My 2012 Preliminary MacKillop Woods Way Bicycle Tour

       

Into the void I went...My preliminary Australian camino bicycle tour took me 1700 km from Port Augusta SA to Ballan Victoria in search of a suitable Way for bicyclists to take when concerning historical links to the life and work of Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods. I chose sections of the long distance Mawson bicycle trail as a potential route for the MacKillop - Woods Way.

In 2012 I made a 1700 km bicycle tour from Port Augusta to Penola in South Australia and from there to Ballan in Victoria following the possible route for a pilgrimage road in Australia. After much research and logistical planning I got on my bike to see the real world and enjoying one self. However the work had just began as through my own effort I wanted to best experience how the pilgrim traveller / bicycle tourist would match my idealism to their own experiences. Overall my ride was successful where I managed to complete the journey as to plan and schedule. En route I had an opportunity to consult with the public at three locations (Port Augusta, Kapunda and Penola) with a slide show and discussion about what makes an Australian camino. I found that the people who attended my slide presentations of my 2008 / 2009 Cape to Cape Tour were enthusiastic about such a tourist / pilgrim road passing through their communities. Importantly I gained some better insight into remote locations and where the pilgrimage route should go.

Quorn was the town I chose as the northern point from where the MacKillop Woods Way may indeed commence from. The order founded by Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, the Sisters of St Joseph, ran a school for local children in Quorn from 1890 until 1958.

The Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception at Quorn was built in 1883. The Quorn parish was under the care of the Bishop of Port Augusta until 1957, the diocese was changed then to Port Pirie. At Quorn I was given hospitality by local priest Chris O'Neil, better known as CJ. I had my first puncture here which was caused by bushing the bicycle across his lawn where a thorn overnight let down my front tyre.

In my research period over the months before commencement there were a large number of towns and localities chosen from where the Way should start. En route to Peterborough I shot this collection of recycled road signs pointing to a few localities envisaged.  

Peterborough developed around the railway and during the late 19th century the church of St Anacletus was where the Bishop of the Diocese once lived. A banner inside the pro-Cathedral illustrates the history of Peterborough with railway, church and Mary MacKillop present.  

St Mary's Anglican Church and hall in the foreground and St Josephs Catholic Church in the distance at Burra. This historic copper mining town in its early decades had many denominations present.

It was at Sevenhill where the young Julian Tenison Woods completed his studies for the diocesan priesthood with the Jesuits. Today Sevenhill still functions as a monastic community and retreat. However it is more widely known for its production of fine wines. Its mini cathedral sized church of St Aloysius is reputed to contain the only burial crypt in Australia.

Private chapel inside the Sevenhill Jesuit Monastery and Retreat

It was the presence of a tall stand of eucalyptus trees which thus reminded me that I was still in Australia when I first sighted St Stephen's Catholic Church outside of Saddleworth.

Harry the Dog or plain Old Pious Harry gave me his greetings while I made a lunch stop by the old Lutheran Church in the hamlet of Peters Hill. 

A recently installed bronze featuring Australia's first saint of the Catholic church Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop at St Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral in Adelaide

St Joseph's Church at Willunga would make a definitive along the MacKillop - Woods Way. 

Here I was provided shelter for myself and bicycle in the church hall.

One of South Australia's most impressive churches can be found in the town of Strathalbyn. The nave of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church was completed in 1848 and tower in 1869.

A roadside curiosity outside of Kingston SE is a near perfect scaled down replica of the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse which stands in the seaside town.

After his ordination in Adelaide on 4th January 1857 the young Julian Tenison Woods was assigned his first posting as parish priest at vast 22,000 square mile district of Penola, where he would spend the next ten years. In the early years he had established St Mary's Star of the Sea, one of the first churches to serve the town of Robe. During the 1870s two rooms were added which served as a convent and school which was conducted by the Sisters of St Joseph. They were often visited by Mary MacKillop.

Restored country chapel at Beachport with my bicycle to comparison.

It may not be as impressive as the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, but it was here where the Sisters of St Joseph established their first purpose built school in 1867. The Woods - MacKillop Schoolhouse is today a lasting legacy and has become a key pilgrimage site when concerning the life and work of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. It is here where the planned MacKillop - Woods Way will in a physical sense finish.

Detail from interior of The Woods - MacKillop Schoolhouse, today a museum and heritage listed building.

Dingley Dell, just outside of Port MacDonnell, was the residence of one of Australia's most famous poets Adam Lindsay Gordon in the mid 1860s. This view, little changed today, of his home was taken in the 1900s and mysteriously in the top left of the picture features a ghostly image of the man himself several decades after his suicide.  

Town mural depicting Port MacDonnell in its hey days of the1870s when it was South Australia's second largest port. After her establishment of the Penola Schoolhouse Mary MacKillop began the next chapter of her journey to sainthood departing from the Port MacDonnell jetty in June 1867, boarding a steamer for Adelaide to expand her revolutionary Catholic teaching principles. The Jetty still exists to this day and is a principal site of significance along the MacKillop - Woods Way.   

In 1862, the same year Mary MacKillop arrived at Portland in Victoria, construction commenced on the All Saints Catholic Church. She was to spend four years at Portland before establishing the Penola Schoolhouse. In 1995 a window designed by local artist Terry Eichler and produced by the Portland Leadlighters Guide depicting the young Mary MacKillop was installed in the church. Pilgrims today who wish to walk or bicycle the MacKillop - Woods Way commence their journey from Portland at the near by Bay View Cottage which was the home for Mary MacKillop in the early 1860s and where she gained her teacher training. 

The atmospheric Irish pub in Koroit was just one of a few welcome respites along my enduring bicycle tour following the proposed MacKillop - Woods Way. Many Irish settled the Western District of Victoria in the mid to late 19th century and their legacy remains today. The bicycle show was once owned by a potato farmer.

Mount Elephant is one of numerous scoria cones found on the vast basalt plains between Melbourne and Mt Gambier. The small town of Derrinallum, 1km east, would makes a suitable rest stop along a possible 700km Melbourne to Penola branch of the MacKillop - Woods Way. 

The 55 km long Skipton Rail Trail, along with a small proportion of the Crater to Coast and Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trails, would provide an excellent route of established and way marked bicycle routes for the MacKillop - Woods Way. Here the restored Nimons Bridge provides a dramatic river crossing along the former railway between Ballarat and Skipton in Victoria.  

Nearing the end of the road on my preliminary Australian camino bicycle tour I made the city of Ballarat a important stop on the Way. St Patrick's Cathedral was built between 1857 and 1871 and was based on a design of the English architect Charles Hansom.