We knew there would be very few opportunities to get food or drink on today’s 78km ride. Just a kiosk at Myrtle Recreation Ground and the Nuamara Roadhouse. So went back to the Woolworth Supermarket to buy some lunch: cheese, egg and bacon rolls, muffins, bananas and Powerade.
About 14km out of Scottsdale we hit the big climb of the day, the Sideling. It is 8km long and rises 400m. The steepest part is the first 2km and then it becomes long lazy switch backs with hairpin bends. Although you are climbing among trees it is almost always out in the sun and we arrived at the lookout hot, very red faced and with the engine about to boil.
Another 1km to the crest and then a lovely 10km of downhill and some flat to the Myrtle Recreation Ground. The kiosk sold us a not too bad coffee from a vending machine you put tokens into. Had our lunch there, refilled our water bottles and had a longish break. Mainly downhill and flat from here but with a few short, sharp killer uphills. Passed through some areas that had bush fires not too long ago. And boy was it hot, we were really suffering, out in the open farmland with no protection from the sun.
About 20km from Launceston we turned off the main road and wound our way through quiet, narrow country lanes. Lots of changes in direction at intersections so Barb was kept busy consulting the route notes. The last hill into Evandale was a bit nasty. Only about 200m long but steep enough to only plod up it in the lowest granny gear. We noticed the hedges at the side of the road had blueberry plants growing in them and they were loaded with berries.
I stopped and filled a couple of pockets with berries thinking we would eat them at the top of the hill, as a reward. But when we bit into them they were hard and very bitter and spit the lot out. They were not yet ripe and left a very strong taste in the mouth for the rest of the ride. We were long out of water and so could not wash the taste out.
Evandale is situated on a ridge overlooking fertile agricultural and grazing land. It’s irregular streets, authentic hostelries, and quaint colonial architecture make you think of how villages were long ago. The earliest houses go back to the 1820s. We are staying in one of two self contained units on a seven acre property that has one of the oldest houses in Evandale. It has lovely gardens and many mature trees.
The owner Gill (69) was waiting for us and fussed around getting us settled in. She provided bacon and eggs, a fresh loaf of bread from here bread maker, oranges off her trees, home made jams, a jar of her preserved Greengage plums and delicious muesli. She wanted to know what milk we wanted and cycled off to the local store for some “skinny” milk.
We just collapsed. The last two days we had found very hot and tough. Dragging those panniers up all those hills.
Evandale fancies itself as the penny farthing capital of Australia and in two weeks time there is a big festival here with penny farthing races around the streets.