Cecil Plains to Dalby

 Cecil Plains to Dalby = 43km
Cummulative totals = 1892km and 21, 893km
Dalby tourist park = $25 unpowered (oh big difference to last night!)
Well here we are in the very busy town of Dalby.  This town has a population of over 10,000 and is far busier than Warwick despite the similarity in population size.  If you look at the above map you will see that all highways pass through Dalby!
We had a little sleep in this morning (20 mins) before heading off with all the cotton trucks towards Dalby.
Last time we rode this it was in September and the road was relatively quiet ... this time it was a little busier but at least the trucks were very courteous to us ... maybe because they have loads on their trucks that are worth a fair bit!
So last time we passed through here there was a road that I couldn't believe they named and when I first saw it I had to ask Neil the pronounciation of it, then I thought it was a joke, but I posted it on the blog before and I will post it again ....

 can you believe that!  it is a true road as I was doing the maps last night on Google and it was on there ... you would hope it is German and the 'w' is pronounced as a 'v' !!!
Despite what the profile looks like we are riding on flat land and cross the Condamine ...

 This is a major river and eventually runs into the Murray, so it may look a little empty but they do build Weirs along the way to trap the water so here it looks like it is drying up butr when there is rain it is flowing!
It is flat country around here, such a big difference compared to the mountains and hills we rode only last week.  I would expect the next few weeks will also be flat country ... this is the sort of country you want to cycle in with a tail wind ... NOT a headwind (which is coming up according to the weather forecast).  This country has no hills, trees or bush along side the road to block out any wind so when you have a headwind ... you have the full headwind and the same with a tail wind!

 We couldn't resist getting off the bikes and going into one of the cotton fields.  This one was close to the road and was easy to get to ... the field had already been picked but this was a plant the was sort of growing outside the rows of cotton plants ...

 Like I said this road was busy with all manner of traffic and it was a surprise to see some grain machinery on the road ... maybe they are going to pick the sorghum (thanks for the link Sharon on what it is used for!  and the spelling!)

So we link up with the Warrego highway and are on it for 2km and I tell you it is a busy highway there are just trucks going everywhere ... actually they are all going to Toowoomba or coming from there!  They are carrying everything from containers, cattle, pipes, goods - you name it I can guarantee a truck is carrying it!  There is also alot of little white utes driving around with numbers all over them ... for the Coal Seam Gas.

We get to the caravan park well before lunch and the little motel across the road is fully booked and has all these utes parked outside - the coal seam gas.  And I think that is why Dalby is such a thriving little community.  Although we have passed heaps of farms with protest signs outside their gates for this coal seam gas and we have been seeing them from around Gunnedah and onwards to here and I suspect we will be seeing alot more protest signs along the way!

The park is nice, no kitchen but it does have a bbq and a tiny fridge.  There are a few campers and I would imagine that the park will start filling up with vans later on in the afternoon.  This is a popular spot for passing through caravaners.  Our spot it under and between 2 lovely shady trees and will get shade for the bulk of the day.  The oversized vans are in front of us on bitumen (no grass) and the smaller vans that want to unhook are along the river edge also with grass.  The shopping center is close and can be accessed by the path that runs alongside the park next to the Nyall River.  Neil is there now buying up some bakery markdowns I hope!

We will be having a rest day here tomorrow.