Day 10 - Crossing into Queensland and on to Cunnamulla - Unfinished Business - CycleBlaze

May 10, 2023

Day 10 - Crossing into Queensland and on to Cunnamulla

The first thing to do today was to get the 1000 km celebratory photo. And wow did I goof off getting the phone on the tripod, the indigo vest on back to front and not getting my red tie tangled in my glasses. But I succeeded and repeated the act 20 km further when I crossed into Qld.

The first 1000 km
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Lyla RoganCheers Ian - a big milestone! Following a little behind but catching up …
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10 months ago

But just before the border I ventured into a service station, that may have been open, in search of a plate of chips. "Olls nut hut" the bloke said. A woman took over and said there was a chip shortage but she could do a very small plate. There cannot be a more hopeless place than the Bush Tucker Inn at Barringun. I went to the border.

The NSW-Qld border. If you look very closely you'll see a photo of one of the 23 km horse races they have around here
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It was 10 am and I had done a lousy 20 km. I got stuck in and knocked over 77 km by lunch - a nice spot in a dry creekbed. I felt jaded by lunch, cups of tea, a coffee, chocolate, gingernuts and scroggin livened me.

They're serious distances in the outback! I'll be heading west from Cloncurry to Mt Isa.
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A bit of luck with the wind helped me do a quick 30 km through country that seemed dead- no livestock, few birds, no roadkill. But I did see a couple of willy wagtails giving a brown goshawk grief. Another strange bird sighting was a flock of 30-40 pee-wees; they usually occur in family groups.

Out of the blue came a fancy rest area that has compostable toilets and thus the area is not a toilet. In the roof of a shelter I noticed the mud nests of fairy martins.

Mud nests of fairy martins or are they housings for spy cameras? Are they reading my journal?
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The 30 km into Cunnamulla went quickly. I went straight into town and found it more attractive than in past visits. The price of food, though, is extortionate. How can the population eat a good diet especially if they're poor? Someone told me that they shop in Charleville, 200 km away.

An attractive pub
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I checked in to the Cunnamulla Tourist Park and Natasha, on learning of my ride, gave me free accommodation. Thus, $35 for indigo.

As I set up camp I noticed the odour of goats. The livestock trucks I passed today - all triple road trains, carried goats. I was plastered with Eau de Billy!

Today's ride: 144 km (89 miles)
Total: 1,145 km (711 miles)

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