Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - Cairns to Cape Tribulation

Day: 025
Date: Monday, 21 August 2006
Summary: Riding from Cairns (Brinsmead) to Cape Tribulation .
Start: Cairns
Finish: Cape Tribulation
Daily Kilometres: 133
Total Kilometres: 3236
Weather: Mild and cloudy at first, then warm, sunny and humid with south-easterly winds.
Accommodation: Basic cabin at backpackers resort, Cape Tribulation , Queensland .
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Cereal and toast
  Lunch:  Pie and sausage roll
  Dinner:  Sausages and vegetables for dinner
Encounters: In Mossman I bumped into the New Zealander who had stopped his car to have a chat with me a week ago when I was riding from Muttaburra to Hughenden.  He was now on his bike (a recumbent with trailer) following a route recommended by Lonely Planet.  I invited him to give me a call when he came down to the Sydney area.
Highlights: It was a day of highlights.  Perhaps the best was the beautiful sunset stroll I had along the sweeping palm tree-fringed Myall Beach at Cape Tribulation, freshly showered after having completed a very satisfactory day’s riding.
Lowlights: My bike computer started playing up in the first few kilometres and, despite changing its batteries, it still only seems to be working intermittently.  It’s not a great problem, although it does help a bit with navigation and time management.  My right knee was quite painful for most of the day.

Journal:
I got on the road shortly before 7:00am and negotiated the early morning peak hour traffic as I headed north.  I noticed my bike computer wasn’t working and changed the batteries, but it still seemed to be malfunctioning.  Not a critical problem.  The early part of the trip was through suburbs and then cane fields, before the road travelled along the beautiful coast with a thin strip of sandy beach against a backdrop of steep jungle-covered mountains that occasionally formed precipitous headlands.  I had a nice following wind, and despite the narrow road and busy tourist traffic (minibus after minibus heading for the Daintree) and occasional sharp hills, thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle.

Near Port Douglas the road swung away from the coast to Mossman and began passing through cane fields still against the same mountain backdrop.  Some of the cane was being cut and loaded into the narrow gauge rail wagons that are used for local transportation to the mills.  Around this time, I actually caught a guy out training on his road bike, so I must have been travelling OK!

In Mossman I stopped for a break and bumped into the New Zealander I had met a week earlier in outback Queensland .  I continued on to the Daintree River ferry stopping occasionally to have a look at some of the very pretty beaches.  After the ferry the road was narrow and winding as it passed through dense tropical rainforest. Both sides of the road were a chaotic jumble of vines, leaves and trees and it was very beautiful.  I had to negotiate a couple of steep mountain ranges as I continued north and resorted to walking at one point when the road became too steep.  It was also quite humid and I was sweating a lot, although the breeze helped cool me off at my frequent stops to admire the views or beaches.

Around 4:00pm I reached PK’s Jungle Resort where I had earlier called to book a basic room and checked in.  It is the same place where Barb, Aaron, Alicia and I had camped on our trip round Australia three years ago.  After a quick shower, I went for a very pleasant walk along the nearby beach before dinner.  Although it’s only 103km to Cooktown tomorrow, I’m quite apprehensive about some of the very steep hills and rough trail I know I am going to encounter, particularly for the first 35km.

Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - Cairns

Day: 024
Date: Sunday, 20 August 2006
Summary: Rest day.
Start: Cairns
Finish: Cairns
Daily Kilometres: 0
Total Kilometres: 3103
Weather:
Accommodation: Staying with cousin, Phil, and his wife, Denise, in Brinsmead, a suburb of Cairns , Queensland .
Nutrition:
Encounters:
Highlights:
Lowlights:

Journal:
I spent the day relaxing, catching up on family news, purchasing a few items and, with Phil’s help, working out how to add a 5 litre water container to my carrier.

Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - Ravenshoe to Cairns

Day: 023
Date: Saturday, 19 August 2006
Summary: Riding from Ravenshoe to Cairns (Brinsmead).
Start: Ravenshoe
Finish: Cairns (Brinsmead)
Daily Kilometres: 140
Total Kilometres: 3103
Weather: Cool and cloudy in the morning and warm and sunny for the afternoon with south-easterly winds.
Accommodation: Staying with cousin, Phil, and his wife, Denise, in Brinsmead, a suburb of Cairns ,Queensland .
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Pastries
  Lunch:  Two pies and a milkshake
  Dinner:  Barbecue
Encounters: There was the drunk who staggered out of the pub in Gordonvale while I was having lunch outside of the adjacent bakery in my biking gear who thought I was there (and dressed for) the annual race up the Pyramid, a nearby mountain, scheduled for that day.
Highlights: Firstly, the ride across the Atherton Tableland was very enjoyable (apart from the hills). The road wound around through little rural valleys with dairy farms and occasional plantations punctuated with patches of dense tropical rainforest, occasionally climbing over high ridges that gave spectacular views to the surrounding high mountains.  Secondly, arriving at the coast again was a major milestone in my trip.
Lowlights: There were some long and tough hills as I crossed the Atherton Tableland, and my quads and right knee were very tired/sore by the time I got to the final descent.  Also, sometime in the first hour, my groundsheet, which I strap on top of my panniers, somehow slipped out without me noticing and was lost.  Not a critical piece of equipment, but I’ll try and get a replacement in Cairns .

Journal:
I got up at 6:30am and was about to leave at 7:00am when I got a phone call from Aaron from the US.  It was the first time I had spoken to him in a month, so it was a welcome start to the day to hear about how his Gap Year travels are going and that he is enjoying himself.  He flies out to Europe tomorrow.

There were several choices for routes across the Atherton Tableland to Cairns and I opted for what seemed to be the shortest, which also used relatively minor roads.  It proved to be a good choice, traffic-wise and scenery-wise, particularly for the first 30km when I had the narrow winding and steeply undulating road almost to myself.  The hills were tough but the scenery was a stark and welcome contrast to the last few weeks with verdant dairy farms and lush rainforest.  It reminded me a bit of the Strezlecki Ranges I had crossed back in Victoria at the start of the trip.

At Malanda, a popular tourist town, which was buzzing on a market day Saturday morning, I found a bakery for a late breakfast at around 10:30am and ate a couple of pastries, read the Saturday paper and watched the world go by, although there was a coolish wind.  I then continued on, up some more massive hills, which I don’t think I could have ridden up early in the trip, to the Gillies Range , which marked the crest of the Great Dividing Range .  Several people’s ears had pricked up when I said I was going this route, which apparently has a long and dangerous descent.  The Gillies Range was crested with beautiful tropical rainforest and, although the road was very winding, it was quite easy to ride (it would have been slow and tedious in a car), and there wasn’t too much traffic.  Finally, the long 16km descent began to the coastal plains and I barely touched the pedals the whole way.  It was great!  The road wasn’t so steep that I had to use the brakes excessively and most of the time I just rolled along at about 30-35km looking at the fabulous scenery below which included sugar cane and grass farms on the flats and lushly forested mountains all around.  It also got noticeably warmer on the descent and for the first time in the day I started to warm up.

Once I reached the bottom I pedalled to Gordonvale, an old sugar town, and found some lunch, before riding the last 23km to Cairns in warm weather with a much-appreciated strong tailwind.  The journey was capped off by finding a radio station I could listen to which was broadcasting theGeelong football game.

As I rode into Cairns I checked a couple of camping stores I needed to buy a few things, but they were all closed.  I had some time to spare, so rode into the very touristy city centre and walked around the shops and beach area for a while and enjoyed a thick-shake at a café.

Then I rode about 12km out to where my cousin, Phil, and wife, Denise, and family live at Brinsmead and received a warm welcome.  I plan to have a day off tomorrow to rest up, catch up with the relatives, and purchase some food and small bits of gear to see me through the last 10-11 days of the trip, which will probably prove to be the most challenging, logistics-wise.

Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - The Lynd Junction to Ravenshoe

Day: 022
Date: Friday, 18 August 2006
Summary: Riding from The Lynd Junction to Ravenshoe.
Start: The Lynd Junction
Finish: Ravenshoe
Daily Kilometres: 201
Total Kilometres: 2963
Weather: Cool and foggy early but warm to hot and partly cloudy for the rest of the day with easterly (head) winds.
Accommodation: Motel in Ravenshoe , Queensland .
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Peanut butter roll
  Lunch:  Pie, pastie and milkshake
  Dinner:  Chicken stir fry for dinner.
Encounters: None really.
Highlights: Passing through the recent volcanic area near Undarra National Park , with the extinct volcanic cones all around and the black volcanic rock in abundance (the Byrnes’ family visited Undarra in 2003 and saw the fantastic lava tubes and climbed some of the extinct cones).
Lowlights: The road, which was generally just a strip of bitumen wide enough for one vehicle, was busy with tourists and road-trains today.  This meant that I was always having to dive off onto the gravel verge and constantly getting sprayed with dust and gravel.

Journal:
I got up at 4:30am after left at 5:00am in the hope of getting a good early run with minimal traffic and wind.  It was cooler than I expected and it got to the point where my right hand, which has been experiencing some numbness, was incapable of changing gears using my twist grip.  I had to reach across and chane gears with my left hand.  As the sun rose, the dawn was made more spectacular by and eerie fog which extended across the road in parts and made the trees ghost-like.  Progress wasn’t as fast as I had hoped but I couldn’t work out whether it was the cold or maybe the road was gradually climbing.  I knew that during the course of the day I would be climbing up onto the Atherton Tableland.

By 8:00am the road had started to become quite busy with a lot of road trains carrying ore of some description and many tourists.  I was constantly getting off the narrow strip of bitumen onto the gravel verge to avoid traffic coming from either direction, although I couldn’t always hear the traffic from behind until it was almost on to me.  (Someone later told me that touring cyclists hate this piece of road and I can understand why.)

Unfortunately, the bad traffic conditions were a distraction from the marvellous volcanic area scenery.  Extinct cones could be seen in various directions and black volcanic rock was all around.

Later in the day, the road began climbing onto the Atherton Tableland.  It would have been good if it was a steady climb but, of course, it wasn’t.  It was a constant series of ups and downs with each succeeding “up” a bit longer than the preceding “down”.  I could feel my quads using every last bit of the strength they have acquired in the last three weeks.

Finally I reached Ravenshoe, the highest town in Queensland (believe it or not), at 6:00pm after a very long day (yet again the map distance underestimated the true distance as marked by road signs and measured on my odometer).  I was lucky to get the last motel room in town and felt pleased with the kilometres covered and metres ascended for the day in difficult conditions.  I should have an easy run into Cairns tomorrow and a day off on Sunday staying with my cousin, Phil and his family.

Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - 138km north of Hughenden to The Lynd Junction

Day: 021
Date: Thursday, 17 August 2006
Summary: Riding from 138km north of Hughenden to The Lynd Junction.
Start: 138km north of Hughenden
Finish: The Lynd Junction
Daily Kilometres: 106
Total Kilometres: 2762
Weather: Mild early but warm to hot and partly cloudy for the rest of the day with variable winds.
Accommodation: Room at the Oasis Roadhouse, The Lynd Junction, Queensland .
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli and apple
  Lunch:  Peanut butter roll
  Dinner:  Sausages, eggs and chips
Encounters: Saw a large herd of wild hogs cross the road in front of me.  There must have been about 20 babies in the group.  When I got to the point where they had crossed the road they were still rooting around in the vegetation at the side of the road.  As I passed, one of the adults spotted me and started chasing me.   Thanks to a huge surge of adrenalin I cranked up the pace and the hog stopped chasing after 20 metres.
Highlights: I was very happy to find that the Oasis Roadhouse was open and had accommodation when I finally reached it.
Lowlights: I fear the very rough roads are taking their toll on my gear.  The bike is going OK but a plastic bolt on one of the panniers has broken and I discovered a screw on the same pannier which was about to come free.  Also, the map kilometres were about 20km short for this section, meaning I had to ride 20km further than expected.

Journal:
I got up at 6:30am after a fitful sleep (there was an uncomfortable bump under the floor of the tent) on a windy night.  By the time I packed up and left it was 8:45am.  The road conditions were tough with patches of soft red sand, chewed up by road-trains, alternating with corrugations, and just plain rocky roads.  I was glad I had bought the premium tyres for this trip, because they are taking some punishment, and I haven’t even had to put any air into them so far.  However, the bike, gear, and me are getting very shaken up.  To offset the tough riding conditions, the scenery was attractive timbered razing land with small mountains here and there, and some pretty streams.  The road was undulating and was forever dipping down into floodways.  By the time the afternoon came around these constant small climbs were beginning to take their toll and I was feeling very tired.  I think the extra concentration required to ride on the rough road is also wearing me out.  From originally thinking I might get a bit past The Lynd Junction, I began to hope that the roadhouse there would have accommodation.  The long afternoon wasn’t helped by the fact that the map underestimated the distance by about 20km (which is a lot when you are tired!).

I finally arrived at the roadhouse, which seemed to be run by two women, and they did have basic rooms and let me have one.  I must have looked quite a sight, covered with red dust and sweat.  I had a welcome shower and checked over my bike and gear for any problems before having an early dinner.  At one point a helicopter flew in to pick up a few things.  This place is very remote.  I might try a very early start tomorrow and see if I can get to Ravenshoe (201km) so that I have a shorter day into Cairns on Saturday.  The road is sealed from here to Cairns .

Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - Hughenden to 138km north

Day: 020
Date: Wednesday, 16 August 2006
Summary: Riding 138km north from Hughenden on the road to The Lynd Junction.
Start: Hughenden
Finish: 138km north of Hughenden
Daily Kilometres: 138
Total Kilometres: 2656
Weather: Mild early but warm to hot and sunny for the rest of the day with north-east wind.
Accommodation: Camping off road between Hughenden and The Lynd Junction, Queensland .
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Apple and pastries
  Lunch:  Peanut butter roll
  Dinner:  Peanut butter roll, gorp and muesli bar
Encounters: Saw a few kangaroos and the first brolgas of the trip.  Also saw the first big anthills of the trip, a sure sign of the tropics.
Highlights: Porcupine Gorge was well worth a look and I also remember one very pleasant break sitting on some rocks by the side of the road at the top of a hill surveying the sun-soaked Australian countryside with some handsome white-trunked gums nearby and some craggy rocky outcrops in the near distance.  Before going to bed, I spent about 20 minutes just looking at the fabulous night sky. With no ambient light and no moon, the Milky Way was brilliant and you could see a myriad of stars in all directions.  With just a few bush night sounds and no other noise, it was just perfect.
Lowlights: I had quite a few low-lights today.  Firstly, I had decided to get a cooked breakfast before leaving town but couldn’t find an open café, so left without it.  Secondly, even though the first 25km was on sealed roads, a strong headwind made it very hard work and sometimes my speed was barely above 10kph.  Thirdly, later in the day on the rough road I began to strike the first long sandy sections and managed to fall off twice in the space of 100 metres at one point and had a number of other near misses.

Journal:
I didn’t get up until 6:30am and left around 7:15am, planning to find a cooked breakfast on the way out of town.  However, despite visiting a couple of possible cafes, I found none open, so called into the bakery to pick up some breadrolls and then left.  As soon as I got out of town the wind sprang up strongly and it was very hard work for the first few hours.  In fact, it was hard riding all day and I started stopping every 10km for a break instead of the usual 20km.  The road soon became gravel and dirt and varied from very easy to very difficult.  I met a few road-trains and it is obvious they cut up the unsealed roads more than other traffic.  The terrain was also getting quite hilly and the road seemed to be gradually climbing which added to my woes.

During the day I encountered a number of tourists and several of them took my photos and one lady even asked me to stop while she changed her camera battery!

I detoured 2km from the main road to a look-out over Porcupine Gorge around lunch time and enjoyed the spectacular view up the sheer-sided gorge with a stream at the bottom.  There was a picnic table at the lookout where I had lunch and chatted to some grey nomads sharing the same table.

After Porcupine Gorge there was less traffic on the road and I had long periods to myself.  The countryside was generally forest with lots of Brahmin cattle grazing all the way along and a few waterholes.

Towards the end of the day the road became quite cut up and sandy in sections and I fell off a couple of times.  It was often very hard to judge how deep the sand was and, with the heavy weight on my handlebars, it is very difficult to correct once the front wheel goes off track.  No doubt I will strike a lot more of this as I head north.

Around 5:45pm, as the sun set, I began looking for somewhere to camp.  I hadn’t quite gone as far as hoped today, but the going had been hard and I had started late, so I’m not too fussed.  I found a nice spot off the road, washed, set up camp, and ate, before listening to the Kuwait vs Australia soccer match on the radio whilst getting an early night.

Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - Hughenden

Day: 019
Date: Tuesday, 15 August 2006
Summary: Rest day.
Start: Hughenden
Finish: Hughenden
Daily Kilometres: 0
Total Kilometres: 2518
Weather: Mild early but warm to hot and sunny for the rest of the day with north-east wind.
Accommodation: Motel in Hughenden , Queensland .
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Pastries
  Lunch:  Quiche and salad
  Dinner:  Pasta and a milkshake for dinner.
Encounters: None in particular, but the locals were all very friendly.
Highlights: Spending a day wandering around with nothing much to do.
Lowlights: Getting a social phone call from Kev Andrews at 6:00am on the one day on the trip that I had planned to sleep in!

Journal:
Most of the day was spent wandering around the central part of Hughenden soaking up the atmosphere of a remote outback town and attending to a few chores.  Unfortunately, one of the chores turned out to be a load of hand-washing since there is no Laundromat in town.  However, apart from that I found an internet centre providing cheap broadband access and the necessary food stores.  One of the pubs was highly recommended by the locals and I ended up eating both lunch and dinner there on their very pleasant verandah opening on to the sleepy main street.

The day was quite hot and a strong north-east wind was blowing in the morning which made me glad I was not riding although, no doubt, the weather will be the same again tomorrow.

I bought a 2.4 litre fruit juice in a container I will fill with water to see me through the next few days. By my calculation, I will see only one roadhouse, and no other water, shops, accommodation, etc., in the next three days.  I didn’t sleep well last night and I’ve had a bit of a headache most of the day, possibly because I was a bit dehydrated yesterday.  I’ll make sure I get a good sleep tonight rather than make a pre-dawn start.