April 25, 2024
Day 7: Lowood to Ipswich
I pull the curtain around 6.30, to see . . . nothing. No cars, no pedestrians. No hotel staff on cleaning duties. We already know from last night's reconnaissance of the town that there's also nothing in the way of breakfast options on the main street.
Today is Anzac Day, marked in both Australia and NZ with great solemnity, dawn parades, the Last Post and "we will remember them". Shops tend to be shut until after all the ceremonies are over so we're not surprised at the lack of humanity.
Today's ride is a short 35-odd km so we're also not in a rush to leave our room until the last minute. I'm behind in journal writing and we bought breakfast provisions last night, so the next few hours are relaxed AND productive.
Not repeating yesterday's mistake, we get a few kilometres under our metaphorical belts before stopping at possibly the best bakery of all for morning coffee. The Old Fernvale Bakery and Café is humming and everyone who owns a bike in the surrounding district is there, queuing to get through the door, or already enjoying the sunshine in the courtyard.
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https://ebird.org/species/blfhon1
3 weeks ago
Today's ride is again a series of gentle undulations through open farmland, with some stretches in gum forests. it's over in a flash though. Soon, we're in the outskirts of Ipswich city riding through mostly new housing . As a special treat, the last 5-6 km of the trail turns into an extra wide concrete path that smoothly delivers us to somewhere near the trailhead of Wulkuraka. A team of roadworkers, obviously OK with working on Anzac Day, block our path and divert us to the nearby Wilkuraka train station, a modern ediface bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the wooden structure built around 1900.
We're happy with a selfie in front of the new station (you can just see 'Wilkuraka' behind us) then we cross over the railway line and head into town to buy bike-cleaning materials and find somewhere to fill in time until check-in.
Cumquat House is just as welcoming as our first visit and we have the added bonus of meeting yet another group of six Aussie cyclists, most of them, like us, ex-teachers. We're obviously all out there enjoying ourselves and spending our kids' inheritance. Long may it last!
Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 317 km (197 miles)
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