mt bike 2:00:00 [3]
Another interesting day.
Rode around new Moama mtb park - small but brilliant. Next to River Murray 8 kms out. Though it wasn't signposted from rd as T.info people said it would be! Had added degree of difficulty of dodging cattle who were on 'the long paddock' which included most of track.
Then did some riding around Echuca - firstly around Horseshoe lagoon side - had my 2nd day of a big gum tree branch falling less than 50 metres from me! Then to NW side of river opposite the Echuca wharf.
Then in Coles carpk an enormous caravan was trying to reverse into a silly spot and scraped along my car... Seeing my 14 year old car isn't exactly a cleanskin (from previous car park incidents) I probably wont get it fixed.
Drove home via an irregular route just to do something different.
First stop Lockington - a small town that has an enormous publicity flyer, but highlights things like its dump and CFA site!
However I got sucked in to its Locky Ness Monster - a reaction to the non event of the Millenium - and it was a fair enough "monster" in a nice setting.
walk 1:00:00 [3]
2nd stop on way home was Pyramid Hill, a 187metre high hill that stands out in wheat country. T. Info was again wrong - not a little 100m walk to top! That was to a small saddle from where an old track going up the hill had been covered over by branches etc. I continued on the around the hill tk and eventually found a post with an arrow pointing up the hill. But there was no sign of a tk or other markers..
By this stage I was time poor so opted to just climb up from there. Not easy and I was aware that where I was going up wouldn't be so easy on way down - over steep bare rock slabs etc. Last 20 metres up to trig point was well protected and I ended up doing a 360 degree circumnavigation before I sighted one decaying painted white arrow pointing alongside a slab.
At this point the increasing wind brought rain ... there I was, after a 35 min climb up, in my "ballet slipper" sandshoes, alone, with no phone, in late afternoon, with slippery rocks ....bit like playing Russian roulette with 5 out of 6 chambers of gun loaded! Being stubborn I clambered on up to claim the summit and then surveyed the scene. Very luckily for me the rain squall only lasted a few minutes but more was on a horizon. I grabbed a branch for a crutch and started cautiously down, looking for the dryer side of rock slabs. Thankfully, near the old arrow I found a barely discernible sign of an old track and this led downwards much easier than I had ascended. I exited about 50m north of the saddle, near a track bend, for those looking to tackle it. Took about 15 mins down.
So it seems as though the "risk reducers" have decided to make a track around the rock and eliminate the climb!!
Second little walk was around the block in Ouyen, in the dark, whilst awaiting a toasted sandwich.
In the next small town a police car did a U turn and chased me with lights and siren going ...I had slowed down but perhaps not quickly enough upon seeing the 60kph sign. However he was just getting his quota of breath testing done..
In the first hour from Ouyen the traffic flow was 24 trucks (mostly B doubles) and 8 cars.
One question into cyberspace - why are there 2 truck rest areas and no car ones on the freeway between Tailem Bend and Adelaide? Near the end of a long journey they should be encouraging one to take a rest not actively preventing it.
I now really appreciate that my campervan allows me to stop when I wish.