Georgetown to Croydon

 Georgetown to Croydon = 149km (day 1 = 80km day 2 = 69km)
Cummulative totals = 4304km and 24,305km
Croydon Caravan park = $15 unpowered (you wouldn't even consider powered at $30 way out here!!!)
Day 1:
Georgetown was a great place for a rest day, we did go to the local swimming pool which is hardly used (a few locals did turn up after we got in the pool) and I think I can understand why - it is a 29 degree day and it is definitely a hot day for a swim but the pool is not solar heated or anything like that ... it is just plain cold water and so it is a shock to the system when you get in, but once in it is very refreshing and you soon warm up!
The ride towards Croydon is relatively easy.  The first 30km is predominantly single lane so with everyone overtaking us and kicking up red dust we are soon covered in grit and you can feel it sticking to your sun block!  About 20km out you come to the Cumberland Chimney which is all that is left of the old gold crushing plant.  There are one or two mine shafts around as they are fenced off.

 After all the excitement from the last blog post not alot happened on our way to Croydon, we did see some Bustard birds but they were so shy and flew away before I could even stop the bike for a photo ... but we did manage to get a photo of these Brolgas ...

 The road is rolling up to the 50km mark and from there is is relatively flat going so it is easy to pull off and have a cuppa alongside the road ...

 It is a very hot day and there is not a breath of wind about (which is unusal as the prevailing wind should be a south easterly and behind us but the O'Brien curse has done it again!).
We cross the Gilbert river and all creeks and rivers up to this point have been bone dry and I thought this river might have a little bit of water .. no it too is bone dry both directions ...

 There is a rest area on the other side of the causeway and we stop there but it is a dust bowl, so we decide to continue on at the recommendation of a council worker we met at the previous rest area, we had a bite to eat and then got up and Neil spotted in the corner a nice shady spot and easy access to the small creek bed so we can dig a hole for a toilet.  We investigated and it was nice and shady but I wasn't overly enthralled ... I prefer a bushcamp to a rest area camp ... anyway we start to set up and on the ground are these shrub stubble which has been mown over, we lay done the ground sheet and I lean on it and up comes a stubble through the plastic so we move the tent as more than likely it will come through the tent floor.  so we move it out to the sun and again it happens so we give up and decide to have our cuppa and move on up the road ....

 this is the spot, it is probably just as well as it was bit of a dust bowl and all the caravans were looking at you all the time!
So we repacked the bikes and went up the road, it didn't take us long to find a nice spot, close to the road, about 30m from it ... but can you see us?

 I have zoomed in and put where we are on this photo -

 and here is a better shot of where we are actually camped ...

 it was funny as a few cattle came trotting up the other side of the fence, saw us, promptly stopped and sort of just stood there and looked at us for about 10mins thinking what the hell are they, they weren't there the last time we came through, what do we do!!!
Day 2:
We both had a good nights sleep - the road at night is very quiet and it was warm but enough to have to have the sleeping bag on.
Left our spot at 7.30am and again no one is on the road for a few hours.  It is a double lane road now from here to Normanton and it is in real good condition ... I suppose they don't get the heavy traffic load that some roads can get.
Again today was pretty uneventful, probably the highlight was coming across a massive group of Red tailed Black Cockatoos, there must have been at least 100 of them over 3 trees and boy do they make a racket.  We have seen them while in Queensland but only in pairs or small groups of 6 at the most so we heard these ones before we saw them!  Everytime we see them they quickly fly off so it is impossible to get a photo but today we carefull approached them and they couldn't care less about us ...

 the male bird has a 2 red strips on its' tail and you can see the red part mainly when they take off and fly.
I think I have said this before about the drivers along this road they are very courteous to us ut now I have a complaint ... I think Dad will sympathise with me over this ... I have RSI (repetitive strain injury) from raising my hand on the bike to acknowledge the drivers that are oncoming ... as they always wave to you so you sort of feel you have to wave back ... so my right wrist is sore!
We get to Croydon by lunch time and it is warm, the wind is blowing stronger today and is coming from the south south east so it is a cross wind ... tomorrow I hope it stays that way as it will be more of a tailwind!
The campground is nice and has a basic kitchen with free gas bbq, fridge, jug, toaster and microwave.  Croydon is a small town and has this historic general store (est. 1894) and is the oldest in Australia

 I did go in and buy something in there for our dinner (the only other place is at the servo opposite the caravan park) and the lady let me take photos of the inside, it is still set up like in the olden days with the tinned stuff at the back behind the counter and you ask for it,

 but other stuff you can go and grab yourself like the drinks, fridge products and fruit ...

 The town does have a pub which looks pretty old!

 and right next to that is a lovely mural on the water tank ...

Delivery of bread is tomorrow so all we could get was frozen white bread, dinner tonight is tinned Stagg chilli beans, baked potatoes with tomato.
It is a 2 day ride to Normanton so the next blog posting will be on Thursday.