Day 20 Roma to Injune 89.26 kms

A few complaints today due to being woken by Robbo at some ungodly hour (usually around 4.30 am). Collis & I were away from the rest of them so we didn't hear him, or any of the others. The first off today was Danny & closely followed by Robbo. Fliss took off not long after and then Ben followed closely behind. And once again we had a span of nearly one and a half hours between the first & the last rider. Alf left very late today, which is unusual but not a problem as he is such a strong rider he will round them up.

The riders are expected to clear their own food out of the fridges in the camp kitchens. We are still having to remind them but if they leave too early we miss out on getting them to check so we have to leave the food behind. There was quite a bit of food left in the fridge this morning and we weren't sure if it was ours or the miners so we were having to leave it behind. Just as we were leaving camp we get a desperate call from Fliss & Ben asking us to grab all their food out of the fridge. They were lucky!!! A substantial donation to the donation tin is expected.

Traffic today has been pretty heavy with lots of mining cars, trucks and wide loads  with large bulldozers on board. The riders will need to be taught how to ride safely in this sort of traffic as there was some unsafe riding practices reported. Collis will have a talk with everyone tonight as this traffic will persist until after Clermont. Ben came off his bike whilst changing his water bottle. He fell into the middle of the road and his main worry was not the truck baring down on him but grabbing his sunglasses instead. The grazes are just minor but he was pretty shook up and needed some medical attention with cleaning of his wounds.

Scenery was lovely and the road surface was in need of repair at the beginning of the day but improved as we went along. The wind was all over the place and got stronger just before we got to Injune. We were into camp by 1 pm. The Injune caravan park has had a bit of an upgrade since we were last here and conditions are pretty good. It is mainly a mining park with the mining workers facilities mostly available to us. Unfortunately we can't access their cook or dining room.

We are all waiting to see if poor old Jerry will be asked to move his tent again for the 3rd night in a row. The girls decided to hit the town for the afternoon and have some quality girl time. A couple of the boys kept turning up but were sent away. The town of Injune has a roadhouse, a news agency, a pharmacy, an old train and a pub. Oh yes it has an information centre but that closed before we reached it. We finished off at the pub with a couple of beers and some eye candy. Nice afternoon!!

Most of us went to the local pub for dinner as it was located closer to us than the camp kitchen. The meals were delivered quickly and everyone seems to have enjoyed them.  John who is constantly on the search for the best steak  and was very pleased with the Stockmans steak tonight. In 3 rides this is the first time I've heard him praise a steak. 

Before dinner Jerry and Theo read some of their own poems for the group which were very much appreciated and will appear on the blog when they pass them over to me.