When I first looked at the map, I feared the worst, with the Princes Highway heading inland initially, but the fact of the matter is that this part of South Australia on the eastern side of the Spencer Gulf is relatively flat, and in any case the road reconnects with the sea for the run in to the finish. The result is a stage that climbs initially then presents you with a long lumpy descent to the end.
The rollout is sharply uphill for three miles to, strangely enough, a river crossing that runs down the hill from Mount Gullet. There’s then a further short but gentle ascent through Mambray Creek to Willow Bank where junctions head east and west: east is tarmac, west is dirt.
The next eight miles are straight and directly south: the first three are downhill then the remainder is gentle but lumpy flat/uphill, passing by Sandwood, Illawong, The Olives, Scrubby Glen and Baroota en route.
The highway rises sharply at fourteen miles as it approaches Port Germein on the coast of the Spencer Gulf, but it descends again before passing by the town on its eastern side. There’s a climb from eighteen miles to twenty as the highway cuts inland, but it descends again before the finish which is along a mile long straight adjacent to the railway line.
Distance: 22 miles / 35 kilometres
Ascent: 269 feet / 82 metres
RGT Magic Road: NYCyve04yB0W
Max elevation: 98 ft
Min elevation: -25 ft
Total climbing: 266 ft
Total descent: -254 ft
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