Day 78 Mungungo Pub

Saturday 3rd July 2021 25.9km

Mungungo that way

2006.1 / 3092.8km

A lot of rain last night. Packed up got in the wet weather gear and hit the road. I'm not so sure about this lightweight rain stuff. I split the pants apart a long time ago and the jacket keeps off light rain but in today's steady downpour it eventually let's the water through. The Marmot goretex work a little better. These pants which I

The windmills will disappear as the
solar driven pumps take over

changed to in Townsville have been with me for a couple of years. I did the Heysen with them. A couple of rips from barbed wire from that trip but they do ok. As it cools they are all I wear during the day. They let less spear grass seeds attach and I'm not so scared to sit on a muddy patch and are easier to clean than my cloth pants.

The only downside is hotter weather means I sweat on the legs, but it'd been cool enough for the last couple of weeks. The North Face pack cover certainly covers the pack. It doesn't keep it dry though. I miss the hyperlite pack but with the weight I sometimes carry it just doesn't sit well with weights over 15kg. With 10 days food and a couple of litres of water in the dry patches I'm sometimes up to 18 kg. This pack handles that with the frame I just want my hyperlite on the osprey frame. I have the hyperlite in the car, when water becomes less of an issue I might go back to it.

Sing a Song as you walk alone

Today was a plod in the rain but at the end was the Mungungo Pub, so I hightailed down the road. I was thinking of the notes about the trail, about it not being a traditional walking trail. Very true and having done a few of them in my time I find this one is different in the approach as there are no facilities set up for a walker or any one really. The camps are basically a water or stock reserve and you get the ground and maybe a water source. The water supply is a constant thing on your mind as there is no water tank at the end of the day and you are constantly calculating when to load up for a nights camp and whether the water source you have now is better than a maybe further on.

Texas Longhorn?

As I was walking down the road I was thinking this is more like a swagmans journey across the land. I even burst into an off key rendition of Waltzing Matilda.

This particular section is a little hard as there is no real civilisation since I left Kabra/Bouldercombe with the diversion to Callide a 16km off trail trip. I6 days for a pub meal is getting a bit long. Belinda thinks all these walks a just a pub crawl for me. From here to Biggenden is the pub at Mt Perry, only a couple of days away. The trip down to Killarney is going to be fun with a town of some sort only 8 days or so apart. The bank balance will take a hit then.

Mungungo Pub

This day however finished in the rain at the pub where I was greeted by the publican with the news that Chris who I had chatted with a couple of days ago had pre-paid for a can of Pepsi Max and a steak sandwich. The people of Queensland have been surprising and generous. Thank you Chris for your thoughts and generosity. I might not be able to pay you back but I will pay it forward some day.

Thank you Chris

Set up under the Mungungo Hall