First post from this little black duck.
Years ago, a mate and I completed the full length of the Mawson Trail. Truth be known, it took us three separate sessions, but we got all 900km of it done! It remains an accomplishment that we are both proud of.
As I was raised in the mid north of South Australia, I was very familiar with the surroundings and thus had a fair idea of where I was to be riding through and what I was going to take with me. I also had the bonus of having family to stay with on three nights along the way.
I wanted to ask, if you were to make the decision to ride the Mawson Trail, and if you're not that familiar with remote South Australia, what information would you be looking for before setting out to do it? The following come to mind for me off the top of my head:
- distances between towns, perhaps also with altitudes, gradients, etc.
- accommodation options along the route
- where I can buy food along the way
- weather and road conditions to expect (dependent on the time of year)
- where I can get water (I'm particularly thinking here about people who may come to South Australia from overseas - there ain't many options!)
- information on such things as fire bans
- transport options, particularly to the northern, more remote sections
- other things to check out along the way (e.g. Wilpena Pound, Pichi Richi Railway, wineries, wineries, food, wineries, etc....)
- perhaps wind directions?
Cheers, BJ