Extending the Ecstasy: Elliston to Cummins

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin' (RAWHIDE!)

We got the buzz up early on the road this morning, despite our trepidations about what conditions might be like later. Once again, overnight the wind beat the tent mercilessly, although perhaps not so brutally as the night before at Streaky Bay. However, intermittent showers were added to the mix - including one short sharp burst that sounded like hail from a fire hose or perhaps even a spray of buckshot from a farmer's blunderbuss.

With our change of plans to go to Cummins today rather than Coffin Bay, there was less urgency to make an early start, although there was a chance of showers later in the afternoon that we were keen to avoid. The forecast was for northwesterly winds to swing westerly and increase to from 25 to 35 kilometres per hour, which prompted the change in our route. None of us fancied cycling south for 80 or so kilometres once those strong westerlies hit. Added to the mix was the prospect of heavy showers on the western side of Eyre Peninsula, so it was an easy decision to change our route and miss the very tip of the peninsula.

For the first five kilometres or so we experienced  gusting side winds. I shot this little video not long after we left Elliston ...

Soon we found that the wind had swung around to our rear and we found ourselves spinning along nicely. We really liked the country we were cycling through and discussed similarities to places we'd been. Di thought it was a bit like Wales - where I haven't visited - and I thought there were likeness to the country around Bothwell in Tasmania and the East Cape on the North Island of New Zealand  ...

We liked the look of the country so much we stopped a number of times to take photos, especially of the dry stone walling that had been done: kilometres and kilometres of it - or, as it would have been back in the day, mile upon mile. Here's a panorama of some of that work ...

Dry limestone walling stretches across the countryside

I stopped a little further down the road and took this closeup shot ...

Old time fencing

We were rolling along nicely and then I spotted another dead thing by the side of the road ...

Once was windscreen!

Jacquei noticed it too when she came by a little later and commented that it was a bit disappointing that someone would leave it there like that. I tended to agree, especially as again there was otherwise no litter to speak of beside the road. On the other hand, I kind of thought it was a bit like graffiti art of the car: a bit random and unexpected. Speaking of roadside rubbish, hats off to the South Australians. We have been mightily impressed with the cleanliness of the verges in this fair state. However, one thing we've noticed a few times have been random collections of discarded tyres. Something of an anomaly and very much in contrast to the otherwise uncluttered shoulders.

At about 40 kilometres out of Elliston we passed this classic rural church just before Sheringa, which was nothing more than an old general store ...

Sunday recreation for pioneers?

We were moving along at a good pace and were reluctant to stop and stand around in the wind when we passed the 45 kilometre mark, which Collis had designated as the spot for morning tea. Reasoning that he would soon catch up, we kept rolling until 49 kilometres and came across a lovely rest area. Collis soon arrived, followed by Kathy. They quickly got things organised. We sat down for a nibble, and then both Jacquei and Jim arrived for a cozy snack in the sunshine ...

The pause that refreshes

There wasn't any sign of Peter arriving, which was no surprise. He had arrived at the Elliston Roadhouse for a coffee and a snack just as Di and I were departing at eight o'clock.

Sidewinds Come Into Play

Pretty much straight away when we left morning tea until the we reached the turnoff to Cummins just past Mount Hope 79 kilometres into the ride we were buffeted by strong crosswinds, which slowed our progress substantially. Otherwise the riding was very enjoyable, entering as it did more arable country with canola and wheat starting to appear in the paddocks. It was about 30 kilometres of slogging with only some gradual up and down hill to break the monotony. Actually, that's not quite true. We also passed a long salt lake on our right that went on and on. As we were just at sea level and it was so big, I thought for some time that it must be a lagoon and we'd come across an inlet with a causeway or a collection of large culverts to allow the tide to flow in and out. Not so. Instead, we found ourselves climbing away from it past Mount Hope and towards the Bratten Way turnoff.

Sailing Along Again

I paused briefly before the turnoff to get this photo of Di against the canola once she turned into Bratten Way ...

Hitting the home straight

Immediately upon turning the corner we found the wind at our backs propelling us forward with gusto. Bratton Way runs almost directly east/west and, with the westerlies gusting up into the mid twenty kilometre range, we rapidly picked up the pace once again. We were streaking along and passed the designated stop for lunch of 90 kilometres. We'd said to Collis not to worry if he missed us, but he passed by just afterwards and stopped at about 92 kilometres. We decided to stop to top up our water and have a gel to propel us the last 25 or so kilometres to town. I took this photo of my trusty steed which has carried me so faithfully almost 3000 kilometres from Perth ...

Bike on Bratton Way

... and this photo of the salt lake across the road ...

Salt lake at lunch stop

It wasn't long before we were rolling into the lovely little town of Cummins. And it is a lovely town. There are two main streets, each either side of the railway which runs from here down to Port Lincoln.  I just had to take a photo of a signpost for one of them ...

Did a distant relative live here?

Along Bruce Terrace are a row of these beautiful old cottages ...

Brick and stone cottage

On the way to the caravan park is this wonderful statue honouring the grain handling heritage of this area ...

Grain handling in the old days

Here's a Google image of our route showing the elevation profile ...

Elliston to Cummins

We were just so lucky: the rain held off until after we'd arrived and had lunch at the Five Loaves Bakery. Once we were finished we wandered down to the caravan park and waited for Collis and Kathy to arrive so we could put up the tent. That done, we showered and made our way into town for a bit of R & R. All good. It's a very short day tomorrow into Tumby Bay and then we've got a rest day. Bliss!