Day 7 -Georgetown - An unplanned rest day
When I woke up this morning it was raining with predicted storms throughout the day. I wasn't keen on bush camping in potential storms so decided to spend an extra night in Georgetown.
When the rain did stop I had a walk along the river which goes around the town. It was a pleasant stroll. After I headed to the information centre and visited the Ted Elliot Mineral Collection. This collection has over 4000 minerals collected by one man. Considering it was a collection of different stones it was very impressive.
For the rest of the day I read and the weather did clear a little so I made use of the council swimming pool which is free for anyone to use. Tomorrow the weather should be a lot nicer and I'll head towards Croydon.
When the rain did stop I had a walk along the river which goes around the town. It was a pleasant stroll. After I headed to the information centre and visited the Ted Elliot Mineral Collection. This collection has over 4000 minerals collected by one man. Considering it was a collection of different stones it was very impressive.
For the rest of the day I read and the weather did clear a little so I made use of the council swimming pool which is free for anyone to use. Tomorrow the weather should be a lot nicer and I'll head towards Croydon.
Day 8 - Georgetown to Gilbert River (west) - 75kms
Last night it rained again. But I was happy when I was up today to see it was a lot nicer. As I didn't need to pack much away I was riding by 6.30am. It was so peaceful riding a little earlier in the day.
After riding for about 20kms I stopped at the Cumberland Chimney. This chimney is all that remains of a gold smelting works which was built in the 1800's. Near to the chimney there is a dam which was built at the same time. It is now a lake which is important for migrating birds. It was very picturesque with the lilies in flower and the different birds. You can also camp here. Would had been a great place to camp. I continued westwards. The road is slowly being improved. As there are sections which are a single strip of tarmac wide enough for just one car. If two vehicles meet they both have to put two wheels on the dirt to overtake. They are making some of these sections wide enough for two cars (e.g. Like a regular road!). It will certainly be a big improvement from what they currently have. At one of my stops a caravan pulled up. They asked the usual questions (where did you start, how many kms do you do each day, etc). The lady then gave me a bag of fruit and also threw in a couple of frozen sausages! Never been given sausages before. Will see if I can cook them tonight. At around 11.30am I crossed the Gilbert River. It is a single lane bridge so you need to make sure there isn't anyone on it already. The river is pretty wide and has water in it. On the western side there was a camping area. I pulled in and decided it'd be a nice place to stop for the day. I had already ridden approximately 75kms. For the rest of the afternoon I chatted to other travellers who had also decided to stop here for the night. Today it was nice to ride without the threat of rain. Tomorrow I'll continue on to Croydon. |
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Day 9 -Gilbert River (west) to Croydon - 74kms
What a great night last night was. Some of the grey nomads invited me over to join them for dinner. We all had to bring something, so I made pasta with pesto and mad cow cheese. We got a fire going and someone get out some marshmallows. We would had chatted around the fire for a lot longer but it decided to rain!
This morning I was away at 7.30am. The sky looks a lot less grey than it has been for this trip. For the first hour I didn't see a single vehicle. It was very peaceful. I crossed a small creek called Little River. It was a nice shady spot and you could camp where the old road use to cross using a causeway. Over the last few days I have been surprised at the number of gum trees I have seen. They are not very tall but the forests seem to just go beyond the horizon. I peddled into Croydon just after 11am. A couple of the grey nomads from last night had caught up with me. They couldn't believe that I could get it so quickly! After we chatted they continued on to Normanton and I went to the local campsite. It's a friendly place and for $10 a night a bargain. Croydon is now a small town (approx. 250 people). It used to be a gold mining town and had a population of around 10,000! It's a nicely kept place. With many of the old buildings being preserved. You can go into a lot of these buildings and the general store is still set out with all the goods behind the counter. I had a nice afternoon wandering around. |
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