DAY 197: Bush camp to Cloncurry

DAY 197: Bush camp to Cloncurry

Thurs 8th May 2008
17 km @ 14.4 km/hr
Sunny, 26 deg C
Elevation of destination 205 m
Distance to date 11828 km (7392 miles)
Last night was freezing cold - it must have been close to zero; I had to put extra clothing on around 0400 including my Assos balaclava, which I brought ‘just in case’ but had never used before. I didn’t get fully warm even then, and as dawn approached I got the billy on, had a hot cuppa, snuggled back into the sleeping bag, and waited for the sun to warm me up. I didn’t get up until around 0745 since I only had a short ride today to Cloncurry.
This has been a very good campsite - nice and flat, quiet, and easy to get into, unlike on other occasions when I’ve had to battle through scrub and brush to find as good spot.
The run into Cloncurry was uneventful, same old Savannah, same old SE wind in my face - but not for much longer, he he - I’ll hopefully have a tailwind now I’m heading west.
I passed over the utterly dried-out Cloncurry River just before hitting the town itself, where I quoffed a big iced coffee and Mrs. Mack’s Sausage Roll at the Servo. I then stumbled across the library where there’s a good internet speed and where I had no trouble updating the blog. I had 32 e-mails too, which took some time to answer properly, including some from Lyn, which I enjoyed reading. I hope we have a future together, because deep down I know we can be happy together. I have come to understand that she’s working really hard, enduring long hours, and I’m having a great time out here. I guess I’d feel a bit put out if the boot were on the other foot!
One thing I was keen to see here is the Flying Doctor museum - Cloncurry was the first base for this ground-breaking organisation, established by John Flynn in 1928. I was somewhat disappointed by the lady running the place, who rather disinterestedly trotted out the spiel about this place as quickly as possible, like an automaton; she didn’t even look at me, and did the same with the next couple that followed me in, word for word. When I asked her where the toilet was she retorted indignantly "I told you - through there!" OK, we can all have a bad day I guess. Nevertheless it’s a good exhibition, and probably worth the $9 admission fee.
I checked in at the Cloncurry CP Oasis ($10/pppn), which looks OK, and decided to eat out. The Bio Cafe provided a very good dinner of beer-battered Baramundi, chips and a big salad, and I rounded off with ice cream (4 scoops!) with chocolate and caramel sauce. It was a Bring Your Own (BYO) place so I bought a bottle of pseudo Brut and took it in with me, and supoped the lot (hic). I was probably over the limit to ride the bike back to the CP but don’t tell anyone! I thoroughly enjoyed the meal though, and said so to the folks there.
Cloncurry is a pleasant enough place; some old buildings and big rambling Queensland-style pubs (though none had tables outside, curiously), wide streets, and good supermarkets lol. Although my food supplies were completely depleted I didn’t buy too much as there will be more choice in Mount Isa, 120km west of here. I may take 2 days to get there if I find a nice wild camping spot, but I’d like to catch the post office there open to hopefully collect 2 parcels, one from Lyn and one from St.Kilda Cycles with my transmission bits. Once I get the latter I can work out how / where to get them fitted to the bike. I have ordered a special tool to remove the rear sprocket but still preferably need a chain whip to effect this. Otherwise I’ll have to use someone’s vice and bodge it that way using the old chain.
The road to Mount Isa and beyond will be a bit busier than the one from Normanton, but hopefully still relatively quiet. There should be more ‘stopping places’ to get my ‘treats’ too with a bit of luck. I may spend the long weekend in MI to get the bike and a few other things sorted out, in fact if the parcel from SKC hasn’t arrived I’ll just have to wait until it does.

NB/ 5th pic is of the dry Cloncurry River bed - now a dust bowl.