 |
|
All funds raised during my ride across Australia went to either the Australian or New Zealand Heart Foundation depending on the donor’s wish.
It was a thrill to be named Best Individual Fund-raiser for 2011 by the Queensland Branch of the Australian Heart Foundation.
Special thanks to EVERYONE who supported my ride.
It was a thrill to be named Best Individual Fund-raiser for 2011 by the Queensland Branch of the Australian Heart Foundation.
Special thanks to EVERYONE who supported my ride.
Day 37 - May 6th, 2011
Goondawindi (Qld) - Lake Coolmunda (Qld)
104.9 kms.
Goondawindi (Qld) - Lake Coolmunda (Qld)
104.9 kms.
DAILY PREVIEW:-
This morning I head off on the Cunningham Highway (42) on my first day of biking in Queensland. I am sure it will be starting to feel like I am "nearly there". The highway is named after the explorer and botanist Allan Cunningham who followed a route close to where the modern day highway runs.
A steady climb today through to the small town of Inglewood and on to Lake Coolmunda.
Inglewood is a small town in Queensland, Australia, on the Cunningham Highway. The town is part of the Border Rivers region. Lake Coolmunda, formed when the Coolmunda Dam was built in 1968 is great for freshwater fishing, water skiing etc.
It is working to become the olive capital of Australia. Olive growing is a comparatively new industry in the area. Other established industries include sheep and cattle raising, grain growing and timber harvesting.
This morning I head off on the Cunningham Highway (42) on my first day of biking in Queensland. I am sure it will be starting to feel like I am "nearly there". The highway is named after the explorer and botanist Allan Cunningham who followed a route close to where the modern day highway runs.
A steady climb today through to the small town of Inglewood and on to Lake Coolmunda.
Inglewood is a small town in Queensland, Australia, on the Cunningham Highway. The town is part of the Border Rivers region. Lake Coolmunda, formed when the Coolmunda Dam was built in 1968 is great for freshwater fishing, water skiing etc.
It is working to become the olive capital of Australia. Olive growing is a comparatively new industry in the area. Other established industries include sheep and cattle raising, grain growing and timber harvesting.
Goondawindi to Lake Coolmunda
Distance travelled:- 104.87kms
Highest speed:- 42.60 kph
Average speed:- 23.40 kph
Hours on the bike - 4 hrs, 29 mins, 14 secs
Another beautiful morning for biking – crisp, clear blue skies, it couldn't turn into anything but a beautiful day!! And – weather wise – it was!! As I write this, I have just witnessed a beautiful sunset with the most brilliant red sky I have seen ……. So what is that old saying – Red sky at night – traveller’s delight!!!! Sounds good for tomorrow!!!!
On the road around 8:00 am and was amazed at how quiet the road was (thankfully) for a Friday. The wind was non-existent, so progress was fair – the locals all tell you it is a flat road to Inglewood – but it is this ever so gradual climb, so there was certainly no free-wheeling at any stage!!
I had had an interesting chat with the camp owner before we left about discussions he had at a recent meeting with the Roads Department and how they are going about tackling repairs to Queensland roads in the near future. Very interesting indeed the logisitics that go into these things!!!! I never really realised!
No wonder – the road between Goondiwindi (Gundy) and Yelarbon is in quite a sad state of repair. It is actually killing my wrists, arms and shoulders the constant corrugations and the really rough seal. Thank goodness it is like this near the end of the road – if it was like this at the start – I don’t know if I would have made it!!
Morning tea at Yelarbon was purchased from “Granny’s Pantry” in the War Memorial Hall where a yummy array of home-baking was available at “fair dinkum” country prices!
On the bike again – fearing the road would be more of what I had just ridden – but such a pleasant surprise that there had been a fair amount of work on this stretch of road and it was a lot better than the first half of the journey!
This is very interesting countryside – various crops – cotton, sorghum, olive trees, grape vines etc – and super looking stock – lovely fat lambs, mares and foals, and beef stock – no bull – see the pic below!!
Made it to Inglewood for a late lunch in a wonderful Park. The plaque on the building showed that it was opened by Lawrence Springborg - I hadn’t realised he was the MP for this area. The Inglewood Bowls Club was right next door, so Pat got the bowls out and had a “roll up”.
Speaking to “locals” was interesting – at the Visitor Information Centre, I was told it is pretty flat from here to Warwick ……… I don’t think I can believe them – my elevation charts don’t show that at all!!!! They probably haven’t done it on a bike!! A lady at the bowls club said – “hell no – it’s hilly” – I think I believe her – unfortunately!!!! Although I was tired from the “bone-shaking” effort of the morning, I wanted to press on a little further if possible – really just to shorten tomorrow’s hilly ride. She told of a caravan park at Lake Coolmunda – about 15 kms further on – so we headed that way. This "local" also told me that where I had stopped to take pictures of "the bull" was very close to where Lawrence Springborg lives!
The road unfortunately deteriorated, the recent floods have really played havoc with the surface, but it was good to take this amount of kms off tomorrow’s amount.
The Lake Coolmunda Caravan Park is quite a little find!! A very quiet spot, but with beautiful views over the lake – and if I had more time here, probably some lovely walks to the lake. Most other campers here have a “tinny” – it seems there are good fish to be had from the lake.
Between us and the lake is a railway line – how used – time will tell!! We arrived about 2:00 pm – there was a train at 3:15 pm – and nothing since (now 9:00 pm) – I am hoping they are not waiting for night to fall!! No matter really – it has been a very restful afternoon sitting here in the sun feeding the peacocks, and looking out over the lake.
What frightens me a bit at the moment - is that I am only a few days off being home - and I haven't defined my route for the last day - from Ipswich to Scarborough. I will definitely be looking at this tomorrow and will post details as soon as possible!!!!
Distance travelled:- 104.87kms
Highest speed:- 42.60 kph
Average speed:- 23.40 kph
Hours on the bike - 4 hrs, 29 mins, 14 secs
Another beautiful morning for biking – crisp, clear blue skies, it couldn't turn into anything but a beautiful day!! And – weather wise – it was!! As I write this, I have just witnessed a beautiful sunset with the most brilliant red sky I have seen ……. So what is that old saying – Red sky at night – traveller’s delight!!!! Sounds good for tomorrow!!!!
On the road around 8:00 am and was amazed at how quiet the road was (thankfully) for a Friday. The wind was non-existent, so progress was fair – the locals all tell you it is a flat road to Inglewood – but it is this ever so gradual climb, so there was certainly no free-wheeling at any stage!!
I had had an interesting chat with the camp owner before we left about discussions he had at a recent meeting with the Roads Department and how they are going about tackling repairs to Queensland roads in the near future. Very interesting indeed the logisitics that go into these things!!!! I never really realised!
No wonder – the road between Goondiwindi (Gundy) and Yelarbon is in quite a sad state of repair. It is actually killing my wrists, arms and shoulders the constant corrugations and the really rough seal. Thank goodness it is like this near the end of the road – if it was like this at the start – I don’t know if I would have made it!!
Morning tea at Yelarbon was purchased from “Granny’s Pantry” in the War Memorial Hall where a yummy array of home-baking was available at “fair dinkum” country prices!
On the bike again – fearing the road would be more of what I had just ridden – but such a pleasant surprise that there had been a fair amount of work on this stretch of road and it was a lot better than the first half of the journey!
This is very interesting countryside – various crops – cotton, sorghum, olive trees, grape vines etc – and super looking stock – lovely fat lambs, mares and foals, and beef stock – no bull – see the pic below!!
Made it to Inglewood for a late lunch in a wonderful Park. The plaque on the building showed that it was opened by Lawrence Springborg - I hadn’t realised he was the MP for this area. The Inglewood Bowls Club was right next door, so Pat got the bowls out and had a “roll up”.
Speaking to “locals” was interesting – at the Visitor Information Centre, I was told it is pretty flat from here to Warwick ……… I don’t think I can believe them – my elevation charts don’t show that at all!!!! They probably haven’t done it on a bike!! A lady at the bowls club said – “hell no – it’s hilly” – I think I believe her – unfortunately!!!! Although I was tired from the “bone-shaking” effort of the morning, I wanted to press on a little further if possible – really just to shorten tomorrow’s hilly ride. She told of a caravan park at Lake Coolmunda – about 15 kms further on – so we headed that way. This "local" also told me that where I had stopped to take pictures of "the bull" was very close to where Lawrence Springborg lives!
The road unfortunately deteriorated, the recent floods have really played havoc with the surface, but it was good to take this amount of kms off tomorrow’s amount.
The Lake Coolmunda Caravan Park is quite a little find!! A very quiet spot, but with beautiful views over the lake – and if I had more time here, probably some lovely walks to the lake. Most other campers here have a “tinny” – it seems there are good fish to be had from the lake.
Between us and the lake is a railway line – how used – time will tell!! We arrived about 2:00 pm – there was a train at 3:15 pm – and nothing since (now 9:00 pm) – I am hoping they are not waiting for night to fall!! No matter really – it has been a very restful afternoon sitting here in the sun feeding the peacocks, and looking out over the lake.
What frightens me a bit at the moment - is that I am only a few days off being home - and I haven't defined my route for the last day - from Ipswich to Scarborough. I will definitely be looking at this tomorrow and will post details as soon as possible!!!!
 Pat getting Jucy Grande ready for the day - you guessed it - we parked under a tree again!!!! She likes Jucy to look nice each day!! |
 "Granny's Pantry" - real home cooking at Yelarbon - Yummmmmm!!!! |
 |
 No bull - isn't he a beauty!!!! |
 Pat's playing partner at the Inglewood Bowls Club. |
 Pat bowling at Inglewood!! |
 The peacocks and peahens at Lake Coolmunda Caravan Park were fascinated with the Jucy Grande!! |
 The boss of the pack! |
 The resident Peacock family |
 View to Lake Coolmunda from our campsite!! |
Why can’t an elephant ride a bicycle?
Because he doesn’t have a thumb to ring the bell.
Because he doesn’t have a thumb to ring the bell.