Day 145 - Good Karma

-
Herberton to Mareeba 58km

Ever since walking into the Herberton pub last night looking for a room we have been on the good karma train.  And today the train stopped at quite a few stations.  Sure the first 18kms into Atherton were steeply uphill, followed by screaming downhill, then required the patience and good driving of everyone on the road as we wound through the valley on a very narrow road.  But the drivers were patient, the bikes and the riders survived the hills and we rolled into Atherton to discover a rail trail!

Stopped at the trail head, and pursuing the map, a ute mounts the curve and drives straight over to us.  On board is a MTB freak, keen to share with us what the trail is like and where to stop along the way.  He tells us that we can take the trail all the way to Mareeba, however the last 16kms the trail is not maintained.  He checks out the bikes and assures us that we will be able to ride it, no problems.  



We needed supplies for lunch, but after months of Outback roadhouses, pubs and general stores we were overwhelmed by an actual shopping centre.  To the point that we required the intervention of the IGA staff.  Who thankfully, aided us in our pursuit of falafel.  The last pack was ours, more good karma.

So off we head on the rail trail, where not only does the sun come out, but so does the tail wind.  We leave the Kennedy highway to the caravanners and take the railway direct route to Mareeba, through banana plantations and acres of avocados.  With the last wrap eaten, hopefully for quite a long time (I know you know what I mean Jane) we strike out on the last 16kms of "unmaintained" trail.



It's rather tough going, and for the first half we spend only half the time actually on the bikes.  But our karma holds, and so does the dodgy railway bridge we cross very, very  carefully, as it has significant termite damage.  



We are rewarded for our bravery, or foolhardiness, by the smoothing out of the trail as we approach Mareeba, sure now it's sandy, but our tyres are wide enough to take it on.  The caravan park is full, but room is found for our tiny tent, no problem.  And we will celebrate this last evening on tours in the really excellent camp kitchen (it has a couch, and regular readers will know how I feel about comfortable seating) cooking burgers on the weber and drinking a beer.  Cheers to good karma!
Location: Mareeba QLD 4880, Australia

Comments

  1. FrancieJuly 3, 2022 at 12:34 PM

    Whoo Hoo About four hours riding left?
    Salami Making was fantastic. Everyone had a ball and the grandboys old enough now to be a great help and their Mammas and Daddas great and patient with Nonno Joe giving the same instructions for another year. Georgia loves her Zia Becky and they set tables and morning teas.
    Bonus as Kylie and Adrian popped in at lunchtime, feasted and stayed on till 8pm.
    Congrats on the ride.

    ReplyDelete
  2. FrancieJuly 3, 2022 at 12:34 PM

    Love that termite ridden bridge Your photos are amazing. Publish a book.

    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