We started our ride early Monday morning.
I was very nervous because I still had some final packing to do and every now and then my mind whispered 'what if this is but a huge bad idea?'.
Focusing instead on the wonderful things we would see and that this was simply a first step and we weren't competing with anyone,
we were on the road early enough.
Sousa realised something was different but was just excited to be part of whatever this was.
I was following google maps and was enjoying the ride until a turn-off about 40mins after I left - a big yellow sign saying 'Road Flooded'. My heart sank a bit. Now, we did have some rain a few days before, and it was a dirt road. They are a common occurrence here in Australia, they are less travelled roads, so they don't have tar and only gravel and dirt. Most of them cross so-called floodways, where, after rain, run-off water and high creeks flow over the road. Indicators show you the depths (sometimes up to 2m!).
This particular road on my way was one I've never driven before and I didn't know if there was an actual deep water crossing or really muddy part. Sometimes councils forget or just leave the sign up even though the road is totally fine again...
I stopped on the side of the road and weighed my options. My car is a 4-wheel drive and a bit higher built, very likely to make any rough terrain, but then - if there really is still water over the road, it's never a good idea to drive through it, as you never know if any of the road is washed away underneath. Plus if I got stuck, the time to get someone to get me back out would postpone my whole trip for a day.
There was the option of taking the long way around, which would cost me about another 40-50 minutes. I didn't want to take the risk and decided to play it safe and went the long way.
It wasn't too bad, I stopped in a town on the way,
had a little pee break ('every 2h: stop, revive, survive') and then went on.
Sousa did a great job waiting outside the toilet building for me, so
of course I had to take a picture :D
One town I always wanted to drive through was Texas, in Queensland.
Simply because there is a really catchy song called 'Texas Qld 4385'
(it's on Spotify, worth a listen if you like country music!).
It was only too handy that there was one possible direction that led me
straight through it!
I had a very nice, relaxing lunch at a park near the town entrance.
It marked the half-way to our destination!
We didn't see many exciting things except landscapes rolling past,
but for this murial I had to stop!
More and more grain silos all over the country display beautiful scenes of Australian life and I had seen this one in the Newspaper before. To see it in real life was definitely something different, it's huge!
At this stage Sousa had realised that this was not a normal trip and had grown a bit weary of driving in the car...
I also drove through a town that had these single trees as road dividers. They looked quite odd and sad to me, so I wanted to show you.
The grass on the ground around the trees is likely that brown because it has been sprayed with weed killer. What a world we live in.
We drove about 8 hours that day, through some forests, some open flat fields and lots and lots of hills. Also lots of little stops.
My destination was a town called Yarraman. The top of the trail I had decided to take a closer look at: the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail.
Since I didn't know anything about the area, I had booked a spot for my tent at the Yarraman Caravan park a week in advance. They were absolutely wonderful, very friendly and even told me on the phone, I could leave my car there while hiking! Proofs once again how being kind can dissolve someones anxiety and fears within seconds :)
I arrived tired but happy just before sunset and was greeted with a warm welcome and a few different maps (Yay! I love maps!).
After quickly setting up my tent (which took me about 5 minutes, I am forever grateful that I found this tent!), I had a quick shower and finished the day with dinner in the fading sunlight.
It was so quiet and peaceful and to me, the perfect start for our little adventure.
Sousa fell asleep right away, despite being a bit anxious about the new environment. When it was time to retire into the tent, he walked in, had a quick look around and then dropped his back half on my side and front half on his - and started dreaming within a minute!
The next day I woke up early with the first light, had breakfast, another shower (who knew when I would have such lovely amenities again) and re-packed my backpack again. I was still trying to get rid of some weight.
Not with much luck (it ended up being around 18-20kg). But, I thought, surely once I've started walking and getting used to the weight, it wouldn't be so bad. And it would get only lighter, since I'd be using the water and food.
At least everything fit in! Sleeping bag rolled into a big blanket on top, mat on the right, tent and safety shawl on the bottom.
Inside I had food on the bottom (there's a separate room), some spare clothes, Sousa's food, some treats, my sanity bag, cooking utensils and two 2l water bladders in the main compartment. In the little lid pocket I had my maps, a tiny notebook & pen, a mini book, first aid, a solar charger, headlamp and a UHF radio for emergencies. I was all set!
Sousa had his 2 litre water, his bowl, a toy, comfy blanket and poop bags in his.
The morning turned out to be perfect. There was fog all around us and it was lovely cool (not a given since Queensland is known to be very, very humid and hot).
And so I packed everything up (not without some curious comments, good wishes of other early rising guests) and drove my car to the visitor car park. There we met Tania, the lovely owner of the Caravan park, and had a little chat about my hiking plans. She took this picture of Sousa and me walking off into the morning mists. This will be forever a lifetime favourite <3
And so we headed off to a little walking track that would lead us through town and to the start of the trail.