Winter has returned!

Last night was cold and relentlessly wild with a gale blowing that shook the hut many times. Fortunately it withstood the onslaught. Although the BOM had forecast rain for today, it stated that this was likely to arrive in the afternoon. WRONG! It had already started well before dawn so the day’s prospects were diminished from the start.

I left Huppatz Hut at 6.30am in drizzle with heavily overcast skies. The landscape looked quite beautiful with muted colours of green, grey and yellow, hilly skyline and the Waterloo wind farm on the horizon.

As it was November – ie nearly summer – I had not brought my gloves, assuming they would not be needed. WRONG! I improvised by putting my black cotton socks over my hands but they quickly got soaked. Cotton has a high chill factor so my hands got frozen. I took off the socks and put on the only other items available – thin rubber gloves from my repair kit, included for the avoidance of grease on hands when doing repairs. These were better than nothing.

The track from Huppatz Hut to the road

Waterloo wind farm

My planned route was on gravel roads. All went well as far as Black Springs. Here a small settlement remains despite the closure of the church in 2016 (it went through 3 denominations – Methodist, Anglican and Lutheran) and the community hall. Departing in a southerly direction, I received my first warning : gravel roads are sometimes dirt roads and when it rains they turn into mud. I beat a quick retreat when mud began to stick and took another road to the Barrier Highway. This meant abandoning the chance of seeing the absolute headwaters of the Wakefield River.

Black Springs Lutheran Church (now closed)

Wheat and wind

A short distance south along the highway, the road crosses the river, already formed into a distinct reedy waterway. There is no sign to identify it here. Rainy weather is not conducive to detailed map reading, so I carried on, ignoring any bituminous options, along Holm Hill Road, Dunns Road and Water Reserve Road, heading towards Mintaro.

Barrier Highway crosses the Wakefield River

A promising start then turned rather calamitous. Suddenly I was experiencing the full mud disaster when the road turned to clay that stuck to my tyres and shoes and clogged everything up. By riding on the grassy verges I could dislodge some of the mud and avoid collecting more, so this worked quite well. Further along, I judged it possible to resume riding on the road, but then hit a clay patch at which point 100% clogging-up occurred, the front wheel ceased to turn and I went sprawling. No serious damage but mud coverage of bike and rider was now at a high level.

Mud!

Mintaro was not far so I decided to push on, but stay on the grass as much as possible. The road followed the Wakefield River quite closely but I confess to having lost interest in it. Eventually the road surface improved enough for normal riding and I reached the gates of Martindale Hall. At this stage I was muddy but not too cold and wet to miss this place of interest. No other visitors were there. The Wakefield River was though – the driveway crosses it on a low level causeway and there’s another floodway on the road to Mintaro.

Martindale Hall

Wakefield River at Martindale Hall

In Mintaro, the Magpie & Stump Hotel, yet to open for the day, gave me a perfect bicycle cleaning station on a grassy area equipped with a hose and low pressure nozzle. Mud was removed from bike, panniers, my legs and shoes in a short time! That was satisfying but, with wet gear and the rain becoming heavier, I was getting cold. I decided to ditch the Wakefield route and go to Clare.

Clean bike at the Magpie & Stump, Mintaro

A climb up and over the hill along Jolly Way led me on to the Riesling Trail and into Clare where I immediately found accommodation (motel room at The Bentleys Hotel), got clean, dry and warm (hot shower followed by 2 hours in bed with the electric blanket on #3) and then visited the op shop to buy socks and a jumper ($6 all up). The temperature here reached 7.5 degrees today – and it’s November! Back to Adelaide on the bus tomorrow morning. This adventure will have a re-run in better weather.

Riesling Trail, Sevenhill