On and on she goes

Got the Cardwell range behind me now, and just 170 km to Cairns. 53 km was enough for me today after waking up to grey skies and facing a day of riding in the rain with hills and headwinds to boot. At least with the sun away for the day the heat rash had a bit of a break. But

then she fell asleep….

Distance: 55.18 km
Time: 2 hr 49 minutes
Avg Speed: 19.6 km/hr

Add comment May 30th, 2003

Nice short easy day

Felt great to do a shorter day today. 60 km seems like nothing after so many 100+ days. Last night I had rain for the first time in about 2 weeks, and I was so happy to wake up to a cloudy sky knowing the road would not be as hot. What a difference a few clouds can make!

I got to town and decided to treat myself to a motel room for the night. Having a proper bed to lay in and watch tv this afternoon was bliss. I went to the post office here and decided to send my handle bar bag ahead to Cairns and this way it’s off the back of the bike and not such a stress. Hopefully Arkel will send me the new parts to Cairns so all pieces can meet up with the bike again there. Only another 250 km to go but the weather forecast is for rain for the next 3 days so it could be a rough last stretch. Just taking it one day at a time. It’s been 28 days of cycling in Australia since I left the Gold Coast in the beginning of April. So to Cairns it will be 31, so close now!

Distance: 57.02 km
Time: 2 hr 43 minutes
Avg Speed: 20.9 km/hr

Any salt water crocs in there?

Clouds mean cool temps mean happy cyclist

Add comment May 29th, 2003

Koalas on Magnetic Island

Getting very monotonous, these entries about long days, the heat, the traffic, and not much scenery. Today was another of those days. Good news is that I’m closer to Cairns. Bad news is that the new parts for my handle bar bag never arrived in Townsville and I’m stuck having to tie the stupid bag to the back of the bike. And I STILL cannot find bungy cords anywhere in this country. Very frustrating! I’ve been dealing with the Canadian company Arkel, trying to get new parts sent, but no far to no avail.

Yesterday I had a very enjoyable rest day and took a trip to Magnetic Island for the day, only 20 minutes by ferry from Townsville. The island itself is nice with several good beaches, but the best thing for me was doing one of the walks through the forest and seeing 4 koalas in the wild. I was so excited! They’re not easy to spot because they sit in the crook of the branches and sleep all day so I was really happy to have found four! Apparently the koala population on the island is around 2000 so you have a good chance of finding one if you look. There’s only 12 km of road on the island and I used the bus service to go up and down and check out the beaches as well.

Today I got a late start out of Townsville because I was checking for any parcels at the post office and then doing email to try to find out what’s happening with the bike parts. I also stopped at 3 bike shops before leaving in hopes of someone having any type of mounting system I would try to use but it was hopeless.

So I’m a bit closer to Cairns now, maybe 4 days to go from here. I’m staying at a beautiful caravan park right on the beach with absolutely nothing else around and I have the only tent in the unpowered area so I’ve got no neighbors tonight, only the sound of the ocean waves and that’s cool with me.

Distance: 79.96 km
Time: 3 hr 58 minutes
Avg Speed: 20.2 km/hr

Koala!

Another koala!!

Views from the Fort Walk, Magnetic Island

Add comment May 28th, 2003

Breakage on the Arkel handle bar bag

Made it here yesterday with only one real drama and that was my handle bar bag breaking off the bike at 5 km into the ride. How annoying! The screw literally ripped the threading out and so the clamp was completely stuffed and after trying a few different MacGyver moves without success, I finally succombed to just tying the damned thing on the back of my bike. Wasn’t too happy about that because it messes up the whole weight configuration of the bike and I certainly didn’t pay over $100 USD for a handle bar bag only to tie it to the rear and have no access to maps, camera, sunblock, etc. while riding. Fortunately it was a flat ride so the extra weight behind me didn’t matter too much. Dealt with the heat and the sun in the usual way, by cursing it, never seems to help but makes me feel a bit better while I’m out there. Used the Red Bull/glucose tabs combo again and I’d say it definitely helps.

Got to Townsville around 3pm and it was 10 km to get across town to Rowles Bay where there is a caravan park on the water front. I was tired and hot but happy to be here. Another milestone on the journey north! I’ve now done 1900 km and have a mere 350 km left to get to Cairns.

Today was a busy day doing laundry, shopping, email, and waiting for a new handle bar bag piece that has not yet arrived. I have a feeling that the bag will be tied to the back of the bike for the rest of the journey. I’ve been looking in shops for bungy cords for days now, anticipating problems with this bag after back plate cracked, and funny enough, I cannot find bungy cords anywhere! Is there something here I don’t know? It’s driving me nuts, so simple, and yet cannot find them. This is a first-world country even.

So tomorrow I am going over to Magnetic Island for the day, will maybe see a koala, and will hopefully come back to find that the parts arrived from Canada. The legs feel a bit tired and sore so it’ll be good to have another’s day rest.

A patch of shade for some rest!

The diva, fully loaded (note handle bar bag on back)

Add comment May 26th, 2003