In May 1999, I caught a bus to Biloela. McCafferty's buses carry bikes either fully assembled or with the handlebars turned and the front wheel and pedals removed. If this is done, the cost is half that of a fully assembled bike. The bus used a route through Miles which is further west than the route I rode last year, between Brisbane and Biloela. From the bus, it didn't look very attractive for bike touring as the scenery is monotonous and the towns are over one hundred kilometres apart. I arrived in Biloela after dark, reassembled my bike at the roadhouse where the bus stopped and then rode to a nearby caravan park. The next morning I bought supplies and started the ride. Most of the ride is easier than the Brisbane to Biloela section which was fortunate as there had been constant rain in the south and my fitness was less than usual.
This time, I headed west from Biloela and was surprised by the contrast from my previous south to north ride. When riding south to north, the terrain, for about 150 km around Biloela is bum-numbingly flat. But when heading west it quickly became rolling and was far more pleasant for bike touring. Most of the land along the entire route is used for beef cattle grazing and grain production. The fields were ploughed waiting for rain so that the wheat crop could be planted. This became a familiar sight throughout the ride. Banana was the only township encountered. It is 46 km from Biloela. The town is named after a famous bullock, called Banana, who is buried nearby. In the township, is a rest area with a shelter shed and a rain water tank. There are two small roadhouses with a very limited range of food.
After leaving Banana, the road was fairly flat into Moura. Moura was a cattle town which has now become mainly a mining town. It has most facilities including a hotel, caravan park, good general store, restaurant and takeaway food shop, bakery, butcher and banks with electronic teller machines. The town is in two parts, the older part is encountered first, then a newer block of shops has been added about one km west of the old town. The caravan park caters mainly for the families of mine workers. This is different from most caravan parks in Queensland. Most van parks rely on retirees escaping the southern winter for most of their business. It was a novelty to see kids running around the park and wanting to play with my bike and gear.
The most important football match of the year was being played that night so I went to the hotel to watch it on TV. Queensland won and there was much celebrating afterwards so I was not at my most energetic the next day.
This was the only day where the temperature climbed above 30 C.(85 F). Although the terrain was only slightly undulating with a couple of short flat sections, I was tired when I arrived at Bauhenia. I suspect that the total section may be slightly uphill, but my tiredness may have been caused by the hotter than normal day and the previous night's celebrations.
Bauhenia consists of a couple of houses and a small roadhouse. I had intended to get some water and then find a camping site beside the road. However, there is a primitive caravan park behind the store so I asked if I could use it. The woman in the shop agreed and said that she didn't charge cyclists. It has a working toilet and hot water showers, thus was a pleasant surprise as I had expected that I would have to forego both that night. I realized that I had reached the semiarid zone. The roadhouse was fitted with the characteristic square box on top of it. These are a familiar sight in the west. They are an evaporative air conditioner. They are very economical to operate but are only effective in areas with very low humidity. The air in the buildings cooled by them feels slightly moist but this tends to be a welcome change from the dry air outside.
The scenery this day was a little more varied than on the other days. The first 11 km is fairly flat. From 11 to 31 km it is hilly as the Expedition Range is crossed. There is some good quality forest on the range. As Rolleston is approached, there were crops of sunflowers and leucena which was a change from the beef grazing and ploughed wheat fields. Rolleston is a very small town in the middle of nowhere. It has a hotel/motel, a small general store and a small caravan park.
The first 45 km are gently rolling with a few flat sections. After this there is a gradual climb to 52 km and then a moderately steep climb up a range for about three km. This was the only section during the trip where I changed down to the front granny ring. After the top of the range is reached it is moderately hilly for the remaining distance into Springsure.
Springsure is a pleasant cattle town with most facilities including banks with electronic tellers. The caravan park is small and friendly. The camping area is fenced off to exclude vehicles and there are many shady trees. The lawn is well maintained and watered so camping there was ideal. There are also tables which are lighted at night so I enjoyed the luxury of not having to eat before dark.
Leaving Springsure the next morning, there is a memorable view of a large rock escarpment with the morning sun shining on the northeastern face. It is named Virgin Rock.
The first 50 km is undulating and good bike touring country. As Emerald is approached, cotton becomes the main crop and the terrain in bum-numbingly flat.
At the 32 km point there is a small township called Fernless. It does not have any shops, but there is a church with a rain water tank and an outside tap.
An alternative to staying at Emerald is to camp in the caravan park at Fairburn Dam. It makes the trip slightly longer, but I would do this if I rode this route again.
Emerald is a large town with large retail chain stores and at least two bicycle shops. One of them looked as if it catered for the more serious cyclists. Other than the chance to buy hard to obtain items and the bike shops, the town does not have much to recommend it to a touring cyclist. For bicycle advocates, the main point of interest is the road to the caravan park. The local shire engineer has achieved the impossible. He has made a 75 metre wide two lane road difficult for bicycles. The bike friendly storm water grates are sunk about 15 cm below road level. On the road lanes, he has resurfaced a car width strip of the surface with hot mix men, and left a lip of about 5 cm. If you ride on the old surface you are likely to be doored by parked cars, and if you ride on the hot-mix, it is difficult for cars to pass. To compound the problem, he has designated a one metre wide footpath as a bike path. He must be sick of living in Emerald and is demonstrating to his Brisbane City colleagues that he their equal or better in constructing bike unfriendly roads.
The first 16 km is the road to a large coal mine. This was the only place on the western part of the trip where the traffic was heavy enough be annoying. The topography is undulating and good bike riding.
Capella is a small town with a hotel, caravan park, mid sized general store, cafe and butcher shop. I had not planned to stop there but the caravan park had been recommended to me by other tourists so I decided to have two easy days, instead of one hard day. I was not disappointed by the caravan park or the town.
This day was spent riding through pleasant gently undulating countryside. Clermont is about three km off the main road and is a large country town.
At the turnoff is a sign which reads:
CAUTION ROAD TRAINS OVER 50 METRES IN LENGTH
It was a late as road trains are legal west of Biloela and I had encountered many of them already. Most cyclists who have not shared the road with them are terrified at the prospect of doing so. This is probably caused by talking to car drivers. Whenever I asked about the road conditions ahead I was invariably told not to use that road as the road trains use it. On this and previous trips I have found the truck drivers very considerate, but you need to be aware of the limitations of road trains. They have to stay on the sealed surface and they are huge and cannot stop quickly. Usually only about four of them are encountered per day so taking avoiding action is not very onerous. The motors are high revving and can be identified before they overtake. When one is coming from behind check the road ahead, if it is clear you can be confident that the truck will give you the maximum clearance possible. If there is a vehicle approaching, slow down and get off the road. The road train needs it far more than you do. If one is approaching from the opposite direction, check behind you. If there is a car approaching get completely off the road shoulder and stop. The car drivers are far less considerate than the truck drivers. In either case be prepared for the inevitable wind buffeting.
The local RTA gives the following advice about road trains to
motorists:
Slow down or pull over to allow a road train to pass. If you need to
overtake a road train, you should expect that the long vehicle will
keep on the sealed road. Flash your lights to warn the driver you are
overtaking, allow at least 1 km of clear road ahead and beware of soft
shoulders, guide posts and wildlife on the road.
On this trip, two road trains passed me and then one overtook the other. It was a spectacular sight. I could not see daylight between the two huge vehicles and they disappeared over the horizon about three kilometres in front of me with the overtaking manoeuvre still not completed.
On the coast there is a tendency to label anything over 50 years old as "historic". An "historic" label could be placed on the whole of Clermont as not much of it has been modernised. However, it contains most facilities including banks with electronic tellers and a supermarket which rivals the large chain stores for the variety of goods available. The caravan park is about one kilometre outside town and is well appointed and very friendly. As mentioned previously, most caravan parks are used mainly by retirees escaping the southern winter. This one was no exception, however these came to Clermont to look for gold and were much more energetic and entertaining that those encountered in caravan parks closer to the coast. I was tempted to have a rest day here because I liked the town and the people, but had already had a couple of easy days so kept travelling.
The trip this far had been a blast. The prevailing south east wind had been mostly a tail wind and daily maximums had been below 25C (77F) and the distances between towns reasonably short. All good things come to an end and as expected this was where the trip got hard. Mackay is north east of Clermont and I had expected a cross wind. However, there was a gale warning for the coast and the wind had shifted into the east so it was mainly a very strong headwind. From enquires I had made, I knew of only two roadhouses and no towns for the entire distance. The roadhouses are approximately 100 km apart. For about the first 70 km, the main land use is beef grazing and grain growing, thus was familiar scenery. After this, the quality of the country quickly deteriorates and is covered by a low poor quality forest which quickly became monotonous.
Because of the poor quality of the country, there are very few turnoffs to stations. Road engineering is difficult, as the road has to be mounded up much higher than the surrounding countryside to provide good drainage of the unstable soil type. This creates a problem for bike tourists as there are often sections of over 20 km where it is not possible to pull off the road. There are signs beside the road advising the distance to the next rest area. Often the distance was over 50 km. Consequently, when I needed a rest, I would lean by bike against a guidepost and sit on the men/asphalt exposed to the wind and sun.
A combination of strong headwinds, monotonous scenery, long distances without stopping and roadside camping made this part of the trip into more of an endurance test than an enjoyable bike tour. During the writing of this, I have been reading Mark Boyd's trials and tribulations with headwinds and isolation and can relate to his problems and state of mind.
However, back to route details. There is a low range which extends from 70 to 90 km after Clermont. There are no real hills or steep climbs, just a steady climb to the top at 90 km. After this it is undulating to the roadhouse at the turnoff for Moranbah. The roadhouse at Moranbah is a recognised trucks stop and sells a variety of meals. I camped behind it. Because it is a truck stop, the toilets are equipped with showers, so I was able to shower there. I bought my evening meal at the roadhouse. The steak meal was large enough to more than fill me, which is no mean feat.
The next morning, I was packed and waiting for sufficient daylight for riding so that I could ride the maximum distance before the wind became strong. The first 12 km is flat and then there is a steady climb to the top of Ken Lorrimer hill at 22 km. After this the terrain is gently undulating. Coppabella was encountered at 37 km. It was a pleasant surprise as I had not realized that there was a town there. It is a town which has been built by Queensland Rail to house the railway workers. It has a hotel without accommodation, a caravan park and a very small store. If you ever wondered what a Government run town designed and built by engineers run is like, visit Coppabella. There are two house designs in the whole town and many demountable buildings. The whole place has a very utilitarian feel to it. It is however, a reliable water point. The township of Nebo is encountered at 95 km. I had expected only a roadhouse, but there is a small general store, a hotel and a motel. The hotel advertised budget accommodation and counter meals thus would be suitable for a rest day if in dire need of one. The place didn't look very suitable for camping, and there were advertisements for a roadhouse six km further towards Mackay so I had a drink and a rest at the roadhouse and continued on. The next roadhouse was at the turnoff to Collinsville and had good meals, a hot shower and friendly staff who allowed me to camp on a creek behind the roadhouse. For those not familiar with tropical fruit, the mango is a delicious fruit. The male toilet was signed Mangos and the female toilet signed No Mangos. At this stage, if somebody had offered me a lift I probably would have accepted it. However, I'm glad they didn't because the next day's ride into Mackay was enjoyable. Again, I started riding at daylight to avoid as much of the wind as possible. By the time it became strong, I was in the shelter of the Great Dividing Range so it didn't affect me much. At the 23 km mark is the Retreat hotel. It is a hotel cum roadhouse cum small general store.
There is only a series of hills before the top of the range at 47 km and then an 11% grade down the range and a flat run again into the wind into Mackay for a total daily distance of 87 km. Traffic near and in Mackay is heavy, however, most of the roads are bike friendly and have either wide curb side lanes or good shoulders.
The only notable scenery in the 300 km section is Wolfgang Peak about 40 km from Clermont. It is a needle shaped peak which rises above the surrounding countryside and can be seen from about 30 km distance. The coal trains are also noteworthy. On one train, I counted 112 wagons and it was over two km long. The drivers usually gave me a toot of their horn and a friendly wave of encouragement.
Mackay is a city with all facilities. It has three caravan parks. The City Beach van park is the most suitable for bike tourists. The camping area is fenced off from vehicular access and there is a reasonably quiet road into the main shopping centre. On the southern outskirts of the town is an information centre where a free map of the city and directions to the van park can be obtained.
Tours of The Great Barrier Reef can be made from Mackay and other nearby towns.Although I was unlucky to encounter a strong headwind which made two of the days a grind, a tailwind is unlikely and these two days will usually be hard. Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I caught a bus back home to Brisbane. The bus followed the coastal highway. Even in a bus the scenery is boring and most of the passengers slept for the majority of the distance.
For those wishing to see some of the semi-inland, but do not want to ride the Clermont to Mackay section, the train Spirit Of The Outback carries two bikes/train. It travels Emerald, Rockhampton to Brisbane two days per week. Bookings are a few days in advance are required, except in school holidays when bookings weeks in advance are required. A ride from Brisbane to Emerald, and then catch the train to either Rockhampton or Brisbane is possible. The train is air-conditioned and has sleeping berths and a dining car. Alternatively, it is possible to disembark at Dingo and then visit the Blackdown Tableland National Park. The road to the park is a steep gravel road. There is a camping area in the park. Drinking water needs to be boiled or sterilised.
There are opal fields about 40 km west of Emerald. This could be done as a side trip. There are public mining areas and tours of underground houses in old opal mines.