Saturday 12 Jan 2019

This was a perfect day. Nobody questioned my camping in the park last night, if they even noticed, and it was really nice to have a picnic table to myself.

I followed the Old Yarraman Road, which was mostly gravel, but the interesting thing is that the middle ⅓ was another old stock route from Nanango to Yarraman. So instead of following the old stock route to Benarkin I now followed this one. It was a great section.

In Yarraman the necessary stop at the bakery, of course, where I had a flat white and a spinach feta flaky concoction, which was very tasty. I admired the very nicely designed and informative information centre and then onto the BVRT to Blackbutt.

It is a much more interesting rail trail than the previous one. And no little swing gates but nice little grids for pedestrians and cyclists. At one point there even was an electrically operated gate!

I got to Blackbutt well before noon, had coffee and an apple turnover at the Blackbutt Bakery, and yes, it was the best one I’ve had so far. Almost (?) as good as what Cooks Bakery in Nanango used to make.

Then off to the Showgrounds where the camping fee is only $8 when you don’t need power and the toilet and shower facilities are second to none. Really a great setup. Had a nice chat (I mean a yarn) with the fellow who looks after it. He and his sons were just unloading an enormous variety of squashes of all sizes, colours and shapes. He operates a woodworking business on site as well.

At his suggestion I set up under the roof of the concession. He says that lots of trail users (BNT, which follows this section too) camp under the roof and he has seen it all: BNT-ers with horses, donkeys, camels, bicycles, you name it. Space galore, I seem to be the only one again, other than a couple of folks in caravans, but they aren’t under this roof.

All in all one of the best riding days to date!

Totals 45k 4:00h 500m+ 435m-