It was sad to leave Mt Gambier. I was up early, packed and on the road by 8:30am, calling first at the Englebrecht Cave, yet another limestone cave under the city of Mt Gambier. It was locked and my photo does no justice to this under ground labrynth which is a mecca for serious cave divers. It was first explored in 1884. History says that the German Whiskey distiller Carl Engelbrecht used the cave in 1885 for dumping his waste and bottles. Oddly, it now carries his name!
Sadly, the wind was strong from NNE and straight into my face. However the body was fresh and I could feel fitness in turning the pedals, and the bike cruised over the hills out of town to the north. Both sides was just beautiful cattle farming country, mostly dairy farming. I love cows, so was devastated when I came across this beautiful herd. This precious cow had somehow got its head stuck in one of the hundreds of stacked car tyres in the paddock. I wanted a word with the farmer! The only consolation was that she was clearly overdue for milking, so hopefully the farmer would soon relieve the poor girl of her annoying burden.
I was cruising! Today was the fastest day of the whole journey. I was planning to turn off 10k before Naracoorte to visit the magnificent limestone caves in the National Park. However, calamity intervened. I was just 1k from Penola (about half way) and I could sense a thump thump from the front tyre. I thought it had picked up a lump of tar. When I pulled up, it was not tar at all - the tyre had developed a lump the size of a marble. I quickly went to release pressure from the valve when ...BANG.....it exploded like a gunshot.I was now in a 'pickle' - I carry spare tubes but not spare tyres. The tube was ruined, and the tyre was all but destroyed. I managed to heavily tape the inside of the tyre with 'gaffa' tape (never tour without this!), as well as the outside. It wasn't just a mere hole, it was severely shredded, now held together only by gaffa tape. In addition, I lined the inside of the tyre with a $10 note! Don't laugh, its an old cyclist's remedy.
The bike always looks so sad when pulled apart for repairs. The sight of the tyre was rather distressing though. I had a long way to go, and I did assume there would be no bike shop at Penola, just down the road.
So, looking like a bandaged, wounded animal I tentatively rode into Penola where I had always intended to stop for coffee and toasted sandwich. I chose the right cafe. One of the wonderful things about cycle touring is meeting people of outstanding quality. Leanne Pitman is owner manager of the "Cafe on the Park" just tucked away off the main street of Penola. Leanne could not do enough for me. I think she rang every bloke in this small town who owned a bike while telling me to sit down and drink my coffee! She then rang stores in Naracoorte, aware that within minutes they would close (it was Saturday remember). Before the coffee was finished, Leanne put the phone to my ear - she had tracked down Greg and Julie Shepherd who own "Greg Shepherd Cycles" at Naracoorte. "No worries Kelvin, I will not close until you get here". It was 2-3 hours away into the wind!
So with my bandaged tyre, I 'time trialled' it all the way to Naracoorte, still 55k away. Amazingly I averaged above 20kph with my load, and stopping twice to re-bandage my tyre. Penola of course is wine country. This was the site for most of the journey after leaving Penola.
At just on 3pm, and 2.5hrs after leaving Penola, I rolled into yet another of Australia's best kept secrets. Naracoorte is a beautiful small town which is steeped in history, especially its Scottish Presbyterian heritage. I easily found Greg and Julie's bike shop and was impressed at the high quality and professional presentation of the shop. Julie and Greg are 'salt of the earth' people. I felt I was immediately amongst friends. They would not let me do anything - they immediately went to work, selecting a tyre, ripping off the old shredded creature that had somehow held together for the last 55k. Julie looked after me while I watched Greg masterfully work the new stiff tyre on to my wheel. True professionals will not use tools - I watched as Greg worked the rubber on to the rim with his bare hands with nothing but the strength of someone who has performed this art for a long time. People like Greg and Julie, and also Leanne Pitman at Penola, deserve our business. Cyclists who buy prolifically from the 'net' deny the true worth of people like Greg and Julie. I am very glad to have met them today. So if you read this, please support these people in their businesses. They are worth our investment.
It was an easy roll on my new tyre to my home for the night, the 'Naracoorte Hotel'. Not much from the outside, but inside it turned out to be very substantial. I enjoy talking to the staff who labour in these places from day to day.
Just finally, I have been watching the lillies for many days now. They seem to grow 'in the wild', are not closely vegetated, but nevertheless seem 'natural' in this part of the country. These 3 lillies were actually in the bush, almost lost in the ferns and natural scrub of the thick bush alongside the road. In my many hours on the road today, Ive been thinking about the lillies. Jesus said "Consider the lillies - they neither labour nor spin, yet not even Solomon in all his splendour was ever as beautiful as these". There are things I can do, and many things I can't. The lily reminds me that real beauty is beyond my doing - it comes from the one who bids "consider the lillies".
Until tomorrow.
KRA
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