Happy New Year and welcome to our year of living local!

We are Spokespeople

A Published Author!!!

I am excited to say that the previous blog was accepted by Bike Overnights, and published on their website.  To see me in print...

http://bikeovernights.org/post/adventure-down-under-in-my-own-backyard

Adventure in our own backyard

It’s a week after winter solstice here in Southern Australia, the days are characterised by a cold winter brilliance, and the nights by chilling frost and clear skies brimming with millions of frozen stars.  I am a new resident of the Clare Valley (http://www.southaustralia.com/regions/clare-valley.aspx), in the State of South Australia, having made the ‘tree-change’ from Sydney earlier this year.  My (mostly) willing partner for this experiment in country living is a Swiss born and bred, marathon running, continent crossing cyclist.  Who benefits from being the tall and blonde, european accented charmer to my vertically challenged, Australian slang slinging self.

Despite joyfully immersing ourselves in the local wines of the Clare Valley, especially the Watervale Rieslings, the iconic Barossa Valley is within a days ride of our home, perfect for a little local cycling adventure.  So despite the less than reassuring weather forecast for the weekend (showers, wind and possible hail) the Swiss Mountain Goat and I brave the chill to explore our backyard by bike.

The rail trail that traverses the north south length of the Clare Valley, aptly named the Riesling Trail, runs through our backyard.  The greyhound lady who lets us live with her, has been carefully ensconced in the home of her favourite person, a person who keeps her cupboards well stocked with doggie treats.  So Saturday morning finds us with nothing to do but roll out the door, be pinched on the cheek by the cold and set off for the first 7.5 miles into Auburn, leaving the car behind is a fantastic and slightly self righteous sensation.

In Auburn we leave the southward leading rail trail behind and strike out on a secondary road for another 7.5 miles west into Saddleworth.  The road west quickly takes us up and over the hills that create the Clare Valley, and beyond those hills the rolling sheep pastures stretch out in a seemingly infinite fashion.  The road from Saddleworth is in good condition and we are only occasionally passed by a bemused but considerate local in the very large ute (translation: pick up).  The 7 miles from Saddleworth to Marrabel are shadowed by side winds and threatening clouds, we stop, add a wet weather layer, refuel and watch the weather approach.  But luck is with us and the winds that buffet against us also push the rain past us, of which we catch only a sprinkle.  

Marrabel, population 147, is also home to a larger than life statue of Curio.  A famous brumby mare, feature of the Marrabel rodeo, who from 1945 until 1953 was described as “unridable”, until the 10 second success of Alan Woods, there is a great poem (http://marrabelrodeo.com/the_legend_of_Alan_Woods_and_Curio.php) describing this colourful history.

On the horse ridden, sheep laden plains between the Clare and Barossa Valleys we enjoy some lovely, if chilly, riding over rolling small hills.  Hills which, surprisingly in this semi arid region, are green with the winter rains.  And we take much joy in just being out in it, hearing the bleating of the late autumn lambs, feeling the warmth of some much appreciated sunshine and soaking in the quiet, understated beauty of the landscape as we roll past.  The hills grow perceptibly as we broach the lip of the Barossa Valley itself, and what else to do here except stop for lunch at a bakery and then escape a passing weather front by sampling the fine wines of Torbreck.  I am quickly won over by their Grenache but it is a Muscat called ‘the bothie’ which is packed into our saddlebags, it’s smaller size and weight making it today’s winner.  

With the rain front mercifully crossing our path while we were happily sipping, the wet roads and quickly darkening day finds us pedaling somewhat harder towards our hotel in Tanunda.  We arrive, 58 miles from home, with numb fingers and toes to a less than warm reception by hotel staff, I suspect this impression has much to do with the much more enthusiastic reception we often experienced while traveling by bike in the States.  I have to admit that I initially thought we should have spent this evening camping, in the true spirit of outdoor adventure.  But with the heater switched on and a big bath full of steamy hot water waiting, I am very glad to leave the rapidly dropping temperature outside and slowly and deliciously defrost my happy but weary body.

Rosy cheeked and shiny after a long soak our grumbling stomaches make demands for dinner.  Pizza is the unanimous decision and a quick pedal through the dark and cold finds us on the door step of the oddly combined Italian and German local diner ‘Amanti’.  Where our faith in good service is restored, and we smile at our surreptitiously shocked fellow diners as we polish off a large pizza each.  Thus restored we face the real nighttime chill of freezing temperatures for an even faster ride back to the warmth and comfort of a big bed and the kind of deep sleep that you can only achieve after a day of physical effort.

Sunday dawns slowly through heavy fog and freezing temperatures, the Australian foodie mecca, Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop (http://www.maggiebeer.com.au/visit-us), inspires us to pedal towards breakfast.  We are so inspired we arrive before opening, but are easily distracted by the lovely grounds and the range of pheasants bred at the farm, who watch us as curiously as we watch them.  We linger over a perfect coffee and, in all seriousness, the most fantastic sultanas I have ever eaten, as well as bread, cheese, quince paste, and a divine fruit tart.  Well fueled we investigate the Barossa further, and stop for a second wine tasting at Two Hands Wines.  Steeped in their huge Shiraz range, time flies past us, and it is after one before we genuinely start pedaling homewards.  The wind and cold team up against us, and I tuck myself in behind the Swiss Mountain Goat and try to stay with her.  The kilometers steadily click over, but we still must to stop to refuel, this time with a traditional Swiss snack, ‘Schoggi und Brot’ or chocolate and bread.  Take a stick of really good quality chocolate, and a fresh bread roll.  Using a, hopefully, clean finger, make a hole through the centre of your bread, insert chocolate and eat!  It’s all about quality in Switzerland, and this little surprise package can be a quick gourmet delight if the quality is there. 

We are still 15 miles from home when the short days of winter start to bite, riding out on these country roads at night is unsettling, there is no street lighting, and the roads are narrow, rolling, and currently undergoing roadwork.  We decide it’s time to phone a friend, the very lady who is currently watching our greyhound sleep by her fire, she is generous enough to drive out into the approaching evening and collect a pair of partially frozen cyclists.  So as we approach Saddleworth again, a light rain begins to fall and a pair of welcome headlights make a promise of friendship, laughter and big bowl of soup.  A very suitable ending for a weekend full of local adventure by bike, and a reminder that it is the simple things in life that deserve the most appreciation.

Happy New Year!

Dear Family and Friends

We hope this message reaches you in 'happy endings' of 2011. Wherever you may be, whatever you may do and whenever you may read this, please know that we will cheer to you when we close our story 2011 tonight in Melbourne, Australia.

May an exciting 2012 await you all, a year that will take you to places unknown, a year that will tell you stories unheard and a year that will be driven by optimism.

When we suggest to 'think big in 2012' we refer less to size but more to what it stands for in our own terminology: bike is good. Happy pedaling in the new year and dare to take the road less travelled.

From Melbourne with Love
Louise, Kerstin & Tash

Road less travelled

Day 12 post b.i.g. tour A-Z recovery & debriefing completed

As we are preparing for our trip across the Atlantic tonight , we are happy to say that our A-Z debriefing and recovery retreat at Katie's beautiful home in Rockport, MA, has come to a happy end. We feel emotionally re-energised, physically recovered and socially re-integrated. This is mainly thanks to Katie's  professional guidance and her limitless friendship. The lessons to be learned when traveling by bicycle over a few months don't seem to end with the last pedal stroke and the celebrations at the finish line. In some respects it seems harder to find a good ending to such an undertaking than to start the journey. And for sure this was a part that we totally underestimated and that wasn't given much thought (and no Excel spreadsheet) until we found ourselves in this emotional turmoil. So we are grateful that we were able to pedal our way back into bikeisgood mode. And we even found the appropriate wine to match the occasion...