May 12, 2024
Day 9: Mt Britton to Eungella Dam
It was a misty morning at Mt Britton which made it difficult to dry the tents. Gabby also discovered his brakes were running and his front disk is bent. He tried to bash it back into shape which I thought was extremely brave but seemed to make a small improvement.
This meant it was later than usual when we left. It was a pleasant ride back out to the Turrawulla Road.
At some point there was some reception, and Dave got a message. Yesterday he’d heard his nephew was very sick but has spoken to his family and decided to keep going. Today, the situation worsened and Dave decided to head back to Brisbane. So we did a hurried redistribution of food and equipment on the side of the road before waving Dave off heading back to Nebo.
The rate of attrition on this tour is high. Gabby and I continued on through the national park, on a nice sealed road that ran out just before the end of the national park. The road was quite rocky as it opened out into cleared cattle country and we found the transmission lines again. We stopped for lunch in a shady creek with the last of the tomato, cucumber and cheese on the side of the road. Gabby has also taken responsibility for the sprouts which are sprouted and delicious.
We passed through a heavily overgrazed patch where we also saw the only traffic of the day, with three work utes and two caravans passing us. The work Utes seemed to be drilling for something down off the road. Eventually we made it to Lizzie Creek road and the water pipeline from Eungella dam to the mines and turned right.
This road was pretty hard work from the get go, with some roller coaster up and downs then a sandy floodplain before the hill started. I forgave the road a bit when it wound through the first foothills on the creek instead of following the pipeline straight up and over a hill. Unfortunately there wasn’t a way to wind through all the hills and come out at the dam so we had to climb. Some bits were quite steep but it was majority manageable. We also had a headwind which was a massive pain. But it was pretty cattle country, not very green though.
I saw another national trail marker on a tree towards the top, just before the road passed underneath the pipeline several times.
After that it started to feel like we were at the top but we still weren’t for a while, not until I had almost herded a bunch of cattle up a hill and we had turned a corner for a final climb.
But then we got a downhill run into the caravan park. There’s camping either side of a small peninsula with the toilets on top. We chose the nicer flatter more trees, less populated side and jumped into the lake for a swim. Unfortunately there’s no potable water but there are hot showers so I filtered some water from the tap and washed my clothes and hair. It felt so good! It’s an excellent way to appreciate small things, cycle touring.
We cooked up risotto with fresh peas and fell into bed despite our neighbours listening to a movie very loudly.
Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 652 km (405 miles)
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