Cheers, Barb (and you thought I was just being slack....)
So here it is all in a nutshell. Tom had originally planned to do the run from Belyando Crossing to Charters Towers in 1 day, ie 200k's, but after a bit of a re-jig he decided that it would be better to do so over two days - one of 120 k's and the next of 80 k's. He had managed to pick up a day in Emerald, by sacrificing a rest day there, and so it was possible to do so and still get into Charters Towers on schedule.
So it was at a decent hour that Tom set out from Belyando Crossing on his first day of travel to Charters Towers, passing the two other caravans in the park before heading off down the road.
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| Late start today - 8 oclock and time to go! |
It was to be a long and uneventful day - more Brahman, more bush, more road,,,,,,Tom had a treat when he got a beep and a wave from our friendly caravanners from Belyando Crossing as they passed him and made their way north.
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| Tom is impressed by the size of this bull gazing at him as he rides past! What is the Bull thinking? "You crazy man, you!!". |
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| Morning tea break beside the road |
Still another 40 k's to go - should be there soon after lunch. Barb pushes on, and waits for Tom to arrive. It's a bush camp tonight, so Barb chooses a spot where she can get off the road without getting bogged - a difficult task given the wet surrounds after the rain two days ago. A side road looks good, and so the campsite is chosen. Tom arrives on schedule - all good. As so often happens, one van always seems to attract others, as the grey nomads follow their herding instinct, or is it their safety concerns? and pull in around us. Soon we are a band of 6 caravans, all camped there beside the road,
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| Bush camping tonight! |
A late start this morning, and we are beaten off by some of our early rising neighbours. Tom takes to the road again, with only 80k's to Charters Towers. An easy run, he says, looking forward to a well earned break in this historic gold mining town.
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| Charters Towers After three days in the wilderness! |
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| Columbia Poppet Head mine, Charters Towers |
Barb arrives in Charters Towers, and heads straight for the newsagent (to pick up the latest art magazines) and then the coffee shop, where she again runs into the caravanners from Belyando Crossing. "How's the bike rider going?" they ask. They are duly impressed, and now seem to be part of Tom's fan club. They are hoping to pass him again on the road north in a few days time.,,
Tom has now got two rest days to look forward to, and no chance of setting off early, as we wait for his sister Barb and her partner Terry to join us for the next part of this big adventure.
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