Man cycles to Beaudesert from Goulburn to visit Kooralbyn family

Stephen Day, who lives in country Victoria, said he took the bus from Seymour, north of Melbourne and started his trek in NSW.

Mr Day said the bus dropped him off at 3.30am on April 29, where he fortified himself with coffee for the journey to visit brothers Simon and Martin in the Scenic Rim.

"I had to sit out in the dark and wait for McDonald's to open at 6am," he said.

"I thought it was a good spot to start because Goulburn's a bit higher, it's not too big a town and it's the oldest inland town in NSW," he said.

"I rode up through the Oberon high plains and then down to Bathurst, Orange Dubbo, then up to Goondiwindi and across to here."

The 58-year-old self described gardener and odd-job man said it was a hard ride at times but worth the effort.

"The original idea was just looking for another adventure," he said.

"I'm always looking at maps and planning another journey.

"I've been meaning to get up to Queensland because I don't see my family very often.

"I've been promising to visit and then COVID came and after a while Simon started saying, 'yeah, yeah, I don't believe you'll come up'.

"When I sent a message saying I'm on the road, I'm coming up, they couldn't believe it. And finally I'm here.

"I got here last Thursday, I literally limped into Beaudesert because I was coming over the main range nad I had a problem with a tyre.

"It got a bulge in the back. I had to go really slow down the main range with my brakes on because I didn't want the tire to blow.

"I called my brother from Beaudesert and asked him to come and pick me up. He took me to Brisbane on Friday to get a new tyre and the man said the tyre could have popped any time. Lucky I wasn't doing 60 or 70 down the range."

Mr Day said he had sometimes only cycled three hours in any one day.

"I didn't want it to be an endurance thing, I wanted to enjoy the journey," he said.

"Sometimes I'd wake up early and decide to ride to the next town for breakfast and I might make it 11am and just sit there for a couple of hours reading, writing, having a meal.

"By the time I looked for a place to camp or a caravan park the day would be almost ended."

Mr Day said his family had at first been against the trip but had all been supportive.

"I'm grateful to oldest brother Peter, who lives in Bendigo, brother Joe who drove me to the bus and then Martin who rescued me when I had a flat tyre and Simon who I'm staying with tonight."

Mr Day said he had heard a lot about Kooralbyn and was happy he made the trip.

"My brothers rave about this little community," he said.