Author Topic: Overland Corner Hotel RTE  (Read 562 times)

Offline Shillas

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Overland Corner Hotel RTE
« on: July 17, 2022, 04:49:48 PM »
The weather for getting to the RTE from the Adelaide Hills was windy with up to 3mm rain late in the afternoon / evening, while the weather at the RTE was forecast as pretty good.

First stop at 8.20 at Woodside to fill up tank and tyres, then on to Mt Pleasant via Birdwood. Just left Birdwood when the first of the late afternoon rain fell – sideways and not even 9.00 am. Stopped at the Mt Pleasant Showgrounds, which has some large sheds to shelter under. On went the wet weather trousers and a walk around the Farmer’s Market.

The Market, though smallish, wasn’t too bad – provided you’re not on a diet. There were a few bakeries selling bread, pies, cakes & pastries. The usual assortment of jams, honey, olives & wine, together with fruit & veg & dairy. Left with a few cheeses and some country killed beef.

Back on the bike, checked out the Springton Hotel, the venue for next month’s RTE (Ok, I missed the turn off), then back on route.

The winds going over the top of the Mt Lofty Ranges to get down to the flats were severe, with the bike drifting sideways on a few occasions. It wasn’t safe to ride at a speed over 80/kmh, so a relatively slow descent was the preferred method over the potential alternative. Once on the plain, the winds were better, but still a bit gusty. The further north I rode through Cambrai & Sedan, the better it got.

Onto the Sturt Highway, up to Blanchetown and once over the Murray, turned off to ride through Cadell & took the ferry back over the Murray. A nice easy ride then to Overland Corner, overtaking a number of caravans & campervans, with quite a few heading the other way.

I was first to arrive, just after 12. A not too bad coffee to warm me up & wait for the others.




Dragonstaff, JB & Jan all arrived at about the same time – a small crowd for lunch due a few last minute dropouts.

The hotel was very busy – a large 30th birthday outside on the lawns, together with other locals and a few of the caravan mob stopping in. An acoustic duo provided some ambience with a variety of cover songs.



The lunch itself was good, took a while to get to us due to the large numbers and what appeared to be minimal staff. The only real problem was the amount of food - far too much. While they used environmentally friendly, single use containers, the amount of food waste was incredible. None of the four of us finished, and it was the same on the other tables.

Outside for the obligatory photo & two more STs had appeared next to ours – a silver 1300 & a blue 1100. Their owners, a couple of locals - Dave and Lindsey were checking over the bikes and conversations and comparisons ensued. Of note was that Dave is intending to come to the National Rally, as well as bring along a few other ST riders from his network. He’s aware of OzSTOC, hence knew about the Rally. Hope to see them there.





The ride home was reasonably uneventful – apart from the galah that glanced off the windscreen & helmet, but nothing broken. Due to the winds, I kept at low altitude before going though the lower hills between Monarto & home. Wet weathers went on at Monarto as the hills had disappeared, so at least the late afternoon showers were accurate and back in the garage just on five.

Shillas :13Candy

CB 125 - long gone
RD 200 - long gone
CB 250T - long gone
XJ 650 - reasonably long gone
XV 750 - reasonably long gone
VN 800 - gone
ST 1100 - recently gone
ST 1300 - In the garage
 
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Online ruSTynutz

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Re: Overland Corner Hotel RTE
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2022, 06:57:39 PM »
Nice report!  :thumbs


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Online Dragonstaff

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Re: Overland Corner Hotel RTE
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2022, 09:43:02 PM »
I didn't have as early a start as Shillas, not leaving home until 10:45 or so.

I did have a little rain between Loxton and Wunkar (I went the long way too) but not enough to wet the jeans. I took the turn at Maggea and headed to Waikerie, and from there across the river on the ferry and then the Devlins Pound rd to the Goyder Highway. I felt a bit of the NW wind along here, and was leaning hard to the left on the straights for a bit. Another few ks to the turn-off for the pub, and parked up as JB and Jan were parking the car.

After lunch, a nice easy ride back up to the Highway, then turn right at the Morgan rd to go down the western side of Lake Bonney to Barmera, then the sturt Highway through Glossop to Berri and back to Loxton and then home.

All up, a nice 260 km day.

Glad the galah didn't damage anything but itself, Michael.
THERE ARE OLD RIDERS, AND THERE ARE BOLD RIDERS, BUT THERE ARE DAMN FEW OLD AND BOLD RIDERS.

Keep the dirty side down.

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