October long weekend 2020
Photos for now, post coming
more photos coming
You’ve been patient, here’s the post:
This was our biggest ride yet, 1,035km from start to end, over 3 days, and it was not via direct roads and routes. We travelled roads neither of us knew existed nor had travelled before. There is some truly spectacular scenery out there if you are willing to travel other than via armchair, to see for yourself and experience the colours directly.
We live in a most amazing country. The vividness of a gum tree that is burgundy to grey, green to olive and all shades in between, to the wheaten fields, volcanic red earth, tinder dry grasses and all shades in between. Then there is the sky – the night-time hues of blue, purple and pink then orange and bronze and the morning light. There are the stars and the magnificence of the moon. Nature has an amazing palette of delights for us.
Then there is mankind. It never ceases to entertain me as to how farmers think that the old machinery they leave in the yards will ever come to life again. It is simply left, no nurturing, no care, just desolation of quiet rotting back to the earth where once the organic material came from. It is really interesting to see the amount of conservators of stuff. Much life the decrepit cattle yards, houses and sheds that litter the countryside – they were erected with a lot of attention, and sometimes love, and yet they lie there now unloved and unattended.
There are various Tourist Drives to be had. It would be nice if there were a list somewhere that gave a proper indication, from maybe Queensland Tourism, as to the roads but nope, no such luck so for the most part, it is necessary to simply jump on and see where the Route takes you. However, this time we explore a part of various Tourist Routes as we use the Calimoto app to work out the most windy and convoluted way to go from A to B and it worked.
You know you are away from the cities when there are silos – for wheat and other grains and peanuts etc – and signs that give an indication of the road conditions to major areas nearby. I understand why when you look at the flood plain that is effectively the distance between Miles and Chinchilla – there is little rise and fall in that 40km or so. Having said this, it is a fantastic country and extremes.
Day #1 was 435km Brisbane to Miles. The Condamine River at Condamine is a string of waterholes of varying sizes. Down the river at Warwick, it desperately needs a flush out as a few weeks ago it was a mass of red/green growth on top of still water. You know you are in the regional areas when you see Landcruiser utes as wedding cars, with the ribbon attached to the font. I had to smile. I wonder whether they were the groom’s party as I thought the ribbon was purple/lilac but who knows. I wish the happy couple.
Coming in to Miles there is Chinaman’s Lagoon – a lovely spot to while away some time, watching the sun set.
Day #2 was Miles to Murgon. A modest 273km was had today.
One thing that strikes you wearing a helmet, is the smells and their variety: the decaying carcass of road kill, the cattle truck that lingers in the air for ages, the earth, the spring flowers (hard to see) of the native trees and plants, the asphalt, the air. A helmet can also be a very noisy place: both for the general noise when not wearing ear plugs, as the air rushes past, but also the mental noise as you are alone with your own thoughts and silence, except for the constant ringing in my left ear which keeps me company. It is pretty cool how you can go from thinking about so much to nothing to writing a blog to completely losing track of what you had in mind. It is a head clearing space.
As we headed out from Miles we stopped in to Old Man’s Lagoon and Round Waterhole. The 20km round trip of dirt to Old Man’s Lagoon took us to a small oasis of green and birdlife in this area of dry and deadening. I wonder what it would be like after the wet season when it is full and brimming with life – again the mind is busy. Round Waterhole was physically just off the highway and worth the stop. The bird life here was pretty cool too – egret and cormorant.
There was a pretty large smile on the lad’s face when we covered the dirt road into and out of the Lagoon. This was nothing, as it transpired, with what was ahead – little did we know. At the time, he was delighted.
There were raptors of some sort feeding on roadkill as we came through. I look forward to the day when I can see a Wedge-Tail Eagle life from its feed, not this trip thought so I have something to look forward to.
Murgon is a large country town. The one sight that was quite amusing was watching a Winnebago go past with a trailer behind on which there were 2 mobility scooters. Go your hardest folks. Having said this, I wonder why one of us decides that this night is the night to go through the vanity bag of bits and pieces and suggest we sort it out – most of the things have been in there for some time. How one of us also manages to get water everywhere never ceases to amaze me. Whilst talking about water, we are kept company through the night by the dulcet sounds of the toilet float switch not working properly and shutting off water.
Compared to last night, our digs are quite modest. It is a very 60’s/70’s annexe to a hotel.
Day #3 is a slightly larger 408km. Saddle soreness is definitely kicking in. As we are not travelling directly, and taking sometimes a very long way, our route is a little longer but worth the discomfort.
We start out today with Ficks Crossing, a gorgeous little spot a short distance out from Murgon. Another detour on dirt and not too long but worth the quick visit to have a look. As we don’t have to be anywhere to do anything, it is an ideal time to simply go look at things, like we do with the Wooroolin Wetlands, where there is a bird spotting hut.
The word ”fuck” is a wonderful addition to the English language and used in a few contexts today. Most particularly because of the dirt road we traversed coming out from, rather than going in to, Emu Creek campgrounds at Benarkin. We are riding an adventure bike and it was very useful during the return journey. I suspect that not a lot of riders’ venture into this campground, with good reason. Coming back out, we turned right instead of left and saw some amazing scenery and then discovered some rougher road where one of us realised that only one wheel was connected with the ground and the other was holding on for dear life. Getting through that, the overhanging branch was next. It’s funny how you can be 100m from the highway and have no idea just how close you are. The smile on the face of one of us was, to say the least, rather large – had he been riding alone he would have been in his element, standing up to manoeuvre through the gutters and ridges.
Once we joined the main road we then deviated again through the lovely area of Brisbane Valley, taking a turn off at Emu Creek and coming through the backroad, crossing over the Brisbane Valley Highway and then through Somerset and the roads around there. Wow! This area is within 2 hours of leisurely driving from Brisbane and really gives an appreciation of country. The Brisbane River is dry here, much like the Condamine River and Condamine. The Stanley River had a little more water in parts. Moseying through these hills brought us down to the Tourist Drive 9 traversing through Mt Glorious where a tree has the sign “This mountain doesn’t take prisoners” and it is so true. Tourist drive 8 through Mt Nebo brought us back through to Ashgrove and in to Brisbane. These roads are such a contrast to where we had travelled and the temperature dropped significantly, it was quite cool scooting through the trees.
This was our first real biking weekend – on our own, no other rides, simply out enjoying roads we want to travel, always going somewhere, in the middle of nowhere. The road always leads somewhere, maybe not where you thought you were going, but never nowhere as you would be still if that were the case. Always be going somewhere – it’s how you find some of the most amazing and intriguing places and see the most phenomenal scenery.
For now, we are a little saddle sore and not terribly ride fit. This means that we simply have to do more rides and more adventuring and more journeying. For now, cheers and happy riding.
