Frogs With Attitude

On day nine I rode from Walgett to Brewarrina – I got a 70km lift from John in his covered twin cab ute from Lightning Ridge to Walgett after a 7.00am pickup from the Opal Caravan Park.  Fortunately John’s generous lift enabled me to have a good coffee in Walgett and to get to Brewarrina before dark as the 10-15km headwind for most of the day probably reduced my average speed to around 15kms per hour over the 140kms.  At that speed the extra 70kms would have taken me four or more hours and even a 4.00am start from Lightning Ridge would not have necessarily seen me arriving at Bree before dark.

Not only was John a great lift giver. He also knows how to use the iPhone camera.

It had been raining the night before in the region and the wet patches /puddles on the road were largely drying by 8.30am when I took off from the Walgett levee bank.  At least the sun was shining. 

The wind swept terrain made heavy work and my tender legs particularly the knees and thigh muscles at the end of that day required some special care. 

You are supposed to get the impression of a headwind here at the Briery Station gate.

Fortunately for me there was Glen at the Royal Hotel at Brewarrina who had the right remedy for my knees. He told me about Lectric Soda granules that he gave to me and he loaned me a modified sock so that I could wrap the granules around my particularly tender left knee with the help of some gaffer tape. Apparently: Lectric Soda Crystals are used by a variety of health professionals to help reduce swelling and relieve aching muscles and joints. (from a quick Google search).

Well Electric Soda worked for me by the following day and I thank Glen for his advice and good conversation.

The light before the storm? Fortunately there was only dizzle leaving Bree.

Beautiful scenery and beautiful views etc. will have their appeal at many localities you visit and on journeys along the way, and if you are lucky you will also get to see some of our unique wildlife, such as the local equivalent of what I thought were King Parrots at Westmar, and magnificent trees along the road. 

However, it’s the people at any place that are most likely to be the ‘icing on the cake’ of any visit and when you have friends and relatives to visit they trump all the above.

For example, the lady at the Dalby Visitor Information gave me a personal recommendation to see Margaret Rowe masseuse extra-ordinaire at Dalby.  She not only revived my legs and gave some simple ‘do it yourself’ instructions to help the body but also talked about her positive reaction to the book “The Brain That Changes Itself”, a fantastic read – I have given several copies away to friends.  She also talked sense on a whole heap of other things.  If you are in Dalby and you feel the need for a good massage and/or a good conversation, make an appointment to see Margaret Rowe on 07 4662 5673

An elderly gentleman at a Dalby tyre place, I think he was a customer, was immediately on my side to defend my trike and my right to ride the trike to anybody who didn’t agree with me.  He started muttering under his breath about anybody daring to have a counter view.  He thought I had every right to do what I was doing and wished me well on my ride. 

Customer Service

Good customer service essentially amounts to a positive and memorable people experience such as I had with the ladies in the office at the Jacaranda Country Motel in St George.  They engaged in ‘to the point’ conversation with genuine questions and comments.  I later found out that they were the outgoing and incoming leaseholders of the motel in transition.

The New Zealand shearers at Hebel wanted to know how I coped with other vehicles on the road. I explained that drivers had been fantastic in Queensland, giving me a wide berth and the occasional toot etc. and their attitude towards me seemed to be very positive.  I then mentioned that on an earlier ride a couple of weeks back on the Newell Highway a can had been tossed at me from a passing vehicle, it was empty (the can and possibly the can thrower’s head) and missed me – about the only real negative experience I recall.  One of the shearers then suggested what he might do to somebody like that if he had been a witness – my interpretation of what he actually said.

The Black Queen

My reason for being in Lightning Ridge is to see Roger and Gale Collins who own and run the Black Queen, a significant tourist attraction in this very interesting town and they don’t sell opals.  A very innovative couple who have created/are creating (because their innovative ideas being incorporated into their business just don’t stop) a fabulous tourism attraction/facility in Lightning Ridge.

If, for any reason you are near Lightning Ridge on your way through northern NSW, stay a night.  If you do stay in Lightning Ridge between March and October, make sure you take in a performance at the Black Queen.

Cobar & Hillston

I am also looking forward to catching up with my old mate John Martin, promoter of the Kidman Way extra-ordinaire, at Cobar;  And the people celebrating 21 years of the Hillston Community Centre that I was involved in when working for the Carrathool Shire Council, when I get to Hillston on 28 May.  With any luck I’ll see some of the old Councillors and staff from Carrathool Shire Council there too.

The primary feature of positive interactions with the people referred to above and others I have met is that they provide contexts to our communications.  That can also happen with people I meet for the first time. 

Conclusion

I suppose these first time interactions almost always entail ignoring or with-holding your own prejudices (pre-judgement), trusting that other people do the same and having the involvement of genuine intellectual curiosity.   The latter also entails having the capacity to change your mind about ideas and being open to new ideas.  George Bernard Shaw is apparently quoted as saying “Progress requires change and people who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

At the start of day five I woke up refreshed after a very comfortable night sleep at Westmar. I recommend that if any-one ever travelling through on the Moonie Highway between St George and Dalby and are wondering where to stop for the night contact Judy at the Westmar

Along the road to St George

Roadhouse on 07 4663 0751 and book a cabin for an overnight stay.

Cotton plant growing beside the Moonie Highway.

And still more cotton heading east.

On the ride to St George the trucks transporting cotton became even more obvious than the day before to Westmar. I would estimate that one in 8 or so vehicles on the road was either a load of cotton heading in an easterly direction or an empty road train heading west.  I found out that the cotton heading east was being carted just past Dalby or close on 300kms for the trucks I saw leaving the St George area.  Also found out that I will be passing close by Cubbie Station – the cotton growing capital of Australia – somewhere near Dirranbandi and on my way to Lightning Ridge.

There were fewer hills or just longer and lower slopes to ride up or down and I didn’t have to change down to my lower range of 9 gears once this time.

I also noticed individual trees more and was a bit how common the Cyprus or Murray pine was along some stretched of the highway.

Tomorrow, Day 6, I’ll see how my legs feel, but with any luck I’ll get to Hebel 161kms to the south and… if I can get to Hebel between 3- 4pm I might be tempted to ride another 68kms to Lightning Ridge.  I don’t recall too many hills south of St George but wind conditions may also start playing a role.

On the Road from Westmar.

We’ve had the Dalby lay day and I have an on-line tutorial 7-9.00pm tonight for my Swinburne course to finish off the evening.

I’m getting ready for an early start on day four when I plan to ride to Westmar 189kms south west of Dalby.  At least there won’t be any of those significant hills on the way.

The last 20 or so kilometres of today’s ride – approximately 15kms short of my intended first day destination, Yarraman – was a killer and took 2.5 hours from the village of Moore over the Blackbutt Ranges to Blackbutt.  From Blackbutt Online I’m told:

The Blackbutt Ranges assent is winding but only approximately 5-6 Kilometres. As you ascend the ranges you will immediately smell the pine and feel the crisp clean atmosphere.

Didn’t really notice the ‘immediate smell of pine’ as I negotiated the longest section of one lane road works, all up hill, because of 8 or more landslides in January 2011.  I suspect the traffic lights at either end were 5-8kms apart creating long waits at either end, slow moving traffic in either direction when they had the green light and there were long periods of no traffic, almost unbelievable silence that allowed me to hear the bird songs.  And fortunately the low gears on the trike enabled me to keep peddling.   Friendly road worker crew also helped.

However, when I reached the top station and exchanged some friendly words with the three or four workers – pizza for dinner at Blackbutt sounded good - I thought I was within a stone’s throw of Blackbutt and as it was getting dark I was looking forward to heading on that downhill ride into this ‘timber’ town. 

No such luck as the next xxkms to Blackbutt was ridden in just over an hour in the dark and most of this stretch was still uphill – the few down hill stretches were taken very cautiously.  My cycling edge of the road was almost non-existent and I had to ride with two wheels on the unmown grassy verge several times as the orchestrated traffic (remember the green lights on the road works meant there were ‘bunches’ of 20-30 vehicles travelling towards Blackbutt) didn’t slow down for this cyclist on his recumbent trike.  But, they did see me and my red lights coming from behind and only one B-Double truck ’got a bit close’ on a passing lane stretch when he in turn was being overtaken.  In the main the irregular on-coming vehicles also dipped their lights.

And then…when I walked into the Blackbutt hotel where I knew there was accommodation I was told: “You might have to go on to Yarraman as we are fully booked with road crews.”  And Yarraman could be booked out as well…. I didn’t fancy camping somewhere, anywhere in or around Blackbutt.  I just wanted a hot shower and a made bed.  Fortunately, after 5 minutes anxious wait someone handed me a key to room 4 in the local motel up the road a bit (five beds in this room) with its own en-suite and a fridge and coffee and hot water jug (where are those packets of meso soup).  I just couldn’t switch on any heating.

Now for the good bits of this first day.  Cycling around the Glass House Mountains was spectacular.  Unfortunately the iPhone camera didn’t do the scenes justice and funnily enough there was only one picture after Moore (I also kept forgetting that the lens was fogging up in my jacket pocket – perperation from the regular hill climbs).