My world walk blog Australia 64 - Thanks to the Blue Heller Hotel in Kynuna

Thanks to the Blue Heller Hotel in Kynuna

(I'm still playing catchup on the blog, sorry!)

After the previous days massive distance that left me with just 38 kilometres to the Kynuna roadhouse. I felt that was a good position to be in. With my early start that I would surely arrive before dark and be able to have a bit of a social. The outback bars have so many interesting people and and have so much character that it would be silly to just walk through the villages in the middle of the day. Instead, I make them my finishes. After all and after four days of being tormented by flies, I think I deserve it.

So, an hour before sundown I arrived at the Blue Heller Hotel in Kynuna. Thanks a million to Mark and Jay, the owners for providing me with a free nights accommodation in their lovely hotel.

Jay is a former hairdresser, having cut hair for 40 years. She asked me where I got my haircut and proceeded to come out of retirement to rescue my head. As you may remember, two weeks ago in a bar I saw a woman with a scissors. She was cutting a label off a piece of clothing and I asked her to cut my hair. Well, it was a disaster but as I spend most of my life under a flynet and not a cat walk, I didn't care! Another fun night was had in the Blue Heeler, a true blue Aussie outback pub. I also enjoyed talking to a young Scottish couple called Erin and Daniel who have been together since their  schooldays. Before they came to Australia to work they travelled the world for a year.

In the morning, Mark 'shouted' me my breakfast. That's the way Aussies call a treat. Over several cups of coffee, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs and toast we discussed my recent near miss when I stood on a snake. I reckon that I rolled Karmas front wheel over it before I stood on it and the quick one-two probably scared off the snake. One man gave me food for thought when he said that perhaps the snake bit my front wheel I'd be telling you a fib if I didn't say that I didn't check the wheel
Once again Mark mentioned that in the area eight of the twelve most deadliest snakes in the world live. According to him, the most dangerous is the Pierce Inland Phython. I heard that the week before that a man in his forties died when he stood on a snake in Townsville. In Queensland snakes often come into houses and believe it or not there is a huge fine for killing one, something like $20,000 as they are protected species.

  It was after 11 am by the time I got walking. With a big effort I made it to Gilliat River where I pitched my tent on my 45 kilometre day. It was 10.30 pm. That was another pleasant evenings walk. At that hour there is little traffic. I can see vehicle headlights fifteen or sixteen kilometres/ ten miles away and that can take them about ten minutes to arrive. That allows me to walk in the middle of the road for I'm well lit up with a strong flashlight, a flashing red light and I wear a high-viz vest. That gives me some welcome relief from the severe road camber. As mentioned before, there is a three degree drop-off at the edge of the road to encourage heavy rain away. Most rain in Queensland falls between December and March. When a vehicle aproaches, I just move across to the other side. On rare occasions when there is a vehicle coming in each direction, I just step off the road.

Many people ask me how I manage with the long road trains. They are the trucks that pull anything from three to six trailers. They are mostly triples, but if there are more trailers they are usually smaller in individual sizes and are limited to a maximum overall length of 53.5 metres.

These drivers are highly professional and without exception they always move out for me as I walk towards them. At night, due to the extra visibility as I have mentioned, they usually drive in the middle of the road. Some drivers have told me that the camber is also hard on their trucks.