Day 267, Monday, 21 December, 2009

Distance travelled – 90.8 km
Avg speed – 16.5 kph
Max speed – 41.1 kph

Yacka to Riverton

We had a short relaxing day planned for today climbing from Yacka to the Clare Valley and then a mostly downhill run along the Riesling Rail Trail to Auburn.  The rail trail follows the old railway line between Clare and Auburn through the vineyards, forests and wheat fields.

Whilst in Clare we had hummed and haa’ed about taking the rail trail but we were very pleased we did and as it turned out to be a most relaxing run to Auburn.  As we paused at one of the road crossings on the rail trail we met a fellow riding north. After a long chat he suggested we ride a further 20 kms to Riverton as he felt we would find the Riverton caravan park a more pleasant stop than Auburn.

We had a brief stop in Auburn for coffee and cake and a chat with the owners of the Shamrock Café.  Rather than continuing along the rail trail we took the road as it sounded like the rail trail may have been more suitable for mountain bikes than our articulated vehicles. We reached Riverton just before the supermarket closed. Dinner tonight was quiche and salad followed by apricot pie.

Although hot, today was a most enjoyable day.

Zoom into the map and use the 'Satellite' layer to see our new location.

Close up photos of harvesting have eluded us up until now. This morning this machine was working on the edge of Yacka.

Entering the Clare Valley

All the towns in the Clare Valley have welcome signs for the 'Tour Down Under' like this one. The lady who took this photo for us told us this one had a Santa on the bike yesterday but he was stolen during the night. The thieves left his boots and gloves still on the bike.

The thieves left Santa's boots and gloves still on the bike.

Vineyards beside the Reisling Rail Trail

On the Reisling Rail Trail

To us it seemed obvious not to ride our bikes along the edge of the raised railway embankment! But even so it is still an unusual sign.

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