My world walk blog Australia 47

 Guinea Fowl and two Chris Davidson's

I was packed up and rolling out of Boonarga at seven am. A couple of hours later I was walking into Chinchilla, a rural town of some 5,500 residents in the Western Downs region of Queensland. On the entrance to the town, a man called Robbie (Robert O'Boyle), who is originally from Nottingham in the UK stopped for a chat. Apparently, he passed me on the road a couple of days before and felt guilty at not stopping to chat! So it was good fortune that I was walking past his office, Haynes recruitment agency. I was delighted when he invited me inside for coffee and to meet the staff! I noticed that there was a tyre company next door and quick as a flash I asked Robbie if they could repair my spare wheel which somehow got a puncture while strapped to Karma. Fair play to Noel at the Chinchilla Tyre and Battery centre for duly obliging and free of charge!

Finally, it was time to move on but before I left, my new friends at Haynes gave me some useful knick-knacks, a couple of mini battery packs and a travel towel and some snacks. 

   Before I left town I gave another interview to the Chinchilla New.  One always knows when a local report hits the shelves as the "hoot factor" on the road goes up dramatically. One such man who saw me a few days before and once again didn't stop was Michael. He works for an energy company that services all of Queensland, a state which is which is two and a half times larger than Texas. He gave me three litres of water and promised to get an email conversation with his workmates going to see how they could help me.

I walked on for another three hours in the direction of an easy to remember town, a place called Miles. Just as I was thinking about where to camp a man called Chris pulled up and asked if I wanted a place to camp on his beef farm. It was two kilometres away and another three or four off my route to his farm. He promised to take me back in the morning to the exact same exact same spot on the highway. That would be the reward for my 27-kilometre day, a day in which I used my new can of insect repellent frequently. First I had to walk the two kilometres to a junction calles Lee Road. I asked Chris to return in 25 minutes instead of phoning me as he suggested. I gave him my backpack and heavy water bottles to take along. I met Chris at Lee Road junction as planned. At his hobby farm of about 40 cows on 800 acres I was greeted by a confusion if Guinea Fowl. Yes that's the collective noun for a group of these unusual animals. With Chris's help, I managed to sort some problems out with Karma. A little later his wife Toni and their three young children arrived. We had a delicious chicken curry dinner and my offer of a camp spot camp spot was upgraded to a bedroom
Next day, I took a rest day at the farm as Toni mentioned that she genuinely appreciated my 'effort' and how good it was for her children.

Not at all, I enjoyed hanging out with Geoffrey John who loved pouring over his atlas and telling him of places to travel to. He showed me where their last guests, French cyclists came from. His younger sister Emily read her books and hugged me to death while little Charlotte showed me her colours.
Toni mentioned that it is important for her to ensure that her children know that their world is bigger than"Aston-Eyre", bigger than Chinchilla and the community they live in.
We all have things to learn from one another.

  Chris is originally from Liverpool after several summer work visas, he tried to put some roots down here. I asked Toni how she met Chris and it was a pretty funny story! She said. "I wanted to visit a female acquaintance called Chris Davidson. I asked a male friend who was keen on me to take me. However, I didn't realise that my male friend was taking me to his friend Chris's house instead. Strange as it may seem, he also knew a different person called Chris Davidson and that's where the confusion began. You can imagine that I was thinking it a bit strange on the way over and even thought that we were going in the wrong direction. But my male friend assured me we were indeed going the right way. Anyway, at the farmhouse, I set off looking for my friend the woman Chris Davidson. I was really confused when I was introduced to Chris Davidson, a man, the friend of my friend. I was adamant that he, Chris Davidson was really not Chris Davidson! I thought everyone was playing a joke on me and when we all discovered what happened we had a great laugh.
   Yes, the rest is happy history, as they say."
It was love at first as she fancied him so much. They were engaged after nine weeks and married after six months. 

Another amazing day on the road.