Day 12 Clermont to Emerald 110 km

Harts Lagoon

Another early start - hit the bakery for coffee and a pasty for breakfast at 6:30 am. On the road at 7:00 am and feeling really good. The wind is unhelpful as usual and there are some more long hills but today I am an engine and I just power on until 9:30 am and then I stop for break - 40 km done. Get out the chair and sit and watch life go by for 20 minutes. A farmer appears behind on a tractor and gives me a big thumbs up.

Qld Lighthorse Memorial

Back on the bike I rock out another 30 km and arrive at Capella. Lovely little town - very interesting memorial to the Queensland Light Horse. The Avenue of Honour is lined with bottle trees.

Had a steak sandwich and coke at a cafe. It was really good. Chatted to a woman selling raffles tickets on behalf of local Anglican Church. I buy a ticket but tell her if I win they can raffle the prize again.

After lunch I am back on the bike and apart from a quick stop to check out the view from a lookout above Capella I don't get off the bike until I arrive in Emerald 51 km further on. All day I have been passing wheat fields. Looks like the locals planted a winter crop and it has mostly paid off. There are some areas where it dried off but mostly it is looking good. Also another crop that may be sorghum - I might be wrong.

In Emerald I head to Maccas to use the free wifi to find somewhere to stay - tonight I want a proper bed. I have ridden almost 1000 km in 11 days of cycling. I am a 3rd of the way of the home.

I end up taking a room in a pub. Luxury! Proper bed - don't have to put up and pack up my tent.  Shower is fantastic

Day 11 Wild Camp to Clermont 66 km

A peaceful night by the side of the road - magnificent sky, there is so much we don't see living in the city. I could have stared up at the sky for hours if I didn't fall asleep so quickly.  Lay down to read around 8:00 pm and woke at midnight. Next time I woke it was 5:30 am. Despite the big sleep my body feels weary so I am happy it is only 66 km to Clermont.

The 1st 33 km are knocked over by 9:30 am. I stop for a break and search the food bag for snacks - no scotch fingers left, no crackers left either, already had muesli for breakfast, oh well what about some more tuna! It does the trick.

The remaining 33 km are a slog but I arrive just outside Clermont at 11:30 am. There is a Visitor Information Centre and Museum just before the turnoff into town. Itis early in the day so I decide to check out the museum. Great display of artefacts related to the history of the area. Gold, copper, and coal mining are big around here. (I passed the Clermont Coal mine 5 km back and the turnoff to Blair Athol Coal is just ahead.

Beautiful!

As much as the displays impress me (and they do) it is the butterflies alighting on the grevilleas in the garden that capture me. Try to get some photos but they do not do justice to the beauty of the butterflies.

Back on the bike I ride into town, it is hot in the sun so I am glad when I find an IGA so I can replenish my food bag. Got some fruit and snacks and stop for lunch in nearby cafe.

After lunch I find the caravan park and get $10 unpowered site in the shade. No wifi here and no Vodaphone in this part of Queensland. Go to the library where I can use their Internet but only on their desktops. Can't log into gmail because I am using a different device to connect and they want me to verify via my phone. Aargh! head to the post office and buy (another) Telstra prepaid phone.

At the library I was able to watch the footy highlights and see the score. Doggies looking good! Checkout the bakery for 2nd lunch. They open at 4:00 am so I will have no problem getting sandwiches for the road tomorrow. Can't make up my mind whether I want to push all the way to Emerald or stop at Capella after 60 km. Make up my mind tomorrow.

Decorated Rail Freight Wagons

Day 10 Belyandro Crossing to Wild Camp 105 km

Packed up, topped the water bottles and headed over to roadhouse for breakfast by 6:30 am. Ordered bacon and eggs and coffee. The serving size was huge as it was for both lunch and dinner yesterday. I also ordered some sandwiches to go for lunch.

On the road shortly after 7:10 am. 12 degrees and still. Immediately crossed the Belyando river. I have crossed lots of rivers and creeks the last 3 days. The Belyando and the Cape River are the only ones with water. This area like much of Queensland and Western New Wales relies on summer rains tailing down from the northern wet season.

 As well as crossing the river there was a sign indicating that I was crossing into Central Queensland.

The morning and much of the day consisted of riding up very long hills and dropping down and then restarting climbing again. The hills were not steep  but they were long and after 9:30 am harder to climb because of the wind.

I stopped at 10:00 am for 2nd breakfast - I ate the sandwiches which were very disappointing. The bread was dry and the filling bland. I had a drink and got going again.

Road Angels! - Kevin and Anne

I hadn't gone 5 km when I was waved over to a parked camper by Kevin and Anne who offered me coffee and biscuits. I had 3 glasses of water and some scotch finger biscuits and we had a good chat. They are from Adelaide and have been travelling for a couple of months. It was great to meet them.

I met them again a short time later when I came upon them parked with the bonnet up and Kevin tightening the fan belt. Fortunately all was under control and they were soon passing me again.

At 70 km (1:00 pm) I pulled off the road for a long break in the shade. The wind was making riding hard work and it was hot so I had a tuna and rice tub for lunch and read a book until 2:30 pm. While I was sitting eating a 4WD pulled up in front of me  and the driver checked to see I had sufficient water.  I thanked the chap - while I was okay this time sometimes an extra litre or 2 can make the difference between a comfortable ride and a thirsty ride.

I planned to do 100 km to leave me a shorter day tomorrow. In the end I did 105 km and found a campsite by the side of the road around 4:45 pm. Some cattle came to check me out as I was setting up camp

Day 9 Cape River Rest Stop to Belyandro Crossing 87 km

7:00 am on the bike and on the way. Another cool start 13 degrees. Quickly covering ground - 44 km by 9:30 am already halfway for the day. Same scenery as yesterday, eucalypts and scrub - more cattle all looking well fed and relaxed. Plenty of fresh green growth. Saw a Wedge Tail Eagle ahead, sadly I saw 2 dead wedgies yesterday. Also some colourful parrots and kites this morning.

Got to Belyandro just before 12:30 pm. Starting to get hot and the wind has picked up so I decide to stay. $15 for an unpowered site. Hamburger chips and coke for lunch. The burger is huge but I make short work of it. Lass behind the counter serving is French Canadian. 

I had a chat with a couple of girls who were cleaning the workers dongas (Just to be clear a donga is a portable bungalow). They are finding the heat hard going. The dongas are like ovens without the aircon switched on

I shower and do my washing before finding space in the shade shelter. I'll set up my tent later. There is no mobile coverage or Internet here so I finally find out that the Bulldogs beat Adelaide and are in the finals from a passing tourist.

Having finished the day early the is nothing to do here but relax and read.

In the evening I go to the bar for a few drinks before dinner. The girl serving is lively and chatty. She tells me she has a new hearing aid. She only has 50% hearing in her left ear. The other side is totally deaf. She tells me sometimes it can be very funny because she will hear something completing wrong so she will ask the customer to repeat what they said and then she will tell them what she thought heard. She says she must have a dirty mind because what she thought she heard is often quite rude

Dinner was crumbed fish and salad and chips (everything in North Queensland singer is served with chips). Went back to my campsite to find some crusty has parked his campervan in my site totally ignoring the presence of my bike and bags. Just plain rude or oblivious - didn't bother to remonstrate just moved my stuff to another part of the campsite. The dude and his wife are sitting in front of their van watching me. No acknowledgement - weird!

Day 8 Charters Towers to Cape River Rest Stop 110 km

Was awake and packing up at 5:45 am. With 200 km to Belyando Crossing I wanted to make sure I covered as many kilometres as I could before the wind got going.

It was cool morning there was quite a bit of mist  in the fields across the road as I exited Charter Towers. A couple of clicks up the road there was a left hand turn onto the Gregory Development Rd. Looking back towards town Towers Hill is shrouded in mist.

Heavy air and rolling hills for the first hour but after that riding was easy for the next 4 hours. There was either no breeze or a slight tailwind most of the time. By 9:00 am I had covered 30 km and stopped for a break at Policeman Creek. As I stopped I could the sound of bees and looked over to a flowering gum in bloom. Just down the road there was a collection of bee boxes.

At 10:00 am I had covered 60 km. The scenery was pretty much the same the whole way - scrubby bushland. There was some variance as in some areas there were some eucalypts while in other just smaller shrubs. There were some areas with cattle and  I passed a couple of access roads to gold mines including Pajingo where Mic who I met yesterday works.

I pushed on to the 80 km before pulling up for a long lunch break. I set out my chair and stove in the shade by the side of the road and brewed some tea and a cup-a-soup to go with cheese and crackers while I read my book.

At 1:30 pm I got back on the road and kept going until I saw a a Rest Stop at 110 km.  There was a good shade shelter and toilets so although I was tempted to keep going
To shorten the day into Belyando I decided to call it quits for the day. At worst I can sleep under the shade shelter.

Rest Day Charters Towers Day 7

Peaceful night in the caravan park. All the grey nomads are locked away in their vans by 8:00 pm. I fell asleep reading not long after and wake up at 11:30 pm. Off to the bathroom, clean my teeth and then back to sleep until 6:00 am. At 6:45 am I head into town looking for breakfast - only Maccas seems to be open. The main street is deserted which means it is good time to get some photos.

After doing a circuit of the shops I headed into Maccas for a coffee and read the newspapers. After I have been there a while I spot a group of cyclists sitting out front so I go out and have a chat. They are from the CT Tri and Adventure Mob and have been out for their Saturday morning ride. They probably thought I was a bit odd but they were friendly with it. Good to see them enjoying their sport and having fun with it.

Next stop was Woolies to get supplies for the next 4 days. It is 200 kms to Belyandro Crossing but there is only a basic servo/roadhouse there so I need to carry enough food until Clermont a further 170 km. Fall back on the staples -Uncle Bens Rice, Tuna, pasta and sardines, some cup-a-soup and vitawheats as well as muesli and long life milk.

Finally spot cafe open for breakfast. Eggs on toast and a pot of English breakfast. While I'm there I meet Mic another touring cyclist who is working in an nearby mine. We have a super chat about our various touring experiences.

Back to camp with the supplies where I repack and dispose of the extra packaging. Also pump up the tyres on the bike, oil the chain and check the rack screws are tight. With extra the extra weight of water and supplies I want everything working smoothly.

After lunch I cycled to the top of Towers hill. The view is magnificent in all directions. Apart from gold diggings remnants there are some WW2 bunkers from when Charters Towers was home to US forces. There are some interactive displays in 2 of the bunkers.

The caravan park was hosting a Camp Oven Dinner cooked by an old stockman. The dinner was good and the company was excellent. I shared a table with a retired market gardener and his wife from Yarrawonga and a couple from Lithgow. Lovely evening all round.


The pictures below are of Stock Exchange Arcade. I was just too late for scones and tea. The building is very fine.

Wild Camp near Mingela to Charters Towers 55 km Day 6

This will be a longer post as today I am man of leisure having arrived at my destination before lunch. I have checked into the caravan park for 2 nights to allow my body some recovery time. This means I have a day and half to occupy myself and I suspect the 20 points of interest listed in the tourist guide to Charter Towers may not use all my time.

It was a cold night but I was comfortable in the tent. The night sky was spectacular - the Milky Way is truly awesome. I slept until almost 6:00 am and despite being in no rush I made breakfast and packed up by 7:30 am. The sun quickly warmed me up. Well the sun and 6 km hill that I started the day with. From then on it was rolling hills, fortunately there were some nice downhills. The surface improved too!

Politics is different up here. Billboard for Bob Katter Party on the highway into town

You might suppose cycle touring does not inspire creativity however at times my mind wanders and today I was inspired by the road surface to compose a ditty I think to the tune of "wild thing (you make my heart sing). Brent if you are reading this please put to music. It goes like this:

Rough seal

such a bad deal!

You steal momentum

Rough seal

Such a bad deal

You are a pain in the rectum

Rough Seal

Such a bad deal

You cause negative emotion

Rough seal

Such a bad deal

I apply maximum lotion

For the non-cycling fraternity rough seal bitumen has a gravelly surface that has greater rolling resistance meaning it is harder work for the cyclist. Most of the road from Townsville was rough seal. That combined with wind and hills made yesterday much tougher.

After 35 km I arrived at the Burdekin River - must be amazing to see in flood. I stopped at a roadhouse just past Bivouac Junction for a cup of tea. The sun was beating down, my speedo was saying it was 31 degrees. Now I know that seems nice to frozen Melbournites shivering in 12 degrees  but try riding a 50 kg bike up hills repeatly and 31 will seem very hot.

This pole shows historic flood heights for the river. The highest mark was 2009 at 21 metres.

Finally roll into Charters Towers - lovely old gold era buildings everywhere.

Visit the Tourism Centre and get a recommendation for a caravan park on the road to Belyando Crossing (my next stop)

The caravan park doesn't have unpowered sites so I pay up for 2 nights of power. They give me a bare patch of grass that is in the sun all afternoon - I had asked for a shady spot. Then I watch as caravans roll up and placed in nice shady spots. I'm paying the same so I'm not happy. Go back to reception and say I'm not happy. No dice! I'm told the caravan sites had concrete slabs which is bulltish! Some do but ones I saw being occupied after me don't. Clearly I am being treated differently because I am on a bike. I say I may not want to stay a 2nd night in this case but get no movement. Too much trouble to move on! Aargh!

I spent some of the afternoon looking around the town. Some nice historic buildings including a band rotunda that Lisa remembers from her school trip to Queensland in 1980?