Day 2

Thursday, December 24, 2015
Miles, Queensland, Australia
I woke early, long before sunrise, not totally rested, tired with a hangover from the previous late night adrenaline filled adventurous push to make it to Parkes in order to stick to the planned schedule. 
Still determined  to keep to the schedule and push for maximum miles on the second day, I quickly showered, packed up the bike  and left the accommodation. 
The sun was just about to rise but Parkes was still sleeping  and as I headed out of town due north  no food places  along the route were open yet.  
The hunger and tired  overridden by a drive  to cover a  1000km or so for the day,  no time was to spare going around  town looking for an early morning open breakfast vendor.  A nice breakfast would have gone a long way to fix  tired and rekindle courage for the enormous distance ahead  through unfamiliar territories.
Parkes is well known for the radio telescope which was used by NASA to receive the images of Neil Armstrong first man to step onto the moon surface back in 1969. 
The telescope was still standing ever so regally in its rural setting in the middle of a sheep paddock some 30km north of the town, visible from the Newell Hwy on the right going north.   
I was familiar with the movie “The Dish” which so excellently portray that bit of Australian history and was looking for a photo of “The Dish” with a flock of sheep in the foreground. 
Riding through  the early morning freshness, the rural farming countryside north of  Parkes, rolling hills and freshly harvested wheat fields, reminding very much of the Free State in South Africa. I could not find the ideal setting for the photo. 
Too early and no time to spare to  turn off for detour to visit to the telescope I continued north, the early morning cool soon giving way to an increasingly hot and humid central NSW summer day. 
Acutely aware of the tropical cyclone brewing far to the north and no weather updates since leaving Parkes, not sure how far down south the weather will be impacted, I was very sensitive to signs of storms developing ahead. 
The landscape was changing away from  savanna to  beautiful forrest.  By midmorning the skies ahead, framed by the tree lines on either side of the Newell Hwy was filling with beautiful yet ominous  huge cumulus nimbus storm clouds growing darker as I approached. By late morning  I was riding into  intense, fortunately localised, very welcome summer thunderstorms.
Towns with beautiful melodious names such as Coonabarabran, Narrabri and Wee Waa Moree  rolled by but the summer heat started to tell on me and I was still tired having been burning the candle from both ends the previous day,  struggling to find the old enduring long distance rhythm similar to a “boesman draffie” which can comfortably be kept up for days on-end. 
At Goondiwindi I crossed the border from New South Wales  into Queensland and then onto the Leichhardt Hwy. 
Riding along, tired in the dry hot Queensland interior summer heat pushing for  Day 2 planned distance  to reach  a suitable  overnight stop somewhere  800 – 900km from Parkes in order to keep to the schedule, was trying.
Riding into Condamine late afternoon, I though it to be enough for a day. The pub at the old Condamine Bell Hotel on the right was very lively   with many vehicles parked out front. As I discovered reading up later,  an iconic and well frequented waterhole in the Western Downs.  
This Christmas-day late afternoon there was no shortage of patrons  in attendance, revelling loudly  in full festive mood.  There was obviously not going to be much of a restful night available  for a weary long distance rider.
I considered the Condamine River Caravan Park on the left across the road from the pub. After a quick look around  I was back on the  Leichhardt Hwy heading north. Unsure where  it would lead to I decided to  simply keep going until I come across likeable accommodation somewhere ahead. I figured that stretching for maximum  two to three hours more and covering another 200 – 300km  there must be options.
Only 30km further and with  sunset I refuelled in  the town of Miles, 861km from Parkes.
The  Starline Motor Inn in the main street was  fairly new and modern and  in peaceful quiet setting. They offered a room service from restaurants in town. Dinner was promptly delivered and after watching the weather updates on the cyclone in the Gulf of Carpentaria I was ready for bed.
The tv had no good news on the cyclone. It reported that cyclone restrictions had been implemented for Cape York and Far North Tropical Queensland down to  Townsville i.e. at best I would be able to continue only another 1200km north from Miles  before I will be turned back to return south along the same road. That is if the cyclone restriction is not moved even further south as the weather develops.
It looked like a lost case. Reaching Cape York this time was going to be impossible due to the cyclone restrictions.
It did not make much sense to continue north so I decided to return the next morning via the same route to Melbourne. The distance was just more than 1500km and I considered doing it in one day instead of staying over somewhere.

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