To Goombungee

31/05/2017

I talked to a number of fellow campers around a big campfire at the caravan park. Everyone thinks I'm mad, but they all wish me well. The universal opinion is that I'm crazy, and when they ask if they can follow my journey on facebook (sorry, no facebook) it's a great entry point to tell them they can follow this crazy man on Crazyguyonabike.com.

It was another cold and wet start. I'm still finding it hard to pack up in the morning. I chose to head for Goombungee because of the good write up the showgrounds and pub got in the Wikicamps app, the bible for free and/or cheap camping sites in Australia. And there weren't as many hills...

It was a scenic and peaceful ride through back country lanes. Again, there was little traffic and I spent my time working on my mindful pedalling. I had to walk up part of one hill and I'm now at peace with that. It's how I roll: I pedal what I can and push what I can't.

There was one other person camping there, John; another grey nomad wandering north towards the warmer weather. I pulled my tent under cover of a pavilion awning. The warm concrete floor (sun heated and much warmer than the cold ground) and the roof above me meant I didn't feel the -3 cold and the tent was frost free and dry in the morning. John brewed me a cup of strong black coffee, but I still had no incentive to get moving before things warmed up around 09:30.

The showgrounds were great, the pub looked warm and cozy with a good fire burning in the fireplace, but they weren't serving meals that night.

Let's call it 40 km on backroads and farm tracks.

To Quinalow

1/06/2017

It was more of the same again today: perfect cycling through beautiful countryside. I'm working my way out of the hills now and I managed to pedal out all of them today. Quinalow has a pub and campsite, so it seemed a logical end point. I spent about an hour at Haden, just talking to the shop owner and a couple of locals. Then it was a quiet 45 km to Quinalow.

Got to talking to a couple of the lads at the pub. They tell me there is one hill between me and the forever flats that start at Dalby. From here, it's over 1000 km to Longreach and then another 1000+ to Alice from there.