A Welcome Return

I was welcomed to Welcome Rock long before the trail of the same name appeared on the high-country hills behind Garston. It just so happened several years ago that our neighbour was the sister of the station owner, and she invited me to their farm after I returned from overseas cycling adventures. I soon learnt from meeting Tom and Katie O’Brien (the owners) that his father Des had the vision to destock a thousand hectares of their high-country land for a conservation reserve over 30 years ago. Their family had a dream that one day they could share their scenic highlands with others. After brief introductions, I was driven up the hill in a trusty old Landrover to assess the recreational potential of the area … and potential it had in droves.

Initially, I was almost literally blown away by the gales on the top, as well as figuratively by the grand views west over the Eyre Mountains. Then, upon cresting the Slate Range, I became even more excited by the snaking arcs of the historic water race, the original raceman’s sod hut, and the potential of connecting these features with a grand loop track. In Queenstown, downhill bike trails are more numerous than my digits, yet I could not point to a nearby purpose-built cross-country ride. I was hooked by the cycling potential of