Darling Downs Tour Update
Roughly six weeks have passed since I arrived back from South Australia and I have done nothing of interest or note during that time. Not even a single solitary bike ride. A throat infection, a flare up of what I hope is torn rib cartilage, a mysterious muscular left upper arm soreness/deadness, general lethargy after night shifts and bad weather have taken there toll. What I think is torn rib cartilage seems to be slowly improving, the left arm problem remains an issue and will nessicate a visit to the local GP. Regardless, its time to pull my finger out and get a few trips organised for when my next rostered days off come around again.
With that being said, its time to drag out my DLT Tour plans mentioned in a previous post here http://thenorrisfiles.blogspot.com/2010/09/darling-downs-tour.html. I have reworked the route a little since then and have organised so it will incoporate 3 days of riding with a total distance of around 230km's. Overnight stays will be in Clifton, Gordon County Goomburra, and Killarney. The final itinerary should be something something close to the following;
Day 1: Killarney to Clifton 73 kms. After overnighting at Killarney I plan on an early start heading east to Warick for a lateish breakfast at The Bramble Patch Cafe before turning roughly north and heading to Allora following the Sunflower Route. Now Allora apparently has no camping/caravan park although on a previous visit I distinctly remember there being one and my GPS maps indicate a caravan park but an internet search comes up without a result. So I will probably continue on another 12kms to Clifton and camp there.
Day 2: Clifton to Gordon Country Goomburra 89 kms. The next moring I will head north east to the tiny village of Nobby for no other reason than I like the name of the place. Then turning east before slowly making my way south I will continue onto Goomburra and ride toward the Goomburra National Park which forms part of the Main Range National Park. This is a dead end road, partially unsealed, that leads up to the Forestry Reserve Road which brings you to a camping area that is the departure point for the parks lookouts and walking tracks. This time I will avoid this last section as it is spectaculary steep when I check the GPS route profile. Instead I will camp a little short of the National Park entrance at Gordon Country camping grounds which look remote and beautiful and come highly recommended on the internet.
Day 3: Gordon Country Goomburra return to Killarney 68 kms. The last day will see me cycling south through the towns of Freestone, Yangan, Emu Creek and Tannymorel before arriving back at Killarney.
This route through the Darling Dowms is mostly on back or secondary roads that are either sealed or unsealed and carry light traffic. The great thing about this area is that if you find that the road you are on is a bit heavy with traffic there will almost aways be another secondary road with lighter traffic that will still get you to your destination. More than likely it will not be the most direct route but if you are like me and hate traffic they are the perfect road to cycle on.
Looking at the calendar I am rostered off work for six days between November 15th and November 20th so the plan is to schedule this ride in between those dates.
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