Day 16: Ravenswood to Charters Towers

May 19, 2024

It was much less foggy this morning which made for a drier start. Gabby had been staying in a cabin so he didn’t even have to pack up a tent and I got to microwave my porridge.

We left by 8, and were cycling along very pleasantly in a cool morning with very little traffic when I heard Gabby shout and turned around to see him picking his chain up off the road. Somehow it had come undone on a very minor uphill. He was able to refix it though and keep riding.

We came across a herd of goats being guarded very protectively by a pack of fluffy white dogs. Some of the goats were wearing bells too. I have never seen anything like it. It turned out there was a homestead at Kirk River, the halfway point between Ravenswood and Mingela just over the hill so maybe the dogs take the goats home there?

The hills started to flatten out as we got towards Mingela and the country became a bit more grassy.

We passed a big camp draft ground with one woman walking a horse in tight circles in the middle of the arena while country music played. Then we arrived in Mingela.

The Mingela store hasn’t been open for a few weeks

The pub, however was doing a roaring trade thanks to about 20 bikies who’d ridden out from Charters Towers and referred to it as their church. The barman was an Old Testament style god, taciturn and looked like he’d hold a grudge.

We had a soft drink and then got onto the Flinders highway into charters towers. The national trail continues straight on over the highway but we mixed it with the traffic. The first 25 k or so had a good shoulder so it was not too bad. It felt familiar to me, with the regular updates on how you’ve travelled through distance markers, overtaking lanes and advertised picnic areas.

We went down to a free camping ground on the Burdekin for lunch. It was packed and looked like at least half the people lived there at least semi-permanently.

The cheese we bought in Collinsville is struggling a bit but still made a good lunch with boiled egg, cucumber, tomato and sprouts on vitawheats. We also got to see a train go over the rail bridge.

Made more sense that the Burdekin Dam was nearly overflowing from this side

Soon after the bridge we came across the enticing proposition of an entire watermelon for $5.

They sounded good but we just couldn’t figure out the logistics

the final 15/20k into charters towers were not very much fun. The shoulder would’ve been wide enough except that they put those rumble strips and reflective lights all through it and the traffic was pretty heavy.

But eventually we made it and even found a bike lane in town!

They’ve built a big new shopping arcade on the entrance of town which means that several businesses have moved out of the Main Street. Combined with a Sunday afternoon, the whole place had a pretty forlorn feel. But we did go to the foodworks and get some extra fruit.

Charters towers traffic Sunday afternoon

On the way out to the caravan park, Gabby’s front tyre went dramatically flat and he had to pump it up three times to get to the park.

But the park was very nice once we got there, they gave us date slice and I bought some rocky road. I set up my tent and took photos of it while Gabby fixed his tyre.

and they had a fire near where our tents are which the grey nomads sat around for about an hour then cleared off so we could make pasta and warm ourselves by the fire in peace.

Today's ride: 85 km (53 miles)
Total: 1,068 km (663 miles)

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