South Burnett Rail Trail

[Paddles]

The wife and I only seem to get out there a couple of times a year, but if you're keen to get out of town for a cycling weekend, I can recommend the South Burnett Rail Trail from Kingaroy to Murgon and also the back roads and farm roads between Kingaroy and Wondai. Pubs, cafes and bakeries along the way and nice cool temperatures ................... lovely! We stayed up there last night and did a casual farm road and rail trail loop today and it was magic, fresh air and clear skies.

[ldrcycles]

I did Kilkivan to Kingaroy and back yesterday, the whole region is looking wonderfully green from the recent rain. Not too nippy first thing and warm but not excessive in the middle of the day.

One thing to be aware of is the South Burnett tap water takes a bit of getting used to. As in, I don't know if I will live long enough to get used to it

[Paddles]

Nice ride, we went from Crawford up to Wooroolin and then headed east around the back of the wetlands and up through the back hills/roads to Wondai before heading back up the trail to Crawford. It's certainly lush and green at the moment, almost European

[foo on patrol]

Good onya Paddles.

Yeah the place looks good at the moment but it's a green drought, sadly.

Foo

[ldrcycles]

There was an article in the Gympie Times the other day about funding for the Gympie section of the trail. The headline looks good "Kilkivan trail gets $230k fix" but the devil is in the detail.

At the start of this year Gympie Council allocated $130k to improving the trail surface and addressing the crossing of Wide Bay Creek (or more specifically the fact that there IS NO CROSSING). Ever since the trail opened I've been very vocal about the deplorable state of the Kilkivan-Murgon section as a whole, and the creek crossings in particular. The council stated the work would be completed by June 30.

The council now has another $100k from the state government (they received $600k to build the trail in the first place) but a report tabled says that "stepping stones, bed level crossings, culvert options, and alternative routes on nearby roads have proven to be unsuitable or unachievable, and unlikely to secure state approval. Options now on the table include a low level pedestrian bridge, or a suspension bridge".

Absolute insanity. The trail should never have been opened without a proper crossing of this creek, and we aren't talking about the Sydney Harbour Bridge here, a causeway or low timber bridge would be an utterly trivial undertaking. This is just more incompetence and excuses from Gympie Council.