Mawson Trail Preparation
I'm just a couple of days off to fly to Adelaide on Jetstar. Hopefully the plane will travel as it was cancelled on Monday.
The Mawson Trail i(named after the Australian Antartic explorer and Geology lecturer at Adelaide University Sir Douglas Mawson)s a 873km bikepacking trip from Adelaide Gorge to Blinman, in the Flinders Ranges, if travelling north. However I'll be travelling south from Blinman to Adelaide. So a few extra kilometres to get home to where I am staying in Adelaide South. I will be taking roughly 16 days but so far 14 days of stops have been planned. The first day has gone to a 95km ride from Blinman to Rawnsley Park.
I manage to get a big box from Bikes To Fit after I bought a new Norco gravel bike for $4799 so I think a free box was ok to ask for.
I have manged to pack the Salsa Fargo bike in but had real trouble with one peddle so I managed to but a 8mm allen key that I could lever it to loosen the peddle. The large 29 inch wheels are always an issue, this being the second time i have boxed it for the trip and it just manages to fit the box. The trouble is the weight. I have ordered 30kg but with my clothes and the bike it was originally about 33kg. So lucklily I didnt have to do this at the airport but the following were removed. 1 set of Allen keys moved to hand luggage, 1 Helinox xhair, 1 pair of cycling shoes, 2 peddles, sunscren and insect repellant, 1 pair of new rollup shoes replaced with crocs, saving .4kg weight. Now the box weighs at home 22.7kg and rucksack at 6.5kg. I will also take out the Puff jacket for the plane trip.
Carry on - with all the electronics the little backpack wieghs just under 7kg plus I am bring my laptop which has a book and the maps, hoping I wont have to get them weighed.
Maps bought from Bike SA a while ago but 1 map short- ie out of stock and they dont have them in.
Accommodation was going to be first night at Angorichina Village but is now Wilpena Pound. Its a long weekend this weekend and school holidays and so Mt Little Station was full. So its two nights at Rawnsley Park/ Station.
My brother and his wife are transporting me up to the start and staying with me for the first 3 days till Hawker. Then I will be on my own for the rest of the way.
Plans for overnighters are:
Wilpena Pound
Rawnsley Station
Rawnsley Station- picke dup somewhere near Mt Little
Hawker
Warren Gorge
Quorn or Dutchman's Hut
Melrose
Wirrabra Forest
Curnow's Hut
Hallett
Burra
Clare
Riverton
Tununda/Nurioopta
Mt Crawford Forest
Adelaide
So the plan is I arrive at 6.20am into Adelaide and I drop off the box at my brothers home 20 minutes away, then straight off to Wilpena Pound via a Woolworths to shop. Arrive and set up the bike and it probably will be dinner time by then as it will take about 5-6 hours to get there. Then the next day dropped off at Blinman in the morning to ride to Rawnsley Park but with a check in at Wilpena Pound as a back up.