Gulf to Gulf Cycling Expedition
15/Sep/2010
Mungerannie Dreaming: A watery and thwarted 1750 kilometre attempt to ride from south to north across Australia (gulf to gulf) while raising money for Cystic Fibrosis NSW.
Bruce Hayllar and Rob Lynch, July-August 2010The quest!
We set out from Port Augusta on 21 July in an attempt to ride across Australia from Spencer Gulf (SA), some 2100km north to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria. All went well for the first few days as we made our way up through the spectacular Flinders Ranges, down onto the SA prairie at Parachilna, north to the coalfields of Leigh Creek and onto the gravel road to Marree on the southern edge of the Tirari desert and to the beginning of the Birdsville track.
Mungerannie is approximately half way up the Birdsvillle Track. On two occasions we expected that our next night would be at the Mungerannie Hotel but after being stopped in our tracks by the rain, wind and mud and with road closures to the north and south, we returned to Cooper Creek where it became obvious to us that we would not be able to make any further progress north.
We spent a further two nights stuck on the north side of Cooper Creek waiting for the road to dry out and were faced with a difficult decision in terms of the whole trip.
Our advice from a South Australian Government recorded message on road conditions was that the track north was expected to be closed for at least a further 3-4 days. This view was confirmed by the ferry drivers at the Cooper who proved to be a reliable source. We quickly realised that a wait of three days would have consumed both our food and water supplies; including our emergency food. A return to Marree would take us two days and we had adequate supplies for that journey. We then made the decision to go back to Marree and ‘regroup’ physically.
After two days of hard riding through ponded water and constant headwinds (and two slices of bread between the two of us for our final track lunch) we arrived back in Marree and headed to the Oasis Caravan Park. While ‘oasis’ was not the first word that comes to mind in this outback town, it did feel like an oasis after the last 7 days on the Birdsville Track.
After thinking though our options and with the prospect of further rain (3 inches reported near Birdsville) and wind, it became obvious to us that reaching Mungerannie, or indeed heading any further north, was now out of the question -a distant dream!
Heading South
We greatly valued the support and encouragement of all the people who assisted us personally and financially through the donations to Cystic Fibrosis and wanted to honour that commitment by continuing with some sort of comparable ‘journey’. We therefore decided to ride to Adelaide via Port Augusta and the Northern Mount Lofty Ranges – through the Clare and Barossa valleys and the Adelaide Hills. We estimated that our total distance would therefore be around 1750kms.
This journey turned out to be a little more difficult than expected as we were faced with headwinds all the way! Coming into Leigh Creek we were down to 7km per hour. It took us four days to get back to Port Augusta where we rested for a couple of days before continuing the journey south – and what a journey it turned out to be!
Rain (and Headwinds)
From Port Augusta we headed down Highway 1 into the wind and constant rain to the small rural town of Crystal Brook. The area was characterised by rolling hills and a constant sea of green grain crops for as far as the eye could see.
From Crystal Brook the rain and wind continued through to the town of Clare – our first encounter with the wine areas of South Australia. From Clare we followed a ‘rail trail’ through to Riverton where we enjoyed a great night with some of the district’s farmers at the local pub. From there it was into the wind again out of the Clare Valley and into the Barossa and the town of Nuriootpa. The next morning dawned cold and wet but we headed on through Tanunda and Angaston to Springton in the Eden Valley. From here the countryside became hilly as we headed to Hahndorf on the fringe of the Adelaide Hills and only 30km from Adelaide.
Finally it was the downhill run into Adelaide and our last day on the bikes – 27 days and 1750 km after leaving Port Augusta for the first time.
Statistics on the road
* Distance: 1750 kms
* Average speed: 15.5 km/hr
* Longest distance in a day: 120 kms (Leigh Creek to Marree)
* Shortest in a day: 15.6 (stopped by rain and mud north of Cooper Creek!)
* Days on the bikes: 23
* Total hours on the saddle: 113
* Longest day in the saddle: 6 hrs 54 mins
* Punctures: 2 (both while pushing bikes off road to get around floodways)
* Worst accommodation other than tent: Lyndhurst ½ star, self rated pub.
* Coldest temperature: 2 degrees
* Warmest day: 21 degrees
* Average maximum: approx 15 degrees
* Wind: constant headwind except for 2-3 days.
* Spills off bike: a couple
Thank You
Thank you all for your support throughout our attempted Gulf to Gulf Expedition. While we didn’t make it up to the Gulf of Carpentaria as planned, we trust that our efforts to complete ‘a journey’ have with met the expectations of all those who donated. Through the efforts of many generous people, and the website http://www.everydayhero.com.au/gulftogulf the trip has raised over $6500 to go to Cystic Fibrosis NSW.
Thanks and best regards,
Bruce and Rob
