Tuesday 22 Jan 2019

As per yesterday’s plan I rode to Aratula, 14k all paved, and had a coffee and guess what at the local bakery cafe. Since there was good reception I added some pictures to yesterday’s post and uploaded. Less than 1 km along the highway was the turnoff to Moogerah Lake.

I was super surprised how much water there is in the lake, considering the severe drought conditions everywhere. In 2004 the lake was only 5% full, according to my notes. I don’t know the current percentage of fill but it looks much more attractive now then it did then. I took a great many pictures, I was so amazed, but I won’t bore you with them all.

Other than a short little bit of gravel I was following paved roads all the way, and very little traffic. It is also super scenic. Quite a difference from farther up north which was often really sort of boring. But without having done that first I would not have anything to compare this with and I’m glad it isn’t the other way around.

About 2-3 kms before I got to the official BNT camping area on Teviot Brook I noticed a tiny little trail with a locked gate that I could actually duck under. It led to a beautiful flat grassy area on the other side of the creek with lots of shade. There is another little creek joining Teviot just upstream, so the flow should be much better here than at the BNT camp. We’ll see tomorrow when I go by there. Anyway, this is a beautiful spot, in the top-5 I’d say.

The only negative part is all those tiny little bity ants. I choose a spot where I don’t notice them, and next thing they crawl up my legs by the 100’s. There is no escaping them, other than by being in the creek, so I reckon that’s what I’ll do. And that is what I did do, in and out of the creek all afternoon, lovely!

Also, because I chose to do the little detour via Aratula, I may have missed Anthony. I know of myself that I may/can/will change plans at a moment’s notice, so it’s good that I did not call him ahead of time. And he may still be in Killarney taking a rest day or two — will find out tomorrow.

Total 51k 3:45h 660m+ 560m-