Day 3 - 1 June - Ravenshoe to Sugarbag Stockyards - 86 km

 It rained overnight so tents we're wet in the morning.  We packed up and headed to some tables at the Tourist Info Centre and had breakfast under cover.  We were about to leave when an elderly gent called Joff who turned up and wanted a chat about the town and travel in Europe.  Lovely bloke.  Key point was a trip he did in 2006 travelling by train through Russia, Mongolia and China.  I loved the way he shortened words e.g did you know that a laptop was a " lappy"?



We set off close to 9:00 and had a big downhill. Yeah!!!!  Ravenshoe is the highest town in QLD so not surprising really.

Arrived at Innot Hot Springs by 10:00 and had a paddle.  Definitely hot.












Headed off to Mt Garnett hoping to buy some food.  Bakery had been knocked over by a cyclone so was not really operational.  We headed off to the tourist info centre and while Joe chatted up the delightful lady there I headed off to town to see what food I could find.  Used to be an IGA there, but no more.  I ended up at the Caltex servo and had to pay $45 for sandwiches OK so I bought a lot but still...

After lunch we headed off and did another 40 km leaving us another 80 km tomorrow to get to Mt Surprise.  Too far to get to a town so we camped in the bush on a gravel site near the Sugarbag Stockyards.  Private, because who else would want to camp there but the ground was so hard we could not get the pegs in.  Joe's tent is free standing so he was OK, but I had to use the tent as a bivvy bag.  That's my tent in red on the right.  Not a great way to sleep.



Joe lit a fire and and we had a great meal of pasta with tomato sauce and sardines.  Fantastic.