At 112km (70 miles), this was the longest ride of my trip. Because it was a fairly warm day and one of my spare water bottle holders had failed, I was counting on the pub in Cradock to be open when I arrived there. Thankfully, it was.
Along the dusty tourist road that runs along the eastern edge of Yarrah, I stopped at Proby's grave. Hugh Proby was the son of an English earl who came to South Australia to run sheep and cattle near Quorn. His plans came to an abrupt end when he died here in a flash flood in 1852, aged 24.
Ruins of unfinished hotel at Simmonston: Simmonston was a town gazetted in the 1870s, expected to be a stop on a new railway line running north from Quorn. In the early 1880s construction commenced on a hotel (seen here) and general store. Construction was abruptly abandoned when the government decided to route the train in a different direction. The scenery on all sides of the ruins is fantastic.
Long-abandoned automobile near the intersection of a semi-permanently watered section of Wirreanda Creek and the old Ghan Railway route, along which the Mawson Trail follows at this point.
Because I needed water, the Cradock Hotel, open in the late afternoon when I arrived, was a real godsend. I bought two cans of soda and a small bag of potato chips, and the proprietor filled up my large water bottle with cold rainwater. In conversation he reinforced my notion that this pub was the only source of water between Quorn and Hawker. He told me the story of an inexperienced South Korean cyclist who had set off to ride the Mawson Trail in January, which due to extreme summer heat in the Flinders Ranges, is not advisable. The tourist also didn't realise that the Cradock Hotel is closed for three (two?) months each summer. He arrived at the hotel desperate for water and by stroke of luck some of the hotel staff were there doing repairs, so were able to help him out.
Finally in Hawker, I met Jill and Tennyson at AW 'Blue' Burt Memorial Park. While I hitched the bicycle to the back of Jill's car, I noticed this gentleman and his bike at the Hawker Hotel across the road. A few minutes later he rode up to me in the street and we had a chat. He claimed to be on a very long ride indeed: He'd started from Brisbane and cycled his way to South Australia, eventually joining the Mawson Trail at Burra, then riding the Trail north to the end at Blinman, then a little beyond to Glass Gorge, where he visited with and stayed with friends. Now he was traveling south on the Mawson, planning to disembark the Trail farther south, to head towards the Murray Riverlands. All on a fairly ordinary bike, but with all the essentials such as tent, sleeping bag, spare tires, etc.
