A road heading west, Queensland, Australia
Brrr! I wish that sun would break free of the clouds on the horizon and warm me up! It's a quiet morning except for the birds...a lot of noisy birds in Australia. The only one I recognize is the Kookaburra because he sounds like a monkey laughing. The nights are chilly out here, in the 30's, but the sun provides warmth as long as you're sitting in it. The air is very dry, no moisture molecules, so it never warms up. Scorching sun yet chilly breeze. And this week there've been southerlies bringing cold air up from the south. I'm camped next to a paddock fence and a gathering yard, looks quite new. I saw and heard some horses last night, and a few trucks. The trucks haven't started up yet this morning. These trucks are the road trains and the roads are single bitumen track with graded shoulders for the rest of us. And everyone goes deep onto those shoulders giving the road trains every bit of the pavement. No arguments here! I'm paying closer attention to what's happening on the road because the other day was a close call. I noticed an oncoming semi so as I do, I glanced in my mirror to see if anything was coming from behind...and there was...and he was right there...and I dive for the ditch...and he passed in a cloud of smoke from the brakes!!! Oivay!!! That was too close!! Why didn't he honk?? Please honk before you kill me! Give me half a chance to dive for the ditch. He had pulled out a bit to try and get around me, but I don't think he had room with the oncomer. It was the first day I've listened to music because it was my birthday. (Don't use my iPhone for music because it eats the battery but it has the best tunes...all the new music I loaded on my iPod doesn't move me so I never listen to that.).
For the last couple of days there's been only one small town with a gas station/cafe/grocery/laundry/showers all in one...and a caravan park and a pub and a motel. That was on my birthday. There were slim pickin's at the grocery for a dinner treat. Pretty are shelves. But I did find some carrot cake in the little bakery case. Yum. I thought about getting lunch there, but the menu was fried this or fried that. I'm trying hard to eat healthier, so I passed. Country food here is the same as in the States. It's amazing that people live as long as they do in that stuff. Must keep the doctors and drug companies busy.
Blowing out my birthday candle!
I got the most wonderful wishes on Facebook for my birthday and it warmed my heart and brought me to tears. I struggle with an internal loneliness and attention like that just makes me weep. It's such an unfamiliar thing. I've struggled most of my life with friendships. I'm always the eager one but the response is null. When I had a home, my phone never rang. It's always me that called others. Something I never understood and still don't today. But across the world I've made amazing friends and our friendships fill this lonely soul up!! I connect easily...just can't maintain. Don't know if I'll ever figure it out. Does someone have done crackers to go with this whine??? Enough. It was a glorious birthday: amazing sunrise and sunset - as there always is in OZ, and friendly encounters during the day.
Met an interesting bloke, Paul, in the small town, who loves cycling and does these 5 day tours around the South Island of NZ covering mega distances each day landing in cushy digs each night. He works for a company there but lives at the coast. A 6 hour drive each way. And he goes home every weekend. I told ya they drive long distances here! And think nothing of it. Not me. I'd rather pedal for days than ride for hours.
Well the sun has warmed things up, and the coffee's done, so I'd better pack up and cover some distance. Two more days until the next town. That'll be 3.5 days of water I'm carrying. Hope the 7 liters us enough. I've been rationing it. My bath water was saved to wash the dishes (all 1 cup of it!). It's not hot so I'm not drinking a lot. Just trying to figure out how much I need to carry fir how long. Hmm??
The Classic Australian windmill for drawing bore water.
Hit a bit of agricultural green. Don't know how they keep it watered though.
And agricultural brown!
And road kill. There are a lot of dead roos by the side of the road. Most have been partially eaten. And oh, the smell!!
Carcass remains. Lots of those too!
And birds!
Loved the quieter roads and wonderful bush camp spots I found. Pulling into Roma was a bit of a downer because it's quite an industrial town. Probably a hub for these outback stations. Laundry was, first on my list since it'd been 2 weeks. Found the laundromat easily. $6 for a double load! But I have 1/2 a load. I'll wash it by hand, the critical things. The rest can go without. I'm afraid I'm gonna be quite grubby before this outback adventure finishes!
Groceries next. Found a Woolies (Woolworths, big good chain here). "Never shop when you're hungry." "You carry your fears." Is that why I always seem to have a lot of food. But knowing it could be 2 weeks before I see a grocery store this doze again, everything was too tempting. Besides veggies weigh a lot. I. Trying to eat vegan. Trying. I still have a bit of dairy (butter, yogurt, feta...I try to goat instead of cow when I can) and eggs. So lots of salads and stir-frys over pasta. I made a road version of ratatouille over polenta the other night. Yummy! I'll do that again. And I need some quinoa. That cooks fast. There's no minute rice here so that's out. Lentils makes a nice fish too. And salads. Anything in the bag tossed with olive oil and lemon or lime juice. It's working out well. But I can't eat out. No healthy options.
Brrr. The sun is setting. The cold begins. Or should I say gets colder. Last night was 32*! Today was probably in the 50s. Hot with the sun on my face, but jacket, capris, hat and gloves on most of the day. Last night I found a pretty good spot in a town with lots of No Camping signs. I found an old sports field with a toilet and....are you ready for this?....HOT shower! Yes!! Yes!! Be still my heart!! No clean clothes, but a clean ME!!!!!!! And I did a small hand load of icky cloths and panties and a towel in the morning which dried before I broke camp. So other than the drummer...and dogs...and freezing temps...and a tweaked back with pain shooting down my IT band all night (but no pain cycling today, thank god)...LIFE IS GOOD!!
Tonight I did a first (because this "highway" I'm cycling has no cross roads or my usual nooks or crannies for camping)...I called the number on the fence for Scutto's Mechanical and asked if I could camp on his land. Luckily there was no locked gate. No worries, he said. I wish all the farms had numbers on the gates:))
And the last thing I want to mention is this gnarly outback grass. Hard to camp on. It grows in raises, spaced out clumps of prickly, crunchy tufted pokey stuff. So hard to find a flat unlumpy spot that won't poke my air mattress. But I manage. I always manage. Time for warmer clothes!
Livin' the life!
BagLady
