(Written by Nancy – updated 17 May 2011)

We woke to the birds and the bush turkeys around our tent and thankfully blue sky.  We had breakfast, packed and headed off by about 8:30.

First order of the day was to backtrack the 35k from 1770 to the turn-off to Miriam Vale.  Unfortunately we had a bit of a headwind so it was a bit tough cycling in spots, but it did not feel as rolling (or undulating, as they tend to say here) as it did on the way in.  Even with the backtrack we both thought the trip to 1770 was worth it.  We probably would have stayed an extra day to explore Agnes Waters a bit but wanted to be further along so that we would hit most of the time we had to spend on the Bruce Hwy on Saturday and Sunday on the hope that traffic would be a bit less.

Bee boxes

We stopped for morning tea at the Fingerroad Roadhouse, where we had stopped on the way in.  Good coffee and we splurged on a sausage roll as well.  From there we got back on to the more major road to Miriam Vale.  Traffic was not too bad, as there was quite a bit of road construction so it kept the speeds down.  There were two sisters manning a couple of the ‘Stop here’ signs – we had a chance to chat with one while we waited and she was a classic Aussie – even got a ‘fair dinkum’ out of her about our trip, and we heard lots of chatter about us on the roadworkers radios as we rode through.

Proper espresso and sausage roll at Fingerboard Roadhouse

We rode to Miriam Vale and stopped at the information center to get the scoop.  They told us the caravann park in Bororen was still open – it was another 13k north on the Bruce Hwy.  We decided to head for it, but first had lunch in Miriam Vale – toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches, which hit the spot.  We went and had a look at the massive fig tree – huge tree with a very broad canopy.  A sign told the story of how important the tree was to the little town, as it had survived through all the changes in the town and surrounding area over the years.

Fig tree at Miriam Vale

Info on fig tree at Miriam Vale

We finally roused ourselves from lunch and hit the Bruce Hwy to get the last 13k into Bororen. Hard to call this a town, just a few houses, a grocery store and a pub.  The caravan park was very nice but empty of overnighters except for us.  We had a grassy spot right next to the little camp kitchen.  There was lots of artwork around the garden that made it very cheery.  There was a dart board in the camp kitchen so of course Dave insisted on a game of darts before we did anything.  I tried to convince him to put up the tent between throws so we at least made some progress. 

Our camp spot at Bororen Caravan Park

Dave playing darts at Bororen Caravan Park

We had stopped at the little general store to get something for dinner – ended up with a can of soup.  Before dinner we walked down to the Bororen pub – great place with lots of wooden benches.  Unfortunately not a lot of great beer, so we bowed to the pressure and finally had a XXXX Gold.  It wasn’t too bad – didn’t kill us anyway – but wouldn’t be my first choice (if I had a choice, which is not likely around here!).  We wanted a bit of a snack but they only had packaged chips and things so Dave selected something appropriate for this kind of beer – Cheese Twisties!  What more could you ask for after 83k on a loaded touring bike?

XXXX Gold and Cheese Twisties at Bororen Pub

We intended to do our posting while we were sitting there drinking our lovely beer but the laptop would not boot up – even while plugged in we just got a black screen.  Hmmm, not good.  We finally gave up and headed back to our campsite to cook our soup with some leftover noodles we had.  We ate dinner and still had no luck with the computer so finally headed to bed.  While the campsite itself was lovely, unfortunately it was right on the Bruce Hwy and the truck traffic was pretty unbelievable all night.  Lots of huge trucks hauling massive bits of machinery – very noisy!

Between the truck noise and worrying about the computer it was not a very restful night.  Fortunately we had called and made a booking at the Rockhampton YHA so we knew we had a bit of a respite coming up and could try to get some things sorted out.

Bomeliads at Bororen Caravan Park (for mom)