Day 305, Thursday, 28 January, 2010

Distance travelled – 50.2 km
Avg speed – 12.9 kph
Max speed – 46.2 kph

Corinna to Zeehan

We started the day with a ride on the “Fatman” barge across the Pieman River. Then began what was the steepest climb we have come across on our journey around Australia. The first 12km of the road from Corinna to Zeehan is gravel with four steep sections that have been sealed to stop the road from being washed away. The barge operator told us that for the first four kilometres the road climbs steeply away from the river and then it is up and down until the end of the gravel. He was right. In the first 2km we climbed 200m and by the time we had covered the first 4km our average speed was only 5.6kph. The first sealed section turned out to be unrideable and we had a steep push uphill with cleats slipping on the bitumen. The gradient of this first piece of sealed road was so steep we doubt an unladen bike could be riden without tipping backwards. Needless to say we were glad when we reached the end of the gravel road.

Riding along the bitumen we thought we could hear the sea and when we reached the turnoff to Granville Harbour we found we had a good view of the ocean. The rest of the ride into Zeehan was up and down with some pretty big hills. The hard work in riding these was tempered by the magnificent scenery, especially that of Mt Heemskirk.

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

The Pieman River, Corinna

The road leading away from the Corinna barge. The 200m climb out started immediately around the corner.

Mt Heemskirk

Resting at the top of a long steep climb

Guide post

Zeehan

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