Murrurundi to Tamworth – 55 miles

I liked the Murrurundi campsite: nice owner, neat and clean layout, great food recommendations and a quiet pitch. One ‘uncontrollable’ are the birds. If you camp in Australia then your whole journey has a soundtrack of squawks, shrieks and something that reminds me of a 56k modem connecting. It’s unique about the country. After dark they shut up. Next day in the darkness I did my contortions and packed the tent and made breakfast in the kitchen.

Some porridge and a coffee before the off. The ride started with a steep climb. As you can see by this elevation profile it wasn’t going to be an easy day up until the delightful long descent.

Sadly up this long hill, it took me 35 minutes to climb, I started to discuss the considerable ‘elephant in the room’ on this trip: how would I get home if Middle East airspace was closed due to Iranian ordnance? My return flight from Brisbane stopped over in Dubai. Of course, there is no one at your travel agent or airline you can speak to, it’s all chat bots. If there were contact numbers they’re busy with a message to go online. How very 20th Century to expect a human voice. The Emirates website still have the flights listed although advice that you could obtain a refund or delay your flight for free. I would work through my travel agent because I didn’t book direct. My travel agent, Trip.com, said if the flights are cancelled they will offer ‘appropriate follow up solutions’. Desperate to speak to a human, other than Anna, I will speak to a travel agent in Tamworth.

It’s an attractive landscape and hard to equate how it makes a living as mining isn’t a pretty affair but passing through you’d not really know about the activity.

My midnight nemesis below! Clearly a lot of clattering and clonking as they passed by.

In my blogs I will tell you about the hills but you’d be sensible to think ‘you knew what the profile was and you still went ahead with the trip, shut up’. Of course this is right but the solo traveller, a weary one can stop seeing the wood from the trees as the next hill appears, the temperature is starting to soar and you’re wondering what day you’ll get to fly out of Australia, will it have to involve 10 hour lay overs as you take the only flights available and you can’t resolve this because the airline is understandably dealing with immediate flights and it’ll be a few days before they worry about you. Just past Wallabadah I stopped, sat on some armco barrier at the bottom of a half mile climb scoffed a few Haribos and contemplated the meaning of life before pulling myself together and found the granny gear and trundled up the hill.

On the descent the town of Tamworth generated a few billboards.

Well lookee here. I’m partial to a little country music.

My time in Australia had been hot/warm but this heat was ridiculous. As soon as I hit the edge of the town I pulled into a petrol station, found the chill cabinet and demolished a tin of Coca-Cola.

Anna had booked me a room for a couple of nights with air conditioning. Now that would be lovely. As the Receptionist remarked when he passed across the key the ‘good news, its that it’s already been paid for’.