Gourmet Gears: Outback Odyssey Day 2, May 17th 2013, Hallet to Spalding

Not tripping over tent pegs was a challenge!

Day two of our Outback Odyssey experience was a short, 46km ride from Hallett to Spalding. As it wasn’t going to be the long slog that day one was we had decided to sleep in a little and take it easy getting ready for the day. Which was probably a good idea as when we exited the tent we discovered a fog covered oval where we could barely see the other end of the campsite. Suffice to say it was also freezing, I think we were told it had dropped below 5 degrees Celsius overnight.

The hike down to breakfast was quick, and though we were reluctant to leave the warm hall we eventually hiked back up to the camp site to finish our preparations. Packing up a wet tent with cold fingers isn’t fun but I cheered myself up with the thought that I’d soon be pedalling along.

Lifting Fog

Can you see Hallett?

Finally we left the camp site, about an hour later than we had left the day before, but there was no rush and at least the fog had lifted a little. We very quickly found our way out of town and pedalled along some superb dirt roads. There was a small section of about 1.6km that we had been advised to detour around because of mud and we wisely decided to take this advice. The views were spectacular early on when the mist was still lifting and at one stage I looked back the way we had come and saw Hallett in the distance shrouded in mist, the towns silo just visible. The wind farms in the area also started to appear out of the mist, their huge, elegant blades almost floating above the low lying fog.

We spun our way up a muddy track, which was to be our first “hill” of the day. It was a nice way to warm up the legs and the final kick at the top really got our hearts pumping. The best thing about it though was the down hill that followed. It was probably one of the more technical downhills of the trip even though it was mostly straight. The amount of loose rocks and debris combined with the gradient meant that there was a certain amount of trying not to strangle my handle bars as I flew down hill.

The view from the climb

Eventually we reached morning tea at Willalo Hall, which included a fire to defrost ourselves. The warm cuppa at morning tea was very quickly becoming a highlight of my day as it defrosted both my fingers and my insides. Standing around the fire to warm up it seemed funny to remember that I needed to put some sunscreen on, as I had already burnt what little of my skin had been exposed the day before.

Time for a photo

By the time we left morning tea, the mist had cleared and the blue sky was liberally dotted in fluffy white clouds. We approached the major climb of the day which would apparently take us within spitting distance of one of the wind farm wind mills. I think what I like best about bike touring is that you get to stop and take pictures, and what better place for it than along a climb! Never mind that you may be huffing and puffing, the only reason you’ve stopped is to take in the marvellous view. Still recovery part way along wasn’t a bad idea.

The road to the top

We made it up the climb, spinning in low gears and enjoying the view. What was even better was the long downhill stretch before us which we flew down, making sure to give each other and everybody else lots of space. With that we were over half way and focused on the getting to Spalding for our baked potatoes.

Not sure I can spit that far!

The rest of the ride was fairly cruisy, though we almost got lost and were very grateful for the marshal who flagged us down and showed us the entrance to the Bundaleer Channels. These channels were constructed in the late 1800’s and were designed to catch surface run off from the local catchment and store it the Bundaleer Reservoir. The channels were designed to flow to the reservoir and as such had a gradient of 1 inch in the mile. Technically this meant we were riding downhill along the channels, though the Garmin was yet to be convinced.

See - not lost!

After a relaxing pootle along the channels we made our way into Spalding, specifically the local pub which put on a beautifully warm lunch of baked potatoes with all the trimmings as well as some pastries for dessert. After suitable fortifying ourselves we headed up the street to the camp ground, the local schools soccer pitch. The rest of the afternoon was spent drying and cleaning various parts of the tent as well as enjoying a well deserved massage.

A very busy farmer

Tea was a somewhat more jolly affair, with many of us feeling relaxed from our afternoon relaxing in the sun. A combination of pumpkin soup, roast pork, chicken, beef and vegetables followed by apple crumble meant we were a very merry bunch that were happy to relax and listen to the route briefing for tomorrow. Even better the weather girls told us that the sun would be shining tomorrow, even if it would be freezing overnight. However the locals put a dampener on things when they pointed out that this area was well known for its wind farms. Only time would tell what tomorrow would be like.