Kathie, Rhonda and I were staying in a cabin at Jamestown chipping away at the Mawson Trail again. On the previous two days we had completed the section between Spalding and Jamestown, but this post is about the section from Hallett to Spalding.
Day 1 – Brown Hill Range to Spalding
Following our usual principle of “Why go up when you can go down?” we started our ride as close to the top of Brown Hill Range as possible, given that there weren’t many places where we could leave a couple of cars. This meant we had a short climb to the top of the range before the fun of the roll into Spalding.
Wind farms are a feature of this section of the trail. Luckily it wasn’t too windy on this day.
After an enjoyable descent of over fifteen kilometres, we arrived at the Bundaleer Channels. The Bundaleer Channels project began in 1898 and was aimed at building a reservoir fed by 26 kilometres of concrete lined channels.
Soon we came to an aquaduct where the Bundaleer Channel water was guided over a creek. At this point we somehow missed or misread a sign and before we knew it we were no longer on the Mawson Trail. We each had a different idea about how to rectify our mistake. Eventually we followed the Spalding-Burra Road into town.
After collecting our cars from the top of the Brown Hill Range, I was keen to find out where we had gone wrong. My kind friends joined me in riding back up the channels from Spalding until we were at the aquaduct again.
The Bundaleer Channels are infamous for the South Australian bike rider’s enemy: the 3-cornered-jack. However we remained puncture-free until Kathie took a shortcut across a carpark in the town of Spalding. In those few short metres she managed to pick up literally 300 3-cornered-jacks in her tyres.
It was my turn to cook that night. Kathie and Rhonda took two hours to remove all the 3-corner-jacks with tweezers. Amazingly Kathie’s tyres were still puncture free!
Day 2 – Brown Hill Range to Hallett
On the second day of riding this section, we parked again towards the top of the Brown Hill Range and rode towards Hallett. After crossing a plain we began the climb up Woodman Road.
There was a slight dip down to Willalo Creek and then a fairly easy ride on to Hallett. We had now completed the section from Hallett to Spalding.
It was time for a celebration at the Wildongoleechie (Wild Dog) Hotel.
Other great adventures that we had on the Mawson Trail were between Burra and Hallett and Spalding and Jamestown. Further north in the Flinders Ranges, we rode between Brachina Gorge Road and Wilpena.
Such wonderful memories. A great ride, friendship, terrific scenery.
Would do it all again girls and change nothing.
Great work bringing it all back Helen.