In the 10 or so years that my wife and I have been holidaying at Boreen Point and Noosa, Harry’s Hut has always been a destination that has enticed, but eluded, us. Harry’s Hut is in the Everglades at the southern end of the Cooloola Recreation Area, which itself is the southern section of the Great Sandy National Park. Harry’s Hut is accessible either via four wheel drive or by boat. We had neither, until this year.

We recently bought a Toyota Prado 4WD and this year while holidaying at Boreen Point, we also hired a runabout boat. We made the trip to Harry’s Hut three times.

The first trip to the Harry’s Hut camping and day use area was a spur of the moment decision. It was raining and we were getting cabin fever being confined to our holiday house, so we decided to go for a drive. We travelled from Boreen Point via Lake Flat Road, Dr Pages Road, Kin Kin Road, Cooloola Way and Harry’s Hut Road.

At the start of the Harry’s Hut Road was a sign proclaiming that the road was impassable in the wet. (I have since found out that this track is prone to flooding.) We decided to continue on, but be very cautious and turn back if the going got too difficult. The Toyota Prado made it down and back without a problem, even in the rain. You do, however, need a high clearance vehicle because of the many mounds of dirt that have been built across sections of the road to channel water run-off off the road. In some sections, there are also gouges from water run-off that will need to be carefully navigated. When we finally got to Harry’s Hut, the rain was teeming down, so after a quick look around and a toilet break, we headed back up the road and home.

The second trip to the Harry’s Hut camping and day use area was on a dry day. We wanted to get out of the vehicle to explore. The drive there, now that we knew our way, took about 45 minutes from Boreen Point.

The Harry’s Hut area has a section for day-use visitors and a separate section for camping. There are several camping areas and canoe launching points scattered along this section of the Upper Noosa River waterway. The amenities are basic, but a step above pure bush camping. This was the first camping area of several that are scattered through the Cooloola Recreation Area and only accessible by canoe or on foot. We had two young children in tow, so we did not venture further than the first camping area.

There are a large number of Lace Monitor lizards in the area. Signs advise to not feed them. Apparently they are flesh eating and have large, sharp claws and teeth. If they taking a liking to your lunch, they can become aggressive trying to get more. There are also a number of bush turkeys in the area, which again it is recommended not feed them. Several people also told us that red belly black snakes frequent the area. Even if you can not see them, they are around, so tread carefully.

Our final trip was by a boat we hired from Boreen Point Boat Hire. While the boat was old and had taken a beating over the years, everything was in good working order. We set off from Boreen Point across Lake Cootharaba, stopping at the Kinaba Sir Thomas Hiley Information Centre. We then motored very slowly (no wash) up the Upper Noosa River and the Everglades. We only made it about halfway up to Harry’s Hut, but the experience of the Everglades by water was very different to the four wheel drive trips. The water in the Everglades is mirror-like and deep black from tea tree stains and very deep compared to the shallow Lake Cootharaba. The water appeared to be fresh, but apparently bull sharks do inhabit the waterways, so swimming is not recommended.

The Everglades really is best visited in the silence of a canoe slicing through the water. However, with two young children, this was not an option for us. If you are canoeing across Lake Cootharaba to get to the Everglades and Upper Noosa River, also be aware that the lake is best crossed in the mornings. It can get quite windy and choppy for a canoe later in the day.

If visiting national parks is your thing, Harry’s Hut, the Everglades and Upper Noosa River is highly recommended. But take your time and remember to take all your rubbish with you when you leave.

Sorry there are no photos of our trips to Harry’s Hut and the Everglades. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera on any of the visits. Duhh!

Boreen Point is one of those places that you think have almost disappeared. You know the kind – a tiny little township, a bit ramshackle, but with a quiet waterfront-village feel. It is at the total opposite end of the spectrum to Hastings Street at Noosa – which for many people is a great thing!

Beach at Boreen Point can get very busy during sailing regattas!

Boreen Point is situated on Lake Cootharaba, which is about 20 minutes drive north west of Noosa. Lake Cootharaba is notable because is 10 km long, 5 km wide, with an average depth of only 1.5 meters! While I have been on the lake many times, I have never jumped out of my boat to test just how shallow the water was in the middle.

Separated from the Pacific Ocean by narrow sand dunes and a beach, the Lake Cootharaba gets good ocean breezes, but is virtually flat. The lake has predominant sea breezes, providing some of the best flat water sailing conditions in the world. This makes it incredibly popular with the sailing community – particularly trail-able catamarans and dinghies, sail boards and kite surfers. The Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club regularly hosts state and national sailing titles.

Lake Cootharaba, because of its shallow water, also makes Boreen Point extremely popular for family holidays. The camp ground is situated next to a sandy beach, at which children can walk 100 m offshore and still only be waist deep!

At the time of writing, sadly the cafe at the top of the hill had closed down so be prepared to brew your own quality coffee if you need your daily fix. The convenience store near the sailing club was doing a roaring trade though. As always, the Apollonian Hotel can be relied upon for a great pub meal. If there is a sailing event on, or it is a peak time of the year, you are well advised to book in advance. Take a torch too – the kids like to go out on the front lawn and play. Giving them a torch makes it easy to spot your child while you are sitting down enjoying your meal!

We have holidayed at Boreen Point many times over the last 10 years, both camping and in rented holiday houses. Don’t go expecting a plush five star hotel. But it is highly recommended if you want to go there for a family holiday, chill out and let the young kids safely play in the water.

When it is time for your Noosa fix, it is only 20 minutes down the road. But if you are anything like me, you will be glad to get back to Boreen Point.

I thought that today’s parent’s tossed their children a Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation or other such electronic gaming device and told them to shut-up. Apparently that is not the case.

I was somewhat amazed this summer by how many of the children who came over for playdates with my children knew how to play card games. And they genuinely seemed to enjoy playing them! So it seems that many parents are still teaching their children how to play cards. I guess spending some quality time with parents and family is something that children need.

Card games provide an opportunity for parents to actively engage their children in an activity that can be fun for both children and adults. Card games also help develop children’s memory, logic and strategic thinking as they try to outwit each other and win the game!

Card games are great for camping trips and family holidays. Children can enjoy them, and a deck of cards takes up next to no room in the luggage. My children first started playing cards on a recent family holiday.

Following are rules for two simple children’s card games. A quick Google search will reveal endless variations to these popular games. My house rules are stripped back to just the basics so that children just starting to play card games can enjoy them … and actively compete with adults!

My two children are eight and four-and-a-half years old. The eight year old has easily mastered these games. The four-and-a-half year old understands the playing concepts, but struggles with quickly recognising some of the higher numbers and face cards.

Crazy Eights

Number of players

2 to 6 players.

Deck

Normal 52-card pack (no jokers).

Objective

Get rid of the cards in your hand onto a discard pile by matching the number or suit of the previous discard.

Deal

The dealer deals 5 cards to each player (7 each if there are only 2 players). The remaining cards are placed face down on the table to form a stock, and the top card is turned face up and placed beside the stock to start the discard pile.

Play

Starting with the player to dealer’s left, and continuing clockwise, each player in turn must either play a legal card face up on top of the discard pile, or draw a card from the undealt stock.

The following plays are legal.

• If the top card of the discard pile is not an eight, you may play any card which matches the rank or suit of the previous card (for example if the top card was the king of hearts you could play any king or any heart).
• An eight may be played on any card, and the player of the eight must nominate a suit.
• If an eight is on top of the pile, you must play either another eight or any card of the suit nominated by the person who played the eight.

If the stock pile is used up, the cards are shuffled and turned over to begin a new stock.

Winner

The first player who gets rid of all their cards wins.

Go Fish

Number of players

Best for 3 to 6 players, but 2 can play.

Objective

The object is to collect pairs (two cards of the same rank)  by asking other players for cards you think they may have. Whoever collects the most pairs wins.

Deck

Normal 52-card pack (no jokers).

Deal

The dealer deals 5 cards to each player (7 each for 2  players). The remaining cards are placed face down on the table to form a stock.

Play

Play starts with the person to the dealer’s left and continues clockwise.

The player whose turn it is asks another player for his or her cards of a particular rank. For example, “Steve, do you have any threes?” The player who is asking must have at least one card of the rank they asked for in their hand.

The recipient of the request must then hand over a card of that rank, if they have one. The player places the pair on the table and play moves to the next person.

If the recipient of the request has no card of the requested rank, he or she tells the player to “go fish,” and the player draws a card from the stock. If the player receives the card he or she wanted from the stock, they place the pair in front of them and draws another card from the stock. Play then moves to the next person.

If a player runs out of cards, they draw two cards from the stock and continue to play.

Winner

Play continues until the stock runs out and all pairs have been found.

The player who collects the most pairs wins.

As a vulnerable, minority road user group, we need to ensure that vehicle drivers know that they can not just go around physically and verbally abusing cyclists.

I was recently involved in an attack by a vehicle driver on a cyclist. I am not a legal expert, but following discussions with police, other cyclists and on various internet discussion forums, I have developed a list of actions to maximise the chance for legal justice to be served.

Before an incident has occurred

1. Smart phone.

Always carry a smart phone with an enabled GPS tracking app, such as Endomondo or MapMyRide. With a smart phone you can phone 000 for police assistance immediately, take photos of the attacker’s vehicle and the scene, record details of the scene including the vehicle’s registration number, and use your GPS tracking app to provide evidence of your actions before and during the event.

2. Road rules.

Obey the road rules. I know we do not always obey the road rules, even as a car driver. But from what I have seen, cyclists disobeying road rules is the single greatest contributing factor to attacks on cyclists. Of course, many car drivers are ignorant of cyclist road rules, such as the ability to ride two abreast on roads. A cyclist breaking road rules DOES NOT give a vehicle driver the right to physically or verbally attack them, or use their vehicle to cause harm to a cyclist.

In the seconds after an incident

1. Stay safe.

Make sure you are safe – move away from your attacker and out of traffic that may hit you. If you are in further immediate danger, phone 000 for police assistance or ambulance. Flag down other cyclists for assistance or to act as witnesses.

2. Stay calm!

Do not inflame the situation by counter-attacking the vehicle driver. If you use the following steps, the power will be with you later.

3. Record details.

Record the colour, make and type of the person’s vehicle as well as its registration number. Record this in your smart phone (send a text message to yourself if necessary), but even better to take a photo of the vehicle with all these details shown.

4. Photos.

Take as many photos of the scene as possible.

5. Witnesses.

Record details of any witnesses. If you were a witness, be prepared to support your fellow cyclist in making a statement to the police. This may be time consuming, but is well worth the effort to get the law to take action against these drivers.

When you get home

1. Record details.

As soon as you get home, record as many details as possible of the incident. Write down what happened leading up to the event, during the event, and after the event in as much detail as possible. Use your GPS track to identify the exact time and location of the incident. Transfer details of the vehicle and any witnesses to your report.

2. Go to the police.

Take your record of the incident and relevant photos to the police and discuss your options with them. If you have been physically harmed, the police will likely encourage you to press assault or dangerous driving charges. If there has been no physical damage to you or your bike, it may be sufficient that the police phone the attacker to get their side of the story – at least then the attacker knows that their actions have been reported to the police and have been placed on file. If you happen to get a friendly police person, they may even give the driver a bollocking at the same time!

Sorry for the long post, but I thought I would share this incident with my fellow cyclists.

I spoke with the police about the incident because:

a) it is not all right in society to go around punching people in the head or driving dangerously to intimidate, no matter what the circumstances
b) the outcome could have been worse – one punch can kill, I could have fallen in to the traffic, or the driver could have squashed me or my riding partner between his van and the parked vehicle.

I chose not to press charges with the police as there was no damage to the riders or the bikes. The police did, however, phone the driver, give him a chance to explain his side of events, and they gave him a suitable dressing down (bollocking). The driver is therefore aware that his actions towards cyclists have been reported to the police.

Following is my record of the incident, with details of the other people involved removed.

Incident description follows

This morning my cycling partner and I had just stopped on Dornoch Terrace (Highgate Hill) adjacent to the top of Colton Street to wait for a third riding partner to join us. We had stopped to the left of the cycle lane. My riding partner was facing oncoming traffic and was at the front of a parked silver Landcruiser, I was just behind the vehicle, but in line with the right side of it (but left of the cycle lane).

A van (registration known) approached from the rear and tried to park in the area between me and the kerb. He came very close to me, so I moved forward alongside the Landcruiser to get out of the van’s way. The driver of the van must have decided that he could not fit behind the Landcruiser and proceeded to move to the space in front of the Landcruiser, in the process nearly hitting me and coming centimetres from my riding partner, who was at the front right corner of the Landcruiser. The driver of the van reversed into the parking spot. My riding partner had his head down and did not see the van reversing. The van’s bumper hit my riding partner’s rear wheel making an indentation in the van’s bumper bar, at which point I moved alongside the van and rapped on the side of it to make the driver aware not to reverse any further.

I moved back to my original location beside the Landcruiser as the driver got out of the van yelling insults and to not touch his van. He then punched me in the face, fortunately only glancing my chin and knocking my sunglasses. I did not punch back (very difficult to do when you are standing in cleat shoes with a bike between your legs). We exchanged some heated words where the driver said he was having a bad day and not to mess with him. He threatened to hit me a second time.
The driver then moved to the kerb side of his van and proceeded to get tools out of his vehicle.

I tried to phone our third riding partner who was supposed to meet us at this location (6:59am according to my call history). The person did not answer, so I left a message.
An unknown rider arrived on the scene and asked whether we had been involved in a near miss that had just happened on that corner. According to him, a ute did a U-turn in front of a group of riders, clipping one on the pedals, with a second rider going around the front of the vehicle. The unknown rider said that he thought the ute was from the same company as the van whose driver had punched me. Apparently all riders rode away.

The driver of the van then walked along the street with his tools and entered a house.

The unknown rider left as our third riding partner arrived on the scene on foot holding a flat tyre that had been damaged and was unrideable. The unknown rider thought he had been involved in the first incident, but it seems he was at the side of the road at the time, having just had his tyre blow out.

I took a photograph of the van on my phone, and my riding partner and I rode away, whilst our third riding partner walked home nearby.

I have been looking around for a steel frame road bike for a while. I think that a Colossi Cycling road frame may be perfect for my needs.

I took up riding after a 25 year break to lose some weight. I am enjoying it so much that I want to upgrade my bike. The components on my Shimano Sora equipped Fuji Absolute 3.0 flat bar road bike are beginning to show signs of wear from 6,000 km combined with being totally submerged in the Brisbane 2011 floods. The bike, with me spinning the pedals, is quite capable of overtaking many of the lycra clad Saturday morning drop bar road bike crowd. I recently rode it in the Brisbane to the Gold Coast Cycle Challenge. According to my GPS, I rode 102 km in 3 hours, 11 minutes at an average speed of 32.1 km/h. My fastest 20 km on the ride was completed in 34 minutes 14 seconds. That’s 35.05 km/h! In my opinion, not bad for an old fella on a flat bar roadie.

As my riding has improved, I have begun to find the limitations of the Fuji Absolute 3.0 cycle. I am now looking for a bike that will reward my fitness improvements, but is distinctive; not your typical carbon fibre plastic fantastic roadie, nor a buzzy aluminium frame road bike. A modern steel frame road bike would be perfect.

I raced a Peugeot steel frame drop bar road bike in the 1980s. I currently have a steel frame Cell Bikes singlespeed bicycle in my stable. The steel frame singlespeed is actually lighter than my aluminium Fuji flat bar road bike. The steel frame bike has a great road feel – lively, without the buzz of the alloy road frame.

I am confident that, if I can find a modern steel road bike frame and build it up with some quality parts, I will have a very distinctive bike that will be quite fast enough to leave most of my training buddies behind.

With the above in mind, I have been looking for a project bike for a while. Modern steel frame road bikes seem to be very hard to come by in Australia. Options I have considered are:

• Fuji Connoisseur – an old model and too hard to get into Australia from the USA
• Torelli Corsa Strada – too expensive at this stage (I am repairing my home after the Brisbane 2011 floods)
• purchasing an old racing bike off eBay and then building it up with modern components – but the frame’s unknown history holds me back, it could be good, or could be bad
• Surly, Kona, Soma, Masi, Gios, Schwinn and the list goes on, all make steel frame road bikes of some description – but either they are too difficult to get in Australia, or they do not quite match my requirements.

And then I stumbled across Colossi Cycling frames on the Gear Shop Brisbane web site. Gear mostly caters to the fixie crowd, but have said they can get me a Colossi road bike frame. There is not a huge amount written about Colossi bikes on the internet – apart from several interviews with Jan Kole and a few posts about fixed gear cycles. There seems to be no comment about their road bike frames. But rather than seeing a company with over-hyped marketing, I get the feeling that they are a company passionate about their products.

Colossi road bike frame - photo used with permission

I dropped in to Gear Shop Brisbane to look at the Colossi frames they had in stock. While they mostly carry fixed gear bikes, they did have a beautiful black fillet-brazed Columbus Thron 52 cm Colossi road frame. It really was a work of art.

I think that a Colossi 700C Columbus Thron TIG welded road frame, painted red with white Colossi decals, would be a stunner when built up with some nice, light wheels and a Shimano 105 group set. A lugged frame would be equally nice, but is beyond my limited budget at the moment. The bike is probably a six month build for me as I research and buy various parts, but watch this space for further comments.

Many of the people affected by the Queensland floods, due to its nature, were in riverside suburbs. They, like us, are not struggling in the sense of living in a tin shed. However, we still have a mortgage to pay on a house that we can not live in, two young children to raise and put through school, the need to put a roof over our heads, and have to find the money to repair our family home with no assistance from government or insurance. Where once we had two incomes, we now have one. Are we struggling? Yes we are.

We are the silent many – the numerous people who do not make a good story on the front page of the newspaper. We are, however, the people who will not vote for Anna Bligh at the next election. (Since the flood, I am now living high on Highgate Hill … Anna’s electorate).

Premier Bligh: When there is still money left in your Disaster Relief Fund at the end of your very-mean, means-tested distribution, do the right thing. Do NOT consolidate the revenue into bulging government coffers, but distribute the money to other people who were affected by the flood, but have not received any help from the government or insurance.

People did not donate money to the Premier’s Premier’s Disaster Relief appeal for it to be used in any way other than helping flood and cyclone victims.

I finally got my Toyota Prado off road in the Glasshouse Mountains National Park and the D’Aguilar National Park.

The D’Aguilar National Park was easy driving. I had the car in HL most of the time, except for a couple of steep decents where I used LL. We did not venture off the beaten track, but I am sure there were some more challenging tracks to be found.

View from the Glasshouse Mountains lookout -- easily accessible by two wheel drive vehicle

We ventured to the Glasshouse Mountains National Park the following day, trying to follow one of the touring trails from the Dirty Weekends book. Unfortunately, the track we were trying to follow had been closed since the book was published. We were left with the choice of retracing our tracks, or trying to find our way without detailed maps or a guide. We took our chances on trying to navigate our way out.

I was quite surprised to see another Prado covering the same terrain with the standard Goodyear AT20 Grandtrek tyres. Either the driver had better skills than me, or he simply had no idea how close he was at times to getting stuck.

After venturing down some true four wheel drive tracks, we finally decided the track was getting too narrow and beyond my experience. Without a second vehicle to pull me out should I get stuck, I decided to retrace our route and return home. I strongly recommend getting a detailed map of the area’s tracks.

I found that the Prado’s clearance was limited a couple of times, scraping the tow bar and under body in ramp-over situations. Overall though, the Prado was very forgiving and let us have a bit of fun offroad without my inexperience getting us in trouble.

There were some highly modified four wheel drives around the tracks, and some lads giving them serious workouts on side tracks. All a bit of dirty good fun!

The Glasshouse Mountains National Park is very picturesque, but you can reach the lookout it with a standard two wheel drive vehicle.

After my Fuji Absolute 3.0 flat bar road bike was totally submerged in the 2011 Brisbane floods, I decided to replace the wheels. With most of my funds going towards repairing our house, I decided to purchase a set of Easton OEM wheels (spoked 20 front and 24 rear) from Cell Bikes for $179. I fitted them with Vittoria Rubino Pro tyres and Ultralite tubes and a Shimano HG50 12-21 close ratio cassette.

Initially, I was extremely happy with the wheels. The bearings were smooth, and they rolled really well with the Vittoria tyres fitted. I can’t say that they really improved my time on my regular 30 km circuit, but I felt good riding them.

Easton OEM rear wheel

My problems with these wheels started when a riding buddy did not unclip his feet before coming to a stop. As he fell, his handlebars and brake lever tangled with my Easton front wheel, bending a spoke and putting the wheel out of true. This was hardly the front wheel’s fault, but it meant that I also had a close look at the rear wheel while they were off the bike.

What I discovered, was that after a couple of hundred kilometres, the non-drive-side spokes of the rear wheel had become loose. In fact, one spoke had completely undone and was just loosely sitting in the spoke nipple. If you find this, before you try adjusting the wheel, see if you can claim on warranty. I played with mine first, so did not make a warranty claim.

I initially tried tuning the wheel to F# using my guitar chromatic tuner. It seemed to work for the front wheel, but the rear wheel did not ring well and would not register reliably on the tuner. I then purchased a Park Tool spoke tension metre. Using it, it seemed that the front wheel was reasonably evenly tensioned using the acoustic tuning method. I then brought the rear wheel drive side spokes up to even tension before dishing and aligning the wheel using the non-drive-side spokes. This is how Easton indicate that they build their wheels.

Easton OEM rear wheel

On the first ride after re-tensioning the spokes, my first spoke came loose after only about 10 km. I then stopped beside the road about every 5 km for the remainder of my 50 km ride to check and re-tension the non-drive-side spokes on the rear wheel. One time, I actually found that two spokes were only sitting loosely in their spoke nipples!

On getting back to where I was staying (we had gone away for the weekend), I removed each spoke and applied a drop of low-strength Loctite to each spoke nipple on the non-drive side and re-tensioned the spokes. The rear wheel has now run true for the last 1,000 km.

Apparently radially laced spokes can be prone to the spoke nipples loosening during use. The rim tape should normally push against the side of the nipples inside the wheel. With 120 psi of pressure against each nipple, they should not undo during normal riding. However, with these Easton wheels, even with the tyres fully inflated, the nipple can be readily adjusted.

While these are cheap wheels, Easton is a reknowned wheel manufacturer that makes some superb racing wheels. I am assuming this is a manufacturing glitch that is not common throughout their wheels.

I love my Cell Bikes Mallet II custom fixie. I spec’ed it with a yellow frame and all other options black. I removed all decals and logos. The bike looks great and I get lots of comments on it. I have nicknamed it Bumblebee.

Cell Bikes Mallet II fixed gear

I ride for training and fitness. I bought the fixie as an alternative to my Fuji Absolute 3.0 flat bar alloy road bike. The fixie is a different riding style to a geared bike. Carrying a lot more momentum and needing to plan hills has improved my overall riding greatly.

Delivery from Cell Bikes was super quick. The bike came partially assembled, with only needing to put the front wheel, handlebars and pedals on the bike.

On close inspection, the frame paint and welds are average in some places, but that’s just being picky — for the price, it is fine. I am also not a big fan of the rack mount points. Again, a niggling complaint, but to me fixies are about being stripped down to the basic bike essentials. I am not a fan of Wellgo pedals, so I put on a set of Shimano PD-R540 pedals straight out of the box.

Even though the fixie runs riser bars, it is still a much more heads-down riding position than my flat bar road bike. It took me a couple of rides to get comfortable in the riding position. In my opinion, the frame geometry is perfect for this style of bike. The bike is responsive enough to be fun, but not on-the-edge like track-bike geometry.

I removed the freewheel and only run the bike with the fixed gear. I played around with the gear sizes, but in the end found the original 46/16 setup perfect. My regular 30 km Brisbane River ride includes Highgate Hill, which I can get up (and even overtake some riders) in this gear.  Riding down the hill, I sometimes need to use a little braking to keep my cadence at an acceptable level. Most other hills are easy to get up and roll down with a little planning.

The fixie is surprisingly quick. I am just as quick on the fixie around 30 km as on my 24-speed alloy flat bar roadie fitted with Easton wheels. Speed carried at different points in the ride is significantly different. In particular, faster up hills, and slower down hills. The fixie gives a much better workout because I have to pedal ALL the way around the circuit.

I just love passing the lycra-clad, drop-bar road bike set on my fixie!

Pros
Great looks
Frame geometry
Price

Cons
Pedals
Rack mounts

Rating
9/10