Posts filed under 'Marlborough'
Good day. No rain. Good shoulder on the road. Not a lot of traffic. High energy. Can’t believe I felt so strong after the last 2 days of long, tedious riding, but I did. Time and distance seemed to fly by today. Wish every day was that easy. Almost continued on another 36 km to Mackay because it was only 1pm when I got to Sarina, but I decided that I didn’t want to overdo it or risk getting stuck in the rain because the clouds were coming in. So I set myself up here at the caravan park where they have backpacker accomodation for $15/night and you can’t beat that when often times a tent site is $12/night. Another night without having to sleep in the one-person tent! And hopefully my bigger tent will be waiting for me in Mackay.
I’m the only person in the ‘backpacker’ house tonight, and even though it’s a bit of a dump, it’s got a kitchen and a tv and that’s still luxury for me. I spent the afternoon showering and doing laundry before heading over to the library to check email. I’m feeling tired tonight, but I’m so happy to know that I’ve got a short day tomorrow, and I’m planning to stay at the YHA backpacker, so even if it’s raining, I’ll be inside for the night. These things tend to matter more when you’re outside all day (possibly in the rain) and faced with sleeping outside at night (in the cold rain as well). Won’t have to worry about that tomorrow thankfully.
Other good news is that my Dad finally figured out how to SMS me from home so now I can be in touch from the mobile phone while on the road, which is a very comforting thought. What else? Not much. Just so happy that the Marlborough stretch is behind me now.
Distance: 90.59 km
Time: 4 hr 22 minutes
Avg Speed: 21 km/hr
Beach at Claireview in the early morning
Oh baby - Marlborough Stretch officially over!
May 13th, 2003
Feels great to be here. More than halfway through the ‘Marlborough Stretch’ now. One more long day tomorrow and I’ll have it in the bag.
It was another grey, cloudy, overcast day - not exactly the most motivating weather for cycling. Left Marlborough at 7:30am. Road was pretty flat and overall traffic wasn’t too bad. The road itself was pretty desolate, in 103 km I only passed 3 houses, 2 service stations (one of which was closed and for sale), and about 20-odd cows. Mentally I was feeling strong and focused on getting through the day and getting myself closer to Mackay. But 5 hours of cycling is still a long day, and the last 5 km seemed to take FOREVER.
The best thing that happened today was (1) I didn’t have any freaks creep me out on the road, and (2) I met 3 other cyclists heading south! First I met a Japanese guy who started in Sydney and has cycled all the way round Australia and in another 3 weeks will be finished! Then I met an older English couple, also heading south. Really made me feel good to stop and chat for a few minutes about the road conditions and to know that I’m not the only person out here doing this. Really good morale booster.
Well even though the skies were grey all day, I only had a bit of drizzle in the morning and thought I was going to get through with no rain, but about 15 km south of Clairview it started pissing down and it’s been raining all afternoon since then. Still I consider myself lucky that I only had 15 km of rain for a 103 km-day. I’m treating myself tonight and staying inside in a cabin in the caravan park here. Just can’t bring myself to set up my little one-person tent in the rain. Hopefully in Mackay I’ll be picking up my 2-person tent that my Dad sent from home and then I’ll be stylin’ in a luxuriously roomy tent. But until then, as long as it continues to rain, I’m sleeping inside.
Gotta rest up for one more long day ( 93 km) tomorrow. Then I’ll have a nice short day (36 km) into Mackay. Cairns is getting closer and closer with every day.
Distance: 99.29 km
Time: 4 hr 56 minutes
Avg Speed: 20.0 km/hr
You go girl
Damn I was looking forward to a cold drink!
Nothin and more nothin
May 12th, 2003
Long day. Tired. On the highway all day. Pretty boring stretch of road with nothing in 100 km but one gas station and one roadhouse. Can’t wait to get through this section. It was cloudy all day and I thought I was surely going to get stuck in the rain, but amazingly it held off. I didn’t have much energy for the first 60 km at all, but somehow I got a second wind for the last 40. Told myself that if I made it to Marlborough, I’d treat myself with a cabin at the campervan park.
About 15 km south of Marlborough a strange thing happened. A man drove by me, slowed down, then pulled over onto the shoulder about 100m ahead of me. He got out of the car and stood there waiting for me. I pulled out onto the road and pedalled hard as I passed him. He was definitely expecting me to stop. No way man. Anyway, he got back in his car and drove off, waving to me as he passed. Could have been totally innocent but you never know. It freaked me out. So when I got to Marlborough (which is nothing but a crossroads with a gas station), I decided to upgrade from a cabin to a proper motel room with it’s own shower and toilet. I felt much better not being in my tent tonight. What a luxury, in my room with tv and a bed with sheets and blankets, no sleeping bag or sleeping pad or one-person tent. I could get used to this!
Tomorrow I’ve got another big day, 100 km, further up the highway, but the good news is that the destination, Claireview, is a caravan park on the beach. So I’ve got that to look forward to while cycling another long boring stretch of highway all day. I can’t even count how many dead kangaroos I saw on the road today, mostly all of them just piles of bones. 2-3 more days to Mackay and then another 2 days and I’ll be in Airlie Beach. Weather forecast is for rain for the next 5 days.
Distance: 97.87 km
Time: 5 hr 19 minutes
Avg Speed: 18.4 km/hr
Miles of nothing
The Marlborough Rest Stop
On and on it goes
May 11th, 2003
Can’t say I’ve ever aspired to see Australia’s Beef Capital, but here I am. Had a fairly good day of cycling yesterday to get here considering it was all highway with too many trucks and not enough shoulder at times. Thankfully the road was pretty flat which is obvious from my 20.2 km/hr average speed.
Arrived in’Rocky’ just after 1pm, stopped at the Tourist Information Center to get a map, and then went straight to a bike shop to try to get information and advice on the next stretch of road (325 km to Mackay). The people at the bicycle shop let me leave my bike there while I went across the street to’Woollies’ to buy some food and supplies. I also stopped at the post office and bought myself a pre-paid mobile phone which I am hoping will make me feel a bit safer about being on the road on my own. The mobile rates here are cheap enough that it’s certainly worth the peace of mind.
With that done I set out to look for accomodation for the night and this time I upgraded to the YHA Backpacker’s in town. I’m paying twice the amount that I would normally pat at a caravan park, but hey, I’m officially HALF-WAY between Byron Bay and Cairns, and that’s certainly reason to celebrate.
I was in bed early last night (after a day of riding I seem to struggle to stay awake until 8pm), and this morning I was up early to get started on the day’s errands. First thing I did was go back to the bike shop to drop off the diva to get her chain cleaned and wheels trued so she’s ready for the next 1,000 km. Then I sat down to figure out how to set up and start using the new phone. Next I wandered over to the used book shop and bought 2 new books which should get me through to Mackay. And now I’m just about ready to pick up the bike and head back to the YHA for some lunch. Afternoon will be spent doing laundry and hopefully relaxing some.
And tomorrow I face the elusive, mysterious, and desolate’Marlborough Stretch’, or 325 km of’nothing’ between Rockhampton and Mackay. The mind is focused and the body feels strong and that’s all I can hope for, besides good weather, no traffic, and good tailwinds of course. Getting closer to Airlie Beach every day!
Distance: 82.01 km
Time: 4 hr 3 minutes
Avg Speed: 20.2 km/hr
Welcome to Beef Land
May 10th, 2003
