Gimpy goes to Gympie

April 21st, 2003 at 12:00am

Relatively good day today. Starting to get into a routine a bit more – waking up at sunrise (6am) to be on the road at 7am, cycling until early afternoon, setting up the campsite, washing out cycling clothes, relaxing a bit before dinner, and then reading a bit before bedtime at 8pm. So far it works well.

Today Gimpy cycled through the town of Gympie on her way to Tin Can Bay! I thought that was pretty cool. I called home from a payphone in town at 9am this morning. It was 8pm on Easter Sunday at home so I was able to wish the family a Happy Easter. Onward I cycled on the very hilly road to Tin Can Bay. When it wasn’t hilly, the headwinds were awful. There was only one store along the 57 km stretch from Gympie to Tin Can and I happily stopped for a cold drink and talked with the woman running the shop there for awhile. She thought I was absolutely crazy to be cycling. Maybe I am. Anyway she offered to fill my water bottles which was very kind, so I had plenty of water for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow I will try to head more north to Maryborough, about 75 km from here. I must remember to carry extra water because I think it’s a pretty deserted stretch of road. Hopefully the Tourist Info Center will be open after the 4-day Easter Holiday and I can get some decent information on the roads and campsites ahead.

Today while cycling my thoughts were centered on the differences between cycle touring and long-distance hiking (thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail really), and I’m definitely still undecided on which one I prefer although I can clearly see some major differences. When you cycle, you can eat fresh fruit and veggies all day or stop and get an ice-cream or a cold drink whenever because you pass so many stores along the way. And at the end of the day you can have a nice hot shower, a luxury very foreign to the thru-hiker. But the one thing that I don’t like about cycling is that it’s many hours on a bike by yourself every day with no’thru-hikers’ to hang out with in the evening to talk about the trail, weather, and gossip. Much different in that respect. For now I’m just taking it day by day. I won’t know if I like it until I’ve tried it, and I still think cycling is a great way to see a country.

Distance: 67.10 km
Time: 3 hour 45 minutes
Avg Speed: 17.8 km/hour

(Total Distance in Oz to Date: 500 km!)

Welcome to Gympie Gimpy!

Another strange yet cool plant

Afternoon at Tin Can Bay

Entry Filed under: Australia,Cycling,Sunshine Coast