We stumbled out of our swags and tents to a frigid and clear morning. The pack-up and departure ran a bit faster this morning, and we were on the road just after 7.30 am.
The first hour of the ride was absolute bliss - riding along dead flat sealed highway into the rising sun and an awakening landscape. The legs felt good, and the coolness quickly gave way to a really lovely morning.
About 40 km down the road we stopped by the Kanyaka ruins. In the mid 1850s the Kanyaka station held 70 workers, and stretched over 360 square miles and supported 50,000 sheep. Drought and the buy up of pastoral leases to push wheat growing spelt the end of the large homestead in the early 1900s. The ruins are quite substantial and well worth visiting.
After Kanyaka we rode on for a scheduled lunch stop in Hawker, another 25 km down the road. The temperature was warming up, but not uncomfortably so, and we arrived in good spirits at about 11.30. We refuelled on sandwiches, coffee and sports drink before remounting our faithful steeds and heading off for the final 35 km or so to Rawnsley Park Station.
The last stretch went well, with the final 3 km into the station our first real stint off road and a reminder of some of what lies ahead of us. Total distance for the day was 107km.
On arrival at Rawnsley Park, we got stuck into our post ride routine of stretching, hydrating and getting out of our cycling gear as quickly as possible. We then set to the task of changing our road tyres for cross-country tyres. We tightened up the odd nut & bolt, gave the chains a bit of a clean & oil, then Dom, Ric and Pete headed off to check out the swimming pool.
The pool was deliciously cool and at the local shop we picked up some more useful intel on the day ahead. We also learnt that Tim the "tour guide" would be giving a presentation on the local area that evening in the communal kitchen.
Julie and Alan put together another beaut dinner - this time spaghetti bolognese with broccoli! Julie, Harry, Terry, Brian, Ric and Andrew then headed off to the communal kitchen for the talk. We picked up lots of good info on the local history of the station, the geology of the Flinders Ranges, and the local flora and fauna. Then it was bed by 9pm in the full knowledge that we had a big day of uphill and off road riding in front of us tomorrow.
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