Wednesday 2 Jan 2019

Happy Birthday Me! I can now officially be called an old fart. But think of all the discounts I’ll start to be able to enjoy! And it is because of this “yearstone” that I decided to take on the BNT, or rather a portion thereof, for a second time. The first time I enjoyed it so much, and I am happy to report that after a bit of a shaky, disappointing start I am truly enjoying it again. It is, as before, the interesting vegetation and unique bird and wildlife, but above all the caring, generous and hospitable people I meet and come across that make this kind of travel such a special experience.

The bakery in Biggenden has permanently closed, so the local supermarket took on some of the baking and I had a very tasty spinach quiche and an excellent cup of coffee for brekkie. The apple turnovers aren’t made in store and leave a lot too be desired. Oh well, soon I’ll be in Nanango which has the best apple turnovers in the world! Also stocked up on a few supplies since my parcel was left stuck in Mt Perry and made arrangements with the post office to have it transferred to Murphys Creek.

Here I am at my birthday best, with lots of lorikeets, galahs and corellas feeding beside the camp kitchen

Local BNT trail coordinator Ashley Campbell showed up mid afternoon and drove us to the old Burnett River BNT crossing at the bottom of Good Night Scrub National Park.

The bridge had been gone since the 2011 flood and it looks very different from what I remembered. Road gone also, so it would have been a tough section to cross. Fun to see it though. His brother and wife live right above here so we paid them a visit and brother Rod showed pictures of when a tornado tore through this area in about 20 years ago. Serious destruction in a fairly narrow swath around them, but their house survived. Then we went on to the Paradise Dam, which was started in Nov 2003 and I was there in December, so there wasn’t much built yet then but a lot of machinery at work. The 2011 flood went 8 metres above the spillway! We had a beer while admiring the view.

Back at the caravan park Ashley announced he was going to cook us a lamb stew, even though I had offered to take us both out for dinner. But this sounded way more fun and convivial so I gladly accepted. He is staying overnight so tomorrow we can ride a little bit of trail, the Golden Fleece Trail, an old coach road, together. So we chopped and sliced and diced and he prepared our stew in a heavy cast iron pot on his camp stove while conjuring up more brewskies, Heineken even. And wine was served with our dinner, it was truly a birthday treat that I’ll never forget. We talked until almost 22:00, well past my normal bed time. A perfect day. Thank you Ashley!