Friday 4 Jan 2019

Easy going the first bit along the gravel road to Melville Creek, then another section of old coach road.

Initially it was smooth and very rideable, then came a section that was steeper and fairly eroded, but soon after it became a gravel road again. It was actually a very nice bit of trail. After crossing the bitumen Maryborough Biggenden road the trail just followed the forest road to Sandy Creek. All in all an easy day, just 25km and I got to the camp at 9:45.

The camp is quite run down compared to 2003 and also 2009 when Gwen and I stayed here as well. Mid afternoon Ross Harrold, a youth worker and pastor at the Maryborough school, showed up. He took on a lease on this property 3 years ago, after it had been sitting vacant for about 6 years. He continues to run it as an educational centre with an emphasis on environmental education. Good on ya mate! Ross was accompanied by his oldest son and with a brand-new ride-on lawnmower they went to work clearing the field in front of the kitchen shelter.

The former staff cabins also are very run down, as is everything else. There is a lot of work to be done! The former caretaker’s house is gone, but there are some old mango trees as well as a variety of citrus. I found a few mangoes but they weren’t great.

The toilets still work but the showers don’t. I had a washup ay the rainwater tank though. When I went for a #2 there was a gecko that slipped in the bowl. Tree frogs you can expect, but a gecko was a first. Their feet aren’t quite as adept at holding them on a wet surface as frogs can so it was struggling helplessly to get out. Of course I couldn’t flush the poor thing down so I retrieved it from the bowl with my #2 deposit and set it on the floor where it quickly scurried away.

At 4pm Dave MacLeod showed up with a car load of steak, potatoes, and beer! Dave is the section coordinator from Biggenden all the way to Nanango I believe. We had a great visit and dinner together. Ross and son had already gone home so it was just the two of us. There is a gas BBQ in the kitchen shelter that we made good use of: BBQ’d steak and potatoes. It was delicious and much better of course than my regular kibble.