went to the museum early 2019 we asked about that road and was told it wasn’t great? What a surprise, great scenery, nice big sweepers on a wide ultra grippy bitumen surface.

From Booleroo Centre we continued on to Murray Town, coming over a hill I was pretty happy I’d backed off a bit as we received a friendly wave from the local constabulary travelling the other way. We stopped for a short stretch and clean the helmets in Murray Town before turning back South until the Port Germein Gorge. This road has twisty nearly all the way but is narrow, tight and the surface is getting rough and you have to be on constant look out for rocks up to fist size as you’re coming through bends, it is still fun though. We arrived in Port Broughton and headed straight to the jetty for a well earned stretch, drink and cool down, it was starting to get quite warm for the first time this trip.









 We had planned on heading past  Port Pirie and then turning towards Gladstone to pass through Beetaloo Valley but given that meant a stint on the boring main highway I suggested we head back through Germein Gorge and travel down main North Rd, turning off at Laura, passing through Beetaloo Valley and then taking the Crystal Brook – Gulnare road giving us a much more interesting ride.

Off we headed with another ride through Germein Gorge, this time up hill which is a bit more pleasant, when we hit Main North Road we turned South, passed through Wirabarra (see my day 1) and onto the tiny village of Stone Hut where we stopped at the renowned Stone Hut Bakery for an early lunch.




After a tasty feed and admiring the incredible bird life collection in the aviaries we continued South. At Laura we turned right towards Crystal Brook, firstly travelling on the Possum Park Rd before turning back West and passing through Beetaloo Valley on the Wilkins Highway, left onto Gladstone Laura Rd and into Crystal Brook for a fuel stop.

We still had plenty of time to burn before we could check in at Clare so there was no need to try and get there in any hurry. Back on the bikes and we headed out of Crystal Brook on the Goyder Hwy which before meeting up with Main North Rd has a section with nice sweepers and a few tighter bends that kept us amused.

At Main North Rd we turned right onto Main North Rd where we could have continued straight on and into Clare just over half an hour away, the first 1.5 km is both the Goyder Highway and Main North Rd, instead we turned left and continued on the Goyder Hwy past Bundaleer Reservoir where there are some nice bends downstream from the dam wall and they continue back up to the top of the small range. At the T junction we turned right onto the share Goyder Hwy/R.M. Williams Way and into Spalding where we checked to see if the pub was open so Davo1063 could enjoy a frothy in what was his Grandparents pub years gone by, not to be, we were a couple hours early for opening time.

Heading out of town we left the Goyder Hwy and continued along R.M. Williams Way and into Clare, we were still too early for check in so did a quick ride past to see where we were spending the night and then headed South out of town through Sevenhill, soon after Sevenhill we turned onto Jolly Rd and rode through spectacular scenery and great section of bends towards the historic town of Mintaro.
At Mintaro we stopped for a while at the Magpie and Stump Hotel for a soft drink and cool down.

Back on the bike and still with time to kill, we headed North towards Farrell Flat where the disused local silos are being transformed into another piece of silo art, this one celebrating the town’s original rail heritage along the Adelaide to Burra line which has been pulled up for decades now.




We had an encounter with a runaway Chihuahua dog where Davo1063 rescued the day and returned him to his owner, she then went on to tell us she thought the silo should have had a Kelpie painted on it instead of a steam train, the decision was a local vote but as she has it outside her door she thought it should have been her choice


From Farrell Flat we headed into Clare with a few more nice bends before we got into town, rode into the carport of our Airbnb to find there was no key in the key locker, a call from David to the owner and she arrived very apologetically 10 or 15 minutes later. It was a great little place with a coffee pod machine and the fridge and pantry stocked with eggs, bacon, bread, cereals etc

That night we caught a cab into to the Clare Hotel (or as the locals call it, the Middle Pub) for tea, the feed was good and we got talking to the couple on the table next to us, turned out they are from my Dad’s home town of Crystal Brook and he was an apprentice mechanic to my mate I had stayed with in Port Augusta after Day 1, SA is a bloody small place!!

Yep , you are correct , we were advised not to go that way from Boolaroo Centre  to Peterborough , so we went back the other way .

paul wrote:Yep , you are correct , we were advised not to go that way from Boolaroo Centre  to Peterborough , so we went back the other way .

It is first from Pekina to Black Rock on a more direct route, I can only assume he didn't consider heading up to Orroroo on the bitumen

Im-pres-SIVE! What would you say the tarmac-to-gravel ratio was?

Regards
Stan L
South Africa

Stan L wrote:Im-pres-SIVE! What would you say the tarmac-to-gravel ratio was?

Regards
Stan L
South Africa

The only dirtvwe rode on was in rest stops and lookouts which were close to the road