OVER THE RANGE

I woke up early the next day in order to get myself on the road and found Rex out by his camper breathing life to last nights fire.He waved me over and offered me a coffee and some chocolate biscuits for breakfast and we sat and had a quick chat and I filled him in on how to find my blog on the internet.He was pretty interested in how my blog worked and I hope I don't dissappoint him in the telling of my tales.

So now it was time to head or my next stop some 80k down the road about 10k past the town of Ingham, first though ,there was the Cardwell range ride over.It's not a bad climb but is a very dangerous one due to the narrow road and the heavy truck traffic.I made my way steadily south through the town of Cardwell and on along a well forested highway before making a pit-stop at a truck pullout to rest up for the sprint up the range.

It was at that pullout that some more great hospitality was bestowed upon me when a little old man walked from his camper toward me and told me he had been instructed to ask me if I wanted a cup of tea.I said "sure" and followed him to find his wife and another lady brewing the tea and laying out an assorment of cookies.How awesome!I had my tea and lots of cookies and heard tales of the trip that the three of them had made that winter.They were very interested in at I was doing and regretted being computer illiterate as they would not be able to follow my trip.Time passed all too quickly in that camper but I had to go.The Cardwell Range was a short 5k away.

As luck would have it,at the bottom of the range there was a road gang working and a team of "stop and slow" lollipop traffic marshals was hard at work letting the trucks through.I stoppe and asked the lady if she could please let the traffic go toward the range every three minuts or so,that way I would be able topull off to the side of the road and when the rush stopped I knew I had three minutes of clear road at a time.She said"no worries" and the plan worked a treat.Even though the rnae is only a mile long the lack of shoulders makes it a terrifying ride.I was thankfull to b able to predict when I had some open road.

Once over the top it was a boring grind into another headwind through Ingham and on to the rest area near Tooobanna.This place was not nearly as nice as the previous two campsites but it would do.I had done my 80k by 1:30pm and was pretty happy with that.Now it was a chance to wash out my riding gear,set up my tent and eat.

It wasn't long before I was joined by a really nice couple who gave me some more tips about cool rest areas and it was they who suggested I try and make for Bluewater the next day.It was only 70k away and I figured if it was a nice as he described then it was a must do.That sentiment ws echoed by several other campers and so I went to bed hoping to get the required distance done by lunchtime.

The next morning I was up before dawn and packing my stuff when a Police hwy cruiser pulled up.I said a quick hello as hey walked past me and opened up the Driver-revivor kiosk.Normally these things are only open during school holidays when volunteers hand out coffee and cookies to weary drivers,today it seemed,the cops were just hungry.Worked out well for me as they tossed a couple of small packs of biscuits onto the table in front of me.What is it with everyone giving me cookies???Anyway,all free food is appreciated and I thanked them for their generosity.

With the cookies deposited into my belly I was off again and rolling quickly down the road toward Bluewater.The mornings ride went well and I had covered 50k by 9:30 am so I figured that I'd slow it down a tad and roll slowly along for the remaining 30k.In the end I didn't have much choice.The wind blew in again,this time bringing with it some serious heat,crawling along was the only option.I sought the comfort of the roadside forest to escape the blazing sun for about twenty minues and must have looked quite the siht as I lay there by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.At one stage I took out my thermometer and held it about two feet off the ground,it went straight over 40C.Holy crap,it is supposed to be winter!!!!!I did manage to get to Bluewater about an hour later than I had predicted and thank's to the heat,much worse for wear.

I found a spot near the couple who I had met the previous night and joked with them tht I was doing the same daily mileage as their campervan.They just thought I was nuts to be there so soon.Maybe I am.I am not nuts enough to pass up a nice swim in a cool river and made a bee-line for the cool waterway which skirted the rest area.Before that could happen though some old guy stopped me and insisted that he get his "missus" to make me a coffee.Old Bill dragged me over to his ancient bus and I was soon sipping a hot (it was 35C in the shade) cup of cffee and,you guessed it,munching on more cookies.Too funny!!He was a funny old guy with paper thin,wrinkled old skin who could not have weighed more than 50 kilos.The dude had been everywhere and seemed quite prepared to tell me all about it when his wife reminded him that she had sent him to the store to get some groceries and not to go find a new friend to bore.I saw that as my out and took off for the river.

While I was floating around a couple of thoughts crossed my mind,the first was that I was sure I would enjoy this rest area a lot and the other left me wondering if there were any crocodiles nearby who may have had an afternoon swim on the agenda as well.Clearly there weren't