June 22nd: Hughenden to Torrens Creek – 88.4 km
Day 252
It was cold today. Starting out we both had numb fingers and toes for a long stretch. At 43 km we passed the Prairie Motel, where we learned that you can camp for free if you buy a beer or a meal from the hotel. However right next door, east of the motel, there is a nice little public park with picnic benches, bathroom, and running water. It doesn’t say you can camp there, but if you are cycling, no one would say anything. Unfortunately we couldn’t afford to stop, as we only have food for 3 days and there aren’t any supermarket between the 240 km from Hughenden to Charters Towers.
For the first time we began to see groups of trees, along the roadside, what might even be called forest. Hills on either side of us blocked the wind and we began to climb gradually higher throughout the afternoon.
We reached what we imagined to be a plateau and the road runs incredibly straight along the top. With only a slight headwind we made decent time and arrived in Torrens Creek at 2:30pm. What is supposed to be a caravan park is no more than a dusty field behind a building. There are hot showers, and that’s about it. No camp kitchen or even just a barbecue, nor laundry and other amenities. I asked the owner if we could use a kettle or a range top. He told me no, they are for the restaurant, (which was closed) and the didn’t have them here and if we wanted we could just keep going and he would give us our money back. He knew there’s nothing out here and we really need the water, so we stayed.
