Sydney to Adelaide via The Murray
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:41 am
I have been using the BNA Touring Forums for the last 18 months for both entertainment and education. Given this is my first post on the forum – I apologise now if the format is incorrect. I am still trying to work out how to load images of maps so this might follow later.
Echoing Tim’s post of Sun Feb 03, 2013, a mate and I recently returned after the best 2 week holiday we’ve ever had. We completed our first cycle tour riding just over 1600kms from Sydney to Adelaide via The Murray River over 13 days beginning in Sydney on January 9. We documented our daily experiences by blog which requires some minor edits but has more photos as well and can be found here:
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/k ... /tpod.html
So for this forum I thought I would just summarise the trip and general thoughts.
Summary of the Route:
Day 1 – 110km Sydney to Mittagong (via Bulli, Appin)
Day 2 – 135km Mittagong to Crookwell (via Wombeyan Caves, Taralga,, Wowagin, Laggan)
Day 3 – 127km Crookwell to Harden (via Rugby, Boorowa)
Day 4 – 139km Harden to Wagga (via Jugiong Road to Cootamundra, Bethungra, Junee)
Day 5 – 131 km Wagga to Albury (via Uranquinty, The Rock, Yerong, Henty, Culcairn, Gerogery Road)
Day 6 – 107km Albury to Yarrawonga (via Howlong, Corowa, Mulwala)
Day 7 – 147 km Yarrawonga to Echuca (via Barooga, Cobram, Yarroweyah, Katunga, Picola, Barmah, Moama)
Day 8 – 85km Echuca to Cohuna (via Torrumbarry, Gunbower)
Day 9 – 96km Cohuna to Swan Hill (via Kerang, Lake Charm, Lake Boga)
Day 10 – 134km Swan Hill to Ouyen (via localities (no services) Chillingoah, Chinkapook, Mittyack)
Day 11 – 180km Ouyen to Lameroo (via Walpeup, Underbool, Murrayville, Pinnaroo, Parilla)
Day 12 – 116km Lameroo to Wellington (via localities Parrakie, Geranium, Peake, Sherlock, and town Tailem Bend)
Day 13 – 117km Wellington to West Beach, Adelaide (via Langhorne Creek, Strathalbyn, Meadows, Kangarilla, Clarendon, Brighton)
We had loosely decided on the route beforehand but had not booked any accommodation as we wanted to give ourselves flexibility for distances and direction. We had planned to discuss daily routes with locals which didn’t quite turn out as useful as we had thought. The translation from local car driver language to touring cyclist language was always difficult.
The overall route was enjoyable – with variety between hilly days and flat days. The highlights were cycling along the Murray River and the last day through the Adelaide Hills.
A day or so before we started the ride, we had been recommended the website http://www.willyweather.com.au and this proved invaluable and accurate for weather conditions and planning over the next few days along the route.
We had read on other blogs of tourers in Australia that you should be careful not to assume that a place named on Google Maps appears to be a town – it may be just a locality or abandoned town. This was definitely the case over the whole trip. Asking the locals generally gave us answers as to the ability to get drinks/foods on the day’s routes (although there was a notable exception which caused a minor dummy spit when not able to get a cooked breakfast after 50kms of riding on one day).
As we wanted to avoid major roads/highways, we struggled to find decent printed maps of the whole route before we left. Some of the Information centres at major towns were helpful and had half reasonable maps of local areas but it was often hard to get enough detail for more than one day’s riding. Ultimately we were glad to have the Garmin Edge 800 with Topo Maps when we moved away from the bigger towns along the route.
We averaged around 125kms per day through one of the hottest summers in decades. We were carrying up to 35-40 kgs of gear on the bikes which included up to 10-12 litres of water at the start of some of the days. We carried emergency rations for dinner/lunch in case we were unable to make it to towns, but only used these on a couple of occasions. We cooked porridge to start each day which laid a solid foundation for cycling.
The bikes were a Stevens Xenith-lite Tourer (Flat Bar with 700c wheels) and a Surly Troll with 26 inch wheels. We will update the blog with full details on the set up and running gear of each bike and full gear list, but both bikes were comfortable and performed well. We would both advocate a stand for a touring bike, the rear side stand seemed to be better suited for bikes with the weight we were carrying but the centre stand was more useful in event of mechanical issues.
We commute roughly 180-200kms per week into the Sydney CBD which gave us the chance to work through tyre choices and bike set up. Even though we did 75kms of the tour on graded gravel tracks, we were both very happy with the Schwable Marathon Supremes which I haven’t punctured once in 9000kms of riding (purchased new tyres for the tour so an additional 1600 puncture free kms so far on the new tyres). We didn’t have any mechanical issues either so the tools and spares were not required but would always take on a remote ride.
Like Tim, we researched a lot of blogs/trip reports through this site, CGOAB and direct blogs and found them incredibly useful as a guide. Having said this – we made adjustments to gear and expectations based on our own needs and perceived abilities. Probably the biggest adjustment made on the road was the fact we ended up staying in motels/hotels for all but one night where we camped. We had anticipated camping at least half of the tour but found 2 factors influenced us:
1) we never struggled with the distances required to make it to a town with accommodation
2) the lure of a “more” comfortable bed, airconditioning and toilet facilities was difficult to resist along with a pub meal for dinner after a long day on the bikes.
Given the time of year, we anticipated the heat and chose cycling clothes accordingly with lightweight collared, long sleeve, button up, high UV rating outdoor shirts being the garment of choice. We both used Ortlieb panniers (front, rear and rack pack) which never missed a beat and the Ortlieb 4L water bags were fantastic (the Ortlieb waterproof toilet paper holder was the only bit of gear we didn’t end up using…surprisingly for 2 blokes on bikes for 13 days straight!).
There were only a couple of superfluous items in the gear…but the most useful items were the two Kathmandu folding hiking stools which each weigh around 700gms. They gave us the ability to pull off the road virtually anywhere we could find shade (and one time create shelter from the rain) and comfortably rest for anywhere from a quick drink to lunch + coffee). We would definitely recommend this as an inclusion in any gear list. The other slightly luxurious item that we will always take was the Airspresso coffee machine. Given the incredibly poor standard of coffee we found at most towns, making our own good, reliable espressos was at times incredibly uplifting.
We were not disappointed by the experience of cycle touring and found time slowed for the whole two weeks. Reading other’s blogs etc we found a common theme of cycling allowing an experience where the traveller smells, tastes, hears, sees SO much more than by car. We knew that beforehand but were continually reminded of this as we progressed.
Where I thought the responsibility of doing the blog daily would become a chore, it actually became an integral part of the trip not only for us but for our friends and, more importantly, immediate families. Taking 2 weeks of annual leave to do something as selfish as this, leaving young families at home, can be a big issue. By updating the blog daily, our wives and children were able to gain immediate understanding and appreciation of what we had gone through emotionally that day. It actually became a positive part of the tour experience for us all.
One thing that constantly surprised us was the fact that in the 2 weeks, we only had a couple of approaches from other cyclists/motorists/tourists/locals to find out what we were about. In the end, we decided that having two of us probably made us seem capable and not needing anything so people were shy to approach us (whereas the one other cycle tourer we saw on the route said he was being approached regularly by all manner of people to be asked his story and offering help). Other cyclists (particularly maml's) tended to be far more stand offish than what they should be.
Having completed the tour a day early, we were able to enjoy riding around Adelaide for a day before surprising our wives at the Airport (they thought they would be picking up a car and driving into the Adelaide Hills to meet us).
We both can't wait to do the next tour and given the impact on family - will probably try to do more local 2-3 day weekend trips to/from/around Sydney. Dreams of touring New Zealand, Europe, Asia, South America, Tasmania, FNQ etc may have to stay dreams for some time yet.
Until then….happy touring and thanks for all your (invisible) help
Sean and Kieren
Day 2 - Lang Rd near Wombeyan Caves
Day 4 - Jugiong Rd near Harden
Day 4 - near Albury - 13 degrees and raining
Day 6 - near Mulwala
Day 7 - Barmah on The Murray
Day 8 - Near Cohuna - 38 degrees and way too tempting
Day 9 - Cooling off in Lake Boga - 45 degrees
Day 10 - Chinkapook Tennis Club for morning Tea
Day 12 - The Red Plains
[imghttp://images.travelpod.com/users/kierenmott/1.1358587360.its-barren-out-here.jpg][/img]
Day 13 - Near Clarendon in the Adelaide Hills
Echoing Tim’s post of Sun Feb 03, 2013, a mate and I recently returned after the best 2 week holiday we’ve ever had. We completed our first cycle tour riding just over 1600kms from Sydney to Adelaide via The Murray River over 13 days beginning in Sydney on January 9. We documented our daily experiences by blog which requires some minor edits but has more photos as well and can be found here:
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/k ... /tpod.html
So for this forum I thought I would just summarise the trip and general thoughts.
Summary of the Route:
Day 1 – 110km Sydney to Mittagong (via Bulli, Appin)
Day 2 – 135km Mittagong to Crookwell (via Wombeyan Caves, Taralga,, Wowagin, Laggan)
Day 3 – 127km Crookwell to Harden (via Rugby, Boorowa)
Day 4 – 139km Harden to Wagga (via Jugiong Road to Cootamundra, Bethungra, Junee)
Day 5 – 131 km Wagga to Albury (via Uranquinty, The Rock, Yerong, Henty, Culcairn, Gerogery Road)
Day 6 – 107km Albury to Yarrawonga (via Howlong, Corowa, Mulwala)
Day 7 – 147 km Yarrawonga to Echuca (via Barooga, Cobram, Yarroweyah, Katunga, Picola, Barmah, Moama)
Day 8 – 85km Echuca to Cohuna (via Torrumbarry, Gunbower)
Day 9 – 96km Cohuna to Swan Hill (via Kerang, Lake Charm, Lake Boga)
Day 10 – 134km Swan Hill to Ouyen (via localities (no services) Chillingoah, Chinkapook, Mittyack)
Day 11 – 180km Ouyen to Lameroo (via Walpeup, Underbool, Murrayville, Pinnaroo, Parilla)
Day 12 – 116km Lameroo to Wellington (via localities Parrakie, Geranium, Peake, Sherlock, and town Tailem Bend)
Day 13 – 117km Wellington to West Beach, Adelaide (via Langhorne Creek, Strathalbyn, Meadows, Kangarilla, Clarendon, Brighton)
We had loosely decided on the route beforehand but had not booked any accommodation as we wanted to give ourselves flexibility for distances and direction. We had planned to discuss daily routes with locals which didn’t quite turn out as useful as we had thought. The translation from local car driver language to touring cyclist language was always difficult.
The overall route was enjoyable – with variety between hilly days and flat days. The highlights were cycling along the Murray River and the last day through the Adelaide Hills.
A day or so before we started the ride, we had been recommended the website http://www.willyweather.com.au and this proved invaluable and accurate for weather conditions and planning over the next few days along the route.
We had read on other blogs of tourers in Australia that you should be careful not to assume that a place named on Google Maps appears to be a town – it may be just a locality or abandoned town. This was definitely the case over the whole trip. Asking the locals generally gave us answers as to the ability to get drinks/foods on the day’s routes (although there was a notable exception which caused a minor dummy spit when not able to get a cooked breakfast after 50kms of riding on one day).
As we wanted to avoid major roads/highways, we struggled to find decent printed maps of the whole route before we left. Some of the Information centres at major towns were helpful and had half reasonable maps of local areas but it was often hard to get enough detail for more than one day’s riding. Ultimately we were glad to have the Garmin Edge 800 with Topo Maps when we moved away from the bigger towns along the route.
We averaged around 125kms per day through one of the hottest summers in decades. We were carrying up to 35-40 kgs of gear on the bikes which included up to 10-12 litres of water at the start of some of the days. We carried emergency rations for dinner/lunch in case we were unable to make it to towns, but only used these on a couple of occasions. We cooked porridge to start each day which laid a solid foundation for cycling.
The bikes were a Stevens Xenith-lite Tourer (Flat Bar with 700c wheels) and a Surly Troll with 26 inch wheels. We will update the blog with full details on the set up and running gear of each bike and full gear list, but both bikes were comfortable and performed well. We would both advocate a stand for a touring bike, the rear side stand seemed to be better suited for bikes with the weight we were carrying but the centre stand was more useful in event of mechanical issues.
We commute roughly 180-200kms per week into the Sydney CBD which gave us the chance to work through tyre choices and bike set up. Even though we did 75kms of the tour on graded gravel tracks, we were both very happy with the Schwable Marathon Supremes which I haven’t punctured once in 9000kms of riding (purchased new tyres for the tour so an additional 1600 puncture free kms so far on the new tyres). We didn’t have any mechanical issues either so the tools and spares were not required but would always take on a remote ride.
Like Tim, we researched a lot of blogs/trip reports through this site, CGOAB and direct blogs and found them incredibly useful as a guide. Having said this – we made adjustments to gear and expectations based on our own needs and perceived abilities. Probably the biggest adjustment made on the road was the fact we ended up staying in motels/hotels for all but one night where we camped. We had anticipated camping at least half of the tour but found 2 factors influenced us:
1) we never struggled with the distances required to make it to a town with accommodation
2) the lure of a “more” comfortable bed, airconditioning and toilet facilities was difficult to resist along with a pub meal for dinner after a long day on the bikes.
Given the time of year, we anticipated the heat and chose cycling clothes accordingly with lightweight collared, long sleeve, button up, high UV rating outdoor shirts being the garment of choice. We both used Ortlieb panniers (front, rear and rack pack) which never missed a beat and the Ortlieb 4L water bags were fantastic (the Ortlieb waterproof toilet paper holder was the only bit of gear we didn’t end up using…surprisingly for 2 blokes on bikes for 13 days straight!).
There were only a couple of superfluous items in the gear…but the most useful items were the two Kathmandu folding hiking stools which each weigh around 700gms. They gave us the ability to pull off the road virtually anywhere we could find shade (and one time create shelter from the rain) and comfortably rest for anywhere from a quick drink to lunch + coffee). We would definitely recommend this as an inclusion in any gear list. The other slightly luxurious item that we will always take was the Airspresso coffee machine. Given the incredibly poor standard of coffee we found at most towns, making our own good, reliable espressos was at times incredibly uplifting.
We were not disappointed by the experience of cycle touring and found time slowed for the whole two weeks. Reading other’s blogs etc we found a common theme of cycling allowing an experience where the traveller smells, tastes, hears, sees SO much more than by car. We knew that beforehand but were continually reminded of this as we progressed.
Where I thought the responsibility of doing the blog daily would become a chore, it actually became an integral part of the trip not only for us but for our friends and, more importantly, immediate families. Taking 2 weeks of annual leave to do something as selfish as this, leaving young families at home, can be a big issue. By updating the blog daily, our wives and children were able to gain immediate understanding and appreciation of what we had gone through emotionally that day. It actually became a positive part of the tour experience for us all.
One thing that constantly surprised us was the fact that in the 2 weeks, we only had a couple of approaches from other cyclists/motorists/tourists/locals to find out what we were about. In the end, we decided that having two of us probably made us seem capable and not needing anything so people were shy to approach us (whereas the one other cycle tourer we saw on the route said he was being approached regularly by all manner of people to be asked his story and offering help). Other cyclists (particularly maml's) tended to be far more stand offish than what they should be.
Having completed the tour a day early, we were able to enjoy riding around Adelaide for a day before surprising our wives at the Airport (they thought they would be picking up a car and driving into the Adelaide Hills to meet us).
We both can't wait to do the next tour and given the impact on family - will probably try to do more local 2-3 day weekend trips to/from/around Sydney. Dreams of touring New Zealand, Europe, Asia, South America, Tasmania, FNQ etc may have to stay dreams for some time yet.
Until then….happy touring and thanks for all your (invisible) help
Sean and Kieren
Day 2 - Lang Rd near Wombeyan Caves
Day 4 - Jugiong Rd near Harden
Day 4 - near Albury - 13 degrees and raining
Day 6 - near Mulwala
Day 7 - Barmah on The Murray
Day 8 - Near Cohuna - 38 degrees and way too tempting
Day 9 - Cooling off in Lake Boga - 45 degrees
Day 10 - Chinkapook Tennis Club for morning Tea
Day 12 - The Red Plains
[imghttp://images.travelpod.com/users/kierenmott/1.1358587360.its-barren-out-here.jpg][/img]
Day 13 - Near Clarendon in the Adelaide Hills