17th - 23rd September: a phone interview and the Sunshine Coast

At last! On Monday, I have a telephone interview for a role in Sydney. I have to find somewhere fairly quiet, so I decide on New Farm Park. However, Mother Nature has other ideas. New Farm Park is being buffeted by strong winds, which will make a phone interview impossible. I ring Paddy just to check. Sure enough, he has trouble hearing me - a telephone interview in that wind is doomed. I go along to some of the bars in the Powerhouse building. They don’t open until the evening, so the covered areas outside are deserted. There’s still some wind noise, but the interview goes well and my morale is boosted.

The rest of the week I decide to take an excursion up the Bruce Highway, to explore the mountain bike trails in Mapleton Forest. I buy a Refidex covering Brisbane, the Gold Coast to the South and the Sunshine Coast to the North. (About the size of a phone directory for a medium-sized UK city, Refidex is a combination of detailed street map and wide-ranging road atlas). I'm ready to go. It’s my first long drive in the Rig, and my bike is lashed to the roll bar. Paddy and I have put a lot of thought into lashing the bike securely, and it feels rock solid. Nevertheless, I keep a close eye on it for the first half hour and, when I stop for petrol, I check it well.

On the way to Montville, I pass the Glasshouse Mountains which look amazing in real life, even though I’m not that close to them. But I have no time to go and look. The sun is setting and The Rig is still doorless and topless, so I’m getting pretty cold and I don’t know how far I have left to travel. I motor on, hoping to visit the mountains on the way home.

My accommodation tonight will be the Montville Mountain Inn. Paddy said it's easy to find, and it is. Arriving at Montville, I follow the main road through town and the Mountain Inn appears on the left. I check in and am directed to one of the self-contained units round the back. It’s comfy – a bedroom with mini kitchen and a good bathroom.

I contemplate leaving the bike on the rig. It feels like a really safe place, but caution gets the better of me and I return to the Rig to bring the bike indoors. All the engineering thought that Paddy & I put into this has paid off. After a hundred and fifty kilometers, the bike is as secure as it was when I left the house. I’m the man! And so is Paddy! I clamber all over the Rig as though it's an adventure playground. In just a few minutes, the bike is unstrapped, and safely inside.

I clean up & get changed, and stroll to the pub down the road where a slightly camp Austrian (I think) barman talks affably with his customers. I have a fat steak and a beer, and then head back to bed. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

Tomorrow dawns and it’s another clear blue sky and already warm at 8am. I have a light breakfast at a local café, strap the bike to The Rig, and set off for Mapleton Forest. I find the forest easily enough, but the trail head isn’t very clear on my maps. The parking area looks too secluded for my peace of mind too - Paddy's only just been reunited with the rig - I don't want to risk it. But I take a photo for Paddy to enjoy and drive back to Mapleton Village, where I leave the Rig somewhere safe, remove the bike and ride back into the forest.



I ride some trails which were more fun than Daisy Hill, but still a slight disappointment. Still the same hybrid of badly surfaced fire road and boring singletrack. But it's bigger than Daisy Hill and I actually feel like I'm in a forest. I find a camping and picnic area and, just beyond I find a lookout that has a view over an enormous forested valley. I get my phone out and take a photo, and then head back to the main trails.



I do some more exploring and, although it's not the twisty singletrack that I'd hoped for, I’m enjoying it. And then a miracle happens – I find a sign that points me down a track, and suddenly I’m in proper, enjoyable mountain biking singletrack! Yay! The only thing missing is mud, but I wasn’t expecting any of that in drought-ravaged Queensland. These trails are fun. Nothing really technical, and nothing too strenuous. I charge around and have a rare old time. If you go to the Mapleton Forest trails, just keep driving along the main fire road until you find a picnic area (with parking & benches) that has big wooden signs pointing to trails fanning out in all directions. This is where I should have started from in the first place.

The rest of the trip is just exploration. I check out the cable waterski place in Bli Bli, I look around Maroochydore, but mainly I drive up to Noosa – a well known destination for Brisbane folk who want nice beaches and relaxation in slightly more restrained and respectful night life than you’ll find on much of the Gold Coast. Noosa has a good surf school and a beginner-friendly beach. But there are no spare lessons, so I just take in the scenery and chilled (in 32 degrees of heat). The drive home is relaxing – Rig, bike and man just heading down the Bruce Highway until finally I’m back in Hawthorne, and saying hello again to Paddy & Vicky.

Job applications, telephone interviews, a mini road trip and good forest singletrack - this is turning into my best week so far. And, to cap it all, the telephone interview must have gone well because I’m invited down to Sydney for a face-to-face interview. Paddy recommends The Lord Nelson Pub (The Rocks, Sydney), I book a room, and I’m sorted. Almost – I don’t have any interview clothes.