Adelaide to Williamstown

Police escort to the River

There were lots of cyclists milling around when I arrived at Hindmarsh Square looking for Simon who had moved our car to the parking station and the space reserved through Bike SA. I heard someone say quite loudly that it didn’t look like there was anyone on the tour under 50 years which was an accurate assessment of the group.

After signing our Covid waivers and listening to safety announcements, we departed under a police escort with green lights all the way to the River Torrens. There was a real buzz of anticipation and a cautious hope that the weather wouldn’t be too inclement.

Once the pack had spaced out a bit, it was a beautiful ride along the river path before we turned into Gorge Road and the start of the Adelaide Hills. The landscape looked quite English with stone cottages and bare trees lining the road. Before long we were climbing quite steeply, the rain was sheeting down and the wind was gusting fiercely. Fortunately, as we turned a bend, the wind eased making the riding more manageable. Eventually we made it to the top and the refreshment stop at the Kangaroo Creek Reservoir. There were no toilets, and morning tea was a small piece of cake, a banana and a box of juice. The queue for the coffee van was quite long and we decided it would be better to find somewhere for a coffee along the way.

We continued climbing more gently and then headed downhill along a gushing river. It was raining on and off, but at least it wasn’t too windy. Lots of people had stopped at the Kersbrook when we finally pulled in for a coffee. We enjoyed our coffee standing in front of the wood burning stove and took the opportunity to warm up before the final 15kms into Williamstown.

We were camped around an oval at Williamstown adjacent to the caravan park and it was extremely damp underfoot. We pitched the tent between rain squalls and then made our way to the community centre for lunch. The place was full and toasty warm and we appreciated the hot soup and ham rolls for lunch.

People were settling into watch the AFL finals, so we took the chance to cycle into Williamstown in the hope of finding somewhere to relax for an hour or two. Jackpot! We found a perfect spot in comfortable armchairs in front of a fire at the Old Bakehouse Tavern.

We headed back to camp as the pub filled up with the local footie club in time for a shower before dinner at 6pm. This early dinner hour would take some getting used to. The community club was still really busy and we were pleased to move to the marquis for dinner. We shared a table with another couple, Julie and Andrew and enjoyed more soup and a filling chicken or beef lasagne for dinner.