Following the Wind

The wind has been blowing from the southeast for days now, so I'm trying to go northwest.  If it keeps up, though, I'm quickly going to run out of roads.

My citymaps2go app showed a camping symbol near the river in Avoca, and the woman at the information center confirmed that camping was allowed there.  It was free, and I even found a table.  At sunset, the birds in the trees were deafening.  

The next day, I rode to the tiny town of Landsborough, in which I stayed in 2005.  It hasn't changed much, though the pub has new owners.  It had computers in the "Information Centre", though not entirely functional.  There must be a government program to install public computers in these small towns, but without provision to support them.  All seem to be set up the same way, usually with only an old version of Internet Explorer, with which I can't update the blog.

Government programs have also built nice sports facilities in these towns.  The one in Landsborough is a designated shelter during bush fires, hence the sign below.  Fortunately, the fire danger is low now.

Ominous Sign

From Landsborough, the wind blew me northwest to St. Arnaud, another old mining town, though a larger one.  The whole town seems to be built on tailings from the mines. When I asked if the water was safe to drink, the woman at the caravan park wrinkled up her nose and directed me to the rain water tank.  (This is typical since I left the dividing range, where there are reservoirs.)  The Aussies will scoff, but I treat the rain water with chlorine dioxide.  There's an awful lot of birds.

I'm taking a day off, in hopes the wind will let up a bit.  If it ever shifts to the north, it will get hot, and I'll head south.