North Star

April 24, 2024

The original idea we had was to have another short day but last night we decided we should push on to Goondiwindi today. But after an hour of struggling into the headwind this morning we started doubting the benefits of that plan. By the time we arrived in North Star after another hour we were happy to discover that camping was still available at the town's campground and we called it a day.

Today's route wasn't particularly inspiring but we had a few raptors to relieve the tedium of endless cotton fields. Here's a rather poor shot of a Wedge-tailed Eagle albeit a bit closer than the one from two days ago. It is Australia's largest raptor and feeds largely on mammals, often quite large marsupials such as wallabies but has also benefitted from the rabbits introduced by the European settlers.

The Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris) is on the opposite end of the mammal predation scale being a specialist predator of house mice.

North Star seems to be Croppa Creek's wayward relative. Both aren't much more than a grain silo and a shop but while Croppa Creek is neat and well maintained, North Star is fraying around its edges.

There used to be two campgrounds in North Star, one owned by the shire (which is what the local authorities are referred to in New South Wales) and one by the local sports club. The sports club's has ceased to operate (the club now only opens for a couple of hours on Thursday and Friday evenings) while the one owned by the shire was run for a short while by the owners of the now defunct cafe who ultimately abandoned it after a few months of operation. The cafe was apparently opened after its owners had been expelled from the sports club and was supposed to be a rival to the sports club but now it seems the club, the cafe and the campgrounds have all lost the game.

Nonetheless, the shire still provides some support to its abandoned campground which is now free for travelers to use. Although the amenities were pretty grubby, there is still electricity and hot water. This afternoon a shire employee arrived to cut the grass at the campground, mercifully leaving the area where our tent was pitched alone, saying he will return to finish it off on Friday.

Despite all the above, we had an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon here. Leigh read a book while I did some bicycle maintenance. This evening the Galahs descended on the Eucalyptus trees in the campground. I'm sure they'll wake us up nice and early tomorrow morning.

A Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla) in the tree above us

As mad as a flock of Galahs in a gum tree, is apparently an Aussie saying.

If all goes well we will make it to Goondiwindi tomorrow. Tomorrow is a public holiday, Anzac Day, so hopefully that won't spoil our plans.

Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 2,078 km (1,290 miles)

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Graham SmithThat elusive state of Queensland is in your sights again!
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2 weeks ago

Jean-Marc StrydomTo Graham SmithGood to be back in Queensland. Still lots of water around but we haven't had any extra rain in a while. Enjoying the little country towns and quiet roads.
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1 week ago