April 23rd Bundaberg to Burpengary (Base camp 1)With my camp packed up and on the road early, I stopped at the shop to get the sprocket fitted, only to find out that the guy had tried to call me earlier to say that he had no luck getting it! So it was back to a search on the net to find out where I could get one. So I headed out of Bundaberg and headed out towards Childers, where I had stopped for breakfast on the way up a few days earlier. Just outside of Bundy, about 100m in front of me I saw a huge Red Kangaroo just going into the bush on my side, broad daylight again and this time he was BIG!
Arriving in Childers and detemined not to retrace my steps coming up, I turned off towards Biggenden, then onto Gympie. At Biggenden I hooked a left onto a minor road, again a good mix of tar and gravel and lots af cattle grids as the livestock were not fenced in, didn't fancy running into one of these beasts either! Out onto the main highway again and arrived in Gympie (not sure how they named this place!) time for lunch and I have to admit, I went to Macca's, but I did have a chicken wrap, which also leads me to say that the weight seems to be coming down too, judging by how loose my clothes are getting, less snacking and more riding methinks? :)
Just of of Gympie I picked up another minor route that would eventually lead me to Kenilworth, where my infamous detour took place the other day, but was determined to ride it the right way around this time! A few k's from Kenilworth I found a great little place called the Bellbird Creek Tea House http://www.bellbirdcreek.com/ which happened to be a motorcycle friendly place, with an old cruiser with a suitably kitted out dummy on board, parked at the gates. Motorcycle art adorned 
the walls and an old Honda 550 four parked by the side of the cafe. I had a coffee and a natter to the owner about, you know, the usual biker talk, where was I goin etc. and had a chat about his Triumph Tiger 1050 parked outsude with a very nice muffler attached. There I also talked to a couple from Bristol UK, the woman had previously ridden around the world on a BMW K100 as part of a group challenge that were doing it in three months, it was interesting talking to her about the possible perils to come, especially on the Nullarbor plains, with scary stories of roos and roadtrains! So if you ever find yourself on the road near Kenilworth, its well worth the stop in the Bellbird Cafe, its apparently a popular haunt for bikers on the weekend, with bikes taking over the front lawn, oh and yes, you can hear the Bellbirds! although I couldn't see them.
As I approached Landsborough, I was looking for a road that would take me past the Glasshouse Mountains, but I couldn't find it and found myself on the Steve Irwin Highway again, that meant that I couldn't be that far away from my starting point, I had not anticipated being back to base camp so early, but had such a good couple of days riding, where I just seemed to keep going as the roads were so interesting, so I guess I was stopping earlier than planned. I had to turn off the highway right to head towards Caboolture, then Burpengary, as I slowed down to take the turn into the intersection, the bike didn't feel right, as I looked into the junction, there were police and fire crews, there had been an accident (not serious) right on the mouth of the intersection, I was beckoned to turn my the police, as I did, I thought I was riding through oil as the bike went all over the place, the cop pointed to my rear tyre! I quickly stopped, puncture! I thought of calling a recovery truck and all those other things that go through your mind at times like these (it was getting dark too) as i talked to the cop, who was english, (I just find it strange to talk to an Aussie cop with a pommie accent!) I remembered that I had my cheap little mini compressor, if it was a slow puncture, I might be saved. With enough air in the tyre to get me going again, I made it for about 5k's, this was the story all the way back to Burpengary, stopping and pumping air about every 5 k's.
This was definately a warning I was thankful for, thankful that it happened so close to where I was heading and where I had the facility to get it put right, but if it had been anywhere else, I would not have been so lucky. Tomorrow I am buying a tube patch kit, a new tube and a spare for the front, plus some tyre levers, so at least I have some chance of getting back on the road, should I be caught out again!
Back at Ian and Paula's for a "pit stop". Its been good actually to have this chance to ride for a few days then come back here and assess what needs to be done for the rest of the journey. I have mangaged to "lose" the panniers and lots of other stuff I just dont need, like too many clothes, you just wash the bloody things out! So now I will be travelling lighter....and smarter!
the walls and an old Honda 550 four parked by the side of the cafe. I had a coffee and a natter to the owner about, you know, the usual biker talk, where was I goin etc. and had a chat about his Triumph Tiger 1050 parked outsude with a very nice muffler attached. There I also talked to a couple from Bristol UK, the woman had previously ridden around the world on a BMW K100 as part of a group challenge that were doing it in three months, it was interesting talking to her about the possible perils to come, especially on the Nullarbor plains, with scary stories of roos and roadtrains! So if you ever find yourself on the road near Kenilworth, its well worth the stop in the Bellbird Cafe, its apparently a popular haunt for bikers on the weekend, with bikes taking over the front lawn, oh and yes, you can hear the Bellbirds! although I couldn't see them.
As I approached Landsborough, I was looking for a road that would take me past the Glasshouse Mountains, but I couldn't find it and found myself on the Steve Irwin Highway again, that meant that I couldn't be that far away from my starting point, I had not anticipated being back to base camp so early, but had such a good couple of days riding, where I just seemed to keep going as the roads were so interesting, so I guess I was stopping earlier than planned. I had to turn off the highway right to head towards Caboolture, then Burpengary, as I slowed down to take the turn into the intersection, the bike didn't feel right, as I looked into the junction, there were police and fire crews, there had been an accident (not serious) right on the mouth of the intersection, I was beckoned to turn my the police, as I did, I thought I was riding through oil as the bike went all over the place, the cop pointed to my rear tyre! I quickly stopped, puncture! I thought of calling a recovery truck and all those other things that go through your mind at times like these (it was getting dark too) as i talked to the cop, who was english, (I just find it strange to talk to an Aussie cop with a pommie accent!) I remembered that I had my cheap little mini compressor, if it was a slow puncture, I might be saved. With enough air in the tyre to get me going again, I made it for about 5k's, this was the story all the way back to Burpengary, stopping and pumping air about every 5 k's.This was definately a warning I was thankful for, thankful that it happened so close to where I was heading and where I had the facility to get it put right, but if it had been anywhere else, I would not have been so lucky. Tomorrow I am buying a tube patch kit, a new tube and a spare for the front, plus some tyre levers, so at least I have some chance of getting back on the road, should I be caught out again!
Back at Ian and Paula's for a "pit stop". Its been good actually to have this chance to ride for a few days then come back here and assess what needs to be done for the rest of the journey. I have mangaged to "lose" the panniers and lots of other stuff I just dont need, like too many clothes, you just wash the bloody things out! So now I will be travelling lighter....and smarter!
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