I got going early and was on the road by 7:30am.  I rode through a quiet Kapunda. Out the out side of Kapunda I joined the dirt roads of the Mawson trail. A few days earlier on Facebook a couple of New Zealanders ahead of me had suffered in the mud, having great difficulties getting through. However for me it had mostly dried out. I meandered through grape vines until eventually I got to the main Sturt Highway. It was a bit of a shock, road trains, lots of traffic, it was difficult to just cross. I stopped at the servo for  a snack, then rode along the badly laid bitumen of the bike lane into Nurioopta . Eventually I got out of Nuri and joined the bike lane that runs along the main road, and turned north riding through the outskirts of Tanunda. The track then crossed the Little Para River and wound through farmland and grape vines until I got back to the highway at Rowlands Flat. That is where I left the Mawson Trail. There was about 75km of the Mawson trail to go that winds through the Adelaide Hills. I had done that section before, and accommodation is sparse in the Adelaide Hills.  I had done 835km of the Mawson and I now was heading to the Gawler train station. It was 21km to Gawler along the Barossa Bikeway, which was very nice. I arrived at the station at 3pm in the afternoon to catch the train to Adelaide.

It was a cold night and a cold morning. It was very easy to stay just a bit longer in the sleeping bag. However the sky was mostly clear, and the sun started warming things up.

I got going at 9am, and headed down the Rattler rail trail. It was a great 20km ride to Riverton. The sun was out the wind was mild, the hills were moderate. I stopped for supplies and a pastie in Riverton, then headed south out of town. I was a bit reticent getting back on the dirt roads of the Mawson trail. I was a bit fearful of finding mud again. However it was mostly dried out. I skipped a couple of sections that looked dodgy. The roads were pretty devoid of vehicles.  I eventually came out on the Tarlee to Kapunda bitumen road, and it was a mostly downhill ride into Kapunda, where I arrived just after 4pm.

It rained a fair bit last night, and it was pretty cold. I got up and carried stuff to the BBQ shelter and started breakfast. The sun shone into the BBQ shelter and it was quite warm, so in the end I had everything drying in the sun

I headed off late at 9:40am towards Clare on the bitumen road, I was wary of going down any muddy dirt roads considering the rain we had over the last two days. It rained a little bit on the way to Clare, with a couple of hills to cross.

I stopped for lunch at the Subway in Clare, then headed down the Reisling bike trail. The trail is a steady upwards climb up to its midpoint. There I broke another spoke, which was the first one for 3 days. I fixed that and headed gently downhill to Auburn Caravan Park.

A bit of a miserable day. It rained most of the night. The tent stayed mostly dry but I do have to waterproof the floor a bit more. I went into the camp kitchen and very, very slowly got organised. I was hoping the weather would moderate. My the time I had breakfast and packed it was 11am when I left.

I followed the Mawson trail out of Burra in light drizzle , but I should have skipped it and taken the highway. I was mostly pushing my bike through mud. A few km out of Burra it rained hard with strong wind, I could barely see where I was going. I continued following the Mawson for about 10km, and then detoured south to Farrell Flat. I joined up with the Barrier Highway, and then turned onto the Farrell Flat Road, which had a bit of traffic on it. I then arrived at the Farrell Flat camping area around 3pm and holed up in the covered BBQ area (with power!) , to keep out of the occasional rain.

It was a cold night, even inside the hut. All thermals worn. John got going early because he was trying to get to Clare, while I only wanted to get to Burra. I was pretty low on food, basically only had barley left.

I tried to my rear wheel trued. The tyre was intermittently rubbing the frame. My constant spoke replacement makes the wheel slightly more wonky despite my attempts to get it true.

I got going a couple more climbs, until eventually I could see the wind generators above Hallett, and could see the highway to Burra. Down the hill I went and made Burra around 1pm. First stop was the takeaway for a Chicken Burger and chips. I was starving. Then I went to the Post Office to collect my food parcel that my Mum had posted to me. Then off to the Caravan Park for a campsite. Bad weather is coming in again, and I was thinking of staying two nights in Burra. However I think I will stay one night and get out during the day tomorrow when the weather is meant to be better to get to Farrell Flat.

I left the railway station at 8am checked the General store, but they didn’t open until 9am, so I pushed on out of town. It was good weather and getting sunny. The track got smaller. I met a couple of riders heading north who were loaded as much as me. They were both carrying lightweight folding chairs. I have decided that the difference between the bikepackers and the more traditional touring cyclists is whether they are carrying a folding chair.

I stopped at 11am for early lunch, and a car actually went past. One of two cars I saw all day. I got to the far North East part of the route which had great views . I then bumped into a bike rider who had posted on Facebook he was riding 200km a day. When I met him I had done 30km he had done 105km .

I continued on southward then I bumped into John, who was also heading to Black Jack Hut. He was faster than me. There was a steep hill about 3km from the hut where while resting and stationary part way up the hill, I broke spoke number 9.

I made it to Black Jack Hut, which is a newly built hut, and met John again.

I had a terrible night last night. Around 11pm the wind got stronger and stronger until I was sitting up bracing the side of the tent against the wind. I decided I would have to pull the tent down and put it in one of the sporting sheds at the oval. I managed to collapse the tent without breaking any of the poles. I then carried the tent to an open shed and put it up there out of the wind.

Next morning it was still raining intermittently, when I rode out of Spalding up towards the range of hills between Spalding and Hallett. I detoured a couple of bits of the Mawson trail that would have been too muddy after the overnight rain. The rain stopped as I climbed out of Spalding, but the wind was relentless. Near the top of the range I broke spoke number 8. I found a tree with a bit of shelter, and replaced the spoke. Then it was a descent and then another climb up a range covered in wind generators.

I then descended into Hallett, and visited the General Store where Chris gave me the combination to the lock on the old railway station, where I am staying tonight. Thankfully I am out of the wind.

I had a good night at Curnow’s Hut, quiet and peaceful, and not too cold. I cooked breakfast thinking I would run out of gas, but I still have a little bit of gas left. I loaded the bike and rode the 1km of Heysen trail back to the gate, and unloaded and hefted the bike over the gate. The the Mawson continued straight opposite the gate. I worked my way up a rough track, then through a gate along a faint track that went through hilly sheep country. About 3km later I descended steeply down to the main road to Spalding. I was cognisant that there was a rainstorm and possibly thunder coming after lunch, so I was prepared to bypass some of the Mawson trail if I needed to. However the weather radar still showed it a way of, so a couple of km down the road I left the R M Williams Way and headed west. The track meandered over the hills eventually going under an ancient railway bridge for a railway line that one time went I don’t know where.

The track went past Bundaleer reservoir, and then onto the Bundaleer road. This road was not very nice, a bit too narrow and too much traffic. I wasn’t going to take the Bundaleer aquifer track because it is notorious for puncture inducing 3 cornered jacks, but the Bundaleer road was so bad I decided to take it anyway. I managed to avoid any three cornered jack punctures, but I opened lots and lots of gates, which is hard to do on a loaded touring bike. I got back onto the R.M. Williams way about 5km out of town and had an easy ride to the Spalding oval where they have free camping. I beat the rain as well. I got some supplies at the local general store, and importantly got another gas canister.

It was a cold night and a cold morning. I am going to have to get out the thermals. Lots of people in the Caravan Park were packing up to leave at the end of the Easter long weekend. I cooked breakfast in the camp kitchen saving my gas cannister. I was slow to pack up because of the cold. I said goodbye to Scott and Liz who were heading back to Kangaroo Island. I got more supplies at the IGA supermarket and headed east out of Laura. It was a slow climb out of the town, the road having almost no traffic.

I crossed the road to Jamestown and did a series of long climbs and descents. I stopped for lunch under a tree, the flies pestering me. Then another long climb. I wasn’t going to make Spalding, it was too far. So I consulted my list of huts and there was one on the Heysen trail that could be used by bike riders on the Mawson. So I headed for Curnow’s Hut. I got to the gate and the sty, and had to unload the bike and put everything over the fence. Then I lifted the bike over the gate, and reloaded it. Then it was a 1km ride to Curnow’s Hut. I got there at 4pm. It’s a nice large hut with 3 rooms and an outside drop toilet, and rainwater tanks. I put my gear inside and then set up the solar panels to charge phone and other electronics.

Quiet morning at my stealth campsite, never heard anyone. I was so tired the previous night I went to bed at 6pm and slept for 11 hours. I headed off at 8:10am, the weather was looking up, cloudy but some sun. About 20km along I met another bike rider Andrew who was a Laura local, or as he said a refugee from Adelaide. He told me how Laura was growing in population. I left Andrew and detoured to the Stone Hut bakery and had a delicious chunky steak pie and sausage roll. The bakery has lots of customers, many more than when we stopped on the way up in the bus to Parachilna. I then rode a leisurely 10km into Laura. I got some supplies at the supermarket, and then stopped early for the day at the very nice Laura caravan park. Later in the afternoon I spent several hours talking to Scott and Liz from Kangaroo Island who have way more experience bike touring than me.