Day 135 - Above and beyond

-

Hughenden - Prairie - Torrens Creek 91km

We stick to Plan B and ride out of Hughenden well before sunrise. We have mapped the route to Cairns a little more on the conservative side, not wanting to give it the feel of a 'final dash' or 'race to the finish line'. And with continuous easterly winds forecasted by the BOM for this region, as well as another crossing of the Great Dividing Range, we played it safe and only wanted to make it to Prairie today, a mere 45km from Hughenden. 

We get to Prairie by 10am. A bit too early to set up camp. The eastbound travel on the Flinders Highway is less energy consuming than expected and we learn that heading straight into the wind is less draining than sidewinds (physics is clearly not my strong point). The traffic is picking up, more road trains, more caravans, more commuting locals. And there is the railway line, which for some reason, I always find reassuring to have nearby (there are often really good wild camping spots near train tracks). 

Early morning on the Overlander

An audience of Corellas

Prairie is a quirky little town. They named it Prairie because of the resemblance with its counterpart in the Wild West of America. The pub is famous (not as famous as the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna SA) and the public rest area with toilet wins my vote for best public toilet ever! And there are lots of stations you can get to from here.

Too early for the pub

Lots of Stations to go to

Motivated by the good progress we are making we pedal on. The next services (pub and campground) are in Torrens Creek, only 46km away. Of the countless by the side of the highway lunch stops we have 'enjoyed' so far, the ones at the moment are highly entertaining because Louise reads aloud the second book of the Thursday Murder Club to me, while I slap some sandwiches or wraps together. It's hardly ever a moment of "how good is the serenity" with road trains roaring past a mere 3m away from us, but it is a necessity that I always look forward to. And Louise giving the lovely characters of Joyce, Elizabeth and Donna her voice is priceless entertainment. The book review will appear shortly on the Adventures in Literature page. 

The only time I have seen Louise disappear into a pub quicker than today was back on Day 22, after conquering the back roads of Cootamundra and just making it to the Binalong Hotel before dark. It was a thirsty day and the prospect of an ice cold lemonade is irresistible. Torrens Creek is a welcoming overnight stop on the Overlander and the campground is just far enough from the highway to get a good night's sleep. Not that we would have any trouble to fall asleep after the hours in the saddle today and the beer at the end. And I reckon the snoring will be above and beyond as well. 


Not too early for the pub! 

It's only lemonade (at this point)


Location: Torrens Creek QLD 4816, Australia

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 4, 2022 at 8:41 PM

    I got behind AGAIN!!! So glad you are reading Thursday Murder Club!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for sharing! We read all the comments, replies depend on internet connection and energy levels.

Popular posts from this blog

Accidents happen

-
Image
It's slow going writing this particular blog post as I am doing it with only one functional hand.  After almost 7000kms on the bikes, injury found me while running.   I wish I had a fantastic story to tell, but I simply tripped on a rocky trail and fell over.  You know that meme that goes "If you want to know if you're old fall over.   If people laugh you're still young,  if people panic then you're old!"  I can confirm, I am definitely old! It probably didn't help that two of my fingers were quite obviously either dislocated, broken or both.   I begged Kerstin to remove my wedding ring before the finger started swelling, being three hours from the hospital I was imagining the worst case scenario of the ring tourniqueting my finger and its subsequent death and amputation.  Poor Kerstin, this kind of thing makes her faint, but she gritted her teeth and pulled off the ring.  I then gritted my teeth and asked the ex-army maintenance guy to try and relocate my
Read more

Learning a new language

-
Image
There's plenty of things I anticipated learning when we accepted the positions at Avon Downs.  I thought I'd learn a lot about cooking for groups, about different cuts of beef and how to prepare them.  Maybe some stuff around the logistics of running a community which is 260km from the closest centre, and even then, its still Mt Isa... But I didn't really expect to learn a new language.  To be fair, I haven't spent a lot of time in the Territory.  But they really do speak their own dialect here.  Much different from costal Queensland, which is a slower, relaxed kind of Australian drawl.  Here it's fast, brief and usually mumbled.  I think I spent the first month constantly asking people to repeat themselves, answering the phone is always a diabolical risk.  And trying to understand the radio chat, impossible! Then there is all the slang and local shorthand.  To be fair some of the slang I suspect has been created by the Ringers themselves, as they are on their own l
Read more

Generation Z's perspective

-
Image
Q:  "Which is more important, the journey or the destination?' A:  "The company." Introducing the team at Avon Downs Station.  This video was made as part of a competition between AACo Stations for the Employee Challenge.  It's a great way to show the outside world what life on Avon looks like.  It will change your perspective on who works on Cattle Stations. There is a lot to be said for keeping company with Generation Z.  The stockcamp (the staff who do all the stock work) are all aged between 16-23 years old.  We feel pretty privileged to be given access and insight into their world.  They are generous when asked for explanations of everything from the work they do, to how the social system between them as individuals, as a team and as a Station works.  I'm pretty sure the education is going both ways!  If you want to be reassured about the future, then I recommend spending some quality time with it.
Read more