Thursday, August 27, 2009

ALMOST IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY

I took off quite early the next day with the plan to get into the next town called Miriam Vale by lunchtime so I could visit a store and buy some groceries and perhaps some gas for my cooker.Once again it was a foggy morning but it wasn't too bad and I made great time bouyed by an impromptu cheer squad that was standing at the the top of a hill in what I thought was just about the middle of nowhere.I had been riding for about 40 minutes when upon nearing the end of a long climb I spied the figures of four people.The only thing was they looked tiny and I couldn't believe that the hill was that long as to make people at the top look so small.As I drew near the mystery was solved.Standing next to a school bus stop were four little girls dressed in their school uniforms jumping up and down and waving frantically at me.As I passed them they all stood in a line and clapped and cheered which brought a huge smile to my face.They could not have been more than nine or ten years olds and I wondered what could have motivated them to be so excited by my riding by and that is when I saw in the background,something that moved me emotionally for the rest of the morning.There was an old,old man who was obviously ones of the kids grandfathers standing at attention saluting me as I rode past the girls.I didn't understand at first but as I looked back over my shoulder it became clear.Out of the corner of my eye I could see my Australian flag fluttering behind me,he was saluting the flag on my trailer and the Australian flag jersey I was wearing.That kind of patriotism is rarely shown in this country and I wondered what kind of hell he must have gone through at some time in his life defending that flag to move him to such a dispay.It was a humbling moment.


Spurred on by a renewed sense of purpose I quickly covered the 67k into Miriam Vale by 11am and set aout trying to do some shopping which put me in a bit of a mood.The only store in town was horrendously overpriced a was lacking in many things that I needed the most important of which was gas.I realised that there was going to be not much cookig done that night and so perchased some stuff that could be eaten cold.Not every rest area allows campfires so I could not assume that I was going to be able to cook at all,not even a coffee-good lord!!


I did have a chance to check out the cool info center and they helped confirm that the rest area I was planning on staying at was only about 38k away.So after a couple of hours of hanging in that little town checking out the parks and having some lunch I too off and made the afternoons ride without incident.105k done and early to boot.now it was time to find out if campfires were allowed and unfortunately they were not.I did strick it rich when a nosy camper came to investigate my camp.He chatted for a while and after hearing my tales of caffeine adddiction he told me to give him my cup and he would get his wife to boil me some water in their van.Awesome,coffee sorted and I was a happy man once again. The rest of the afternoon and evening was very quiet and I was in bed early preparing myself for an early start to the day.


Just after sunrise the next morning,while I was finishing the packing process a huge semi-trailer pulled into the entance to the rest area with some massive machine perched on the trailer.The driver got out and scratched his head fo a while before coming over and asking for my help.it seems that the hydraulics on his trailr were not working properly and the 50 ton portable cane crushing machine was listing to one side.He needed me to puch accelorater down with my hand so he could pressure up the hydraulics and level out the trailer.We tried several times but each time the trailer bottomed out and to make matters worse the poor bloke had a flat tyre as well.He resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to call for help but where was he supposed to park the truck?He couldn't leave it there as it was blocking the driveway and there was no room anywhere on the side of the highway so he had to drive on and crawl along the highway until he found an truck pullout.He wasn't happy.
As for me,my day was a repeat of the day I had endured before the Calliope River stop.The roads into in Gin Gin were narrow,rough and very dangerous.I rode the 67k into Gin Gin well before lunch but they were hard miles an wih a superhot afternoon in the offing I wasn't looking forward to the rest of the day at all.Ihad a bite to eat and then took off in search of some propane/butane gas for my cooker.Do you think that in a town with about four truck stops,three hardwear stores and a supermarket I could find any gas.Nope,no luck at all.Bugger me!!





As I was wandering around town a couple of van dwellers stopped me and asked if I was staying the night here or moving on.I told the that I was supposed to be gone already but had stalled so long it didn't seem worth it to ride on.With that they invited me down the road to the rest area for a cup of tea and cake.I never turn down a food offer and after a short 1k ride I was sipping tea and eating chocolate cake.Yaaay.
Later on in the evening I was just getting a fire started when a familiar voice told me not to bother as dinner was already being cooked for me.It was old Frank from the Home Hill rest stop all the miles ago.He told me that his wife Carmilla was cooking dinner and saw me so she just threw in some more and sent him over to get me.We had a great time chatting about our travels over dinner and after moving into their trailer for coffee and a cupcake it was time for bed.Even though it was still early we were all tired and I slid into my sleeping bag a happy man with a very happy belly.The next day I knew could be a long one as I had ridden these roads the previous year and knew that they improved a lot from Gin Gin south to the Sunshine Coast.Only three more days to Noosa was my estimate as I looked at my map book and I turned off my torch praying for a tailwind.

No comments:

Post a Comment


Early morning in Cardwell,Nth Queensland