Wednesday, 4 February 2015 3:39 PM A message from the ...€¦ · Wednesday, 4 February 2015 3:39...

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Wednesday, 4 February 2015 3:39 PM A message from the paddler turned peddler. Hello Folks, It's your trusty peddling correspondent reporting in. He of the flailing legs is now in Springsure, which is a lovely little town nestled under an imposing mountain range and discovered, as I found out, by the intrepid explorer Leichhard. Springsure is also, according to my calculations, 1052k's from my front doorstep - so we now have only a mere 2400k's to go! Well what a great adventure this has been. Starting with the battle of the Gillies Range and quickly followed by those monstrous hills through Ravenshoe we really only gained our equilibrium at the Mt Garnet pub where 2 wild men from Mena Ck adopted me ('we seen ya back at Innot mate and thought - who's this bloody lunatic!) and forced me to drink copious quantities of XXXX to restore my fluid levels. Not a real good start to the next days ride I must say but we rallied some time during the afternoon and managed to put a reasonable dent in the 160k distance to The Lynd. I was going to stop halfway but thunderstorms were raging all around so the pedals kept turning and the kilometres kept rolling past. The last 50k's or so were quite spectacular as I rode through the night with lightning crashing all around and with a reading light strapped to my head trying to navigate a road that turned into narrow gauge every now and again and frequently disappeared from sight altogether! We got to the Lynd at 10:30PM and booked a donga rather than putting up the tent - soft I know! The countryside from The Lynd onwards has been at its best. These rains started a couple of weeks back so all paddocks are green and lush. The winds also have be fair, blowing strongly from behind (the North) and only swinging around and tumbling over my right shoulder in late afternoon (North West). Yesterday was my first serious headwind which I encountered in the Clermont to Emerald section - but 'tis a wondrous thing this battery powered bike as i was able to counteract it with a flick of the switch. Yeterday's section of road was probably the worst so far too, the most traffic and the roughest surface. Big place Emerald but according to my RACQ map Roma is bigger. I queried this with a bloke at the bar, where once again I was replacing lost fluids. 'Excuse me mate, are you from around here? " Born and bred mate, all me life and me fathers before me'. All me life looked about 50 years or so - so i pressed on with my burning question. 'Tell me then, which is bigger, Roma or Emerald?' 'Ooh,' he says. That's a good one. Roma eh. They say she's big but I've never been there meself so can't say for sure." I should have dropped the topic but sitting at a bar makes always makes one rabbit on a bit -"Never been? You've lived here all this time and never been?" "Yairs" he replied. 'No real reason to go really'. Marvellous isn't it! This man was also a bit of a mineralogist. Sapphires it seems. 'Me dad and uncles and all even had a mine in the old days and dragged out stacks of them not that long ago - a place not far from here called Sapphire. Whole area's swarming with gems." "Ah". I said. So that's why this place is called Emerald?" He gave me a withering look. 'No emeralds here mate. And no idea where the name came from!' After scoffing the rest of my chips he took off - and probably told his wife he'd been stuck at the bar talking to a bit of a loser who thought Emerald was named after an emerald.

Transcript of Wednesday, 4 February 2015 3:39 PM A message from the ...€¦ · Wednesday, 4 February 2015 3:39...

Page 1: Wednesday, 4 February 2015 3:39 PM A message from the ...€¦ · Wednesday, 4 February 2015 3:39 PM A message from the paddler turned peddler. Hello Folks, It's your trusty peddling

Wednesday, 4 February 2015 3:39 PM

A message from the paddler turned peddler.

Hello Folks, It's your trusty peddling correspondent reporting in. He of the flailing legs is now in

Springsure, which is a lovely little town nestled under an imposing mountain range and discovered,

as I found out, by the intrepid explorer Leichhard. Springsure is also, according to my calculations,

1052k's from my front doorstep - so we now have only a mere 2400k's to go!

Well what a great adventure this has been. Starting with the battle of the Gillies Range and quickly

followed by those monstrous hills through Ravenshoe we really only gained our equilibrium at the

Mt Garnet pub where 2 wild men from Mena Ck adopted me ('we seen ya back at Innot mate and

thought - who's this bloody lunatic!) and forced me to drink copious quantities of XXXX to restore my

fluid levels. Not a real good start to the next days ride I must say but we rallied some time during the

afternoon and managed to put a reasonable dent in the 160k distance to The Lynd. I was going to

stop halfway but thunderstorms were raging all around so the pedals kept turning and the

kilometres kept rolling past. The last 50k's or so were quite spectacular as I rode through the night

with lightning crashing all around and with a reading light strapped to my head trying to navigate a

road that turned into narrow gauge every now and again and frequently disappeared from sight

altogether! We got to the Lynd at 10:30PM and booked a donga rather than putting up the tent -

soft I know! The countryside from The Lynd onwards has been at its best. These rains started a

couple of weeks back so all paddocks are green and lush. The winds also have be fair, blowing

strongly from behind (the North) and only swinging around and tumbling over my right shoulder in

late afternoon (North West). Yesterday was my first serious headwind which I encountered in the

Clermont to Emerald section - but 'tis a wondrous thing this battery powered bike as i was able to

counteract it with a flick of the switch. Yeterday's section of road was probably the worst so far too,

the most traffic and the roughest surface.

Big place Emerald but according to my RACQ map Roma is bigger. I queried this with a bloke at the

bar, where once again I was replacing lost fluids. 'Excuse me mate, are you from around here? " Born

and bred mate, all me life and me fathers before me'. All me life looked about 50 years or so - so i

pressed on with my burning question. 'Tell me then, which is bigger, Roma or Emerald?'

'Ooh,' he says. That's a good one. Roma eh. They say she's big but I've never been there meself so

can't say for sure." I should have dropped the topic but sitting at a bar makes always makes one

rabbit on a bit -"Never been? You've lived here all this time and never been?" "Yairs" he replied.

'No real reason to go really'. Marvellous isn't it! This man was also a bit of a mineralogist. Sapphires

it seems. 'Me dad and uncles and all even had a mine in the old days and dragged out stacks of them

not that long ago - a place not far from here called Sapphire. Whole area's swarming with

gems." "Ah". I said. So that's why this place is called Emerald?" He gave me a withering look. 'No

emeralds here mate. And no idea where the name came from!' After scoffing the rest of my chips he

took off - and probably told his wife he'd been stuck at the bar talking to a bit of a loser who thought

Emerald was named after an emerald.

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The Qld rural character I am encountering, including the man from Emerald, is an extraordinary

beast as I am finding out daily. I sit on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere boiling my billy

and a quad bike roars into life from the paddock behind me and in no time at all I am engaged in

conversation with a lovely bloke who owns both sides of the road for many miles beyond. Again his

dad and his dad's dad have lived here before him so he is nearly as old as the road itself but when I

ask him - 'how far to this wayside stop I was told about somewhere between Charters and Ballyando

crossing xing?' he goes all reflective with vigorous head scratching and chin rubbing. "That's be the

60 mile I reckon." "The 60 mile? Is that 60 miles from Charters Towers or 60 miles from

Ballyando?" More chin rubbing and scratching. 'Yairs, that'd be right. 60 miles it is! I love it! These

locals assure me roads are 'downhill from now on' - and up they go. 'You'll find a campsite about

another 2 hours down the track.' - and 10 minutes later I'm there! But it's all good. And there can

be none better that the two gents i met at Fletchers Ck which is 40k's South of Charters. They waved

me over as I rode in. Henry and Dave. Sitting on ragged chairs with tinnies in hand, wearing shorts

and battered hats and listening to the great Allan Jones expounding his views on an almost

indecipherable (which is possibly the best way to listen to Mr Jones) little transistor radio. So brown

and wire thin that they made some of the carcasses I had seen on the road look positively

healthy. Two of natures gentlemen though who were travelling the long way to Texas, NSW, where

Henry was going to show Dave his old stamping ground. They were both on pensions, Henry had lost

an eye in an industrial accident years ago and Dave had had a ton of steel fall on his head which put

him in intensive care in Cairns for many months. Dave had an evil gleam in his eye and suspect

would have been a real nuisance in his prime - but he had also ridden a pushbike around Australia

which took him 2 and a bloody quarter years mate! He did this apparently because when he got out

of hospital and came home he 'saw an arse going up and down in me bed and it wasn't mine!' (Sorry

girls - i am a mere vehicle for the telling of this tale). Henry was more circumspect. I liked Henry.

Henry told me that 'He'd been all over Australia mate. 'Could write a book about some of the things

i seen too." I told him I wouldn't mind reading that book - but he then added wistfully - "Never been

to WA but." Then came - "Nor SA". And finally - "Got to get down to Tassie one day too!" Classic

characters!

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Now look at that, I've been banging away on this bleeding computer keyboard all this time when i

could have been replenishing valuable lost fluids down the Springsure pub - and learning some more

hints on local terrain and expected road conditions ahead!

According to the local librarian the road between Springsure and Rollston is cut today and could still

possibly be closed tomorrow. It's a lovely library so that won't worry me as i can read to my hearts

content and rush back up the main street for more fluid replenishment whenever I start to flag.

From scattered reports I am receiving all seems to be going well at home. Henry told me Tristan is

doing a good job (word travels fast in the bush!) and according to the papers no outrigger canoes

appear to have been lost at sea (so someone is still steering them).

Will send another report when we get further down the track,

Cheers

Chris

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Stage 2 of the Peddling Crusade

Hello again Folks - Part 2 of the gripping peddling expedition in which your trusty correspondent -

fords a swollen stream, meets up with old friends, and conquers the Canaarvon Gorge.

Well, we might not be too sure where Emerald got its name from but we are in no doubt when it

comes to the moniker of this place - Roma - Named after an oblong shaped tomato and made

famous by that immortal song 'Arrivadercci Roma' - which was sung by Mario Lanza and murdered

by myself on many occasions under the shower.

It's my day off today. I'd promised my body at our last team brief and tool box talk that i'd be giving

it a rest in Roma so true to my word I booked into a cabin and are now spending a leisurely day

wandering the streets with no fixed purpose.

Roma is another town which has been swamped (overwhelmed may be a better word) by men in

reflective clothing. The scale of the mining activity that envelops this part of Qld, and which, no

doubt, will carry on the further South I go, is quite amazing. The best gauge of this is the Emerald

and Roma regional airports where the car parks extend for acres and are chock full of utes and

trucks. Strangely enough I feel quite safe out on the highway as most give me a wide berth but the

moment you hit the built up areas you have to be on full alert as the courtesy levels drop

dramatically.

Roma has brought up the 1380k mark and this last stage between Springsure and Roma has been

quite lovely scenery wise, but also tossed up some of the toughest hills (20-30ks North of Injune in

particular).

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In my last email I mentioned being cut off by floods - well we hung around the roadhouse at

Springsure for some time before setting off, which was fortunate as I was able to meet a brave

Chinese lady who was hitchhiking around Australia. She was all teeth and glasses and so, so

chatty. Although now living in America she had always wanted to see Australia but couldn't really

afford it so had decided to hitch hike. - 'You so brave on bike'. 'she say. No no' I replied 'you so more

brave on legs'. (as you can see I am now reasonably fluent in Chinese!) The cook in the Springsure

roadhouse was from Nepal. He was super friendly (especially after I told him his baked beans were

some of the finest i'd ever tasted) and I was given the address of his family to stay with when next in

Nepal (which is slightly further than I expected to go on this bike ride!). It is really quite noticeable in

these outback towns that that a lot of the workers in the shops, pubs, takeaway stores and servos

are on working visas as the locals are off in the mines.

Darn, distracted again - back to the continuing story - Although the Rolleston road was still officially

closed I thought I'd give it a crack anyway with the worse case being I'd end up camping out

somewhere. As it turned out the road was awash approx. 1k out of Rolleston so I turned into a

parking bay to contemplate what to do next when a familiar voice called over - 'You'd better come

and have a coldie mate!!'. Sitting out on their deck chairs once again were my erstwhile highway

companions, Henry and Dave. This time though Dave was a little subdued and told me in grave

tones that we'd nearly lost Henry.

'One minute he was in me mirror and the next i was staring at the top of his caravan!' Henry was

looking a little sheepish - 'Dunno what happened, I musta dozed off or something!' Henry had shot

down a 45deg embankment with caravan in tow, ploughed through a few small trees and was about

to bury his ute and van into a muddy river when he finally opened his eye. He planted his foot on

the accelerator which luckily stopped the van from going over. Proudly he told me he 'fed it to her

mate - dragged the bugger out!' Dave confided to me later he didn't quite drag her out as they had

to get a truck to do that final bit. Anyway, as a result of this, Henry was now off the grog. so it was

now only Dave and myself doing the drinking. As a result of the near mishap Henry had also decided

he'd only be doing 70kph max from now on - which would bring some real joy to the vehicles stuck

behind him I can imagine!

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The road was closed to cars but 4WD's and trucks were allowed through. My two companions

considered this for a bit and decided they'd give it a go anyway. I went down to the river to watch

(and to photograph their vehicles being swept downstream - which could possibly be a help in

any subsequent search and rescue attempt!) - but luckily all went well and they got through safely.

This left me and my bike all alone. I watched the water level dropping slowly, gave it another hour,

and was just tossing up whether to go or not when a ute pulled up and a young Hercules (called

Sam) asked if I wanted a lift across. With one snatch and grab he picked up my fully laden machine

and deposited it in the back of his ute. Quite amazing really as I have trouble lifting the back wheel

high enough off the ground to put the bike on its stand! I rode across the swollen waters in grand

style, a bit like a Roman Emperor crossing the River Tiber, and in short time was deposited safely on

the other side.

I remounted, thanked my young Ferryman (and resisted the urge to challenge him to an arm

wrestle) rode a short distance, and there, in a council gravel pit, our two highway vagabonds were

waiting for me once again. 'What took ya so long? You'd better come and have a coldie mate!"

Henry was back drinking after perhaps one of the shortest periods of abstinence ever undertaken.

'Its the worse thing to let a man drink on his own!' was his defence.

Despite requests for me to set up camp next to them I said I was booking into the Rolleston park and

took my leave. I slipped into town dumped my gear and then in double quick time made it back to

their camp with a box of XXXX and some food. At last I could pay them back for their kindness. We

wrested a bit initially, as is the usual courtesy, with them refusing to take anything but they

eventually gave in - and then they wouldn't let me leave until we'd demolished the whole carton

plus a bit more.

It was truly a bit sad to be leaving my faithful pit crew behind - next day they were heading East to

Moura and I was heading South to Injune. Henry had the fishing gear all ready and a couple of secret

spots to show Dave before they finally made it through to Texas. Not sure how long it would be

before they got to Texas, or if they ever will get to Texas! Briefly I toyed with the idea of tossing it all

in and joining up with these two vagabonds. We'd become the Canaarvon gang. We'd hole up

somewhere in a cave in the hills. I'd be the ringleader of course and send Henry and Dave out to hold

up road trains and travelling bike riders. But then I thought better of it (I wanted to watch the last

episode of Sherlock Holmes on ABC TV in a couple of days time) - and bade them a fond farewell.

That's it folks. Tomorrow we start the next stage South through to St George, Hebel (near NSW

border), then Lightning Ridge and down to Dubbo, where we intend having another rest day.

Everything going well so far with body and machine - touch wood (he says, as he lightly caresses his

forehead with a finger). The electric assist bike is truly a magnificent beast - although I must say

reeling in 100kms of extension chord at the end of each day is a bit of a pain!

cheers

Chris

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Thursday, 19 February 2015

Stage 3 of the 'He's not dead yet' tour

Hello again Folks.

We are speaking to you from the busy city of Dubbo where my pulsating pistons of power (legs)

propelled me mid day yesterday after a hectic journey from Gilgandra along the Newell Highway. It

must have been National B Double day as I think every truck in Australia was on this stretch of road

and I was mighty glad to reach Dubbo and pull into a caravan park to rest up for a couple of days. My

gentle meander down through the back blocks of Qld and NSW has come to an abrupt end as i need

to stay on this highway down through Parkes, West Wyalong, and into Victoria (in the vicinity of

Tocumwal) where I sneak off to Echuca, which, hopefully, should be a quieter stretch. 27 days on the

road so far and we've covered 2176k's - only a mere 1,300k's to go and looking roughly at arriving in

Mount Gambier around 7th March.

I'm a bit sorry to be leaving the smaller towns behind as they have been great places to visit and stay

in, none more so than little Hebel, which sits close to (4.5k's) from the NSW/Qld Border. The

countryside approaching Hebel from Dirrenbandi was dry and barren. It was the first of the sheep

country and these scrawny little beasts were lining the side of the road picking at anything they

could find. I was grateful I wasn't wearing green socks as I'm sure I would have been torn off my bike

seat and devoured on the spot. Hebel has a general store and pub and not much else. In the past 3

years they have received little less than a cupful of rain which makes for hard times for the locals but

the owners of the store were lovely people and looked after me in grand style. Leaving Hebel

heading for Lightning Ridge I half expected a difficult border crossing into NSW because at that time

'Can Do' Campbell Neuman appeared to have lost the unlosable QLD election and was reportedly

trying to sneak out of the State. Surprisingly apart from a steady stream of bikies returning over the

border (the QLD police had set up a small booth where they were able to hand over bribe money

and get their old 'colours' back) all was quiet at the Customs check point and i was waved through

without a luggage search.

Lightning Ridge was a nice stopover. Typical of other opal mining towns it was a bit of a

moonscape but I found a great spot in a large caravan park where I had the amenities block to

myself. I thought I might do a bit of 'noodling' in Lightning Ridge (Note: for those interested

'noodling' is the term used when foraging for bits of opal in the opal mining waste heaps - the word

'noodling' is not to be confused with the word 'canoodling', which is something we used to do in the

back seat at the drive-in picture theatre. Interestingly enough both noodling and canoodling have

the same meaning, which is - to search for something elusive and usually unobtainable. Marvellous

these old English words aren't they!).

The winds have remained kind to me and the 84k from L. Ridge to Walgett were covered in quick

time. I'd been looking forward to seeing Walgett as it gets a mention in one of my favourite Banjo

Patterson poems - Mulga Bill's Bicycle; "from Walgett to the sea, from Conroys Gap to Castlereigh

there's none can ride like me!" - but methinks Banjo would be a bit horrified at the Walgett that

exists today as the shops in the main street are all barred up and fortified. At 2.30 in the afternoon I

was the only person brave enough (stupid more likely) to be walking around. I think even the Taliban

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would be a bit apprehensive about venturing out - and very glad to be on my way the next day

heading towards Coonamble and Gilgandra.

Staying in these random places means I keep bumping into such interesting characters. Gilgandra

introduced me to Graham and Ruth. Graham was travelling economy class which means he sleeps in

the back of his Falcon station wagon and only visits a park every 2 or 3 days to have a shower. He

was a elderly rotund gentleman with 2 heart attacks under his belt and continuing high blood

pressure. He had a crumpled bulldoggish face and was all hunched over but spun some great stories

of his life's adventures. Like others I have met he took great pride in travelling on the cheap and

rattled off all the places to visit where you can get cheap meals and/or accommodation. His car was

his pride and joy - ' if I keep it at around 2000 revs I can get an extra 100k's out of a tank of gas' he

exclaimed with genuine pride. "How fast does 2000 revs translate to Graham?" I asked. 'Between 80-

90kph' he replied. The main highway ran alongside this caravan park and as he spoke i was watching

a steady stream of B Doubles and semi trailers and every imaginable large vehicle thundering along

it. I had a sudden image of them all piling up behind a lone Ford wagon creaking its way along the

highway. Graham must have read my thoughts as he added - 'I get a few toots but if I have a few

stuck behind me I drive half on and half off the road to let them pass!' I'm sure the truck drivers

were most impressed by this courtesy!

Ruth rocked up the same night towing the spiffiest looking pink trailer you could ever imagine. It

looked like one of those trailers people carry greyhounds around in but Ruth had it fitted out with

double bunk and kitchen. She was in her late 70's I assumed and had recently lost her husband so

had taken to the road by herself as they had both liked doing this for many years. She was heading

my way the following day and promised to keep an eye out for me on the road. Well i was certainly

glad I kept an eye out for Ruth too as I saw her in my rear vision mirror as she tooted and flashed her

lights at me - and then almost ran me off the road as she roared past with her van running along the

white line. I guess if I'm to be mown down by an errant motorist at least she would have been a nice

one!

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Well that's report number 3 compiled from the Dubbo public library, which must be the rowdiest

place in town as it is currently filled with tiny tots chanting nursery rhymes. It's a bustling busy place

Dubbo and I was fortunate to catch up with Grant Davis from the paddling club last night and visited

his parents place with him for tea. Grant and Susan have been gallivanting in Sth America and

elsewhere for several months and are on their way back to Cairns so great to see a familiar face.

So far no mechanical problems with the bike and still puncture free, although received a bit of a

scare 30k's out of Walgett when I pulled up on the side of the road for a cuppa and looked down at

my front wheel to see it encircled by a line of 3 corner jacks. Both tyres were covered with them so

with heart in mouth I carried the bike back to the bitumen and proceeded to pick them all out one

by one. The tyres have 60psi in them and are rock hard so that saved me - plus the prickles must

have been low grade ones (possibly made in China?). I stopped further on at a wayside rest area and

found a few more embedded that needed pliers to pull out but again we seemed to have avoided

the dreaded puncture. Being wary of being off the bitumen I was carefully walking the bike back to

the main road and failed to spot a snake curled up on the track so intent was I on checking for

prickles. Once spied I leapt so high in the air that I almost catapulted over the bike and the resultant

rush of adrenalin certainly got me down the road at a great rate of knots!

Apart from these minor disturbances all is going well. And we hope this find all youse lot going just

as well as well.

cheery bye for now,

Chris

Thursday, 5 March 2015

Stage 4; the bell lap

Cohuna, Victoria. If you are looking for it it lies between Echuca and Swan Hill. 2928k's

done and having my last rest day. Tomorrow I head to Boort which I doubt many would

know much about either (the name is of aboriginal derivative I suspect as it sounds like the

noise one would make after having too much kangaroo for supper). First puncture yesterday

which was a small price to pay for finally being off the Newell Hwy whose verge at times

was about as wide as a badly chewed budgies perch. Unfortunately the Murray Valley Hwy

had even less room for the poor old budgie to sit and I grabbed the first side road I could

which took me back into NSW through Picola to Barmah and then finally back into Vic at

Echuca - the road was narrower but the traffic much less.

As previously reported libraries and pubs have been a great resource for knowledge gathering

on this trip but to demonstrate my versatility I have also visited a few cemeteries along the

way. Cemeteries are interesting places and Forbes has a beauty. Out of town a bit and the legs

were protesting at the indignity of more peddling when they'd thought they'd knocked off for

the day, but it was well worth the effort because there were a couple of plots buried within

this sprawling graveyard of real interest. Kate Foster, who was the sister of Ned and Dan

Kelly is buried here. And Ben Hall, who was a famous bushranger, is also a resident. Ben

Hall's grave is a small plot surrounded by a white picket fence, immaculately kept and

obviously still looked after. His headstone bears the rather blunt inscription: In Memory of

Ben Hall - Shot - 5th May 1865 Aged 27 Years. No - 'In God's gentle embrace' or 'Gone to a

peaceful rest' for young Ben. Just - Shot! Kapow! Take that Benny boy!

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But its not just the dead who lead such interesting lives. In Peak Hill, a little spot

squeezed between Dubbo and Parkes NSW we have a barber who is in his 90's and has been

cutting hair since he was 13. His tiny shop has a sign in the window saying 'Haircut $7'. The

park owner who was telling me this then said - "He used to always charge $5 but when John

Howard introduced the GST the sign suddenly read $5.50! Two months later the 50c was

crossed out when he found out he didnt earn enough to pay GST!

. 'Did you see the Holden car Showroom?' he then added with a smile.' I was a bit puzzled as

Peake Hill is a small town and I'd wandered up and down the main street without spotting a

Holden dealership. "It's just off the highway down a side road. The original dealer had it for

years before handing over to his son. Dad was a bit of an eccentric and so was his son

because one day he just shut the doors and never reopened them again. If you look through

the window you will see a brand new Holden car sitting there from the 80's - never moved

since it was driven into the shop!" He was right. Next morning as I peered through a dirty

display window there was this dust covered brand new car sitting in the showroom. There

were two of them in fact. And as I rubbed the grime off the next dirty window you could also

see all the spare parts lined up in shelves. Such interesting places these 'in between' towns and

so sad to see them closing down one by one.

After all these kms of hot cycling Echuca delivered my first cold morning which came as a

shock and caused a quick rummage through my bag looking for something warmer to wear.

As I head deeper south this will be the norm so it will be faster peddling first thing to try and

warm up.

So folks fingers crossed my next report will be the last when we arrive in The Mount in 6

days time. Thanks so much for your messages etc. I'm currently staying with Gordon and

Wendy Fletcher on their farm at Cohuna and tomorrow having breaky with sister Jacky in

Kerang. Jacky and Geoff are driving up from Melb which is a bit of a journey and much

appreciated. A few days ago I had a cup of tea with Brian Haire's sister Jeanette in Finley

(and yes Brian she has confirmed you were the ratbag in the family!) so I am well and truly

back in civilisation now.....

Cheers chris

PS thanks Brian also for the offer to send the canoe down to mt g for me to paddle back -

unfortunately I will run out of time. At this stage I will be returning to Cairns on a aeroplane -

not sure how the bike intends getting home (or if it will be able to make its way out of the

Blue Lake!)

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Monday, 9 March 2015 11:29 AM

Report 5. The Final Chapter!

BIKE FOR SALE. ONLY ONE OWNER. LOW KMS. ALL OFFERS CONSIDERED.

I thought I'd better send a final report through to finish off this journey of mine. In modern parlance

it will be to provide 'closure' as we'd hate anyone to have a restless night thinking I'm still peddling

around the back blocks of Victoria.

I finished the ride on Friday, 6th March at about 1015am at the Blue Lake, Mount Gambier. 43 Days

(with 3 'rest' days included) and according to my speedo I did 3583kms.

For all those who have been perplexed by this continual use of the 'we' on this trip you'll be pleased

to see I am now back to the singular. It's now 'I' and 'me' and no longer 'we' as the bond has been

broken. I have officially separated from this two wheeled beast and will resume a normal life and no

longer have to fret about breaking a chain or getting a puncture or careering off the road into a tree!

The last part of the trip through Victoria and then into SA was so different than the first few weeks

of heat and wide open spaces of Qld. Now I was contending with cold mornings, more traffic and a

lot more towns. It felt luxurious to not have to worry about food and drink supplies anymore as the

distances between towns decreased. Those great little names of Natimuk, Minyip, Murtoa appeared

and all had little shops where I could pull up and have smoko or lunch. The cold got to me though

and suddenly getting up at 5.30am in the morning on a half deflated mattress and stepping out of

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my tent in bare feet onto wet grass no longer appealed and I started to sneak into pubs and on-site

cabins. Soft I know, and Bear Grills would be horrified! Unfortunately, as in the other states, one can

see the same decline in the rural areas, some small towns are reinventing themselves and surviving,

others are in their death throes. Very sad to see in the latter case but they did provide me with some

funny moments I must say.

I'll recount this tale of an anonymous little spot where I had lobbed on a Sunday morning. After

stowing the bike and setting up camp in the nearby caravan park I headed to the main street. This

little town had one long shop lined (but mostly empty) street heading up a hill and continuing,

remarkably, down the other side. After Cairns, where you are never far from a shop flogging

something at any time of the day or night, it comes as a surprise to see how the rest of Australia still

slams its doors shut on the Sabbath day and after half an hour of wandering I realised not only was

everything shut but that I seemed to be the only person left in this entire community. It felt like I

was in a 1950's movie - where an entire town had been taken over by Aliens who had either eaten

the locals or exported them to Mars to work in the mines. There were two pubs in this town and I

couldn't work out whether the lower one was closed or abandoned as the doors refused to open so I

headed up to the other end of the street figuring that at least one pub had to be open, surely. My

assumption was correct as the first door I tried opened - so in I went. I found myself at a front bar.

Ten minutes later I was still at the front bar and as no one had appeared to serve me I went for a bit

of a wander. Into the Lounge, through the Saloon, out into the Kitchen. Nothing. No one. Then I

heard a voice and following along a dark passage out to a back room I found an elderly lady sitting at

a table talking on a mobile phone,

"What do you want?" she said, covering the phone with her hand.

"I was wondering if I could get a beer?"

"We're closed!" she said.

"But your door is open?" I replied.

"Hang on Marge, I'll just be a minute someone has wandered in" - she said into the phone. "Show

me which door" she said to me rather sternly.

I took her out to the offending door.

"The old fool," she snapped. "He must have forgotten to lock it last night. Anyway we are closed

until 3. Come back then."

My watch said 2.45 but as I was looking at it a hand on my back propelled me out the door and the

lock went 'click' behind me.

It's been a long time since I've sat outside a pub waiting for it to open but the minutes passed and

right on 3 I heard another 'click'. I gave it another minute or so (one doesn't want to appear too

anxious to get inside a pub otherwise people get the wrong impression!) before re-entering. The

elderly lady had been joined by an elderly man standing behind the bar. I assumed he was her

husband which turned out to be correct. He had a rather bad stoop (which put him in handy range

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of the beer taps) but I was more fascinated by his incredibly large hooked nose - a nose which, if

inverted and filled with gold dust, would undoubtedly make him one of the richest men in Australia.

"What do you want?" he said.

"A 4X Gold please," I replied.

"What?" he said.

This elderly gent was also the possessor of two gigantic hearing aids which were bolted to his ears

and must have been collectors items rather than of any practical use.

"4X Gold."

"What size."

"Pot"

"What?"

"Pot"

I took my schooner of Hahn Light and was very grateful for it!

They turned out to be a lovely couple. And they told me a now familiar story, one I often heard

because being the only customer in a pub or shop or caravan park meant people would chat - and

once they found out I was riding a bicycle all the way from Cairns I think they made the assumption I

was half deranged and so telling me their life's story wouldn't matter. This couple had been in pubs

all their lives and freely admitted they were too old to still be in the game but they were struggling

to find either a manager to take over the running of the place or to be able to sell it.

Ultimately I guess this is just progress and the market place or the march of time is deciding the fate

of people all over Australia in similar ways.

But one can't help feeling troubled by seeing it unfolding and speaking to the people who are caught

up in it.

But enough of me banging on! Back to the Captains Log!

On my second last day on the road, under a crystal clear morning sky I rode from Edenhope to

Penola through fairly familiar territory. It's a great stretch of road to Langkoop via the SA border with

those magnificent big red gums lining the roadside and dotted throughout the paddocks but a clear

sky also meant a cold morning and my fingers and bare legs fairly froze.

On the last day the weather really closed in and as I peddled out of Penola the further South I went

the heavier the drizzle and the stronger the wind. I reached the outskirts of the Mount in a fine mist

and felt like a Tour de France rider as John Kentish took snapshots of me arriving and have to admit

to being fairly overwhelmed by the great reception I received at the Blue Lake finishing point.

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It was only as I was riding up Bay Road to the Blue Lake did I dare think about what I had done. I

didn't really have any great ambition in setting out on this venture. I simply like bike riding and

camping out and wanted to see the back blocks of Qld and NSW in particular. It all worked out

extraordinarily well. The motorists of all types of vehicles, big and small, were unfailingly kind to me

and I was offered assistance and cool drinks and chatted to by all manner of people right throughout

the trip. The people I stayed with, the pub owners, shopkeepers, park owners etc were great and

made the trip quite special.

Thanks once again to one and all for your support, particularly to John and Heather Kentish in Mount

Gambier who have looked after me so well since I arrived. I am most humbled. John had even lined

up the Mt Gambier Mayor, Andrew Lee, to welcome me but in a funny twist The Mayor was waiting

on one side of the Blue Lake whilst I was climbing off my bike at the other. We never got to meet. A

nice touch to finish with!!

And thanks also to the lovely Claire who never battered an eyelid when I announced I might just hop

on the treadley and head on down to the Mount. Possibly as it was one of the more moderate

proposals I have presented to her over the years she gave it her blessing - but it was nice to have it

anyway!

Cheerio one and all

Chris

end of log...............