Day 159: Port Elliot to Wellington

November 3, 2022

Start: 7:50am
Distance: 92km
Ride time: 4:39hours
Average: 20km/hr
Max: 49km/hr
Finish: 1:45pm

I did a few more kms along the coast before heading inland.

I found a dairy cow made from junk iron.

And a clever silhouette of a male surfer.

I walked around the statue 90 degrees and it turned into a female surfer.

I took the busy B37 for a short while.

And saw an Aboriginal canoe tree. This is how they make bark canoes like I saw on Day 147 in Adelaide.

I turned off the main road onto a very quiet country road.

And saw a group of friendly gentlemen from Strathalbyn, out for their Thursday morning ride.

We spoke for a while and they warned me about the bad coffee in the next town.

I saw this old building with an old hay stack that had fallen over.

I had brunch in Milang with a hot chocolate. I spoke with a cowboy here. I'm sorry I didn't get a photo. He was a nice man and he was missing several teeth so I didn't want to offend him by asking for a photo.

He had an Akubra hat, wore a small cowboy scarf around his neck, had a big shiny belt buckle and big boots. He was in his 60s and still riding horses.

He told me stories of droving in the top end before cattle trucks were used to transport cattle.

This is Lake Alexandrina. The Murray River flows into this lake before going into the sea.

I saw wineries, olive trees, dairy farms and more wheat today.

My route took me onto some dirt roads. They were in good condition and I was happy to ride on them to avoid the traffic and take short cuts.

This is the mighty Murray River in Wellington. The free ferry operates 24 hours and can take 10 cars. The river isn't very wide here.

In 2020, I rode for 1,000kms along the river with Yoshi.

Unfortunately, we couldn't do all of the river as the SA border was closed due to covid. I think we missed about 400kms.

This is the original bell used to summon the ferry if it was on the other side of the river.

I will camp here tonight and cross the river in the morning.

At the campground I met John from Germany.

He started in Sydney and is riding clockwise around Australia. He takes buses when he likes.

He is riding a new Koga. Unfortunately he has already had a few problems with it. His stand is starting to break like mine did. The front wheel rack is designed badly. The rack has to be partially removed so you can open the quick release to remove the wheel.

We had dinner together at the pub overlooking the river.

Today I passed the 9,000kms mark for this part of my trip. That makes a total of 16,000kms if I include last year. And I have a smidgeon less than 2,000kms until I'm home. Exciting stuff!

Today's ride: 92 km (57 miles)
Total: 9,072 km (5,634 miles)

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