|
Day: |
014 |
|
Date: |
Thursday, 10 August 2006 |
|
Summary |
Riding from Cunnamulla to Charleville. |
|
Start: |
Cunnamulla |
|
Finish: |
Charleville |
|
Daily
Kilometres: |
203 |
|
Total
Kilometres: |
1758 |
|
Weather: |
Cold early (1°C) but mild and sunny for the
rest of the day with a moderate south to south-east (following and
cross) wind. |
|
Accommodation: |
Motel in Charleville , Queensland |
|
Nutrition: |
Apple and peanut butter roll for breakfast,
hamburger and chips for lunch, and take-out Thai chicken with
cashews for dinner. |
|
Encounters: |
One emu, a couple of eagles and incredible
amounts of roadkill. There would not have been a single 400m that I
travelled today that was not home to a piece of roadkill in some
phase of decay ranging from just hours old through to bleached
indeterminate bones. Mostly it’s kangaroos and wallabies, but also
includes occasional emus, eagles, foxes, rabbits, sheep and cattle. |
|
Highlights: |
I was relieved to have a tail/cross wind
all day which enabled me to cover the 200km in very good time
without getting too tired. |
|
Lowlights: |
Thinking about my step-brother whose
funeral and wake is being held today in Melbourne . |
|
Journal: |
I was on the road by 6:15am in the early
dawn light and was pleased to find that yesterday’s headwind had
disappeared. It was cold but not freezing and the road was very
flat passing through seemingly well-grassed plains. There was quite
a lot of water lying around in ditches and I noticed an increasing
number of pink and blue wildflowers. I heard on the radio that
humidity was close to 10% which meant that visibility was excellent
(it also means that my bottom lip, which is already in a sad state
from wind/sunburn will need more regularly-applied lip salve). When
I looked out across the plains I could see lines of trees in the
very far distance. There was very little traffic and I frequently
felt like I was the only human for many kilometres. There are less
trucks and road trains on this road, but still plenty of grey nomads
with their caravans and an increasing number of dilapidated 4WD
pickups (remember Wolf Creek , someone said to me before I left on
this trip!).
In late morning I arrived at the very small
settlement of Wyandra and stopped in at the tiny general store/post
office/take-away food outlet. It was surrounded with pieces of
disconnected junk/memorabilia and I was invited to take a tour by
the proprietor while they cooked the burger they had persuaded me to
buy. I ate it at a table in their front yard. For the entire time
I was there, the next door neighbour was watering and tending her
immaculate garden, which seemed somewhat out of place in this remote
outback community.
The afternoon passed quite quickly with
the countryside becoming slightly undulating and heavily timbered,
though on seemingly very dry bright red soil. Every so often a
track entered from the left or right and you could get a glimpse of
the olive green scrubby forest stretching far into the distance.
For the whole of today’s ride, a railway line (Cunnamulla was
the end of the line) paralleled the road 50 metres to the left.
There was no rail activity whatsoever. I suspect it’s not a very
profitable line.
I got to Charleville about 4:15pm and found
a budget hotel/motel in the centre of town and felt satisfied with a
good day on the road. Two more 200km days and hopefully the winds
stay favourable. Charleville is the largest town I have passed
through since Griffith and seems stately and prosperous relative to
the towns of the last few days. |
|
ADVENTURE LIST
Round Ireland
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Hume & Hovell Walking Track
(2013)
Via Alpina
(2012)
Australian Alps Walking
Track
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Land's End to John O'Groats
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Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2009)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
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Australia Tip to Top MTB
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Adelaide to Darwin MTB
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Sydney to Melbourne MTB
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Three Peaks Race
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Appalachian Trail
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Alpine Track
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|
