A trip to the cricket - 2012 Mundubbera seven-a-side

penguineer

just luscious
The Mundubbera Seven-a-Side cricket competition was on again on Sunday(5 Feb 2012) and I was going up for the day.

I made a rather cruisy start to the day, leaving on the Saturday at about 1000h and no real plan to rush. Regardless, once I got moving I didn't really stop much and didn't take any photos on the way up.

Started off with a short commute down the Goat Track to Canungra to top the tank up and then hit the road.

Had plenty of time, but didn't feel in the mood to take lots of photos - just ride - so no photos of my trip north, I have others from other trips if you're worried.

Headed out to the Boonah turnoff then North to Rosewood, a quick walk around and stretch at Fernvale then off to Esk and places north.

As it happens, I mistimed the road opening up the Blackbutt range so had a 15 minute wait(open northbound on the hour and half past for 15 minutes) - that's OK, had a bit of a natter to a guy on a GSX1100 he's just bought(he was also considering a Strom, but the GSX was good value) while we waited for the lights.

Moving again and the 4wd in front of me was really getting on my nerves - always speeding up when there was a passing opportunity and just slow enough to be irritating otherwise. Not worth passing him and I'm not in a rush so peel off at the park in Yarraman.

Of course, while I'm there "Hey nice V-Strom - I have one just like it in silver!", so for the next 10 minutes or so we chatted about the bike, various farkles and where we're going while I help him reload a barbeque into his trailer.

Refuel at Ban Ban Springs in time to see the first few grey nomads setting up for the night in the park(at 4:30pm!). Had a pie and a powerade and headed off again.

Good running most of the way through Gayndah and Mundubbera out to the house, but as I got close to my parents place I had a bit of a shock - the road was closed!

Turns out the crew working on the bridge had a pump that needed to be refueled and the road was closed to give the diesel tanker access. So - they removed the causeway the locals built, replaced it with their own, which needs water to be pumped over it, but the water flows back through some hole under the causeway. This is the project to replace a bridge which got washed away before it was opened in January last year. Somehow I'm sceptical.

Plenty of daylight left!

One thing I had noticed on the way was that the bike was performing better than I remembered - this was the first decent run since the clutch had been fixed and the tacho was showing about 500rpm less than I expected at various speeds, I'll be interested to see if my fuel consumption improves on this trip!

Sunday was spent running around like a mad thing between the cricket venues, with a few quick breaks to eat and take a photo.....

(my attempt to be arty and frame the action with the spectators)
2012-mundubbera-cricket-action-800.jpg


Monday was another cruisy day for the trip home, once again leaving at about 1000h.

This is the road just after Beeron Road becomes bitumen:

2012-mundubbera-cricket-road-ahead-800.jpg


....and back towards the gravel (see the warning sign on the crest?):

2012-mundubbera-cricket-back-to-the-gravel-800.jpg


Just south of Mundubbera I stopped off to pick up some produce:

2012-mundubbera-cricket-mangos-800.jpg


A "box" is a seriously overloaded half stubbie carton - Dad had rung ahead to arrange a box of green mangoes that would take longer to ripen. These guys had finished picking and were getting rid of the "non-commercial" fruit(not picture perfect enough for Coles or Woolies).

Back on the road again I stopped to take a photo that may be of interest to people overseas or that don't get out of the cities:

2012-mundubbera-cricket-rural-numbering-800.jpg


That's the street number using the rural numbering scheme. In rural areas numbers are marked based on the distance from the start of the road - so this place is 194.76km from the start of the Burnett Highway. The scheme makes it easier for emergency services to locate places as all the properties have numbers, the numbering is consistent and you can reckon the location based on distance.

We also tend not to use the numeric designation of the various highways(A3, Highway 49, Highway 61) instead preferring the name of the road("Burnett Highway", "Wide Bay Highway", "New England Highway").


Refuelled again at Ban Ban Springs and then thought about what to do - I didn't want to follow the same route home, I wanted to get an "I've Been Everywhere" photo at Kumbarilla(south of Dalby) or visit Fairy in Maidenwell. Decided on Maidenwell - so decided to head south of Kingaroy and head across the Bunya Mountains.

Passing through Goomeri, Murgon, and Kingaroy memories of my last trip through came back to me - I could see all of the spots I pulled over, where I willed the bike up yet another rise and where the bike and I eventually called it quits, only this time I wasn't being passed by caravans on the way up hills, my brain wasn't dehydrated and performing time and distance gymnastics to factor my chances of getting to Dalby......

Demons exorcised, I stopped at the turn off to the Bunya Mountains - "Road not suitable for..."....nah - doesn't mention motorbikes.

The road is sealed, steep(both ways) and windy through farmland until you reach the entrance to the Bunya Mountains national park where the warning sign is repeated and the single lane of bitumen just seems to head straight for the sky!

Soon the forest closes in and the smells of the rainforest take over with a hint of pine from the massive Bunyas, eventually blocking the sky in many places.

A quick photo where the road flattens out again:
2012-mundubbera-cricket-bunya-rainforest-800.jpg


The bitumen here is in good condition, but narrow and the growth doesn't allow much of a view of the road ahead.......

A couple of piccies from the top (lookout carpark):

East:
2012-mundubbera-cricket-bunya-view-east-800.jpg


West:
2012-mundubbera-cricket-bunya-view-west-800.jpg


(that's it for the piccies folks!)


Things lost their lustre a bit when I took the Maidenwell turnoff - this road had been resealed recently, which meant lots of loose road metal kept me on my toes on the steep corners and the smell of the bitumen completely overpowered the fresh mountain air I had gotten used to. There are a few sections of gravel road at the base of the hills which is in pretty good condition except for a couple of corners where the corrugations had me douting my sanity.

Eventually arrived at Maidenwell to surprise Fairy...and she's not there!!! Gone to the Gold Coast! Ah well, I know the way there now ;-)

While on the phone Fairy suggested a road back to Esk as an alternative to going through Toowoomba and the traffic - beauty!

From Maidenwell, down through Crows Nest, Hampton and then to Esk.....

The stretch from Hampton to Esk was a ripper! Apart from a couple of detours(land slides?) through side roads, it was good tarmac, nice curves with good eyelines and great pace(generally 100)!

Arriving in Esk was almost a let-down.......

Just on disk another refueling at Fernvale (the bike got 91-octane, I had a powerade and a sausage roll) then back home via Rosewood, Beaudesert, Tamborine....

The air was cool, the bike was humming along, the moon was out and I was ready to keep riding, but the journey had to end sometime and it was 1930h already!

1195km for the trip and lots of fun!

Spot map of the trip on Spotwalla:

http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=40684f294a0cf350f

Embedded if the forum supports it:

(dunno if that works)

And a graphic:

2012-mundubbera-cricket-map.jpg


Cheers!
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
2012-mundubbera-cricket-bunya-rainforest-800.jpg


The bitumen here is in good condition, but narrow and the growth doesn't allow much of a view of the road ahead.......


Oh maaann....that brings back memories.:clap:

And there are a few around here who'll feel the same, looking at that pic.

LOVE the road across the Bunyas, the climb from Kingaroy is a cracker.
I think we never made it out via Maidenwell, always taking the Maclagan option in the south.

Don't know what all those Queenslanders are whinging about, weather looks bloody perfect on those pics!
And 15 bux for a box of mangoes? :eek: Whoohoo!
 

Chally

Tour Pro
I'm glad you didn't get lost in Mundubbera! :bs

Thanks for the report and it seems you timed it well missing all the rain.

Jeff
 
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BB63

SV, DRZ & now DL Rider
Who is whinging Glitch? I'm not.:bs
Great read, inspiring me to get away again soon. :cool:
BTW, I cant believe that you hadnt ridden the Esk-Hampton road before, it is way up there in my favourites.
Cheers brian
 

penguineer

just luscious
LOVE the road across the Bunyas, the climb from Kingaroy is a cracker.
I think we never made it out via Maidenwell, always taking the Maclagan option in the south.

Don't know what all those Queenslanders are whinging about, weather looks bloody perfect on those pics!

I've got to get out a bit more - there's some nice little spots up that way - actually lots of interesting "through routes" if you look away from the main roads....

And 15 bux for a box of mangoes? :eek: Whoohoo!

For a while one of the packing sheds was letting you bring your own box :glu
The parents would pick green ones and mail them to us in Sydney - the guy in the post office would let us know what we had as soon as we walked in the door - they'd be ripe just as they arrived!

Cheers!
 

penguineer

just luscious
[just found multi-quote - different icon...]

I'm glad you didn't get lost in Mundubbera! :bs

Thanks for the report and it seems you timed it well missing all the rain.

Jeff

How can you get lost in Mundubbera? If you stick to the main roads you have to be lost to be IN Mundubbera, but other than that........

Got home and a couple more days of cloud and rain....*sigh*

Who is whinging Glitch? I'm not.:bs
Great read, inspiring me to get away again soon. :cool:
BTW, I cant believe that you hadnt ridden the Esk-Hampton road before, it is way up there in my favourites.
Cheers brian

I have to get out more........I'd definitely like to do it again - maybe stay up on the range overnight and explore a little......

Believe it or not, I haven't even taken a swing at Glorious which seems to be a favourite, I'm not sure I'd fit in and I probably wouldn't go up there on weekends for the same reason I don't do Beechmont on weekends.....

When I got to Esk-Hampton road it was already past 3pm, so I was pretty well the only thing on the road.....

Cheers!
 

BB63

SV, DRZ & now DL Rider
Haha, I avoid glorious and beechmont as well, tho I must admit that every few years on christmas day when I manage to be a christmas orphan I take the oportunity to head over glorious when there is next to no traffic or idiots.
Cheers brian
 

JohnG

always out...
Oh maaann....that brings back memories.:clap:

And there are a few around here who'll feel the same, looking at that pic.

LOVE the road across the Bunyas, the climb from Kingaroy is a cracker.
I think we never made it out via Maidenwell, always taking the Maclagan option in the south.

Don't know what all those Queenslanders are whinging about, weather looks bloody perfect on those pics!
And 15 bux for a box of mangoes? :eek: Whoohoo!

Magic country alright.There's kind of a dry-ish weather pocket stretching from there up to the back of Mackay at the moment while it remains wet out west & down in NSW.
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
I've got to get out a bit more - there's some nice little spots up that way - actually lots of interesting "through routes" if you look away from the main roads....


There sure are some beaut stretches through the hinterland...and all of them beat the coastal drags.


For a while one of the packing sheds was letting you bring your own box :glu
The parents would pick green ones and mail them to us in Sydney - the guy in the post office would let us know what we had as soon as we walked in the door - they'd be ripe just as they arrived!

:):)
 

Christo

Tractor Pilot
I have to get out more........I

Cheers!

Give me a chance! I don't start holidays till next friday!


Seriously though Sean, I've known ya a few years now, and you've ridden a lot of places that some people never get around to!

Glorious? Esk/Hampton, etc, they're just latte rides for a FarRider.

We'll find some cracker roads on the way south mate!
 
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