07/08/21 Wondai to Goomeri

Well that was definitely a day of  two  halves.

First Half:

1.  Indulge in rampant bicycle envy. Yes, that green machine is bicycle!

"I retired at 42and now I go on expeditions.  I've paddled my sea kayak from the Gold Coast to PNG.  At the moment I'm riding the  Bicentennial  National Trail.  It's hard  work but the fat  tyres can  go over  anything.   I  did  the Simpson Desert solo.  I design everything I  need for  my bike and 3D print it. People  say I should patent my inventions but I'm not interested. I'm just having fun."

And we  thought we were adventurous!!

2.  Cruise downhill along the bitumen bike path through  pretty forest with birds twittering, kangaroos hopping, and water  bubbling in creeks.

 

Stop for  snacks beside the creek,  just because we can.

 3. Make  progress along  the  map, all the  way to Murgon.

Look at us! Half way already!

Murgon Station, where the local Men's Shed is busy restoring old rolling stock.

We had lunch in Murgon and started the Great Coffee Debate, which is all about when and how often we should spend our spare change on buying coffee.  The GCD is as yet unresolved but will doubtless provide us with hours of robust debate in the months to come.

Murgon provided a handy park for lunch, and then came the second half of the day:

Notice any change in the surface?

We've become soft over the last couple of days, rolling along on our bitumen surface. Well, that came to an abrupt end and we found ourselves slithering through sand and rattling over washouts and old railway ballast.  The only thing still on our side was gravity.

And to add tedious insult to injury, there were gates.

Always an opportunity for a heroic bike pose.

Old Railway ballast provided its own challenge: lumpy, sharp, and uneven.

Oh, and paddling too. Sometimes rocks, other times mud. We were prepared for this though - we don't pedal in sandals to win fashion awards after all!

More sand.

And more water.  With rocks this time.

Thank goodness for  gravity, is all I say!  We rolled into Kilkiven where Roger impressed the Showgrounds caretakers by demonstrating the inelegant 'dump and roll' loaded bicycle dismount.  They were so impressed that they ushered us straight to a site with shade and a fence upon which we could festoon our dirty washing. We even have a camp kitchen, or at least a shed with lights, a sink, and  a purple toaster, so we are living in luxury again.

Home for the night: Goomeri Showgrounds.  Where one of us may or may not have washed their undies in the shower and then forgotten them. Which resulted in the caretaker parading said undies through the caravans searching for their owner and the owner had to claim them because she's on a bicycle and doesn't have enough undies on board to be able to lose any.

 

I knew you were waiting for this so here 'tis.  Livestock of the day: Bull on the trail.