Day 10 - Crossing into Queensland and on to Cunnamulla - Unfinished Business

May 10, 2023

Day 10 - Crossing into Queensland and on to Cunnamulla

The first thing to do today was to get the 1000 km celebratory photo. And wow did I goof off getting the phone on the tripod, the indigo vest on back to front and not getting my red tie tangled in my glasses. But I succeeded and repeated the act 20 km further when I crossed into Qld.

But just before the border I ventured into a service station, that may have been open, in search of a plate of chips. "Olls nut hut" the bloke said. A woman took over and said there was a chip shortage but she could do a very small plate. There cannot be a more hopeless place than the Bush Tucker Inn at Barringun. I went to the border.

The NSW-Qld border. If you look very closely you'll see a photo of one of the 23 km horse races they have around here

It was 10 am and I had done a lousy 20 km. I got stuck in and knocked over 77 km by lunch - a nice spot in a dry creekbed. I felt jaded by lunch, cups of tea, a coffee, chocolate, gingernuts and scroggin livened me.

They're serious distances in the outback! I'll be heading west from Cloncurry to Mt Isa.

A bit of luck with the wind helped me do a quick 30 km through country that seemed dead- no livestock, few birds, no roadkill. But I did see a couple of willy wagtails giving a brown goshawk grief. Another strange bird sighting was a flock of 30-40 pee-wees; they usually occur in family groups.

Out of the blue came a fancy rest area that has compostable toilets and thus the area is not a toilet. In the roof of a shelter I noticed the mud nests of fairy martins.

Mud nests of fairy martins or are they housings for spy cameras? Are they reading my journal?

The 30 km into Cunnamulla went quickly. I went straight into town and found it more attractive than in past visits. The price of food, though, is extortionate. How can the population eat a good diet especially if they're poor? Someone told me that they shop in Charleville, 200 km away.

I checked in to the Cunnamulla Tourist Park and Natasha, on learning of my ride, gave me free accommodation. Thus, $35 for indigo.

As I set up camp I noticed the odour of goats. The livestock trucks I passed today - all triple road trains, carried goats. I was plastered with Eau de Billy!

Today's ride: 144 km (89 miles)
Total: 1,145 km (711 miles)

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