Day 97 Ooramera Creek

More State Forest track

Thursday 22nd July 23.9km

2320.1 / 2778.8 km

Another day of wandering through State Forest areas and then heading up the Mary River Valley.

Not much to report on but I was happy with the solitude of the trail today, a lot of birds and the day was warm.

Beautiful day for a walk and contemplation

The afternoon saw me walking up a track to come across a small balance bike in the middle of the trail. I could see footprints that I interpreted as a mother and two children. Looking around I couldn't see anybody so I put the bike against a tree of the side of the trail. Further up was a bucket with rocks in it, couldn't see anyone or interpret what had gone on?

sometimes the track is hiding

The trail finishes in State Forest at Ooramera Creek which wasn't running but I went downstream a bit and found a puddle that wasn't as scummy looking as the crossing on the trail. I found a lovely spot up out of the creek and had a relaxing afternoon. Not covering a lot of kilometres but making sure I'm not exhausted and enjoying the time and views.

Getting close to the creek camp

The creek. Not running and the colour is true.
I went downstream a bit to find some better stuff.

Day 96 Musket Flat to Sandy Hollow

Sculptures at Musket Flat

Wednesday 21st July, 2021 24.7km

2297.1 / 2801.8km

Today was the day of a mental mind game.

The walk goes through a lot of state forest on many varied roads and is fairly well signposted so no a mental challenge there.

However, as the news comes through about the latest covid updates it's apparent that I'm not going to see anyone in the family for the foreseeable future.

Old fence post embedded in a tree

On some of these long walks it's about splitting things into manageable chunks that you find achievable. Part of my plan was looking forward to time off with family. Whilst Fred was good company it wasn't quite the same, so back on trail hoping for a better result but it doesn't seem to be. That brings me down a bit and I spent the day readjusting the mind.

Should I stop and have a break?

What are my next goals?

How far can I go in Qld before I stop?

Should I cross into NSW?

Wouldn't take my pack

So the break as wanted is not going happen. A break now will not reinvigorate me as I want. I can now readjust the goal to the half way point. The resupply is easier as there are proper supermarkets about 7 days apart for the next 4 weeks except Kilkivan, where I dropped a box.

The road peters out

If I can work out how to get from Killarney back to Hervey Bay I have the ability to go the maximum in Qld. If I decide to drop into NSW I will be giving up the chance to see any family for a fair while.

The kilometres pass as I think, can't remember much but stopped and looked at a few things. The campsite tonight is a youth forestry camp with toilets and water. This takes a little pressure off finding a suitable stop.

I haven't come up with all my answers before I pull up for the night, more thinking. I'll break down the walk into smaller goals and achieve them and watch developments as they happen.

Through the State Forest

The camp is in this forest. I hope it contains
it's agro.

Sandy Hollow Youth Camp allowed me to 
stay the night. Much appreciated.

Day 96

Day 95 Bloomfield

Tuesday 20th July, 2021 24.0km

The grass was a little frosty

2272.4 / 2826.5km

Little bit of frost this morning on the grass. Didn't last long but definitely kept the bugs away.

The trail continues along the old wagon track firstly to a spot called Bloomfield that was the

coach changing station. I was interested in finding the teamsters grave but walked past without seeing it. The story was he went to sleep under the wagon and the wagon collapsed on top of him.

The trail through the forest

The track continues and I picked up some of the original stone pitching done on the road over the hill. I'm sure I read a sign that said the road and cutting over the hill was constructed by a chain gang. There was a wooden Chinaman according to the notes used to load gravel onto the wagons. Why Chinaman? that isn't explained. The trail then ends up at a place I think is called Elliott but referred to as Musket Flat. So called because the local first nation people dumped a whole wagon load of muskets and ammunition into a waterhole. The towns hey day was 1860's to early 1900's.

The camp area is provided in the settlement now only 4 or 5 permanents. One came and visited and we had a chat. There was a friend of the trail across the road but wasn't home when I rolled up. It looks like they are selling up so may not be around much longer.

The trail through the forest

Quiet comfortable night. Good campsite.

These signs apparently put up when money
made available from the Federal Govt .
 Best marked bit of trail so far

Some of the original stone pitching on the road.
One day a grader will move it all aside I suppose.

According to the notes this is a "Chinaman" used
as a loader probably for gravel onto wagons.

Good signage

An original marker post for the Old Coach Rd.

The camp spot - Musket Flat (Elliott)

Day 95

Day 94 Golden Fleece Rd

Someone saw me off

Monday 19th July, 2021 19.2km

2248.4 / 2869.7km

I got up at the normal time which for me is about 6am. It gives me time to pack up and be on my way by good daylight. At the moment sunrise is about 6.30, this morning though I'm going to have breakfast at the Cafe before moving out. It's cold again and I'm wearing my thermal undershirt, beanie and gloves just to go to breakfast.

Motel and Cafe up the road

Caravan Park

I decide after breakfast to have a cup of tea and wait for the sun to bring some warmth before

Imposing Mountain.   Mt Walsh

heading off. I did want to say goodbye to the lady who fed me the night before but she didn't show before I left.

I wandered back through town where the only movement was kids going to school. I could hear the cows in the saleyards as I had all night and was glad I wasn't sticking around for the smell later.

Live & Let Live hotel site. Now an Aloe farm.

The first bit was wandering back out to the trail. The official camp is about 2 k out behind the golf course. Very close to here is the site of the Live and Let Live Hotel, the first building in Biggenden. The trail now follows the old Maryborough to Gayndah coach road.

Looks like someone started a Barn raising

The trail follows the old wagon track, Golden Fleece Road doesn't refer to the old petrol station but the Golden Fleece coach stop. The road serviced the sheep stations around Mt Perry and had about 200 wagons hauling through on any day. With passenger coaches and mail runs it was a busy stopover. Looking at Biggenden today you can see remnants of a busy time. My camp near the Golden Fleece is on grass with nothing to show of this busier time.

Golden Fleece Rd

The serenity of the walk across farm paddocks

Close to the camp spot - penty of water in this lagoon. Added midgies to the mix though

Day 93 Zero day in Biggenden

Sunday 18th July, 2021

Zero day at Biggenden

I got up early and went to breakfast. The place opens at 6am and I was there at about 7.15 and it was cold. They have seating in the under cover areas but not inside, so eat quickly before it freezes. Today was Eggs Benedict.

I then made a shopping list and packed all my gear up, had another hot shower then walked across the road to the caravan park. It's a council park but the man running it let me have some grass beside the camp kitchen for a very good price.

The park was chockers with every powered site taken, all 3 cabins full and caravans parked in non powered areas. Apparently the one pub doing meals last night did 80. There is a cattle sale tomorrow but most of the people in the park are just keeping away from southern states.

I did my washing then wandered into town to look around and do my shopping. The people roaming around town are begging for something to be open but it's all shut tight, except the servo and th Foodland. I'm told the pub doesn't open its kitchen on Sundays, strange given the number of people in town.

Sunday is not a good day to shop at Foodland either, no bread of any kind and a lot of shelves empty. The stuff I wanted was OK except for the chocolate specials which had all gone. I found some Maggi stir fry sauces that Fred put me on to so that made the menu easier to work out. 7 days required so it's going to be a little heavy.

Back to the park then repack all my stuff and then I could relax for the afternoon. I found a crossword not done in a magazine, went back to the Cafe across the road and bought a couple of PepsiMax and decided a nice piece of tiramasu sas for sweets tonight. The park hosts had given me a container of curried sausages as the pub wasn't doing dinner.

Some low life during the day came to the camp kitchen and pinched my sausages and tiramsu from the camp kitchen fridge! I was there nearly all afternoon so I probably saw the culprit but don't know which one actually did it, so dinner was a bust again.

That was until a lady across the other side of the camp kitchen offered me chilli bean and cheese toasties, another lady also offered me some baked rice for dessert. So in the end I was fed.

I watched the Boncos lose and went to bed rather full. Not a big day planned tomorrow so breakfast at the Cafe and then onwards.

Day 92 Paradise Dam

The river in the morning

Saturday 17th July, 2021 34.5

2229.2 / 2869.7km

Some dark clouds came over last night and it rained for a bit, heard a bit of thunder but it didn't come near and all stopped by about midnight.

Paradise Dam

It was a lovely cool morning and I was up early as since I was short on kilometres due to my stuff ups yesterday. If I wanted to make Biggenden today then I was going to have put in a 32 kilometre day.

The walk out of the river and further is of course not like the notes in the book as they have built

Paradise Dam since the nineties. They apparently buggered it up and have been rebuilding it ever since. So now there's a bitumen road to get to Paradise and instead of camping at the old township you get to pay Sunwater money, but since I stopped back at the river I was just passing through.

Trail from the dam

I climb up an old track that then follows a ridge line parallel to the Burnett River, it was an old coach road. Further on up I had to climb a few gates as they have been chained and locked. But I saw no one until I hit the main road again. I enjoyed the walk very much with the old coach track climbing over a range and then down into a valley of grazing paddocks. I climb another small range then leave the paddocks for a gravel road that will then meet up with a bitumen road. If I had turned left coming out of the river in the morning instead of right I could have walked to the same road via a bitumen road. I think the trail was a lot better.

The river from the ridge

It was then a long walk down this road into Biggenden. I passed an old homestead with a sign mentioning the ladies mile. Apparently this was a section of this road notorious for breaking wagons until it was rebuilt by the government. Then it was the best road in the area and the ladies used to do laps in their buggies.

I was about an hour and a half out of Biggenden when a car with two local gents pull up and say " Hey grandad you want a lift?" I thought, piss off you cheeky arseholes, but looked at the bitumen stretching out before me and said "OK".

Back into farmland

I squeezed into the front seat while they cracked a few more beers. We took of as the driver drank and casually rolled a cigarette and kept us generally in the road confines and we talked about walking. The bloke in the back tried to convince me to get out to the main highway. Better chance of getting a lift if I wanted to go to Victoria. Myself and the driver couldn't convince him that just getting there wasn't the point so he sat back and drank a bit more.

then the bitumen

When I was planning this section I went through the shop to see what I could buy but I didn't take notice of the closing times. The Foodland shut at 4pm every day. Most IGA's I've come across shut at 7. This meant I was now in a rush to shop for a 7 day resupply. The two pubs had no accomodation nor the motel and the caravan park was full but he would find a spot for the tent if need be. There are a lot of NSWelshmen and Victorians staying put and a big cattle sale on Monday with stock getting dropped all weekend.

In the end Belinda was talking to the motel just as they had a cancellation and I had a room. The BNT campsite is out by the golf course but about 1.5k. I decided I would have to stay two nights as I had 15 minutes before the shop shut so I did a quick shop for snacks and dinner tonight and picked up some booze from the bottle shop. It was a 1 man party night.

Degilbo Homestead

The motel is about 800 metres from town but it was good. Mindless television, hot shower and the ability to sretch out on a bed, eat and drink in warmth and comfort.

Biggenden being busy doesn't mean there's a good food choice. No cafes were open only 1 pub serving meals but not on a Sunday night I was to find out. The motel runs a Cafe and opens at 6am and closed 2pm. They did it when the town Cafe closed when Covid came. So it wasn't far to go for breakfast at least.

Overall a good walk with a pleasant result. I made a shopping list drank my liquor and slept reasonably well.