4th July - Miriam Vale to Calliope

Nigel says..... After a rip roaring night clubbing in Miriam Vale.... we set of at 0930hrs to cycle the 65kms ( miles) to Calliope. Today was a nice easy rest day.

The Sunshine State was back to the norm. A beautiful day. Today we also had stuff to look at. No sooner had we started than we saw 'The Big Crab' on top of the service station. I had missed it on my walking tour of Miriam Vale the previous day. Miriam Vale also boasts a Heritage Fig Tree.....

Another 12 kilometers down the road we stopped for a can of coke at Bororen at the same time as a group of pensioners on a coach tour. I reckon that in 20 years time Gordon will be on a similar tour as"the oldest swinger in town" figure in an ill fitting shell suit and trainers that are just too bright and clean. I suggested this to him. "No in ten........minutes" was the reply. He is feeling tired and overwhelmed by "manflu" and the fast pace of Miriam Vale. "Man-up Gordo" I hear you cry!

A nice flat ride to Benaraby. En route we were passed by about 75 Harley Davidson riders on a 4th July HOG Ride (Harley Owners Group). We crossed the River Boyne into Benaraby and ordered toasted sandwiches for lunch at the service station. In the service station I met a Danish guy called Anders who had cycled from Beijing and had started his Australian leg in Darwin. He had a heavily loaded bike and was camping en route. He was making his way to Brisbane to watch the World Cup Final and was eager to hear who was in the Semi Finals as he had not heard the latest results. We swapped info about routes.

After Benaraby we stopped at a fruit stall recommended by Anders and bought a fresh pineapple, bananaa and apples. We arrived in Calliope at 1430hrs after a pleasant day.

Thoughts and comments:

• "The Big Crab" should be bigger! It is more like "The Medium Crab". If you advertise "Big" you have to be "Big"!
• Saw a sign which said 1193 kilometers to Cairns today.
• Not much opportunity for clubbing in Calliope....
• There is quite a long climb to get out of Calliope in the morning....
• The drive through bottle shop doubles as the motel reception......
• The women in the bottle shop initially gave us a room with only one double bed...(problem promptly resolved!)
• Snack of the day: Snickers bar - Bororen Memorial Park
• Tune of the day: Di Capua - O Sole Mio - The Three Tenors in Concert
• Fact of the day: In ancient Greek mythology Calliope was the muse of heroic poetry, and daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne.

Tomorrow Rocky. Looking forward to having a crab sandwich.

Gordon says ...

Bit of a rest day today - just as well, as I feel rotten. I'm guzzling Stepsils and Lemsips, which would make me feel better, if it wasn't for a ranting Nigel in the background, fiddling disgustedly with the remote control for the TV: ' ... Oh I say, Gordon ... that last channel was in Greek, and now this program's in bloody German ...' (said in a very posh English accent). Yes Nigel, it's a multicultural society we have here ... For those of you who've never met Nigel, just think of Capt. Mannering from Dad's Army, with little bit of Prince George from Blackadder III thrown in.

For most of the day, my gears didn't work, and in the absence of a bike shop, I had to spin my legs like a hamster - which may be good technique, but meant I couldn't get the bike over about 20 kms/hr (still 6 kms/hr quicker than a sprinting Nigel). In the motel, I set to work trying to figure out what was wrong, until Nigel poked the gears with his finger and a big, trapped pebble fell out.

I took the plunge and downloaded War and Peace from itunes. It's 60 hours long - I listened to 30 minutes lying here on my motel bed, and promptly fell asleep - which doesn't bode well. I'm also thinking of trying Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children', which I've tried to read before, but couldn't get past page 30, in spite of Belinda's recommendations. Maybe if someone's reading it to me ...

Rocky tomorrow. Hoping I'll wake up feeling better. That's assuming I get to sleep at all of course, as it's only 5.30, and Nigel is dozing on the bed next to me, easily drowning out the roar of the trucks from the Bruce Highway. Jesus Christ ...