DAY 15 - 22ND APRIL 2013 - JULIA CREEK TO CLONCURRY

Day 15 - 22nd April - Julia Creek to Cloncurry

Cycling Stats:  139 kms
Cycling Average speed:  33 kms per hour
Cycling Conditions:  Cold early morning but very hot by mid morning - long flat straight stretches with a few winding bits until about 25 kms before Cloncurry. The landscape changed to hilly with rocky outcrops on both sides.


Interesting warning sign just after leaving Julia Creek:  CAUTION ROAD TRAINS 53 METRES LONG

The expansive grass plains were no more. Lots of road kill to be seen with big flocks of black kites. (large carrion eating birds on the road devouring all these dead animals - kangaroos, feral cats & wild pigs - these have black skin)
As I drew close they were disturbed for a moment but quickly returned to their feast  after I passed by.
Also sighted many termite hills - like rusty red communities - stark in this landscape!!

Each time I stopped I was accosted by hundreds of flies - I needed to remove my sunglasses for a moment whilst taking photos but every time I do this I am fighting to keep them out of my eyes.

Walter told me he goes too fast and the flies are not bothering him !! He tells me, after a glass of wine at the end of this hot day in Cloncurry that the maximum speed of a fly is 22 kms per hour so for him to be free of flies he must keep his average speed higher than that which of course he does quite competently !!!

termite families  !!

No flies on Walter - he rides way above their max speed

Definitely a hot part of Qld - it was 37 degrees here today

DAYS 13 & 14 - 20TH & 21ST APRIL 2013 JULIA CREEK DIRT N DUST FESTIVAL

Days 13 & 14 - Julia Creek Dirt N Dust Festival Weekend

We were very excited to have arrived in Julia Creek for this iconic outback festival. It is a huge weekend with some exciting & interesting events on the program.

The Festival started yesterday afternoon with the Kids Triathlon and this morning it was time for The Senior Triathlon. The event consists of a 800 mtr swim in the very muddy Eastern Creek (located 25 km west of Julia Creek on The Flinders Highway) then a 25 km bike ride back to town and finally a  5 km run (3 laps of the main street). Because it has been so dry there was much talk that there would not be enough water in Eastern Creek where the swim takes place. But luckily the technical team from Triathlon Queensland decided yesterday afternoon that the swim could go ahead but would have to be shortened from an 800 mtr swim to a 400 mtr swim.

We were excited to be there as our son Samuel would be competing in the race as he has the last four years and he has won the event the last 2 years. I was assisting as a technical official and happy with my position at the dismount line (where the athletes get off their bikes after the 25 km cycle before they commence the 5 km run).

Samuel was very happy to come away with another win.

In the afternoon after the triathlon we caught the shuttle bus to the Julia Creek race track and joined around 2000 race goers and cheered the horses as they raced at this very iconic race meeting. The women were beautifully dressed up for this important event.

In the evening was an international class pro bull riding event - an amazing crowd packed to capacity and afterwards hundreds continued to party with live music & dancing until early morning (not us though - we left a bit earlier than that !!!)

In the morning breakfast together and we watched the kids triathlon medal presentation where Samuel handed out the medals and then we did an ABC radio interview and another newspaper interview. We had done a few the day before as well.

We said goodbye to Samuel who is heading off to the USA tomorrow for over a month to train & race. When we returned to the camping ground it was amazingly still - most had left already. Good chance for us to catch up on re-stocking supplies & the washing. No internet coverage at Julia Creek so will have to catch up with our blogs and email in Cloncurry.

In the evening we were invited to the local organising committee's & volunteers' drinks & dinner in the town. It was great to find out about how the event is organised and how it is planned. Thanks Nickers, Margie, Justin & Steve  - Walter & I enjoyed chatting with you about your amazing event. Can't wait to be able to return & re-live it all again some time in the future.

Thank you Steve Moss & The Pine Rivers Tri Club
 for your generous cheque towards our fundraising campaign
for Alzheimer's Australia Dementia Research Foundation

Cattle truck takes all the bikes to Eastern Creek (25 km west of Julia Creek)

Samuel wins The Dirt N Dust Triathlon

The dust is flying at The Dirt N Dust Races

Waiting for the bull to be released

The crowd at the bull riding 

Much excitement at the bull riding

DAY 12 - 19TH APRIL 2013 RICHMOND - JULIA CREEK

Day 12 - Richmond - Julia Creek

Cycling Stats:  149 kms
Cycling Average: 30 kms per hour

Conditions: Fine & very hot with a light head wind for the first 100 km of the journey then it became quite a strong headwind for the last sector which slowed the average speed on the bike from 33kms per hour to 30 kms.

The traffic on the road was very light. The highlights were the beautiful expansive grasslands stretching as far as the eye could see and coming across a pair of beautiful cranes (very large grey birds with long legs and red heads - Sarus Cranes) close to the side of the road. I was only around 5 - 10 kms in front of Walter so I enjoyed watching them and photographing them and waited until Walter caught up so I could point them out to him. It wasn't until I started the engine that they very majestically and oh so gracefully spread their huge wings and took flight. I was awestruck by the beauty of the moment !!

We arrived in Julia Creek at 11.30am and checked into the caravan park which was totally booked out to over capacity to house the huge numbers of people arriving for the famous Julia Creek Dirt N Dust Festival. The population of Julia Creek is 450 and this swells to 3,500 for this very special iconic outback festival.

Walter & I were booked in for 3 nights - we had heard so much about this event from our son Samuel who has competed in the Triathlon there for the last 4 years and has won the last 2 years.

The first event was the kids Triathlon - I enjoyed helping out as a technical official - the country kids were so excited and this was obviously something they had been training for and looking forward to for some time. Kids had come from as far as Townsville (8 hours drive away) to participate. They were very vocal in calling to support each other.

The town's water supply is all artisan bore water pumped up out of the ground and it is so hot it is then pumped into The Julia Creek water tower (see photo below) to cool it before to can be used but it is still very warm water coming out of the taps !

Sarus Cranes

Julia Creek - creek at sunset (amazing photo by Walter)

Water tower - Julia Creek

DAY 11 - 18TH APRIL 2013 HUGHENDEN - RICHMOND

Day 11 - Hughenden - Richmond (114 kms)

Cycling Stats:  114kms
Cycling Average speed: 33 kms per hour

Walter left at 6.30am - I was to catch him at around the 40 kms mark. I decided to go into town and have a walk through the wide main streets of Hughenden. I parked the campervan at the newsagent and an elderly local looked at me and then at the van and said "I have dementia" I said "you look pretty good to me". He told me he had served in the 2nd World War and went to his car to retrieve an ancient notebook and he showed me a photo of himself in uniform and I asked "how old were you there ?" He replied 18. He told me that he had served in Korea as well and showed me another photo of himself in uniform. I told him my husband was cycling around Australia and he said quickly "what is he, 21 ?" and I said to him "Do I look like I'm married to a 21 year old?" He was a lovely old character with a twinkle in his eye and he said he had no living relatives and showed me a photo of his wife taken long ago and told me she had passed away 23 years ago. He was 89 and still driving a Suzuki Jeep. People have time to talk in the country areas.

The drive today made me straight away think of
 "I love a sunburnt country - a land of sweeping plains" that about sums it up - sweeping dry grass plains as far as the eye can see with tall concrete power poles standing in long straight rows like soldiers on one side and flanked on the other with the ever present long straight railway line. Emus and every now & then the majestic single soaring wedge tail eagle. Some would call this lonely country I found it very peaceful and was awe struck by its vastness.

Walter enjoyed the days ride and had another very fast day in the saddle averaging 33 kms per hour. We try to switch things up a bit with nutrition and today I gave him banana on toast with honey. He went way too fast on that and I didn't catch him until around the 58 km mark.

We set up camp in the Lakeside Caravan Park under a shady tree and decided to have our first meal out since we started the trip - a counter lunch in The Federation Hotel - half rib steak, chips & salad - delicious !!

Walter wanted to visit The Kronosaurus Corner which has an amazing collection of dinosaur and marine reptile fossils. I opted for a leisurely walk down the main street.

This afternoon we plan to swim in Lake Fred Tritton as its an extremely hot afternoon here in Richmond.

Hughenden - The Grand Hotel

Water mill monument - importance of artisan water to the west

A land of sweeping plains (and long straight roads !!)

Clever sign for The Kronosaurus Korner in Richmond

DAY 10 - 17th APRIL 2013 - REST DAY IN HUGHENDEN AREA

Walter was excited to see a group of camels on our
way back to Hughenden

Day 10 - Rest day

Walter was up early to see Porcupine Gorge at sunrise. I opted to stay in bed.

After breakfast a small walk to Pyramid Look-out and then packed up for a leisurely drive back to Hughenden where we would spend the night.

Stopped at Eagle Hawke Gorge where the gorge begins and enjoyed the scenic quiet return trip to Hughenden.

At The Flinders Discovery Centre where the staff had kindly allowed Walter to leave his bike the day before we met Alexis who interviewed us for the local paper and took a photo. She will also be coming out to Julia Creek for The Dirt N Dust Festival. We spent some time looking at all the interesting displays in The Flinders Discovery Centre - lots of fossils and information about the dinosaur era and the sheep industry and the history of the Flinders Shire. - Well worth a visit.

Then to the camping ground for a quiet afternoon. A bird had been lodged in a tree - it had a string on its foot and it was marooned high up. A few lots of council workers tried to set it free and finally it was set free by someone with a long pole with a stanley knife. It had been struggled for hours so it was great that it was freed.

Flinders Discovery Centre

DAY 9 - 16TH APRIL 2013 PENTLAND TO HUGHENDEN

Day 9 - Pentland to Hughenden

Cycling Stats:  142km
Cycling Average: 30.9 kms per hour

Walter started the day's ride at around 6.30am and I left 30 minutes later. We decided to met up on top of the range at the White Mountains National Park Look-out around 30 kms past Pentland. The sign indicated that this point is 550 mtr high and part of The Great Dividing Range.

We enjoyed coffee and a chat there whilst enjoying the view with NZ travellers Ken & Janet

A few more re-fuel stops for Walter on the way to Hughenden as it was a hot day. We saw numerous full cattle road trains during the day heading to the sale yards.

We met at The Flinders Discovery Centre in the main street of Hughenden and decided to head out to Porcupine National Park Gorge and camp there for the night as we had read that it was a very interesting place to visit. Located about 70 kms from Hughenden it was a pleasant drive along very quiet roads and we spotted emus and camels on the way.

We stopped at The Gorge Look-out about 12 kms from the camping ground where we saw just how spectacular this gorge is.

After setting up our camp we decided to walk down into the gorge for a swim. It was a steep rocky and winding track down and we enjoyed our swim in the cold water of the river at the bottom of the gorge.

At dinner time a bettong came to say hello. (a nocturnal animal similar to a rock wallaby)

View into Porcupine Gorge

beautiful Porcupine Gorge

our very peaceful camp site at The Porcupine National Park