Apr 11, 2011
Riding from Belyando Crossing to Charters Towers, the day was hot and still. I was suffering. About midday, I was slowly pedalling along on the idea that just moving was cooler than sitting still. Testing if riding was better than stopping, I stopped. It wasn't.. While under some shade I could see the water mirage effect looking down the road. A semi emerged from the water and roared past. Time to get back moving. I blinked and looked again. Floating along on the water mirage was a ??? Its a boat my brain was saying. I blinked and looked a few times. Still a boat. Wow. I was in a bad way. The boat was growing larger as it come towards me. I thought maybe I should lie down and rest, drink more water, have some salt. Things are bad if I'm seeing things... Arh, sanity. It really was a boat. A really really large boat on a tiny trailer, pulled by a small ute. This boat was big! Think of a baby to the QE2. The sort of boat with a live on board crew, that the owner rocks on board for a bit of sun on the weekend. It was a big boat.
I really suspect that it wasn't legal on that trailer, towed by that ute. After it went past it had a sign hanging off the back "Wide Load" - yeah. It was wide too, and tall. It was also wobblying and swaying all over the road.
Phew, not my mind going in the heat. I had a drink and rode slowly on.
Apr 10, 2011
Been a bit slow on the updates. Part of that is no net acceess, the other part is just lots of space and time and not much to update.
Spent the night in a gravel pit near Springsure. Was to tired to make it into town and the pit turned up at the right time. Gravel is warm in the afternoon, and then all the moisture condenses on it in the morning as it cools. Saw some meteors that night. Next morning the first road I came to was Meteor Downs Road. The next was Orion Road.
Springsure was a quiet town. Had a pack of $2 Tim Tams. Yum.
Virgin Mountain was impressive for its rock formations. No, you cant see the virgin there any more. Aparently once there was a rock that looked like te Virgin Mary, but its since eroded away.
Had a surprisingly good night sleep in Emerald near the main road. Put in the ear plugs and just slept well.
Capella has a look out just before you get into town, but I couldn't for the life of me see what your suppost to look at. The land there is flat, and I couldn't see over the crops.
Clermont as a town - I didn't like. I only stopped there long enough to get some food and water and then left. Slept that night in a cow paddock.
Belyando Crossing. 172km from Clermont and not much in between - well unless you count cow paddocks. Wasn't too bad a ride. Wind ended up being a head wind for a fair bit of the way. Bummer. Stayed the night as need a rest and its a good a place as any.
Broke another spoke next morning 15km out of town. Thats the first in a while. Hope this isn't going to be regular again. I was carrying 20liters of water since Clermont as I was told the creeks where empty. Well, some are, but some do have water in them. Dirty water true. If you want water at Belyando Crossing you have to buy it. They only get rain water so if their tank runs try they have to truck in more water. Thats pricey.
Crawled into Charters Towers this morning. Was up hill the end and a head wind. Stopped and cooked up pasta at the first picnic area.
While sitting there eating I watched a 4x4 drive over the curb, across the park and stop near the play area. Maybe they felt my contempt and loathing of them, they drove off without getting out. Why couldn't they walk the 20meters from the curb to the play area?
Weather is warmer up here. Showers should start soon also.
Apr 06, 2011
Seems like the road is open. Well I decided to go have a look. I won't be the only one there if I'm wrong.
Moura was a small town. Large Donga farm on the outskirts. Guess the miners all fly in fly out. It was odd that all the people crossings in the town had the "Give way to traffic" signs, yet the crossing on the highway didn't.
Stopped briefly on the Dawson River, but was too early in the day to stop. Found a camp by the side of the road in a cow paddock.
My excitement for the day was running over a small live snake! Yiks!! It was on a dirt road, and I was watching the birds and not looking closely at the ground. It seemed okay and slithered off.(What was I going to do if it wasn't okay?) I put my feet back down from the handle bars and kept pedalling. I'd seen a few as road kill during the afternoon. Lots of long grass about with the good rains. I was extra careful about my tent site.
Next morning rode on and met Karl. Karl has traveled over 46000km on his bicycle. He put my kit to shame. He only had a swag, a change of clothes, small tool kit, and water bottle. He averages 25km/hr to my 19km/hr. Neat. But I couldn't stand the noise.
Over another range today. Funny after the last one it was down to sea level and then back up to this one.
Apr 03, 2011
The view from my tent waking up near Isa Gorge. It was a long day getting there. Really was in need of a rest more than anything. The weather as stayed gray with a rare short shower. As I ride, I've seen some go past ahead of me. Once or twice i stopped to let them pass by before I got there.
Arrived in Theodore the next morning. An easy 40k of rolling hills. Theodore was another town that was completely evacuated in the recent flooding. Looking about its hard to find any evidence of it though. I expected to see debris in the trees, or water marks on the houses.I've not spotted anything. A few of the shops are still shut.
Planning where to go next. The road from Emerald to Charters Towers is cut with flood waters, and there is still more rain falling.How long before its open? Do I risk heading there hoping it will open before I arrive? The coast road has also been cut at Proserpine and Mackay, but it doesn't take too long before its open again. I'm not that keen to do the coast road again, so may look at other options to get north. Mean while, I rest my weary legs and try and dry my gear.
Mar 31, 2011
Condamine was a bust. Woke up and was lazing about, ate the last of my non cook food. Then was talking with a local. The supermarket shutdown and the only food in town is from the servo.Yiks! End of lazing. Packed up and headed to Miles to do some shopping. I thought this would be bad for the town, but the local reckoned that no one shopped there and that the center of the town is the pub. Guess either everyone drinks within the limits, or there is no RBT out this way.
30km to Miles. There isn't any point in stopping in Condamine any more I reckon. If I had of known the shop was closed, I wouldn't have stopped the night. I did was my clothes and have a shower, but had to put the still wet clothes on to leave.
Rode on and stopped the night in the same spot off the edge of the road that I stopped at last time. Grass is higher though and more mossies. This morning had to crap in a bag in the tent. Too many mossies outside for me to want to bare my butt out there. Also the ground was very hard - rock covered by a thin soil layer. After lots of shitting in a bag, I must say the doggy bags are the best yet. No worries about holes in them and they are biodegradable.
Random thought: Why are trucks so brick shapped? Wouldn't they get better fuel economy by being a bit rounder?
There is a lot of truck traffic out here now. Mining or drilling for gas, then moving livestock about.
Comments:
Date: 2014-06-29 10:45
Author: TimM
Shitting in a bag, tooo much information!