Day 53: Benaraby to Mount Larcom

April 8, 2021

Start: 9am
Distance: 56kms
Ride time: 3:34hrs
Average: 15km/hr
Max: 38km/hr
Finish: 1:45pm

There was lots of noise from trucks during the night so I put in ear plugs and I slept better after that.

The rain from yesterday afternoon stopped my clothes from drying so that meant I put on the same wet clothes this morning.

They were dry in about 30 minutes.

The road today seemed less busy than yesterday.

There were three sections of road works and they all had traffic lights at both ends. The distance was short and I made it through them with no issues.

They are never open when I go past. I wonder if they give out free milkshakes too?

It was a hot day. I stopped in Calliope for morning tea and to enjoy some aircon in a service centre.

Crossing the Calliope River. This looks like a good place to free camp but I hadn't done enough kms for the day.

There were lots of flowering wattles on the side of the road giving off a nice perfume.

After my big day yesterday and some hills and the heat today, I was pretty tired by the time I arrived at Mount Larcom Tourist Park.

This is a nice small park that is well maintained.

I had a massive area all to myself. My tent is in the background next to a picnic table. $20

This attractive grevillea was in the garden.

It's nice to stop riding early in the afternoon so I've got time to wash and dry my clothes. Plus it's nice to have time to sit around and not do too much.

The only shop open in the evening is a servo. I ordered a chicken schnitzel for dinner. They couldn't give me one so I asked for a rump steak.

The kind lady said because I couldn't get my first request, she would only charge me $10!

How very nice of her. And she didn't even know I was doing this bike ride and that I was ravenously hungry. It tasted fantastic.

On the way back to camp, I saw a loaded coal train heading south.

It had 2 engines in front, pulling 50 coal wagons, then 1 engine, then another 50 coal wagons.

I saw another of the same size earlier in the arvo. That's a lot of coal going somewhere.

Back at camp, I met Pat and Sandra. They asked about my ride. They kindly offered for me to stay at their place up near Cairns. Thank you guys.

Today was filled with nice people.

Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 2,490 km (1,546 miles)

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Sandra MCOur pleasure Vince. We look forward to reading your progress and hope you get tailwinds not headwinds, cool not hot weather.
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3 years ago

Vince McCarthyThank you Sandra :)
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3 years ago