tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44798339764930097842024-03-05T12:00:15.054-08:00Nick's Epic Ride 2009/10Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-72080497657571357702009-10-12T02:22:00.000-07:002009-10-12T06:33:24.598-07:00HELL ON THE HAY PLAINS<div><div><div><div>I had a great sleep that night inside the Gunbar Town Hall and being inside certainly made it easy to get out of bed before sunrise and get the day started.There was something about not having to brace myself for the frigid wind first thing that motivated me to get up in the dark and make a coffee so I could watch the sun rise on a new day.My enthusiasm waned a little once I did open the doors at the back of the hall and let the morning chill in,holy cow it was cold!!I decided that I'd wait until the sun was just about up before stepping out again there was lots for me to do in preparation for the days ride to Hay to keep me busy for a while. Once it did start to lighten up I made the effort and was rewarded with the most beautiful of sunrise to welcome in a clear crisp morning.Too bloody crisp for my liking!<br />There was no delaying it though and just before 7am I rolled my rig out of the hall and rode up on to the highway for the 78k ride to Hay.I was hoping to get to Hay well before lunchtime and then ride out the other side for about an hour or so,first things first though I had to get there and the way my legs felt in that first hour I new that the plan might be a little harder to adhere to than I'd hoped.For some reason my legs were really sore and there was just no power to the pedals at all.I hoped that I would have a repeat of the previous couple of days and once I warmed up the pain would go away but that morning it didn't.I'm guessing the cold didn't help either.<br />About half an hour into the day the wind started.At first it wasn't really a problem but as it increased it took a lot more energy to maintain my speed and that only made my legs hurt even more.I put on another layer in the hope that if my core was warm then my legs might warm up a bit more but that didn't help so I just resigned myself to a slow old day and geared down to a very slow spin.The problem with riding so slowly with the load I have is that you start to lose control of the front end of the bike more easily and with a wind coming at me from the front left it meant I was constantly being pushed into the center of the road.That sucked.<br />As the kilometers rolled by the wind picked up and I started to get colder and colder.This was a sign to me that there was something else going on.I figured that I must be really run down to feel the cold like this or perhaps I hadn't eaten enough to deal with the cold and riding into the wind.I found the only bit of shelter that could(behind a fence over a cattleguard)and opened a can of beans.Even though I was behind a shelter the wind cut through my clothes and started to chill the sweat that was soaking the layers of clothing below.I pulled on my windproof gear and paced around for a while just hating the day to death.I must have looked a sight because a kombi van loaded up with a hippie family from South Australia pulled up and asked if I needed help.I told them I was fine but I gotta admit,if that van was empty and the driver had offered me a lift then I would have seriously thought about taking it.Instead I sucked it up and got back out there and crept along at a sad 12kph.Christ,I can run faster than that!!!!On top of all that I had a bloody aggressive magpie chase m<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpdztM9cnEZt47ZyIDel-_CfOuC8TN6CcQJqeZ6BbkSsIumtwMG7-LJ_w_tZXEJdkeR5w-kAK-VtrONdfaEMuhdL0XBuV35eXiRWHFHUlNXsiYT3oBvgJPwkb0-CGdeocpq-oaxODOy-Q/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+105.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391704846597307314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpdztM9cnEZt47ZyIDel-_CfOuC8TN6CcQJqeZ6BbkSsIumtwMG7-LJ_w_tZXEJdkeR5w-kAK-VtrONdfaEMuhdL0XBuV35eXiRWHFHUlNXsiYT3oBvgJPwkb0-CGdeocpq-oaxODOy-Q/s320/katoomba+to+hay+105.jpg" /></a>e down the highway for about 500meters swooping me and pecking at my helmet.I was too tired and cranky to do battle with a flaming bird after the shitty day I'd had but he would not let me go and thankfully there was no traffic around cause I was just weaving all over the place under the magpies attack.<br />The closer I got to town the worse I felt and I really started to lose it.I was yelling and screaming at everything around which,if you look at the photos is a whole lot of nothing.I perservered though, ten kilometers at a time and as midday rolled around I realised that this must be the slowest 78k that I have ever ridden.God would this town ever show up?One thing though,I knew my legs needed a rest because every time I lost the plot and yelled I felt the blood surge through both legs and they hurt like shit.I've never felt that before and it was really,really odd.I needed a day off.<br />I finally rolled into the little country town of Hay at about 1pm a full 6 hours after I sta<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFHRiM8vHG76Upf2gUFBmekT_Og2o1lxbUppbwr-SB3OcBnr2i1zTHRCBSwBzcbQ9_NrFfp6q_RdHqq194vxgyzkU8GQQ3YCawQZNZSYB7ue0OP6RhIfxB0MFme_mRgfxh8moP_hhA1XE/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+101.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391704343906784914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFHRiM8vHG76Upf2gUFBmekT_Og2o1lxbUppbwr-SB3OcBnr2i1zTHRCBSwBzcbQ9_NrFfp6q_RdHqq194vxgyzkU8GQQ3YCawQZNZSYB7ue0OP6RhIfxB0MFme_mRgfxh8moP_hhA1XE/s320/katoomba+to+hay+101.jpg" /></a>rted the 78k trip that morning.Sooooooo slow on a day which was dead flat!!I meandered through the towns main street until I found a motel that looked nice and pulled ino the driveway of the Bidgee Motor Inn where I found the owner hanging around in the driveway.We had a quick chat and a few minutes later I was under a hot shower hurting like hell until my extremeties warmed up.I was checked in for two nights which would give me one full day off and hopefully time for my legs to recover.</div><br /><br /><div>I am by nature a pretty lazy person and when I'm on a trip like this one that last thing I want to do when I reach a designated rest day destination is run around like a nut trying to see stuff.I see enough stuff on the road so generally I stay indoors and work on my blog or just mellow out on the the laptop or,as I did in Hay,watch movies.This motel had cable tv with three movie channels and to me that is heaven on a stick.I did a bit of shopping and did have a walk around town but apart fro excursions to the fish and chip shop and one trip to the laundromat my time was spent spread out on the big bed watching cool movies.Bliss!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRjxeGq7CNEXjZ1D7OiLLpC10jW3jc5I2Pv1PmVr4JogcbKgmmsw2wLOHctmNjZlBXVc8uZqI6T9W04NH_TI4mpbGcvL-KxagVO3AEA_iaHh1JqR070gXudtw3VwYnlF-p5RJhCVrFqc/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+129.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391703629869144626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRjxeGq7CNEXjZ1D7OiLLpC10jW3jc5I2Pv1PmVr4JogcbKgmmsw2wLOHctmNjZlBXVc8uZqI6T9W04NH_TI4mpbGcvL-KxagVO3AEA_iaHh1JqR070gXudtw3VwYnlF-p5RJhCVrFqc/s320/katoomba+to+hay+129.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div>The morning I was supposed to leave I made the decision that I really didn't want to get out on the road just yet.I had been really dissappointed that there had been no more interest in my trip from some tri-industry people I'd contacted and that kind of dulled my enthusiasm.I couldn't expect people to want to donate money to the Athletes in Kind cause so I became resigned to the fact that I'm not a good fundraiser at all and that made me wonder what I should do regarding the rest of my trip.I did enjoy being out there but I started feeling that I should just bail on the blog and I mentioned that on my Facebook page.Thankfully I did recieve some encouragement from the small group of people who have been following my trip and I decided to give it another few weeks to see if interest lifted.I not maybe I'll just go sit on a beach somewhere and find some fun people to hang out with.There was also the problem of funds.Was I going to allow myself to go broke promoting a cause th<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUniACrzHnhIPfEkzB9OxLnEVih1i2F3CiXpw-GjZ1KmCYYt4Ywqk4A9qu82YVnnT_sf57EvFJ5UpTWzvxv_EJHqOiw1tVTZ8_vEUoiT4VP6ZMzRSITU_uEpJXySnRVaE2pCp1qsJ58Q/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+131.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391702934171170978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUniACrzHnhIPfEkzB9OxLnEVih1i2F3CiXpw-GjZ1KmCYYt4Ywqk4A9qu82YVnnT_sf57EvFJ5UpTWzvxv_EJHqOiw1tVTZ8_vEUoiT4VP6ZMzRSITU_uEpJXySnRVaE2pCp1qsJ58Q/s320/katoomba+to+hay+131.jpg" /></a>at nobody outside Vancouver was interested in?Should I just bail and get a job? I didn't know what to do and I spent a good portion of my rest day feeling very sad.</div><br /><br /><div>Early the next morning I started to feel a bit off colour and my stomache turned on me.I had been feeling a bit feverish overnight but now I started feeling light headed and my stomache let go in a big way.I don't know what kind of bug I'd picked up or if it was just part of being run down but I lost my appetite completely and what I did eat went straight through me.I was going nowhere fast again.The up side was that I could stay and watch the Ironman World Triathlon Championships live on my laptop.I thought I was going to miss it but in the end it was great.I'd hoped that I could get away the next morning but there was no way and eve the staff at the motel became concerned about my welfare.I figured though tat whatever I had would run it's course and flush itself out in due course.The worry I had was that I was probrably spending way too much money stalled in a motel in Hay.I was supposed to be raising money and not spending it.I went into the office to pay for my fifth(and hopefully last) nigt in the motel but the owner Julie would have none of it.I guess she felt bad for me and told me that as a donation in kind for my cause she would give me that night free.I was amazed and touched by her generosity.She and her husband Mark are great people and it that little gesture did more to motivated me to continue than anything I'd experienced that week.It was just what I needed to pick me up and ge my head in the right place.I can't thank them enough.</div><div>So,next stop should be Ceduna in South Australia some 1400 kilometers away.It's going to take about 16 days to get there as I will be cutting down on my daily bike milage in order to be able to up the bike intensity and at the same time allow an increase in run and swim training.I have lots of time and I refuse to allow myself to feel the pressure to ride long distances or to get to a place just to update this blog.I have promised the friends who are following my blog tat I will keep it going as I'm value their interest and really,if I can share a little bit of what I'm up to with a few people who really are interested then it is my pleasure to keep doing so.Thanks' guys for being interested,I doubt very much that the S.E. Asia leg of my trip will be happening after Ironman in December as I will run out of funds but I live in hope that someone out there in the corporate world will decide to join me now ,while things are tough and uncertain, instead of jumping on the old bandwagon when it's all over.Either way I've got 3,000 kilometers to cover and an Ironman to train for and that 'aint going to get done by sitting here watching movies for the next month.Time to hit the road again.</div><div> </div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-18446492747083743092009-10-10T05:46:00.001-07:002009-10-12T01:36:18.165-07:00CHILLY DAYS AND FREEZING NIGHTS<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>It was really great to wake up the next morning to a dry tent and dry ground.The cold morning air I could have done without but I knew that it wouldn't take too long to warm up once I was underway again.Well, that was the theory anyway.Once packed up and on the road it was bloody freezing and I didn't need any encouragement to pull into the first big truckstop that I saw after only 15k of riding.I w<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XD9ok9_KIWxoQ6Cx7yexjj8D2hHDV913WwzTz5JiXZI3w9URNGKo_EyXvMhzdb1OEh2U2qsd6bbjPbRvaXlDPPb7Ct2znKWUkSpMU9metYNHfmAtTJHWcVXeWGptSDau5A93S6id8W0/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+071.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391629005496709538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XD9ok9_KIWxoQ6Cx7yexjj8D2hHDV913WwzTz5JiXZI3w9URNGKo_EyXvMhzdb1OEh2U2qsd6bbjPbRvaXlDPPb7Ct2znKWUkSpMU9metYNHfmAtTJHWcVXeWGptSDau5A93S6id8W0/s320/katoomba+to+hay+071.jpg" /></a>anted real food ,hot coffee and a warm place to sit in for a while and hat truckstop was just the ticket.I wanted to stall for a while anyway as I needed to get to a grocery store to buysome supplies for the isolated stretch that I would soon be facing on the ride to Hay some 260k away. Once inside the truckstop I soon got to chatting to a nice family from Queensland who were also really feeling the cold as they drove through to South Australia to visit relatives.They were pretty interested in my trip and it was while I was chatting to them that I realised just what was different about this part of my trip and what was bugging me so much.I had mentioned to these people that I had found riding through Queensland much more friendly and fun than the last few days(if you take the weather out of the equation) and the main reason I came up with was t<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGWMb5Ho4U5nNJtLG8lyW_u2Y08lsGQBkMIViUZbUSQzqkREvA08E-CVuhW5kV-0tntJ5kZYuzJ_j_uNcwNlfIKrP5O2B4O6idENXFK3_i-IyFPKCb6J2DaD1VxAEWERLUTmN22nrElc8/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+073.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391627823018147138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGWMb5Ho4U5nNJtLG8lyW_u2Y08lsGQBkMIViUZbUSQzqkREvA08E-CVuhW5kV-0tntJ5kZYuzJ_j_uNcwNlfIKrP5O2B4O6idENXFK3_i-IyFPKCb6J2DaD1VxAEWERLUTmN22nrElc8/s320/katoomba+to+hay+073.jpg" /></a>hat in Queensland the rest areas allow overnight camping and caravan stays while in New South Wales that was not an option.That meant that the sort of chance meetings with fellow travellers I'd had during the first month of my trip were not likely to happen again until the Nullabor Plain about three weeks ride away.So unless I really made the effort to talk to random people or hooked up with a fellow cyclist then I was to be really doing it solo for the next little while.As I am quite a social creature I didn't like the thought of that.I spent way too much time hanging out in that truckstop but I really enjoyed it but when I looked at a clock on the wall and realised that the state had changed to daylight saving time it dawned on my that I was actually two hours behind my schedule for the da<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDot-lY0gZcUlaBoR0sxqNaXQGFYIZXi3UxbP5YCVNp5aMkR6LbFPQ0Bz4zi11rFSmHTcEwaEOT2bvVT4Y8I8Q6roT-cymQKoSJlETCEPrs66u5HnpwsKmQRgNNcONaDSj2Xu4Mgyogs/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+077.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391626339838894802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDot-lY0gZcUlaBoR0sxqNaXQGFYIZXi3UxbP5YCVNp5aMkR6LbFPQ0Bz4zi11rFSmHTcEwaEOT2bvVT4Y8I8Q6roT-cymQKoSJlETCEPrs66u5HnpwsKmQRgNNcONaDSj2Xu4Mgyogs/s320/katoomba+to+hay+077.jpg" /></a>y.I said my goodbyes to the staff at the truckstop and rode on into West Wyalong to a grocery store and bought some supplies for the next three days.The road broke up a little on that stretch of highway and it made for a rough ride but it was still great compared to Nth Queensland so I wasn't going to complain too much.I was too busy complaining to the cows on the side of the road about the damn cold wind.I had to ride the whole damn day in three layers of clothing just to keep warm.It sucked but I made pretty good time on a pretty uneventful day.At around 78k into the day I rode into the little town of Weethalle which pretty much consisted of a pub,a cop station,an info hut and few houses and a little old gas station.I needed to fill up all my water bottles for the night so I pulled into the gas station and a minute or so later was sitting in front of a nice hot coffee chatting to the four tr<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9q0ZHuJJ7KTNcxzwdd6tVqpjdX4b-STFpk0vWIkMsWMhVZgn-ccs79yFYqjGXqikWQtiQDa1aQAuOD2pcZdE4VRSX-LMymVlkP9WIZrCObjhVe34ybUBgp4s_up8pbGMz_ZaA7j9PTk/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+083.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391625310978959282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9q0ZHuJJ7KTNcxzwdd6tVqpjdX4b-STFpk0vWIkMsWMhVZgn-ccs79yFYqjGXqikWQtiQDa1aQAuOD2pcZdE4VRSX-LMymVlkP9WIZrCObjhVe34ybUBgp4s_up8pbGMz_ZaA7j9PTk/s320/katoomba+to+hay+083.jpg" /></a>avellers sitting in the restaurant as the owners fussed about telling all kinds of stories about the other cyclist who had ridden through tow over the years.They even had a table with a bunch of framed photographs of a few of the riders who had sent pictures back to them after their trip had finished.One guy caught my attention as he had apparently ridden a recumbent solo and unsupported 4,000k from Perth to Bondi Beach in Sydney in a little over 11 days.WTF!!!!!That is some seriously super speedy cycling and sure made me feel like a slowpoke.I sat around chatting for a while enjoying the two free slices of chocolate cake that the owners gave me.It was awesome and just what I needed to fuel me up for the last 28k of the day that I needed to cover to make up my 100k daily total.</div><br /><br /><br /><div>The last hour and a half of riding was done into a ever-increasing headwind which reduced me to crawling speed.Thankfully it was warming up a little bit and the sky looked clear so I was looking foward to another dry night ahead as I turned off the higway at the 100k mark and looked for a suitable camping spot.I had just passed a huge grain silo and figured that there might be some shelter out of the wind close to the collection of buildings surround it.I turned off and rode around to the back of the silo complex and into the scrub behind.I was right in that<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlPmSMM21_E0UdFhHlVTtoELt7Lx43BjJky2MdTjGhyphenhyphenauqYSiJugjX5tkmyWKsNSLq7Hm3Gz4vXeVK8_dYmojJs1KEOlvCgi4GG4fHu4Pckkduqm3rJ3W-Qgfxgf-60se7OGCTbLa0nuM/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+075.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391624257159770322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlPmSMM21_E0UdFhHlVTtoELt7Lx43BjJky2MdTjGhyphenhyphenauqYSiJugjX5tkmyWKsNSLq7Hm3Gz4vXeVK8_dYmojJs1KEOlvCgi4GG4fHu4Pckkduqm3rJ3W-Qgfxgf-60se7OGCTbLa0nuM/s320/katoomba+to+hay+075.jpg" /></a> there was lots of shelter but once I took off my shoes and started to walk around setting up camp I realised that I'd made a huge mistake.My socks soon became encrusted with small thorns and my feet were experiencing some kind of natural acupuncture session.I didn't mind the pain of the thorns in my feet so much,it was the thought of just how many thorns had stuck into my tyres just waiting to puncutre my tubes.I was so pissed off at myself as I quickly packed up my gear again and rode another kilometer or so down the highway looking for a more suitable camping spot. </div><br /><div>I found a nice sheltered spot down a dirt track off the highway.It was a nice,thorn free flat spot sheltered behind a stand of small pine trees and I quickly set about making camp for the night.Once the tent was up and the water heating on the stove I tended to the countless thorns that were still stuck in the soles of my feet.I was too impatient to pick them out one by one with tweezers so I just opened the blade of my pocket-knife and scraped the crap out of my feet until all the offening needles w<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSh9XYNUIc-HWJHSKHjPiVztM69wv_eAw-wxc9V_sQUnf2k5l4KXWkO217g1SmpctouTnUuAC2PwX26mfmCh48qeqH2q8sWS15-9U5LEavqqUtJdCBJYEa304im0zBpMfuigbQZOC_x4/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+085.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391623366967835282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSh9XYNUIc-HWJHSKHjPiVztM69wv_eAw-wxc9V_sQUnf2k5l4KXWkO217g1SmpctouTnUuAC2PwX26mfmCh48qeqH2q8sWS15-9U5LEavqqUtJdCBJYEa304im0zBpMfuigbQZOC_x4/s320/katoomba+to+hay+085.jpg" /></a>ere removed.The tyres on my bike and trailer semmed to have survived intact and so I as able to breathe easy and enjoy my dinner without the worry of flat tyres to ruin what was a pretty good day on the road.That evening I was treated to a clear sky and a beautiful sunset which turned the ground and sky all around me into a bright purple haze,something I would see a lot of while I was riding over the rich,rust coloured dirt that this part of Australia is famous for.The cold night wasn't such a treat but it could have been worse,the ants nest I had camped near could have housed some really nasty little critters but instead the scary looking,inch long ants left me alone and were not the slightest bit interested in my tent.Thank god for small mercies.The next morning was just plain bloody freezing and the nine kilometer ride into Rankin<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-F-oBsK7dmqpnNKAlc5ko_piv2wg5-qm5MA0L-M7bi9g-TcCrT0RXD-yabz4XZIRhhmDLGDgHMpIkgG8_nquuzFMCFWbuXNJrt6qeuGRilMI1yy12fNMQgtxDI92K8PR3GBbHe5lHkA/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+088.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391622308487835298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-F-oBsK7dmqpnNKAlc5ko_piv2wg5-qm5MA0L-M7bi9g-TcCrT0RXD-yabz4XZIRhhmDLGDgHMpIkgG8_nquuzFMCFWbuXNJrt6qeuGRilMI1yy12fNMQgtxDI92K8PR3GBbHe5lHkA/s320/katoomba+to+hay+088.jpg" /></a>e Springs was not a great way to start the day.I passed the only truck stop in town just wishing like hell for a hot coffee but after the memories of dicking around for too long in Wyalong came back to me I forced myself to ride on without a break(like I needed one after 9k-lazy bastard).My legs did feel like absolute shit though and turning into the wind after riding through town just made things worse as I crawled out of town.</div><div>I had been told that the hills were behind me once I left Cowra but the stupidly steep hill I hit about 5k out of Rankine Springs just really got me pissed of at all those well meaning motorists who keep teeling me that there are no more hills to ride.Just goes to show,what is flat in a car is not so flat on a flamin bike.Anyway,enough ranting because as soon as I climbed the 2-3k pitch to the top of the pass there was a huge downhill that saw me coasting happily(although frigidly)into the next valley.The long descent gave me the chance to eat and drink and shortly afterward my legs started to come good and I was making great time riding up and over the countless rolling hills that seemed forever to have me facing skyward.As the morning progre<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-3uZ7fe1zfYyp7eiVQsiSILedPzMZlcqC0_61IzjbDCDrXoRD_yw09oFB8OfWbGhoaKy5aCreGOFNIlfh8iyUb-JmpVzIg9GfITdLa9gP7b1W7EZDW3tkRaBuTUqhhRY3gQTE4JNs2PA/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+093.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391621138066225010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-3uZ7fe1zfYyp7eiVQsiSILedPzMZlcqC0_61IzjbDCDrXoRD_yw09oFB8OfWbGhoaKy5aCreGOFNIlfh8iyUb-JmpVzIg9GfITdLa9gP7b1W7EZDW3tkRaBuTUqhhRY3gQTE4JNs2PA/s320/katoomba+to+hay+093.jpg" /></a>ssed the road straightened and the wind picked up leaving me in a struggle to stay on the grey strip of asphalt that stretched on in front of me as far as the eye could see. The road had narrowed and it was a mental battle against the cold,the wind and the trucks who were trying their best to give me a wide berth.I even had a friendly local cop stop and ask if everything was going okay for me as he was concerned about the danger of riding on such a windy day on that narrow road.I was fine and told him I'd be stopping for lunch at Goolgowi another 20k further up the road and then gave him an estimate of where I'd be stopping for the night.He said he'd keep an eye out for me to make sure I was okay later in the day(now that's what policing should be all about).</div><div>I made it to my lunch stop and as soon as I pulled over at the truck stop I started to get really cold.The wind was just tearing at my sweat soaked clothes and I made a bee-line for t<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJedrrjhecWIxDKjBRyE0Ucpwc3j0eGn2I3Ys_5KGzc_ZYCp4YKJVzT0UV7SpvrHpxc-EzX_X90FIQPxmLo8wPgdxmoVr60OGDPcqTaFo2sPC23Bc6lKcaKlpEVZBX9cdHWq8FITYHhqo/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+096.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391619762666544914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJedrrjhecWIxDKjBRyE0Ucpwc3j0eGn2I3Ys_5KGzc_ZYCp4YKJVzT0UV7SpvrHpxc-EzX_X90FIQPxmLo8wPgdxmoVr60OGDPcqTaFo2sPC23Bc6lKcaKlpEVZBX9cdHWq8FITYHhqo/s320/katoomba+to+hay+096.jpg" /></a>he shelter of the cafe area to the side of the building.After stripping off two layers of clothing and draping everything over my bike in the sun to dry I went in and got myself some real food for an early lunch.I then sat myself down against a low brick wall out of the wind but in the sun so i could warm up and dry off.The chicken burger,curry pie and half liter of chocolate milk seemed like a good idea at the time but soon after continuing my ride after an hours rest my stomache started protesting about having to deal with digesting all that food while I was pushing hard into the wind.I lasted about 5k before having to pull over and lie dow until some of my lunch was properly digested.After a nice little nap on the side of the road I was off again thinking that I would be able to get to within 60k of Hay that eveni<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4wPe3PhdIQLD2ZgVzn6aGvA-_utMrQJqidJGkT45RUm-FeCZrgS4RYPT4WP1q61pOZilMyszS9z1-DFri4xAFoRF9Am1h6PJ2cbstJJh6m8InbzHHHDVsv0crwvzPypdwBeNFLHoGq3Y/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+094.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391618197826721954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4wPe3PhdIQLD2ZgVzn6aGvA-_utMrQJqidJGkT45RUm-FeCZrgS4RYPT4WP1q61pOZilMyszS9z1-DFri4xAFoRF9Am1h6PJ2cbstJJh6m8InbzHHHDVsv0crwvzPypdwBeNFLHoGq3Y/s320/katoomba+to+hay+094.jpg" /></a>ng but the wind and my legs had other ideas.I pushed hard into the wind for another 20k when suddenly all the trees vanished and there was nothing but a whole lot of nothing surrounding me.I had hit the Hay Plain.I had been warned about the plains on either side of Hay and one guy even told me that the winds here could be worse than those on the Nullabor Plain.I didn't believe him until that moment when what I though was already a strong wind turned ferocious and pretty much stopped me in my tracks.It just so happened that as I rounded the curve in the road that is the start of the Hay Plain I came across a large silver building that looked like a barn.There was a four-way intersection and what looked like a church way off in the distance.I had found the dead town of Dunbar,78k out of Hay.I rolled off the road and decided to hide behind the big barn for a while an<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKVr_B85B_vh1Qt9ldHE6z8TcXoIFmJxlb0VftBDCmqnN18e6NYe2pCXR7uVJMSrH0pVSYMFuxn2MtcIt1Oeud5oT3OlH7I9r-zsmlMANBlzJ-Rr0YfS4AqDLT2S-P1g_PDKaiWyDUdQ/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+100.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391617412643994962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKVr_B85B_vh1Qt9ldHE6z8TcXoIFmJxlb0VftBDCmqnN18e6NYe2pCXR7uVJMSrH0pVSYMFuxn2MtcIt1Oeud5oT3OlH7I9r-zsmlMANBlzJ-Rr0YfS4AqDLT2S-P1g_PDKaiWyDUdQ/s320/katoomba+to+hay+100.jpg" /></a>d summon the coage to fight the wind for another hour or so.That plan was immediately thrown out when I found that the barn was in fact the restored Dunbar Town Hall and it was open.</div><br /><div>I slid back the latch and opened the large double dorrs to find a big old hall with an elevated stage at the far end and another long room to the left.The place was dirty,dusty,full of cobwebs but most importantly it was warm!That was enough for me,I was going to camp inside for the night.The thought of a night out of the wind and cold and secure to boot was just too much to pass up so I just rolled my whole rig inside and set up camp right there on the floor of thr main room.My first night out of the wind in five days,awesome!!!I took my small tarp and laid it o<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAdTbHOZZ1NW602pivaSCYwC-yqqrXbSWWuG43QP2fgtDKH6Jl9vwrEjsZcob2vaEZoKPU5RyAyEYorfVu1y5_sfUcbbijDWAq_NpbQovPmCDd6UGlS0BCotb8c6rV_V5_qH0PkuNkV0/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+120.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391616325314446626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAdTbHOZZ1NW602pivaSCYwC-yqqrXbSWWuG43QP2fgtDKH6Jl9vwrEjsZcob2vaEZoKPU5RyAyEYorfVu1y5_sfUcbbijDWAq_NpbQovPmCDd6UGlS0BCotb8c6rV_V5_qH0PkuNkV0/s320/katoomba+to+hay+120.jpg" /></a>ut on the floor on top of which I set up my tent.No need for a fly or the other tarp for protection tonight and best of all no chance of being rained on.After putting the water on to boil I stripped of and hung all my clothes out to dry and did a little investigating.I had seen how much of a footprint I was leaving in the dusty floor and so I checked out the rest of the building to see if there was any sign of recent life and there was none.No human footprints and at all but better yet no animal tracks meaning there was little chance I would have any visitors that evening,human or otherwise.I had only ridden 95k that day but I didn't care I was a<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_pHfYn1Kpd6X3uwCvG9kXPMJkL1rAzYHqNRFisO8kdOEIIyVYN3NBypCNt49KTS2YDcHFWMDcbECJvrMCiNN5q9qt2XGNLWM86qMMbGh2h8fhAx0_Om4o6imXULhuqEstM_zTP9-Mgc/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+125.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391614794568893330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_pHfYn1Kpd6X3uwCvG9kXPMJkL1rAzYHqNRFisO8kdOEIIyVYN3NBypCNt49KTS2YDcHFWMDcbECJvrMCiNN5q9qt2XGNLWM86qMMbGh2h8fhAx0_Om4o6imXULhuqEstM_zTP9-Mgc/s320/katoomba+to+hay+125.jpg" /></a> happy boy and once the coffee was hot I got dressed and went for a stroll around the "town".</div><br /><div>That walk took all of about ten minutes as all ther was too look at was the building I had claimed for the night and the ruins of the old Dunbar pub.The church in the distance was too far away for me to walk to but it was nice to be walking around in the middle of nowhere wondering what life must have been like back in the day when this place meant something to the small population who used to call it home.According to the tourist signs outside the hall they still have a traditional Christmas gathering there for people in the district each year. I wonder where the hell they woud all come from? The rest of the evening was spent taking some pictures and watching the sun set through the dirty windows of the hall while listening to the wind howl through the various cracks in the doors and walls of the building.I hoped that the place wasn't haunted I mean, I really had been wishing for some company over the previous few days,not that kind of company though.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-32989208189514390892009-10-10T00:32:00.001-07:002009-10-11T16:15:26.670-07:00BACK IN THE GROOVE,SORT OF.<div><br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><br /><div>The next morning I was up before sunrise to check on the weather and it was still windy,still really cold but at least the damn rain had gone away.I figured that I'd go back to sleep for a hour or so and let my stuff dry out a bit in the win.At 6:30am I took down my tarp and let the wind blow through my tent to dry up the moisture inside the tent created by my breath during the night.While that was going on I brewed coffee and prepared to head out into the raging tailwind that had turned in my favour.<br /><br />At about 7:30am I was on the road and heading toward Cowra riding through more rolling hills that seemed to me to be tilting slightly ever downward.I wasn't quite sure what was going on as there seemed to be lots of uphills to be conquered but each downhill just got longer and steeper until I found myself coasting for long sections at a time.Before too long I saw,stretched out in front of me a green valley whch I hoped was a sign that I had finally reached the end of the constant hills I had fought for the previous couple of days.It wasn't long after I reached the bottom of a very long descent that I started to see the teltale signs that I was close to tow<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4uW2jOkGjSiORFqZBxYbNXBANo0hIrqEDePGM_f5bw0Ugtx3B5xJds6FQaQudAQV7JZpEkKkcvg1OQs0fp88fwzOJsccRaRyzD6HLbpZtAylXQ2cC_NT3Ve5c3SYB4-FQoNIPzuRrTc/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+015.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391484441878350882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4uW2jOkGjSiORFqZBxYbNXBANo0hIrqEDePGM_f5bw0Ugtx3B5xJds6FQaQudAQV7JZpEkKkcvg1OQs0fp88fwzOJsccRaRyzD6HLbpZtAylXQ2cC_NT3Ve5c3SYB4-FQoNIPzuRrTc/s320/katoomba+to+hay+015.jpg" /></a>n.The good old roadside advertising bilboards.One of then told me that Maccas wasn't far away and as was just about moring coffee time I was dead keen to get there. Twenty minutes later I rolled straight through the center of Cowra and over the bridge on the other side of town to the large carpark under the big yellow M.<br /><br />As I was taking my helmet off a group of people were leaving Maccas and they came over to look at my bike.They turned out to be avid cycle tourists who rode most of the big organised charity tours around Australia.They were really interested in my trip and my gear so I chatted with them for a little while before heading inside for a coffee and a sit down.It was nice to meet some people who were genuinely interested in my trip and knew what it was all about to be out on the road for days.The weather had made me more that a little sad and downhearted about what was doing and they had cheered me up a bit. I stayed in Cowra for about an hour before mounting the bike for the afternoon session.The morning ride had seen me cover 58k and as the next town of Grenfell was another 50k away I figured that I'd ride until just before town and chalk up an even 100k for the day.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-r7TbF43kjMoSPEMyhSloQyFIlshMUKx9Fm7bP4PD1Nzs5GD8VV3H8fIOrixrrXpEHTJhvBqjfRXnUDJko0FD0h4V0qF5_YCfLCvDinp_Ht2WMr3Dt8nxwy3BUfGVYql-vzsQb5v2mPI/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+035.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391483774533754578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-r7TbF43kjMoSPEMyhSloQyFIlshMUKx9Fm7bP4PD1Nzs5GD8VV3H8fIOrixrrXpEHTJhvBqjfRXnUDJko0FD0h4V0qF5_YCfLCvDinp_Ht2WMr3Dt8nxwy3BUfGVYql-vzsQb5v2mPI/s320/katoomba+to+hay+035.jpg" /></a><br />The road flattened out for most of the afternoon with one small range to ride over but the change of wind direction made sure I wasn't going to have an easy time of it.About two and a half hours later my legs were fried and after logging exactly 100k I pulled off to the side of the road and found a really nice place to camp on a grassy patch by a farmers fenceline about 200meters from the highway.I set up my tent and while the water was heating over the stove I got stuck into my dry-land swim training as well as some resistance training with my swim bands.They work pretty well and are definately better than nothing.We will see in December I guess. Just before sunset the rain came again and I was foced indoors for another cold damp night.I will say that I had yet to get wet from the rain itself inside my tent but the humidity was a pain in the ass and the cold was really statring to piss me off.Still I quite liked the time I spent each night in my sleeping bag.I'm pretty lazy really and sleeping is something I love to do.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemj2_UrdFN3OqYyh16ErzyBb2ViSZzrCF_WP-ExpRWbtQfqSNK4c7m227oXWwOzX1aql2Qr_Bo5t2JDvmNbjjIoyZ51i-Vez2Kbfgu0MBrjPblnsOH3rLyev7gxWDR-e1mcn0rYChXFI/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+013.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391482959814300242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemj2_UrdFN3OqYyh16ErzyBb2ViSZzrCF_WP-ExpRWbtQfqSNK4c7m227oXWwOzX1aql2Qr_Bo5t2JDvmNbjjIoyZ51i-Vez2Kbfgu0MBrjPblnsOH3rLyev7gxWDR-e1mcn0rYChXFI/s320/katoomba+to+hay+013.jpg" /></a><br />The next morning was cold as usual and I was starting to think that sping was never going to arrive this year.I got my shit together and was on the road pretty quickly which is something quite unusual for me.I didn't take long to ride into Grenfell and as I rode in I saw a huge billborad that told me this was the birthplace of one of Australias legendary poets,Henry Lawson.I hadn't known that and it was pretty cool to be riding through this historic little town.I stopped at a gas staion to fill up my water bottles and have my usual breakfast which consists of a mixture of rolled oats,weetbix,mixed nuts,dried fruit,Nestle choc powder and brewers sugar(maltodextrin and dextrose) with a drizzle of honey over the top.<br /><br />After a short look around town I headed out on the highway again toward the next major town of West Wyalong.The ride that day was pretty easy and I had covered 57k by 10 am along the boring flat isolated highway.It was at that point when I started to s<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5IqwEWcLjOWsHQy_uP0giJaoxLmItRnlE74UTCatZp8C7Pff9VPbZMNZsTxOH2_VmFlg-_LfbTmOit7ccM9a9s8UTGbmtdEFxQlsD978V6RPx9gm-ikY9wiCbsnYwFt3WzF-AU98gNso/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+018.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391482283063244194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5IqwEWcLjOWsHQy_uP0giJaoxLmItRnlE74UTCatZp8C7Pff9VPbZMNZsTxOH2_VmFlg-_LfbTmOit7ccM9a9s8UTGbmtdEFxQlsD978V6RPx9gm-ikY9wiCbsnYwFt3WzF-AU98gNso/s320/katoomba+to+hay+018.jpg" /></a>ee the effect that the prolonged drought has had on Australias farming towns.I rode into the the tiny town of Caragabal to find pretty much every store in the place empty and boarded up.I think that the only places open were the store,the pub and the police station.It was very sad to see but a sight I would soon get used to.I sat and had some lunch and a coffee hiding out of the cold wind in a shelter at the edge of the local playground.There was a local couple playing with their kids there when I arrived but it didn't take long for them to pack up and leave once their son became interested in my bike.I was really beginning to get sick of being the guy that everyone seems to worry about.I mean really, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vqCIThhWrONrKcxcnVOIGZoyjY6ptWxLH0iepLNcFsE66uw1pOxqS__FcFHVUBucQB01bkWUHieWFYhcyQT8V3fkbQ2PhteVHAu8-o9738sUsUfXDekgjziOBktf231LFoHUmeF2POw/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+062.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391481776164425506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vqCIThhWrONrKcxcnVOIGZoyjY6ptWxLH0iepLNcFsE66uw1pOxqS__FcFHVUBucQB01bkWUHieWFYhcyQT8V3fkbQ2PhteVHAu8-o9738sUsUfXDekgjziOBktf231LFoHUmeF2POw/s320/katoomba+to+hay+062.jpg" /></a>does everyone have to be suspicious of me just because I'm on the road by myself?Fuck me,what has happened to the world?<br /><br />Another 30k or so riding along a featureless highway I hit the T-junction of the Mid-Western Higway (which I was on) and the Newell Highway which came in frm Forbes in the north.I turned sout-west and dead straight into the same wind that had been at my left shoulder all morning.God almighty what a pain in the ass to suddenly go from getting the job done to struggling to turn over evry pedal stroke.I stared at my speedo and was flat out determined to hit 100k that day.It was still pretty early and I knew I was approaching West Wyalong and so when I hit the 100k mark I immediately started looking for a campsite.Luckily for me there was a state forest lining on side of the highway and at 102k I found a dirt road which I followed into the wood to a really great camping area in a think stand of pine trees.It was perfect,out of the wind and in the sun where I could actually get warm.Woo hoo!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9hKUfsKU7vsEj9KeMZZ6piDIcjFg9QmDfOU3lia9FNB7q0sjfFlGzOe0QuLbuAjCwdMOlefA_Tmgr9aRIwhVTD7iCvlak0LnHPdGDChr-VJjE1nC7IpdK0vcVMCXLOBQNOb-kzz_8YU/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+067.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391480999457963970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9hKUfsKU7vsEj9KeMZZ6piDIcjFg9QmDfOU3lia9FNB7q0sjfFlGzOe0QuLbuAjCwdMOlefA_Tmgr9aRIwhVTD7iCvlak0LnHPdGDChr-VJjE1nC7IpdK0vcVMCXLOBQNOb-kzz_8YU/s320/katoomba+to+hay+067.jpg" /></a><br />After hanging pretty much everthing I had in the trees to dry I went for an hour long run in the forest trails followed by my swim band session in the sun.It was great to be warm again and hanging in this beautiful forest but still I felt that something was missing.I guess the isolation was starting to get to me here on the road after spending the two weeks in the company o<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpzNwVtQXDRNPXiyUd6H1UBygOlLFoBVzcLTXg4NSjaZhvPq-xxUAqVxBlSkhYcYHfsDZlIIWzsDdDTnDZBbkJOOevhf56vdJk9-T8Kvvhg72t9KQIu7cIkpVAZrNyDFNJ-mcjaixJYE/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+066.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391479718228586530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpzNwVtQXDRNPXiyUd6H1UBygOlLFoBVzcLTXg4NSjaZhvPq-xxUAqVxBlSkhYcYHfsDZlIIWzsDdDTnDZBbkJOOevhf56vdJk9-T8Kvvhg72t9KQIu7cIkpVAZrNyDFNJ-mcjaixJYE/s320/katoomba+to+hay+066.jpg" /></a>f my parents.It had been good to be able to have conversations with my dad and hang out with him and his pub mates at the "local" on Friday nights.I guess I just missed having friends around and was hoping that the trade off for all this isolation would be increased interest in Athletes in Kind and from the Nth American triathlon community in my ride.I was beginning to think that I would set a deadline for commitment to crossing the Nullabor Plain.If there was no more interest by Mildura another 600k away then I would reconsider the rest of my trip.I didn't want this trip to turn out to be a chore.I wanted to achieve something positive for Athletes in Kind and if I failed to attract interest this year like I had done in the last two attempts then I would bail.The ride across Australia is just a vehicle to attract interest to my fundraising,I really didn't want to spend my "holiday" alone and in the middle of nowhere.Most of my life is spent alone, then again what the hell else is there to do?If nothing else I'll get fit as a fiddle.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-37340429002879422482009-10-09T01:26:00.000-07:002009-10-11T15:51:44.944-07:00WE BEGIN AGAINAfter the very relaxing two week rest at my parents house it was time for me to hit the road again.I had put the next leg of my ride on hold for a few extra days due some some seriously bad weather in the mountains but it was time to move on before I lost interest completel<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXkbuPS9pDMQNqsoU3gtq5shSmw0JfUz-pXMmBjbANbtFpZCtFdELZZeOYFAB7zsTSnfuTBl9AT2PFAOzI9nDUUbt_WaamP8ALXan8ONDBWsvcmsyO0p62zU2yWgt7UcyvFROX4D9yV0/s1600-h/sydney+052.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391478224533228786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXkbuPS9pDMQNqsoU3gtq5shSmw0JfUz-pXMmBjbANbtFpZCtFdELZZeOYFAB7zsTSnfuTBl9AT2PFAOzI9nDUUbt_WaamP8ALXan8ONDBWsvcmsyO0p62zU2yWgt7UcyvFROX4D9yV0/s320/sydney+052.jpg" /></a>y.The fact that the very morning I packed my bike up I somehow did myself some sort of lower back injury by bending and twisting the wrong way while attending to my bike.There was a really sharp pain in my sacrum and it extended down the back of both legs.I could not really straighten myself and when I went to sit it hurt like hell.There was no way that I was going to delay again.The bike was packed,I was dressed and that was that. I said my goodbyes to my parents and rolled out of the driveway and rode up the hill toward the Western Highway where I turned west for the first time on my trip.<br /><br />One would think that as I was pretty much at the top of the Blue Mountains when I started that days ride that it would be a pretty easy ride across and over the top before making the descent down to Lithgow some 40 kilometers away.How wrong was I?The road heading west from Katoomba rolls constantly,following the contours of the spectacular mountain ridges that make up the this part of The Great Dividing Range.It was a tough start and the traffic did nothing to help though the great road c<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVo3Qp0Xi_fdLKVrJWgmtp2Zl2DZX1Rm7KSUF-C5P75qUuLmtRPU3ZKS2KMKj2FdrkD6F726JzzDOHIorQLI-LR9twLS8rdvEcB3OSJiZGsh67dQ7eVWKEHiRoQx7aRi-Ra_t1zRBCjc/s1600-h/sydney+055.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391477705237457074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVo3Qp0Xi_fdLKVrJWgmtp2Zl2DZX1Rm7KSUF-C5P75qUuLmtRPU3ZKS2KMKj2FdrkD6F726JzzDOHIorQLI-LR9twLS8rdvEcB3OSJiZGsh67dQ7eVWKEHiRoQx7aRi-Ra_t1zRBCjc/s320/sydney+055.jpg" /></a>onditions did ease my pain a little.The fact that I had done almost no riding at all over the last ten days of my stay was the one thing that hit me the most.I felt like I had lost so much of my fitness but I knew that in a few days the old legs would soon feel stronger again and all would be good.Strangely,the back pain I had felt that morning eased as soon as I hopped on my bike and it wasn't too long before I was back into riding mode and enjoying the passing scenery.<br /><br />Not long after passing through Mt Victoria I found mysel at the top a huge descent.It was one of those scary steep and long downhills that truly worry me when I have a full load on the bike and a trailer draging along behind.There was not much in the way of a shoulder and I hoped the trucks behind me would be symathetic to the fact that I had no option but to take up th<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4bi9TyOnqu9ftMyVJfacSxJClFc-2EZbNgB2Ipj4_q4HUtW_2GyP1cgzYn_NPY3ej6OJNCt1PTFIE2CqupKq7wFnn36iHsVboSecUZQVLjZB4buiDYVB-ahhVQxPB7rH0b5mbRY-9nA/s1600-h/sydney+076.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391477075612035218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4bi9TyOnqu9ftMyVJfacSxJClFc-2EZbNgB2Ipj4_q4HUtW_2GyP1cgzYn_NPY3ej6OJNCt1PTFIE2CqupKq7wFnn36iHsVboSecUZQVLjZB4buiDYVB-ahhVQxPB7rH0b5mbRY-9nA/s320/sydney+076.jpg" /></a>e whole left lane as I rode the bakes down the dangerous,three kilometer descent.Once at the bottom I regrouped and began what would be a twenty kilometer rollercoaster ride through some of the hilliest terrain faced so far on my long trip.My poor legs hurt and I was definately happy to roll into the car park of the Lithgow MacDonalds after 40k for a morning coffee break out of the cold wind.<br /><br />My morning coffee lasted about an hour before I filled my water bottles and continued west toward Bathurst.I had figured that todays ride would end just short of Bathurst which was about 100k from Katoomba an I always like to finish my rides about an hour or so from the next town so I know that if I use all m<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnW2b6MBH0svEQNADvQmq8rIpKctrtM8jkbHQCfhRdI-2iUs0hGXeKk23zKcKCgE_3vTEDrKEpPen6he7mBm60bfrqXPa8WiwmAyDx_gzhm-O64R2WU3rOsiLsOQEgXG6Knj6ARMnCN-Q/s1600-h/sydney+081.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391476525939100546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnW2b6MBH0svEQNADvQmq8rIpKctrtM8jkbHQCfhRdI-2iUs0hGXeKk23zKcKCgE_3vTEDrKEpPen6he7mBm60bfrqXPa8WiwmAyDx_gzhm-O64R2WU3rOsiLsOQEgXG6Knj6ARMnCN-Q/s320/sydney+081.jpg" /></a>y water overnight then a fresh supply will be just a short ride away the next day.Unfortunately for me the weather and the hills conspired against me and only ten kilometers out of Lithgow my legs really started to feel it.I struggled on through the seemingly endless rolling hills for another couple of hours gaining little headway beofre finally calling it a day at the 72k mark when my lack of enthusiasm, combined with a presentable camping area,coaxed me off the road for the day.I set up camp in the scrub beside a disused side-road and within an hour was,believe it or not,actually pulling on my running shoes to begin the long run training build up for Ironman West Oz which was just two months away.I went for an easy fifteen minute warm up run before completing eight,one minute hills repeats and 30 minutes of run drills which left my legs throbbing and my belly growling.It was time to eat <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVw0qXuLPOGHuDkNmYNfT8vB8ABERCdSXPS32xgaH9lDIETOQShKVZmQLxtpGmnYVr2MsKuv0vo1yW0aUm2N9HCcfR2i-z3Tn0jcvkNOonVOTshi_L5nnc4tcnRfVnsf9A9kx1c6Xyxqs/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+022.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391474458804858930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVw0qXuLPOGHuDkNmYNfT8vB8ABERCdSXPS32xgaH9lDIETOQShKVZmQLxtpGmnYVr2MsKuv0vo1yW0aUm2N9HCcfR2i-z3Tn0jcvkNOonVOTshi_L5nnc4tcnRfVnsf9A9kx1c6Xyxqs/s320/katoomba+to+hay+022.jpg" /></a>and then prepare for the first night on the road to Ironman.<br /><br />The next morning I woke up to a very painfull lower back.Just sitting up hurt so much that I could not put any weight at all on my tailbone.I had to roll over onto my belly and then do a push up to get into a crawling postion before backing slowly out of the tent and slowly standing up.What the hell had I done to myself?I went for a little walk to warm up and then slowy set about packing all my gear before gingerly hopping back on the bike and coasting down the hill near the top of which I had camped.The first uphill wasn't much fun but before too long any lingering pain had gone and about 5k later I had finally crested the Great Divide(according to a sign on the side of the road) and<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1t0swXnav9pAEa_F_P0uN7_Da1Nz32H4hNjpEuwifQ-JSCQUdm1vgdmQrC-t_gWJ093tNMm-SuYdD5sBTVJZJ4eXqdwQj8PMbMsBI_Nhx0EgrknzlsMwFuaju4mvD6yQ29Mf6drHXGJQ/s1600-h/sydney+039.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 232px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391473240077184162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1t0swXnav9pAEa_F_P0uN7_Da1Nz32H4hNjpEuwifQ-JSCQUdm1vgdmQrC-t_gWJ093tNMm-SuYdD5sBTVJZJ4eXqdwQj8PMbMsBI_Nhx0EgrknzlsMwFuaju4mvD6yQ29Mf6drHXGJQ/s320/sydney+039.jpg" /></a> began the 20k descent into the frigid town of Bathurst.I passed the famous Mt Panorama race circuit and was thankful to be in town this week and not the next when the highways would be full with every petrol headed motor enthusiast in Australia making the annual pilgrimage to the famous Bathurst 1000 motor race.<br /><br />As I rolled into town the grey clouds rolled in and a light mist began to fall.Thankfully I spied a pair of golden arches not too far away and was soon in the Bathurst MacDonalds warming up over a large Mac Cafe latte and chowing down on a couple of muffins.I had tucked myself into a corner where I could keep an eye on my bike but my little hideaway didn't stop the countless odd stares that I was recieving from those who walked by.The joint was jammed w<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3a5Umtp-5KyeBpOmfw_t9aMDTcYko6JvndgY0IyggWB55Kt3ijyzt7sCUcqBtO8EU-eyFdMK9G3UwYdx31FdarDcfeh0wSg5Np3j3cXiWwUqGSHZZOj_IunwAoMQ752jAz2nQtpnL5vI/s1600-h/sydney+040.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391472674465128274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3a5Umtp-5KyeBpOmfw_t9aMDTcYko6JvndgY0IyggWB55Kt3ijyzt7sCUcqBtO8EU-eyFdMK9G3UwYdx31FdarDcfeh0wSg5Np3j3cXiWwUqGSHZZOj_IunwAoMQ752jAz2nQtpnL5vI/s320/sydney+040.jpg" /></a>ith people and I really felt out of place in a town that is far more welcoming of people driving hotted up cars than those riding bicycles.The kids,as usual,were very into my bike and a couple of them came over and asked me all about my trip and my gear.Until their parents told them to get away from me that is.Strange,single men in MacDonalds are not the sort of people most parents want their kids chatting to.Sad but true.<br /><br />Once the clouds started to clear about two hours later I pulled on all my warm clothes again and headed off,out of Bathurst and on toward Cowra about 110k away.I knew I wouldn't make it that day but I fugured if all went well then I'd be riding through Cowra at around late lunchtime the next day.If the<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUm5kZRgwQ3XZoOJb-UIqkEJnxOeVtMbCe0zRGmWG7bVLPm1jQRXSDMyNZ8Fpg951qu7g6mw12BVlVvrUwKnU-EgCdCZeOSiVXGINBz_mT78Ax_kgKZqwMRlZVoROW_ExUvinGZv2AeiY/s1600-h/sydney+038.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391471993509331890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUm5kZRgwQ3XZoOJb-UIqkEJnxOeVtMbCe0zRGmWG7bVLPm1jQRXSDMyNZ8Fpg951qu7g6mw12BVlVvrUwKnU-EgCdCZeOSiVXGINBz_mT78Ax_kgKZqwMRlZVoROW_ExUvinGZv2AeiY/s320/sydney+038.jpg" /></a> hills out of Bathurst were any indication then that was truly a pipe dream as I was to find nothing but more long rolling hills stretching as far as the eye could see.The hell of it was,I had now found myself riding into a strengthening headwind which made the ups hell and the downs heaven.The end of my day was heralded by the sounds of thunder in the distance and as I struggled mightily up the hardest hill of the day I could feel a few raindrops cooling my face in the increasing wind.I crested yet another hill to see lighting flashing in the distance and knew my day was nearly done.Another light show had me duck into a now unused part of the old highway and rushing to erect my tent and throw my tarp overtop in preparation for the oncoming storm.Once all the hatches had been battened down,so to speak,there wa<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kx4rzTreumhx47ZgxKxe04pCmZ_yWhRxTmuJypDTD99Ixh8Z_eCqGCW2OGzoIPJ260SU1Bz9SyOrHZYwUV5Pf5Qqpdl3w6JRynbl33UOQYZj5G3eN_7AVlKObyi_c3iFVlCkBPKy3Dg/s1600-h/sydney+079.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391471298531406882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kx4rzTreumhx47ZgxKxe04pCmZ_yWhRxTmuJypDTD99Ixh8Z_eCqGCW2OGzoIPJ260SU1Bz9SyOrHZYwUV5Pf5Qqpdl3w6JRynbl33UOQYZj5G3eN_7AVlKObyi_c3iFVlCkBPKy3Dg/s320/sydney+079.jpg" /></a>s nothing left to do but duck inside and wait it out.With only 60k in the bank for the day I was pretty dissappointed but hoped that I'd be able to ride to the town of Blayney a mere 12k away before nightfall.I didn't fancy spending to much time roadside if there were severe thunderstorms about.About fifteen minutes after steeling into my tent the storm hit and stayed for a couple of hours with the rain pounding pouw on my tarp and the wind howling in the trees above.By the time it had eased it was around 4pm and there was no point moving that day.I fired up my stove,cooked some food and prepare my tent for the night.<br /><br />The next eighteen hours or so were spent either asleep in my tent while the rain poured down or ducking outside during lulls<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsgNEZ1jYOi1UKWIWcJWCMcE8rIuhMej4Y5y9WjoCbu5dGp_8GzeIeWkq82u3kGIEY_KOcCUXzwWGFJOMWRLEoD_wn37OXSVl7IKh4B9VmveuPqbRv4LDJXFZ6korsw-U5vTFfEH_dwo/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+005.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391470513513019490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsgNEZ1jYOi1UKWIWcJWCMcE8rIuhMej4Y5y9WjoCbu5dGp_8GzeIeWkq82u3kGIEY_KOcCUXzwWGFJOMWRLEoD_wn37OXSVl7IKh4B9VmveuPqbRv4LDJXFZ6korsw-U5vTFfEH_dwo/s320/katoomba+to+hay+005.jpg" /></a> in the storm to check to see if it was all over.All through the night the storms came and went and I was really preparing myself for a whole day stuck in the same spot but at around 11am the skies cleared a little and I decided to pack up and make a move.It took me about an hour to pack everything and get going again and once everthing was ready I made the quick dash into the town of Blayney about a 12k windblasted ride from my camp.I stopped briefly to fill all my water bottles and then was out on the highway again trying to get as close to Cowra as possible.About 10k out of town as I was climbing a little hill when I noticed a rattling sound coming from my rear wheel.I looked down and saw that the spoke protector(designed to stop my chain from shifting into my sp<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Bd8qLdIbfhBi2ctFApsE-iiUUPWrByx74eJ854mmhweSvNxQAWA_tOqQyUE-RZf4ULhZP-I6EyDiD2m7-rh5pcwznU5ZvaNx5gGtlIdhjLhq4PyJ96Q8wg_NGwQhtohQxfjHqCPHch8/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+029.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391469858636740994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Bd8qLdIbfhBi2ctFApsE-iiUUPWrByx74eJ854mmhweSvNxQAWA_tOqQyUE-RZf4ULhZP-I6EyDiD2m7-rh5pcwznU5ZvaNx5gGtlIdhjLhq4PyJ96Q8wg_NGwQhtohQxfjHqCPHch8/s320/katoomba+to+hay+029.jpg" /></a>okes)was loose and I though I'd better find somehwere to pull off the road and fix it.Halfway down the next hill I saw a sign signalling a rest area ahead and I pulled in to find that it was also a viewpoint for the local windfarm.I could clearly see about a dozen huge wind turbines slowly rotating on the nearby hillside.Behind the giant fans I could see the darkening sky which told me that the bad weather was not over quite yet.I had only ridden 22k that day and was already making a mad dash to set up a shelter for the next round of storms.Bugger it!!!<br /><br />For another 10 hours or so I was trapped inside my tent as a fresh round of storms battered the rest area.Thankfully I had found a spot hidden by some think low shrubs and about eight feet below the crest fo the hill <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnp5hhMtt6TvLJzABeG1WR4ijf4QZe-LzOhZcjfoLtRDUG_oZOnILex7DReVsqVag5Av0TKiNAoO2SfwckEu160NWA0WUhjX97UT18hsKuTXaowQvD-kCo_Zj-ryP7RRTQ0KBUuzeuX-0/s1600-h/katoomba+to+hay+032.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391469084751038050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnp5hhMtt6TvLJzABeG1WR4ijf4QZe-LzOhZcjfoLtRDUG_oZOnILex7DReVsqVag5Av0TKiNAoO2SfwckEu160NWA0WUhjX97UT18hsKuTXaowQvD-kCo_Zj-ryP7RRTQ0KBUuzeuX-0/s320/katoomba+to+hay+032.jpg" /></a>which meant that most of the wind just blew straight over me.The tent would be out of the wind and secure,I would just have to hope that it would continue to hold out the rain.Thnkfully it did keep me dry and even more thankfully the tarp managed to retain a lot of heat as the temperature dropped into the low single digits for the night.Inside my tent it was seven degrees celcius and it was a couple of degrees colder outside,geanerally a miserable night to be camping but I was warm,dry and well fed.This was not the nice start to the second leg of my trip that I had hoped for.I guess it couldn't get too much worse though and tried to stay positive as I went to sleep that night cozily warm in my sleeping bag.Hopefully the next day would bring better weather,better luck and a few more miles under my wheels.Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-77503912333731607142009-09-29T00:33:00.000-07:002009-09-29T14:40:20.314-07:00PHASE ONE ENDS.I woke up super early the next morning full of excitment that this would be my last day on the road before I have a ten day break at my parents place.It was breakfast in the dark and coffee at sunrise before I packed up and pulled my rig out of the rest area and joined the morning traffic which was already filling the highway south to the state capital.The increasing traffic made me glad that I had decided to stop this section of the ride at Gosford as my stress levels were rising in direct proportion to the huge amount of vehicles that joined the highway inland from Newcastle.One plus was that increasing stream of cars created quite the tailwind which helped my cause greatly,crossing over the off ramps to stay on the highway though was a excercise in terror.It wasn't quite as bad as riding into Buenos Aires which I'd done in 2006 but it wasn't much fun just the same.<br /> The rest of the ride that morning wasn't much to write home about apart from an increase in the severity of the rolling hills which I know continue all the way to Sydney.I didn't mind hitting a few longish climbs that day and the fact that I'd covered 85 kilometers by the time I stopped for lunch showed that I was having a great day out on the road.It must have looked pretty strange to all the motorists on their commute to Sydney to see me sitting on the side of the highway eating cold beans straght out of the can and brewing coffee in the relative shelter of a roadside pullout.These pullouts did give me a chance to get out of the way of the traffic the whole way down the coast but even though the road surface in New South Wales was a huge improvement the strong stench of trucker urine had not change at all since I crossed the border a couple of weeks earlier.I swear that the smll of urine,heated by the hot Aussie sun,will unfortunately be one of the things I will remember most about this trip.That and the huge amount of garbage littered around overflowing trash bins were not things I wanted to feature prominently in my memories but that is just the way it is and that is sad.<br /> It was still early afternoon when I saw my exit to the seaside town of Gosford at the town of Ourimbah and began the 15k trip down to sea-level and the Gosford train station.The last time I was in this town it was to pick up a pair of wheels which I had made for my second Ironman distance triathlon in 1992.A lot of water had passed under the old bridge since then and ever so slowly I was feeling the old enthusiasm for all things athletic returning.First though,I had a date with a couple of trains and thankfully the good folks at the Gosford train station didn't freak out when they saw me push my rig into the station.I always worry about how I'll be recieved when I fly,bus or train with my bike and usually the treatment from people in western cultures is the worst.Second and third world countries are used to people travelling with everything they own and are happy to just throw everything on top of a truck or cram stuff inside a train.Thankfully I had again picked a Sunday to roll into the big city and the train was pretty much empty all the way into Sydney a short 70-odd kilometers away.I was concerned about the second trip which would see me train it from Central Station is downtown Sydney to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains 110k to the west.I need not have been worried as I was the first guy on the train and found one of the only bike specific spots provided.I hung my bike on the designated hook and jammed my trailer into the corner of the compartment opposite my bike.Too easy.<br /> One strange thing about that day was the culture shock of arriving back in "civilizaton".Some of the looks that people were giving me as I walked through Central Station and while I was sitting in the train were too funny.Clearly the good folk of the big city were not used to seeing reaaly sweaty,dirty,feral looking cyclists dragging all their worldly possesions around the country.People made no secret of avoiding me but I'm sure I smelt as bad as I looked so I can't say I blamed them.It gave me the luxury of having lots of room to spread out in the train which was a bonus.As usual it was the kids who were the exception,they were all interested in my bike and I even had acouple of young dudes come up and ask me about my gear and my ride(much to the disgust of their mothers).<br /> Once I the train arrived into the popular mountain own of Katoomba it was a short 4k ride to my parents house in nearby Leura where the first thing on the list of must do's(after saying a big hello to my folks)was to jump into a hot shower and once clean open the parcel full of nice new,clean clothes that I had shipped down from Cairns a couple of months earlier.Man I never thought clean clothes could feel so good.I parked my bike in the garage and vowed not to touch it again for at least a week.It was time to get my head out of travel mode and switch to the role of the dutifull son as I was told there was a long list of chores for me to do around the house that my ageing parents just could not manage.No complaints here though for three meals a day and a warm bed each night I'll do just about anything.<br /> The next few day were all about spending lots of time hanging out with my parents and celebrating my 46th birthday before knucking down to a list of gardening and household chores that would keep me busy in between the hours spent on the couch ploughing through my mothers huge collection of movies and various televisions series on tape and dvd.It was great to be able to just switch off for a while but before too long I did have to turn to the bike and my equipment and do some repairs.I scouted out a local bike store and ordered a new skewer and put my bike through a bit of a service.The bike had held up amazingly well but then again I'd only ridden just over 2,500k which is what I would have done during a normal Ironman training period so it's not like it's been overused.A long tear and a broken zipper inside my sleeping bag needed mending as did a couple of tears on one tarp and a rusty vipper on my tent needed attention as well.<br />One week turned to ten days and a seriously cold weather front which brought gale-force,gusty winds turned those ten days to two weeks before I finally made the decision to head off on the second leg of my journey.I had spent a couple of days staring at the map of Australia and plotting a couple of different scenarios.I could ride my way south to the coast of Victoria on Australia's southern coast which would allow me to check out the beautiful Victorian countryside and Great Ocean Road before heading along the South Australian coast to Adelaide or I could just head straight west through the New South Wales inland and on to the town of Port Augusta north of Adelaide before bracing myself for the ride across the barren Nullabor Plain.The first route allowed me the scenic tour but would require at least an extra week of riding and limit the amount of time I could dedicate to run and swim training.The northern route would take about 600k off the distance and give me the time I need to get myself run fit and swim fit for Ironman Western Australia in December.As I was still hurting mentally from the serious let-down of not finishing both events I entered last year I decided that I needed to get my priorities straight and make sure I was in the best shape possible to put on a decent show in the Ironman.<br />I also was given a little motivational boost by a couple of people who contacted me and told me that even though it was obvious I was a little down about the percieved lack of interest in my trip there were in fact quite a few people who were following along, quietly enjoying my blog.It was a great help to me as I had pretty much decided to bail on continuing the blog after raising less than $300 for Athletes in Kind over a period of two months.I really didn't know what to do about that and my confidence plumetted even more a I watched the popularity of some other Ultra-athletes on Facebook go through the roof.I guess I just don't have the "rock star" persona that is required these days and past achievements mean little if you don't look the part.I was reminded of something a friend of mine in Penticton said to me after I didn't finish Ultraman Canada last year.After wondering out loud about why I'd not recieved any of the promised support for my fundraising efforts from various people who had followed my trip around eastern Canada.He told me that perhaps it was the fact that I hadn't performed at all well during the two events that summer which may be the reason.That kind of pissed me off as I didn't realise that I needed to win stuff to have my fundraising validated.I was too busy fighting my own battle with depression which made getting out of bed every day hard enough let alone finding the motivation to train like a pro.<br /> With that in mind and after adopting the "if you can't beat them join them"mentality I decided to ride the shorter northern route and dedicate the next nine weeks of my ride to actual Ironman training and in doing so,giving myself the best chance of performing well in my age-group in Ironman West Oz and then continue on to Indonesia for my ride through to Ironman Malaysia.Hopefully some of the hundreds of people who have read about my trip on Slowtwitch.com and Facebook will start to get involved and donate some money to Athletes in Kind and perhaps I may even generate some sponsorship to allow me to continue on to Canada and the U.S for the 2010 triathlon season.If not,well I guess it will be time to move on and find something else constructive to do and continue to find reasons to keep myself above ground. <br /> As a thank you to those few who have contacted me to let me know that they are following my trip I will continue with the blog until December and give a more detailed account of not only my ride but the Ironman specific training I will be doing along the way.I will also add personal video diaries documenting the rest of my Oz trip,similar to the ones I added to my Canada trip last year.Be patient though,I will be isolated for the best part of the next three weeks and will post updates as often as I can.Until then you can check out my other two blogs which cover my Sth American and Eastern Canadian trips which I did in 2006 and 2008.The links are on the left of the page.<br /> Bye for now and see you all in 1000 miles or so.Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-80806573260549388622009-09-22T14:51:00.000-07:002009-09-29T00:33:11.137-07:00MORE RAMBLINGSAfter deciding to splurge a bit and check into a nearby motel I showered,changed and went for a little wander around the small street that serves as the center of downtown Forster.Nothing much had changed at all during the ten years I had been away and the charm of the small seaside town was intact.Another thing that had not changed was the beautiful scenery surrounding the lakes and beaches next to which the town is built.I had myself a quick walk up to the viewpoint atop Flagstaff Hill and as the sunset over the lakes behind me,watched the surf roll in on Forsters Main Beach.The increasingly chilly air drove me indoors though and after picking up a sandwich at Subway I headed back to the warmth of my motel room.<br />I will admit I was feeling pretty despondant that night after seeing the old hostel in such a bad state and my mood wasn't helped by the fact that it looked like the effort required to keep my blog going was pretty much in vain as interest in my ride seemed limited.My confidence had been bouyed a few days earlier when I'd found out that some donations had come in for my "Athletes in Kind" cause,courtesy of some of my Ultra-runner/triathlon friends but I'm guessing a lot of that came from feeling sorry for me after I'd dropped so many hints about my disappointment on Facebook.That night ,however,I recieved a really nice email that certainly perked me up.<br />The mother of Pete Southern,the young motorcyclist whom I told you all about had emailed me and thanked me for taking an interest in his ride.Apparently Pete's uncle Peter had died suddenly from an agressive cancer and the anniversary of his death was fast approaching.My blog had helped Pete's mum Lynn deal with the pain of rembering his loss by reminding her of how much her son reminded her of her brother.It was her brother who introduced young Pete to motorbikes and instilled a grand sense of adventure in his young nephew.He was in many ways keeping his uncles spirit alive and I had,by my own trip,had given Pete the moral support that he needed to make him realise that he was capable of more.A grand trip of his own was in the making.I was very happy to know that I was able to be a positive influence on a young guy like Pete and even more so to think that in some way I was able to turn the pain of the anniversary of a loved ones death into a celebration of a spirit that lives on in a new generation.<br /><br /><br />I spent most of the next day just wandering around the headlands and beaches of Forster quietly enjoying the views and remembering happy times from the past.I just loved that lazy day and it made me realise just how much I was looking forward to finishing the first leg of my trip and spending time off the road at my parents place in the Blue Mountains.I also began to wonder if my trip was worth it,I mean it was great to see the country and all that and I was really starting to feel the old fitness returning but really what was the point.Maybe I was just tired,I don't know,but I started to think that maybe I should just give up the blog and the attempts at fundraising as both were beginning to seem a huge waste of time.Hardly anyone seemed interested in my writings and even fewer had made a donation to Athletes in Kind even though I'd advertised it to hundreds of people on Facebook and the hugely popular triathlon forum Slowtwitch.I have been saying for a few years now that I don't think most people take me very seriously at much of what I do and my inability to attract donations and sponsors for what I believe to be an amazing journey aimed at raising money for a really worthy cause seemed to confirm that theory.I went to sleep thinking that once I get to Sydney I would re-evaluate my trip and decide if it was worth the huge effort for such little interest or stay with the belief that out there somewhere was someone who may find inspiration or motivation in my little adventure.<br />I did spend a lot of the second evening in Forster reading up on some of the bike trips that I'd seem through a link on my Facbook page.One guy in particular, Peter Gostelgow, was in the first few weeks of his London to Cape Town trip which I though was madness.He had already ridden 50,000k in a previous trip from Japan to London and is quite famous in the long distance cycling world.His exploits renewed my enthusiasm and I started to think about how I should think more about enjoying the world around me on my ride and less about trying to fit my schedule around others.I may even leave the old laptop behind at my parents place and just vanish into the countryside documenting my trip the old fashioned way,with pen and paper.<br /><br />The next day I saddled up and rode back out the way I came,north toward the highway.There is a southern route which is actually part of the old Ironman course but that road is famous for it's potholes and lack of room for cyclists.I didn't fancy struggling on that road for 60k to Bulahdelah so I opted to backtrack for 25k to the highway near Nabiac in order to make the best of the awesome highway surface.Thankfully this was one plan that paid off and before long I was rolling happily toward Newcastle some 150k to the south.I hadn't decided when I would pull off the highway and hop on a train for the trip through the big city but the increasing traffic certainly gave me an indication that a train trip wasn't too far off.<br /><br />That days ride was pretty uneventful but most certainly enjoyable as the wind blew me southward under a bright blue sky through Bulahdelah and past the Hawkes Nest turn-off.I was making pretty good time with 100k in the bank by 1pm and figured that there wasn't much point in trying to push for Newcastle that day so I stopped for a late lunch break at a rest area just south of the turn-off.It was during that lunch break that I noticed that a couple of things didn't seem right.The first problem was that my front pannier rack was loose had started pointing to the right.That didn't take log to fix as it had just lost a bolt connecting it to the front fork and I relaced it with a spare bolt that I had for my cleats.The other problem was a lot worse.I noticed that my rear wheel wasn't tracking straight and had a obvious wobble about it which had me worried no end.I'd had trouble with my trailer hitch during previous bike tours and was hoping that history wasn't repeating itself here.I unhitched the trailer and took off my wheel to find that I had broken the axle that I found bent a couple of days earlier.Bugger!I did have a spare one that was the stock alxe from Scott but the trailer required an extra long axle and the standard Scott axle was just a few millimeters too short.The end cap would not catch and was pretty much useless.I put the old broken axle back in and started to limp down the highway hoping that I would not do too much damage to my wheel.<br /><br />After a usless trip into the little fishing village of Karuah to find a bike store or workshop of any kind I hit the highway again and crawled into a big rest area where I found a nice hidden spot to camp for the night.I'd done 138k for the day and was happy about that effort but the pressing problem of my broken axle had me too worried to feel statisfied with the day.One good thing though was hat this particular rest area was one of the few with power and after setting up camp I took all my cooking stuff over to the tables under the rest area shelter and cooked dinner while my laptop fired up and connected me with the world again.It was after I had eaten dinner and was finishing another time-wasting session on Slowtwitch and Facebook that a car rolled into the rest area and parked close by.The driver of the car made a short pitstop in the toilet before coming over to find out what the guy with no visible means of transport was doing out there in the middle of nowhere tapping away on a laptop.I pointed toward where my camp was and told him my tale of woe.He asked to see the bike and wanted to check out the spare axle as he had a toolbox full of stuff that he thought for sure would get me out of my jam.I wheeled the bike over and showed him my spare axel which he took over to his car.He dug around in his toolbox for a couple of minutes and came back with the axel in hand and a smile on his face.He had found a nut that fitted and asked me to see if it would work.I pushed the axel through the hub and very gingerly started to thread the nut onto it and after a little coaxing,it took hold.The nut was a thin flat one as opposed to the thick recessed one that came standard on my skewer and that allowed just enough purchase for it to take hold.I was very happy and after a thank you coffee for Ian, my roadside angel,I went to bed happy that I'd be able to get back on the road the next day and finish the first leg of my trip.The next night I would be at my parents place and with a new final destination of Gosford only 100 or so kilometers away I closed my eyes a very happy boy.Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-18782257127492902402009-09-13T23:44:00.000-07:002009-09-17T00:59:17.498-07:00SHIT-HOLES AND IRONMAN TOWNS<div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><div>I took off early the next morning and rode down the coast road to the small town of Sawtell before turning west and rejoining the Pacific Highway.The plan was try and ride the 260k to the old Ironman town of Forster in two days and the weather forecast seemed favourable.I was really enjoying the riding this day and even though my legs did hurt for the first hour or so I was happy that I was able to cruise down the coast pretty quickly.I managed a rest stop on the banks of the Nambucca River and took my time brewing coffee and making myself a late breakfast.It was such a nice day and I didn't want to think about pushing too much just for the sake of gaining ground so,in the bright sunshine, I lay on it instead.After my little rest a following wind and sunny skies made my mood lift considerably and for the first time I started realising that the first leg of my epic ride was in it's last week.There was still some work to do though and after passing more famous holiday towns I approached the town of Kempsey.<br /><br />Kempsey is one of those places that you don't really hear much about.Everyone who drives the highway has to pass through i<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0Y6kpNWtu7lLC4FwGi_UXVVO_GALG9hA6NkQeqdcXONX_C-g0gya25bOnsxVhk1C8sAnqObjrc9SDL4tfDxDBNbWiCdgFDMHOK-j0agy6j4aWLvR0qxIvDVnEcSJhlBxzGmkVUaTxaU/s1600-h/forster+013.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382342484301731746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0Y6kpNWtu7lLC4FwGi_UXVVO_GALG9hA6NkQeqdcXONX_C-g0gya25bOnsxVhk1C8sAnqObjrc9SDL4tfDxDBNbWiCdgFDMHOK-j0agy6j4aWLvR0qxIvDVnEcSJhlBxzGmkVUaTxaU/s320/forster+013.jpg" /></a>t but you never hear anything about it,now I know why.There have been two towns that gave me a bad feeling just riding through with Gympie being the first.Kempsey was most definately the second.Like Gympie the roads through the town are narrow,hilly and in poor condition.They both share the same meathead mentality in that they are a couple of the few places where I was abused openly by the local thugs as they sped by in their muscle cars.I really had a bad feeling and when I pulled into the rest area at the southern end of town all I wanted to do was fill up my waterbottles and get out.The rest area toilets even had a sign warning tourists not to linger nearby as it was high crime area.Just lovely.I'm sure that there are very nice people living there and they love it for what it is but for me the place has shit-hole written all over it.I won't be putting Kempsey on my list of tourist destinations anytime soon. </div><div><br />I had covered about 117k as I left Kempsey and it wasn't long before I spied a sign for a rest area just 13k down the road.That would be me for the night if there was a decent place to camp and half an hour later I rolled into a really nice rest stop which just happened to have a lot of scrubland nearby which would provide shelter and keep me hidden from both the highway and any vehicles parked nearby.It was a nice camp and after convincing a fe<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUU8s8K22unESnB6Cnvqs5RJTJMXF5Fvg8u441Dqe6PaHSrEMl69ThaLHgYup7GxYaW1UiQ3qoJp2_Oz1itAj-bYXbvNOV7CRqTgVeRU1hmItYnMafyXVYhZdJqmA3ueezrKrBL8PDsw/s1600-h/forster+008.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382341098680051234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUU8s8K22unESnB6Cnvqs5RJTJMXF5Fvg8u441Dqe6PaHSrEMl69ThaLHgYup7GxYaW1UiQ3qoJp2_Oz1itAj-bYXbvNOV7CRqTgVeRU1hmItYnMafyXVYhZdJqmA3ueezrKrBL8PDsw/s320/forster+008.jpg" /></a>w very large red ants that they were not welcome I had myself some dinner and watched a great day end with a beautiful sunset.<br />The 5am alarm had me emerging from my tent into a frigid morning and I had to drag out the balaclava and two sweaters as the morning air shot straight through my bike clothes.I wanted to get up early as I would be on the road as soon as light permitted and I was all set to do just that as I had finally got my stuff packed and breakfast eaten by 6am.I wheeled my bike into the rest area and made some final checks only to find that my rear tyre had a slow leak.God damn it all to hell!!!!!!There went my early start.<br /><br />I took the wheel off and changed my tyre and while I was putting my wheel back on I noticed that it wasn't spinning very well a<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeffTzR8J2cbMHwqLBw9pd105Vg41XYujQ_1R_nPzMtwiMFB3WIHDSw42ppbCbmgBC4BVqkOKHW6U1_RpaKH-NBzsGH7jn452jAkB1H9DfMdynaPbDPsnuqv2wpvUxUWu0QzSPgMLyqbo/s1600-h/forster+014.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382340407606167330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeffTzR8J2cbMHwqLBw9pd105Vg41XYujQ_1R_nPzMtwiMFB3WIHDSw42ppbCbmgBC4BVqkOKHW6U1_RpaKH-NBzsGH7jn452jAkB1H9DfMdynaPbDPsnuqv2wpvUxUWu0QzSPgMLyqbo/s320/forster+014.jpg" /></a>nd removed the axle to find that it was bent.I'd bent an axle or two in my time but they were always while my bike was attached to my trainer,never on the road.I figured it wasn't such a big deal but I wondered just how long it would last with my trailer putting all kinds of extra stress on it.I put the wheel back on and was off down the highway toward Port MacQuarie and ultimately Forster.<br /><br />It was a pretty easy days ride and I made great time which meant,barring any catastrophe,I would be in Forster mid afternoon.With that in mind I took my time for the afternoon and instead of pulling into a gas station for coffee and a rest(a bad habit that I was trying to break)I found myself a nice spot off the highway to hang out for an hour or so.It is funny,as much as there are times when I suffer mightily,I am really loving being out there in the middle of nowhere just enjoying the sights and sounds of the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKsj2g1pedwpQ_QQohSZh1_Yun14FDTSsL-3IBqy3rvT7ZkTykbhFVY59AWytyTnio3iknJQ3qrc8eJZqHJ4H5eSBgystzdGcm99uToAQps6Wvuuw0FdIgSjzzyOkT-BGhiXyiBgD1nKo/s1600-h/forster+019.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382339654489006930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKsj2g1pedwpQ_QQohSZh1_Yun14FDTSsL-3IBqy3rvT7ZkTykbhFVY59AWytyTnio3iknJQ3qrc8eJZqHJ4H5eSBgystzdGcm99uToAQps6Wvuuw0FdIgSjzzyOkT-BGhiXyiBgD1nKo/s320/forster+019.jpg" /></a>countryside.Just find me a little patch of dirt and light up my stove for coffee and I'm happy as hell.I guess I really have cast off the social condition that in order to be happy we must accumulate all of the best gear which is designed to make our lives easier.I'm thinking that all too often, peoples lives are becoming stale by having everything there at your fingerstips.Even the van-dwellers have moved in that direction and are now "roughing it" round Australia with their microwaves,hot showers and flatscreen televisions.I don't get it but then again most people don't "get" me.<br /><br />I had skipped past the Ironman Australia town of Port MacQuarie and thought for one second of riding in and checking it out but my stubborn loyalty to Forster -Tuncurry made me continue on down the highway toward the town where I had spend five great Ironman races during the '90s.Knowing that I would be in the original Ironman town that day was one of the things that plastered a smile on my face for the whole day.As I rode past the town of Taree about 30k out of Forster I could barely contain myself.The road signs were also telling me that Sydney was just a couple of days ride away as well and I started to think about the long break I would have once I reached Australi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyo66Gb_B67FmoGXu22H52vmVFSzSDVcT5E8foxUppDuEbReOPvicppCKvei37KEwvDH_C4B9aqT5OHBECFLMeSVQ_du0xxgjnGR7E2plsWC2wFmCmzH0ax1LYB2c20j7-Hn0k0xhPE_E/s1600-h/forster+022.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382337915084575362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyo66Gb_B67FmoGXu22H52vmVFSzSDVcT5E8foxUppDuEbReOPvicppCKvei37KEwvDH_C4B9aqT5OHBECFLMeSVQ_du0xxgjnGR7E2plsWC2wFmCmzH0ax1LYB2c20j7-Hn0k0xhPE_E/s320/forster+022.jpg" /></a>as biggest city.First though, I had to negotiate the Lakes Way which is the only access to the beautiful little seaside town of Forster.It was also the worst road that I had ridden since entering New South Wales.That was to be expected as Ironman Australia was famous for having the worst road surface of all the Ironmans around world.We all complained every year but really that was part of it''s unique charm and as I road the 22k into Forster the roads were just as "charming" as I remembered.<br />As soon as I rolled through Tuncurry and over the bridge into Forster I felt at home.As I mentioned I had spent five Ironman weeks here but in fact there was more to the story than that.Over those five years I had spent a few months living in the only backpackers hostel in town.It was a really cute little hostel only a block and a half away from the Ironman finish line at Forster Main Beach and was in many ways a home away from home for a small group of we Ironmen who made the pilgimage to Ironman every year from all over the planet.The hostels owners,a lovely Scottish couple,Gordon and Grace made the hostel our place for the duration and for a two of those years I stayed for a couple of months before the race and live<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabp3KJLfdZ70bp2Cj1s1YYOXMZ95RV5mbr9I8Fa5iWVKnslqX4zSNvVRFuLVZ0AwdSKVw4AhqohMc0yVejMQE6opBUCfJ-WCU83WiXJl4C-7oS9VvQVSZWXa6KjHsu62UCmT01B662lk/s1600-h/forster+048.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382336367318658514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabp3KJLfdZ70bp2Cj1s1YYOXMZ95RV5mbr9I8Fa5iWVKnslqX4zSNvVRFuLVZ0AwdSKVw4AhqohMc0yVejMQE6opBUCfJ-WCU83WiXJl4C-7oS9VvQVSZWXa6KjHsu62UCmT01B662lk/s320/forster+048.jpg" /></a>d rent free(in excange for and hours worth of work per day)while I trained full time during the day and laughed full time with my friends all night.Those friends are the true kind of friends who,no matter how long we are apart,immediately become best friends again once we get back together in the same room.I can quite honestly say that the last summer I spent there during the lead up to Ironman 1999 was the last time I was truly and completely happy.That is a sad reality for me and one that made my arrival the old Dolphin Lodge a hard pill to swallow.<br />I rode down Head St from the bridge not knowing what I would find and as I rolled up the sidewalk outside Dolphin Lodge my heart broke.The hostel had closed down and was up for sale.I would have f<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYL40VGFsl5KMYaW240Zdxq92c77MVSPl4llUPI83IQFfYJ_fs_oiiUsRpepWlWzfDx6UUph0u336WTt9aDfvUpzPD8mXrO6WDFtJ25xQx7imrXj9RQMJfOnXm0SQHgpulZHh5xhLl7gw/s1600-h/forster+050.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382335408335097938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYL40VGFsl5KMYaW240Zdxq92c77MVSPl4llUPI83IQFfYJ_fs_oiiUsRpepWlWzfDx6UUph0u336WTt9aDfvUpzPD8mXrO6WDFtJ25xQx7imrXj9RQMJfOnXm0SQHgpulZHh5xhLl7gw/s320/forster+050.jpg" /></a>elt better if the place was still open as an hostel but this place was obviously completely closed and actually looked abandoned.I rode around the to the back entrance and found the courtyard full of junk and the building in disrepair with the only trace of life being some clothes hanging on the line and a collection of dirty shoes lines up outside one of the rooms.It was pretty clear to me that the only resident was some sort of caretaker and that the ageing Gordon and Grace could no longer put the effort in running the hostel.My god how sad!!I walked around for a few minutes and though of trying to tke some pics but then though that anyone who had so many wonderful memories of those days gone by would not want to see the building in it's death.I got back on my bike and went in search of a motel to stay in for a couple of days hoping that the rest of town would restore my now,dampened enthusiasm.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-12382610842676589532009-09-13T18:45:00.000-07:002009-09-14T14:48:56.132-07:00DOWN TO COFFSI sucked it up and rode on south toward Grafton where I had planned my first break of the day.The roads had improved a lot and there were no real hills to speak of so it wasn't too long before I covered the 35ish kilometers and rode into the outskirts of Grafton and straight up to the huge MacDonalds which shared a carpark with the local information center on the highway.I parked my rig and climbed the stairs up to the restaurant where I ordered some breakfast and dealt with the disgusted stares from the other customers.To be fair,I was filthy and even though I was dressed head to toe there was a lot of dirt and dried mud on my shoes,hands and face.I looked a sight and when the Maccas girls asked me if I was dining in of taking out I told her that I really didn't think that they would want me sitting on their chairs.She laughed and agreed.<br /><br />The morning sun was starting to heat the place up and I made my way over to the stairs of the info center to take full advantage.I sat in the sun and while I ate my breakfast I slowly stripped off my leg warmers,arm warmers,vest,socks and shoes and lay them out in the sun to dry.I'm sure the staff at the info center were not impressed but they never said anything and after getting another coffee from Maccas I hung out for about 45mins before I finally felt human enough to gather up all my gear and head back out onto the highway.<br /><br />One thing I did not expect was the amount of hills that I was faced with as soon as I rolled out of Grafton.One after another they rolled out before me and as nice as the road surface was I could not help but think that I ws doing an inordinate amount of climbing for a stretch of Australias' coast that was supposed to be flat.The uphills went on for about 2k a piece but the downs did not seem to match but they just kept coming.They sure made for a tough ride but I must have been feeling okay as I was an hour ahead(in milage terms) of where I had been the previous day.I figured that I would be through Coffs Harbour my mid afternoon and hopefully would make that day the longest so far.It would be a struggle though as it was a very humid afternoon and as the day rolled on I got the feeling that there was a storm brewing somewhere in the area and the slow buildup of grey clouds seemed to confirm my worries.I tried to speed on in an effort to get south of the growing weather system but the same strong wind that now was firmly at my back was gathering the louds behind and driving them toward Coffs Harbour fast on my heels.The long downhill that had me flying past the township of Halfway Creek proved that I had indeed been climbing for a couple of hours and it would seem that I had crested a small range and the road had tilted toward the coast and the town of Woolgoolga.<br /><br />As the early afternoon sun hid behind the increasing grey veil I actually felt very strong and for the second time really believed that my fitness was reaching another plateau.I fairly powered up the short hills which rolled from headland to headland, sheltering each of the beaches north of Coffs Harbour.The last and definately worst of the hills found me standing on the pedals,crawling upward past Coffs famous "Big Banana",which made me realise just how close I was to ticking off another landmark on my southward journey.I also got a taste of what it meant to be closing in on Sydney,traffic!!It was hellish and a total surprise.I struggled down the highway with the local traffic screaming past at a manic pace and as I dodged yet another close call I heard the first crack of thunder booming behind me to the north.Damn!<br /><br />I pulled into a gas station for a coffee and a rest from the traffic but it soon became obvious that my rest might indeed be a tad longer than anticipated.The humidity was increasing rapidly and the extra effort that I had put in over the two hours leading into Coffs had left me totally soaking wet.I thought of the prospect of a wet night outside trying to sleep in my damp sleeping bag and filthy clothes and I could not face it.I went inside and asked the lady behind the counter if she knew where the Coffs Harbour hostels were.I needed a hot shower and a bed,but really I was just being soft.Then again, who cared? It took me another half hour to make my way down to the beaches and ride a couple of laps of the neighbourhood before I found the Coffs Harbour YHA and finished my 124k day.I walked in as the rain started to fall and checked in for two nights.As I dragged all my stuff upstairs to my room I started to feel very tired and very,very lonely.<br /><br />Perhaps it was just some decent food and a bottle of cheap wine that I needed as after cleaning myself up and a quick trip to the shopping mall I enjoyed the first home cooked meal I had eaten in weeks.My mood improved dramatically as I set about chatting with some of the other hostellers,my physical state though had gone downhill.My legs hurt,my back hurt but mostly I was just fatigued.It was beyond explanation but there was no doubt that something was not quite right.I hoped that the wine would fix it and like the good boy that I am took all my medicine without complaint.I did have a nice time quizzing the tour leader of of an adventure company that had joined me in the hostel dining room.I found out that the young girl who was driving the 12 adventures tourists around had left a really nice job in Canberra to guide camping trips around Australia.This group were on their first night but soon they would be camping under the stars all over Australia for the next 30 days.In many ways I envied them the company but then I though of the fact that they had no control over their trip and were the slaves to a schedule planned by someone else.I thought about my ride and decied that I would stop worrying about how far I rode each day and how often I posted my blogs.Those few people who have shown an interest would just have to wait for each update and when I reached my parents home in the Blue Mountains I would have to do some serious thinking about how I would ride the second leg of my trip.<br /><br />After an early night and a great sleep-in I spent most of the next day either,writing in my blog,uploading photos to Facebook or trying to get my camera to work.The first two tasks were accomplised to some degree but my camera would produce nothing but out of focus pictures.It was very frustrating and I hoped that it would soon dry out and the problem would fix itself.I also took the time to wash all of my clothes and dry out my tent,tarps and my panniers,chores which kept me busy and hostel-bound for most of the day.I didn't mind as I was in no mood to be a tourist and ventured only as far as the small shopping mall across the street.I really didn't do Coffs Harbour any justice but for me it was a service stop and nothing more.Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-23417581255563071112009-09-07T23:31:00.000-07:002009-09-08T00:52:26.844-07:00STUCK IN THE MUD AND OTHER DISCOMFORTSFor some reason I was really sad the morning that I rolled out of Byron Bay.I can't really pinpoint the exact reasons but I'm guessing it was something to do with having such a great time hanging with Paul and a couple of the other Aussie hostellers.They all had lives and friends to do stuff and share experiences with and here I was riding off on my own again into the solitude of the road.I didn't like it at all and it wasn't until I rode through the absolutely beautiful Lennox Head and stopped at the lookout high above the surf that my mood improved,for a moment.<br /><br />I got my camera out to take a bunch of scenic happy snaps for my blog when I realised that it wasn't working.I could take pics but they were all fuzzy and out of focus.Bloody hell!!!I figured that the danm thing was full of moisture and maybe if I aired it out a bit it would work again.With that plan in motion and the camera perched on the top of my handlebar bag I rode off along the amazing coastal drive to the town of Ballina around 35k south of Byron Bay.<br /><br />It was well and truly breakfast time when I rolled past the MacDonalds on the other side of town and I really wanted coffee.To cheer me up I had a big smarties cookie and an orange and poppyseed muffin as well.I got the camera out to document my version of a "happy meal" but alas the bloody thing was still buggered.F&#k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Misery took over again and stayed with me for a few hours until I got into my groove and started passing towns with familiar names like Evans Head,Iluka and Yamba.These were all popular seaside holiday towns and with the next big town on the road being Grafton I really felt like I was making great progress down the coast(even if I spent way too much time in Noosa,Surfers and Byron).I knew I wouldn't make Grafton that day but as my speedo hit 120k I felt pretty happy and pulled into a rest area cafe outside of the town of Maclean on the banks of the Clarence River.I was getting really tired and wanted to sit and check out the lovely views from the coffee shops large deck.It was really pretty there and I was sad that my camera could not capture the stunning views of the river and the lush green farmland on the far bank.I even saw a turtle swimming under the deck.It was getting late so I needed to refill my waterbottles for my nights supply and head off in search of a campsite.<br />About 10k down the road,just as I had found a decent spot off the highway and near a large canefield I realised that I hadn't filled up my bottle at the cafe in Maclean.Shit!Across the hwy was the Clarence River but as the highway had followed the river for the last 10k I had noiced that there was a large drop from the bank to the river level.It wasn't going to be easy to get to it and fetch water.This whole area is subjected to huge floods from time to time and there is thick mud banks dried up on the side of the highway as a reminder to that fact.I quicky set up my tent and put everything I might need for the night in my tent as the sun was rdpidly setting and I wanted to be organised before nightfall.To collect the water I would need all four of my bottles and as an afterthough I grabbed my coil of thin rope just in case I might need to tie the bottles up and cast them into the river.<br />I scrambled down from the highway to a flat area covered in dense bush which was just a mass of cracked mud about a foot think but it carried my weight so I wasn't too concerned.From there I peered over the side and found that there was a drop of about five feet to the actual river bank and the water level.I checked out the situation and tied my rope to a big tree branch that hung over the river all the while wondering if I should take my bike shoes off before I lowered myself to the mud bank below.The reason I kept them on was,I was afraid that submerged branch might pierce my foot and really screw me up but I didn't need a branch to scew me up,I did that all by myself.<br /> I grabbed hold of the rope and leapt onto the bank by the river only I didn't stop when I hit the mud,my feet just kept going right through first to my knees and then before I knew it I was crotch deep in cold mud.I tried to move but just felt myself sinking even further and so I just lay down on the surface to distribute my weight a bit better.I reached for my waterbottles and threw them up the bank so I wouldn't lose them and went about ever so slowy dragging myself out of the muddy predicament that I was in.I had to do it slowly so as not to lose my shoes to the mud bank as it tried to suck me under.As I finally broke free of the mudbank it dawned on me that just how serious the situation could have become had I not though to bring that rope.I would have been stuck fast in the mud bank with the sun settng fast and nobody around to help.What a stupid move on my part!!<br /> After pulling myself up to the high bank I realised that I still needed some water and set about tying a noose around one bottle and throwing it into the river below.As the bottle filled with water I dragged it in and poured the best of the dirty fluid into the other bottles.Once the three other bottles were full I used to fourth one to collect water for me to wash the mud off with.My shoes were covered and full of the stuff,my bike jersey was filthy as was the outer of the two pairs of bike pants I was wearing.What a mess!!I took off the outer layer of clothing an realised I would be able to put my spare set over the top of this stuff as the mud hadn't seeped through, just the water.<br /> I did the best I could of cleaning in the ever darkening evening and crawled up the bank to the highway and back to camp.All my really muddy stuff went straight into a plastic bag and now with the help of a torch I used one of my t-shirts to clean the mud off my legs,arm and out of my hair.The t-shirt also went straight into the plastic bag as well.I was stillf really dirty and the only way I could see myself getting into my newly washed sleeping bag was to put on the clean clothes that I was to cycle in the next day.Over my white(now grey-brown) surf rashie I put on a dry bike jersey and arm warmers.My filthy outer bike pants would have to be worn the next day so they were relegated to sitting on my bike for the night in the dew.I had on the other bike pants I brought and put on leg warmers to cover up the mud still on my legs.New socks and a woolen beenie for my dirty hair finished of the head to toe covering and I must say,even though I felt like crap,I was warm.<br /> The one and only bright spot for the evening(apart from having a belly full of food)was the fact that the local cane grower decided that I deserved a light-show and he lit his cane field for me(I'm sure it was for me)It was awesome to watch the huge cane fire burning madly so close by.I loved it and tried to take some pics.I still don't know if they turned out.<br /> That night I slept well but there was a really thick fog and heavy dew overnight which, combined with the evaporation from my soggy clothes made the inside of my tent very damp.Everything was wet and I was not a happy camper by the time I had packed up the campsite,pulled on my wet muddy shorts and stuck my dry feet into a pair of wet stinky bike shoes.Why was I even out here?!?!?Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-72462010430568373942009-09-07T18:38:00.000-07:002009-09-07T23:03:33.528-07:00DETOUR TO BYRON BAYThe ride through the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTLuyeMiB0Ct7t-M5JpC24O08iSu0qy8E_7EFdgMFMpP5HXMzibOKSp56f8WGBehojfTLPl4yRi6Js_kWZHiwD-IjUkNyqvA06WBKBD9nztFDrCLlv3dR2q86Ol9b1nIALobneWVqcy0/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+037.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378969269924977202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTLuyeMiB0Ct7t-M5JpC24O08iSu0qy8E_7EFdgMFMpP5HXMzibOKSp56f8WGBehojfTLPl4yRi6Js_kWZHiwD-IjUkNyqvA06WBKBD9nztFDrCLlv3dR2q86Ol9b1nIALobneWVqcy0/s320/Surfers+Paradise+037.jpg" /></a>southern part of the Gold Coast was surprisingly enjoyable considering the amount a traffic that was blasting down the highway next to me.Thankfully there are lots of bike paths to follow which put me well out of harms way and into a game of dodge the pedestrian.It never surprises me just how many people are out and about getting fit on the Gold Coast and it was no wonder a couple of American backpackers I met in Surfers thought that Australia must be the fittest place on earth.I had to remind them that this was a very unusal thing for Oz and that we had actually overtken the US as the fattest western nation on earth.That said,I was treated to some very appealing sights on my way south as I passed park after park full of gr<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3Qmhq5QkoQ3SVLu6i-hQS4ZcDoR-mTp2_lRAo2BIBTiUc2MmAjfD2nl9xMtQiBPPkClmx0ST93sxInutYbd9vA9RNiXgkESz-GhPV52oSdSgeygBkfUdZZckVnSCHWcUj8tVkEfHAlE/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+039.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378967548451746370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3Qmhq5QkoQ3SVLu6i-hQS4ZcDoR-mTp2_lRAo2BIBTiUc2MmAjfD2nl9xMtQiBPPkClmx0ST93sxInutYbd9vA9RNiXgkESz-GhPV52oSdSgeygBkfUdZZckVnSCHWcUj8tVkEfHAlE/s320/Surfers+Paradise+039.jpg" /></a>oups of super fit women following the orders being barked at them by various personal trainers and coaches.Very nice.After some serious picture taking and stops to admire the many awesome beaches on the way to Coolangatta I finally made my way to the place I had been looking forward to,the New South Wales border.I had lived in Kirra just north of the border at Tweed Heads in the '90s and used to cross nearly every day on training rides but never before had I treated it as so sort of milestone.Today though was different,the trip through Queensland had been such a long one and I felt that I was now actually making some progress on my huge trip.<br />Just as I started my ri<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOd9FhV4gXthsSJNyIGmzg4AVD4paxYAZbKKm5nyrSDA8QhoKA8K6TG9DOYx1kgwM_IC7j87EBrF0TaMVP3M6E4HhEFuYrJtG2q6oqUO66rzJh_NLPhIrqF52irkiWdLok22L-DL6ibFU/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+042.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378966593067689330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOd9FhV4gXthsSJNyIGmzg4AVD4paxYAZbKKm5nyrSDA8QhoKA8K6TG9DOYx1kgwM_IC7j87EBrF0TaMVP3M6E4HhEFuYrJtG2q6oqUO66rzJh_NLPhIrqF52irkiWdLok22L-DL6ibFU/s320/Surfers+Paradise+042.jpg" /></a>de through Tweed Heads another cyclist pulled alongside and started chatting to me.He had a touring bike but no panniers attached and I found out that he was a local who had done a lot of trips to different parts of Australia in the past.It was great to talk to another cyclist for a while and it was he who gave me the best news I had heard for ages.Apparently NSW does not have the same backward attitude to cyclists as Queensland and I was actually allowed to ride on the freeway heading out of Tweed Heads toward Ballina about 100k away.This would save me the hassle of riding the secondary roads that followed the beach suburbs to my east.I used to ride those roads in training and they are very narrow and not the best quality.The freeway on the other hand was pure bliss.Two lanes wide with a huge breakdown lane for me to ride on and the best bit,smooth,smooth roads.Yippee!!!<br />I fairly flew down the freeway assisted by a strong tailwind and marvelled at the<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUj8pcp_vz_2N1TZNajG96EbHfrRTjk4CsFSF4-YgXuP9N7bobv4X6wnlDHtwlpSJWQbAxlUZrSRb1R1h-5XgAkndLEFxPyP1fCDSN49iHlbhz1Md5SdFA0IA_YXYjl48FkWytmDKNNM/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+045.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378963988779797234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUj8pcp_vz_2N1TZNajG96EbHfrRTjk4CsFSF4-YgXuP9N7bobv4X6wnlDHtwlpSJWQbAxlUZrSRb1R1h-5XgAkndLEFxPyP1fCDSN49iHlbhz1Md5SdFA0IA_YXYjl48FkWytmDKNNM/s320/Surfers+Paradise+045.jpg" /></a> difference that a chane of state can make in the quality of the roads.Mind you I had experienced a similar thing but in reverse the previous year when I rode around eastern provinces of Canada.The roads through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were fabulous but as soon as I reached Quebec,crap!!I now think of Queensland as the Quebec of Australia,they even talk a little differently up there as well.The plan for the day was to ride until I was just outside of Ballina and camp for a total of around 130k but things didn't go to plan.Over the last few ride days my feet started getting really sore.Those of you who are cyclists know what is feels like but for those who have never experience "hot feet" <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMI2bIU8afWSj4nW882A8tlClkcDcjkL_zAMKyLoZXYbNBo5RHmdsZhRluhIUlrs-rSs0k7PGG44z-J3Gt6ul0o0tSKdHe7kx0Jd_PR8UDzY4aPKpBGCB-jl33VnASAmZCLEasjwE9Rw/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+047.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378962639700312418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMI2bIU8afWSj4nW882A8tlClkcDcjkL_zAMKyLoZXYbNBo5RHmdsZhRluhIUlrs-rSs0k7PGG44z-J3Gt6ul0o0tSKdHe7kx0Jd_PR8UDzY4aPKpBGCB-jl33VnASAmZCLEasjwE9Rw/s320/Surfers+Paradise+047.jpg" /></a>the pain can be unbearable.At it's worst it can feelas if someone is driving needles through the balls of your feet and can be caused by many things.I think my problem was that my shoes were starting to lose their support and when you combine that with the extra work I was doing now that my fitness was returning the balls of my feet were being put under more stress than they had when I was just "spinning " my way down the road.Whatever the reason,it hurt a lot.Hurt to the point that every 5k or so I had to pull over and take my shoes off.It was at one of these little stops that I spied a sign that indicated the turn-off to Byron Bay was only a few short kilometers away.Oh well,nothing like a trip to Byron to cheer someone up.So I mounted my bike again and rode on to the turn and made the 6k trip into the hippie/yuppie beach capital of Australia.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUr0nLKGahV9D1GnDQd85NYMvdNkHJeVdZeAm67nexXgTFECNUqiECjkL0YYsFgJhlOwN-g42ReqK7FHDhqL3dwV_1hwdJqMER4hduScS8jqSprMMKbHRaN0iDxCZHLkAfWOs1iBsKgdk/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+053.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378961681778226082" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUr0nLKGahV9D1GnDQd85NYMvdNkHJeVdZeAm67nexXgTFECNUqiECjkL0YYsFgJhlOwN-g42ReqK7FHDhqL3dwV_1hwdJqMER4hduScS8jqSprMMKbHRaN0iDxCZHLkAfWOs1iBsKgdk/s320/Surfers+Paradise+053.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I entered Byron Bay having not been there for around 12 years and was not surprised to find that the development was huge.Instead of the sleepy little village that I remebered, this place had turned into a full-on tourist mecca.To be fair though,it still does have a small town feel about the place it's just that there are thousands of people feeling it.That's okay though, I soon found out that you don't have to go to far to see a whole lot of " there's nobody around" and the fact that this was the off season meant getting a bed was seriously easy in this normally full town.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHyDe05alY1kqL_JD2bFfj8a9t5aeU-zDwxgTukWGxfw5ztFyBNhxCGv6EKmOq5EmVqD4Am9ljL7c7EIoMbX98oat9-GVc_yf9SGSVhMWU8hmhlr6eBL8xoqj940QDSz8GGMNk6EshyPc/s1600-h/Byron+Bay+023.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378960376740271314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHyDe05alY1kqL_JD2bFfj8a9t5aeU-zDwxgTukWGxfw5ztFyBNhxCGv6EKmOq5EmVqD4Am9ljL7c7EIoMbX98oat9-GVc_yf9SGSVhMWU8hmhlr6eBL8xoqj940QDSz8GGMNk6EshyPc/s320/Byron+Bay+023.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The few days I spent in Byron Bay were great.I got to share a room with a 55year old ex-elite cyclist who was very interested in what I was up to on my trip.We talked for ages about cycling and even got up each morning to watch the "Vuelta" which is Spains version of the Tour de France on the tv.Paul also filled me in on an interesting statistic when he told me that in the over 30 age group here in Byron the women outnumbered the men four-to-one.Apparently if you join the local singles club and are a half decent specimen of a man you are consided quite a catch.I'll have to keep that in mind when I'm trying to decide where to live after this trip is done.<br />Apart from chatting with Paul for hours I did get some constructive excercise<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbsEPYNGDoexnP6LP7L5kq-SnG-1wfOVog4LiIqMe89HAFVky6OP1AS33CDUixRTg-Sm84r1FyYfD8CMoMqGtnfOVjnZ1l4lU7mwsI4XXjGp5F2uHu4yGqU5391q3arBbSInKqAoy8uY/s1600-h/Byron+Bay+038.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378958911729006866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbsEPYNGDoexnP6LP7L5kq-SnG-1wfOVog4LiIqMe89HAFVky6OP1AS33CDUixRTg-Sm84r1FyYfD8CMoMqGtnfOVjnZ1l4lU7mwsI4XXjGp5F2uHu4yGqU5391q3arBbSInKqAoy8uY/s320/Byron+Bay+038.jpg" /></a> done and managed a couple of runs and a couple of swims in the very frigid(for me anyway) surf.I did overdo the whole hill and stair running combo when I decided that it would be good to run around the Cape Byron Lighthouse each day.I'm guessing it was the downhill running and the stairs that killed my legs not to mention the stupid excursion climbing up a steep cliff to find a short cut that almost ended my days.I figured that it wasn't such a big climb when I looked at it from the beach but as soon as I was about two thirds done I remebered that I don't like heights and suddenly being 20 meters up a crumbling cliff didn't seem such a great idea.My far came back real quick and I was almost panicking but <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQXqBy-lAjmwpFNR0ZT3hZxANfdxmIbjGhMiFM0KmCJTBVLlzsPHDFkFQFC4s08CKW3UnRBK7ExxMmKulabyX8WRXtRkJfj3KNSzLpAp-oh53ZqDUVFnJLvCzxrr3Et6k9nzgR7Y8AfE/s1600-h/Byron+Bay+016.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378957083828579410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQXqBy-lAjmwpFNR0ZT3hZxANfdxmIbjGhMiFM0KmCJTBVLlzsPHDFkFQFC4s08CKW3UnRBK7ExxMmKulabyX8WRXtRkJfj3KNSzLpAp-oh53ZqDUVFnJLvCzxrr3Et6k9nzgR7Y8AfE/s320/Byron+Bay+016.jpg" /></a>just kept my eyes on the ground in front of me and not on the beach below.I did manage to scramble to the top but not before I left a lot of my shin attached to the rock face.I didn't even know that I'd cut myself until some random runner pointed it out to me about ten minutes later.Some seriously big early morning storms and spending too much time chatting with Paul after watch the cycling on the television kept me in Byron for an extra day but I'm glad I was delayed as it gave me a chance to see that I had finally recieved some donations for the kids at Athletes in Kind.I was beginning to wonder if anything I did made an impression on anyone at all and too see some of my friends from the triathlon world in Nth America chip in some cash cheered me up no end.I also recieved an invitation to participate in a charity ride across the USA in 2011 with a fellow cancer fundraiser and triathlete Jason Sissel who is the founder of Endure to Cure,a charity that raises money for pediatric cancer patients at a numer of institutions in the US.To me that was a huge boost and I certainy hope to be able to join him in a couple of years to help his cause.<br />There were also another couple of potential trips on offer from two people who had heard of my trip.One was from an adventure company in Bali who expressed interest in my blog and my trip and since I will be there in December I figured that I must get myself in touch with that crowd.The other came from the membership of Slowtwitch.com,the worlds largest triathlon forum.One of the members kindly offered to ride with me on a trip around his adopted h<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjt7BK6WrFetAPAeCY8yHCpslunm9vLIbJn2jn9YNp7yJPYxBlkzNrbbstVtnXxbak6wTezUHezR4uezMCwkLOvSupEzv_bnJGeYHtURnYpHY1My5o6EPTVZEkB-rxw_IeUi8iuabZJNI/s1600-h/Byron+Bay+031.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378956054338194546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjt7BK6WrFetAPAeCY8yHCpslunm9vLIbJn2jn9YNp7yJPYxBlkzNrbbstVtnXxbak6wTezUHezR4uezMCwkLOvSupEzv_bnJGeYHtURnYpHY1My5o6EPTVZEkB-rxw_IeUi8iuabZJNI/s320/Byron+Bay+031.jpg" /></a>ome of Taiwan.Now that would be awesome!!I let him know that should I be in the area and time and finances allow,I might just be up for it.For now though I had this part of the trip to worry about and it was with much regret that I had to drag myself out of a comfortable spot in Byron Bay and back out onto the highway to c<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVegCUHal1hOJanf_-pCEfxm1KLDT3KEpgt6fCgGPQb2j2XJhS5Bp33ruJEIj2FOhwkLjdN_rC864W68S1bzsdihGS9N0b4VVx_UMyXVYJWhili-SrTlnobvGMByjmHQ4ArWLPOPG9R4/s1600-h/Byron+Bay+043.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378953466489253906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVegCUHal1hOJanf_-pCEfxm1KLDT3KEpgt6fCgGPQb2j2XJhS5Bp33ruJEIj2FOhwkLjdN_rC864W68S1bzsdihGS9N0b4VVx_UMyXVYJWhili-SrTlnobvGMByjmHQ4ArWLPOPG9R4/s320/Byron+Bay+043.jpg" /></a>ontinue the long trip south.Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-3700115823402304672009-09-03T17:15:00.000-07:002009-09-03T21:23:05.777-07:00SOUTH TO PARADISE<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnrhESz0tRx2FSj5arlekfi-wv8qLNHUJiaiGXyWdgG20rGQ9WU8nwE4XHsZtNRN8w9kI76igmaTC-0TJK-dywM3zpI5spju1itZdUNHD3FGkN7OUTWXm6iRu4ECfdOjiTMpSKEOrIbQ/s1600-h/Noosa+026.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377462754490281010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnrhESz0tRx2FSj5arlekfi-wv8qLNHUJiaiGXyWdgG20rGQ9WU8nwE4XHsZtNRN8w9kI76igmaTC-0TJK-dywM3zpI5spju1itZdUNHD3FGkN7OUTWXm6iRu4ECfdOjiTMpSKEOrIbQ/s320/Noosa+026.jpg" /></a><br /><div>I was up early the next day,not because I needed to get some serious miles in but I had a schedule to keep and on this particular day,time waited for no man,least of all a lazy bugger like myself.Todays morning ride was all about getting down the coast through to the little town of Nambour some 40k away before 10am.This was because today was one of the two planned train trips I had decided on before I started my ride.I hate riding through cities at the best of times but to ride through Brisbane was something I just did not want to do.Last October,when I flew in from Canada,I put my bike together at the airport and rode through Brisbane, north toward the Sunshine Coast.It was bloody horrible and with that memory in my head when I plannd this trip I knew that the Queensland capital and Sydney would be no-ride zones for me.With time pressing and the help of the hostel cleaner who opened up the office an hour early for me,I was off and riding at around 6:15am.That would give me all kinds of time to ride to Nambour and allow for any serious,unforseen delays.</div><div>The ride down the Sunshine Coast beaches was something I was looking forward to as it is just such a great place to ride with nice roads and beautiful views.That morning was no exception and as it was Sunday I had the pleasure of a great many cyclists for company along the way.This area is a huge training ground for triathletes and cyclists and the were out in full force that morning.I don't know if it was the presence of other cyclists that inspired me or<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU_wz008Eap6jU3KmPK7YxQ8wBmiEyUt5Y1gstwnOZaGFmtSrxK-EPymcitcPvCCbdZebsHuWQpTVYd_rolgn9VEweyJAEWRA1zfZ2YyE6_cD5XJP1fv0pu-zTjTEd_CENFwXqGjCyDtk/s1600-h/Noosa+025.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377456997554516354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU_wz008Eap6jU3KmPK7YxQ8wBmiEyUt5Y1gstwnOZaGFmtSrxK-EPymcitcPvCCbdZebsHuWQpTVYd_rolgn9VEweyJAEWRA1zfZ2YyE6_cD5XJP1fv0pu-zTjTEd_CENFwXqGjCyDtk/s320/Noosa+025.jpg" /></a> the fact that I'd had four days off the bike but I absolutely flew along the road and I what seemed like no time at all I rolled into the Nambour train station about two hours early.Bloody hell,what to do?After a quick chat to one of the station masters and a consult with my maps I decided to keep riding south down the secondary road which pretty much follows the train line.I had calculated that I could make it to Beerwah station(where Steve Irwins' Australia Zoo is) in time to catch the same train I would have to wait two hours for here.I figured that I had about to hours and to ride just over 45 k and took off like a nutter down the quiet roads.<br />I still have a hard time getting head around the fact that 22kph is fast for me at the moment as that is a really pedes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xNgIXAFubV2THJNw7Bp0OIGiHhm_Ft6a4vz0vNPWw87Ik-teo-EmWBNf4mHcJVjBGtdqIGBPp3qXXaTLijhyphenhyphen_CXWaaByPnXOiEAXfU9KTCg5oQ6dSsC-7_LjhN2XJclVhyPRo1Vrhyw/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+013.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377455836808629010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xNgIXAFubV2THJNw7Bp0OIGiHhm_Ft6a4vz0vNPWw87Ik-teo-EmWBNf4mHcJVjBGtdqIGBPp3qXXaTLijhyphenhyphen_CXWaaByPnXOiEAXfU9KTCg5oQ6dSsC-7_LjhN2XJclVhyPRo1Vrhyw/s320/Surfers+Paradise+013.jpg" /></a>trian pace when riding my road bike.On the tourer,with four pannier bags,a handlebar bag,tent and trailer full of crap 22kph is a huge task especially if the road surface is bad.Today it wasn't and with the added help of a strengthening tailwind I made it to Beerwah with lots of time to spare.87k done for the morning and after the train trip,a shortish ride to Surfers Paradise from the Nerang station should see me at my hostel mid-afternoon. </div><br /><br /><div>Sundays are a great day to pass through a city and is the best day to put a bike on a train.Here in Oz, the rest of the week can be a pain as you are restricted to certain times to travel but it's all go on the weekend.This day,as it turned out was an extra special day to train-it and not ride as the very roads that I would have ridden were closed due to a huge fun run going on.I'm glad that I didn't need to negotiate that mess and had a great time reading the newspapers whil<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPKCdoR8HmiyNTiLv5DAsVThWemKKQiTOpjTwaaNwh6fO_Zrdi4u-tL0PxKDBnCyZi1b0CkAFzlB0_fcz4lV4ZWqa1Yv7ZiB24DQjeYeLIjXQ9YzooCG9I6TrGkM9kxY8A02moteszdw/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+016.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377452248945806626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPKCdoR8HmiyNTiLv5DAsVThWemKKQiTOpjTwaaNwh6fO_Zrdi4u-tL0PxKDBnCyZi1b0CkAFzlB0_fcz4lV4ZWqa1Yv7ZiB24DQjeYeLIjXQ9YzooCG9I6TrGkM9kxY8A02moteszdw/s320/Surfers+Paradise+016.jpg" /></a>e the world wizzed by.The rest time ended abruptly once I started riding from Nerang to Surfers Paradise an the only things whizzing by were the insane drivers that the Gold Coast is famous for.During that 16k ride I was on the recieving end of more abuse and close calls than for the rest of my trip in total.No wonder I left this place all those years ago!Still, it is a great place to live if you are a beachy person and there is way more to do here than in Cairns.I just wanted to visit a couple of friends and do some shopping for bike stuff so there would be no theme parks or pub crawls for me this trip,just a couple of lazy days at my old home the "Surfers Paradise Backpackers Resort".<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvn23hby3KGJzik8z6hwSgfeAYn5iEERKLBJcQ9NjGsTcfDs_XBtJsTtPtRnakzWinkZSnAp7Vrb7558q6nvjAEAuIzf5TVC4mDkL-9iU140ISzDrCfPjM9oMFSf9wcqznmQskwi-RUXM/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+005.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377451064374713058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvn23hby3KGJzik8z6hwSgfeAYn5iEERKLBJcQ9NjGsTcfDs_XBtJsTtPtRnakzWinkZSnAp7Vrb7558q6nvjAEAuIzf5TVC4mDkL-9iU140ISzDrCfPjM9oMFSf9wcqznmQskwi-RUXM/s320/Surfers+Paradise+005.jpg" /></a><br /><br />I had last been here about 7 years before when I lived on site and ran the bar for about a year and a half.It was an interesting place and having attended boarding school since and early age I was well and truly comfortable with the "institutional living" that hostel life resembles.I had lots of great memories from that time and I was glad to see that not much had changed.It was pretty much the same just the people staying there seemed to be so much younger.The<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMH28PDlPY2Tmf3mNcyV46vS98VRye33R6drXmCMIy0DkN-gD-t-zt75yZeTcb4ZVgoG2KTuh7tF_uSfTqtly5DlpKLlP_dHWcW2cyrsVrE7LFpBFBUsBPfbDWPrUPMxQ9og0unp28r3Q/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+004.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377449188717291234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMH28PDlPY2Tmf3mNcyV46vS98VRye33R6drXmCMIy0DkN-gD-t-zt75yZeTcb4ZVgoG2KTuh7tF_uSfTqtly5DlpKLlP_dHWcW2cyrsVrE7LFpBFBUsBPfbDWPrUPMxQ9og0unp28r3Q/s320/Surfers+Paradise+004.jpg" /></a>y weren't of course,it was just my old eyes playing tricks.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Being the winter or "off season" as it is known,the hostel was very quiet which kind of suited me as I got to spread my stuff out in my own room for all but one night.It's always a good feeling knowing that I can just wheel my bike into a locked room and leave it there without worrying about who might be messing with it.The people around for those few days of my stay were great though and there was no need to worry.Each day I wandered around Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach astounded at the deve<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMsc55eoYOfZN2_FT6W15QCYdYfoleWWphRGdEmMeKSlfn3GITBADmmsV0Cm51aUFht5Bmuy5d8F1QLuatFDuRL40Oxs7aA8LsdagaZ4bGe3qKZz3yKbV1v9FWo2xDMj4VXOLd4tgzTI/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+020.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377448093377620610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMsc55eoYOfZN2_FT6W15QCYdYfoleWWphRGdEmMeKSlfn3GITBADmmsV0Cm51aUFht5Bmuy5d8F1QLuatFDuRL40Oxs7aA8LsdagaZ4bGe3qKZz3yKbV1v9FWo2xDMj4VXOLd4tgzTI/s320/Surfers+Paradise+020.jpg" /></a>lopment going on and even went for a couple of runs and a swim or two in the cold surf.It was great to be able to run on the super nice beaches of the Gold Coast and I remembered just why my running and swimming were so strong when I lived there.It is just so easy to spend time training and I almost forgot how dangerous the roads were for riding,alomost that is, as I have more than one scar to remind me of the crazy Gold Coast drivers.It was a shame that Brad,the manager of the hostel,was really sick during my visit as I was really looking foward to seeing him again but he had contracted pneumonia and was out of action.I did manage a short chat just before he headed off to hospital for some tests.The plan was to spend time with him and his family but sadly it didn't work out.I also missed out on <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaypcDqGRSRbSy5Hk3gfCoDJyoIgRJotrcWUwauGzR8NGITZTM6LIUx3vAwKh3MRtPrUIHhRPpWzbTWcLjkwTDIn6t8ap0cinLrCromkG8671ksK1z2WL2vMQJ5DB-DF5RQ8usWrr0xZQ/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+032.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377446191965782130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaypcDqGRSRbSy5Hk3gfCoDJyoIgRJotrcWUwauGzR8NGITZTM6LIUx3vAwKh3MRtPrUIHhRPpWzbTWcLjkwTDIn6t8ap0cinLrCromkG8671ksK1z2WL2vMQJ5DB-DF5RQ8usWrr0xZQ/s320/Surfers+Paradise+032.jpg" /></a>a visit with someone from my old life in Hong Kong.I have,over the last few months reconnected with a lot of the people who I grew up with and thanks to Facebook am in touch with a few of them on a regular basis.I had tried to work out a bit of a reunion with one of our old Hong Kong Pony Club mates Natalie who I had not seen since my brother Chris and I came to visit her and her sister Andrea about thrity years before.Man how time flies and it would seem that the reunion would have to wait as I wasn't in town long enough for the both of us to have a free moment to meet.Bummer!<br /></div><br /><br /><div>I did enjoy my time in Surfers but kept my social life to just a few quiet drinks at the hostel bar chatting with my fellow travellers and sending them off to the clubs at 10pm when the bar closed.I was in no mood to be out<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiow0M0VV6bbgz7Y4zxW5IEindRqOrkMPVAaCrJpwYGQEKyJqH2cf3xyfUKU1YCc0lQFF3mALCNLJ8tqLIG3n5njh3-Zydg-9kSkqR41KJyF3XDF3luCBxlSsG9BbhfE6nXTPs0SXlpVuc/s1600-h/Surfers+Paradise+033.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377444507793708338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiow0M0VV6bbgz7Y4zxW5IEindRqOrkMPVAaCrJpwYGQEKyJqH2cf3xyfUKU1YCc0lQFF3mALCNLJ8tqLIG3n5njh3-Zydg-9kSkqR41KJyF3XDF3luCBxlSsG9BbhfE6nXTPs0SXlpVuc/s320/Surfers+Paradise+033.jpg" /></a> on the town here as I'm absoutely over that sort of lifestyle.I'll leave that to the younger ones.It was funny though as it was the youngest of all the hostellers who were really interested in my trip.The two young Irish boys who worked at the hostel were especially interested and I though that was awesome.They thought that I was nuts but still asked all kind of questions and demanded a couple of photos with me before I left.Thankfuly I did manage the self discipline to leave as my last morning heralded the 21st birthday of one of these fine Irish lads and had I started sharing the birthday beers that they were having at 8am I know I would have been stuck there for an extra day or two.I made my escape at around 9:45am and started the long slow ride through the 25 kilometers of traffic that led me to the end of my time in Queensland and into New South Wales for the start of the week or so that it should take to reach Sydney.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-13135355250949893522009-09-02T23:13:00.000-07:002009-09-03T02:19:16.871-07:00NOOSA<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><div>There are a few places in Australia that I just love to visit and Noosa is one of them.Thankfully there just happens to be the heart of the tourist strip one of my favourite hostels in the world and I make the effort to stay there as often as possible.The Halse Lodge YHA is the last of the old wooden buildings and is an institution in Noosa.Thankfully it was given Heritage status in 1994 so the property developers can't get their greedy little hands on it like they have to all the other old buildings i<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpLKFxD5U5H-0RypvrTuKgJjvmunubgxn6BmPgyRC8vrQOm0M6uNQGT2ZWbXTWewVW669dA-1czPJFaYVXCsU2hzZY7T789qy-ujp51by2Bn5QuaQlyHxmM2pxoHHdkvS0K5Ym8wtDtDY/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+255.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377167702836758178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpLKFxD5U5H-0RypvrTuKgJjvmunubgxn6BmPgyRC8vrQOm0M6uNQGT2ZWbXTWewVW669dA-1czPJFaYVXCsU2hzZY7T789qy-ujp51by2Bn5QuaQlyHxmM2pxoHHdkvS0K5Ym8wtDtDY/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+255.jpg" /></a>n the area.</div><br /><div>I have used it as an oasis on a few rides stretching way back to the late '90s when I used to make the 800k return trip from the Gold Coast to Hervey Bay for the Hervey Bay triathlon each year.Last year, after camping on the beach in the Noosa National Park for a week I made it my base to watch the Noosa Triathlon Festival held early each November.It was no surprise that I felt right at home when I checked in and took all my stuff up to the little four-person dorm which was upstairs in the grand old building.The rooms themselves are nothing special and the hostel is way overpriced but the atmosphere there is always great and I have yet to spend time there without meeting some great people. This stay was no exception.</div><br /><br /><div>Most of my time in Noosa was spent updating my blog(which takes forever)getting so<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlVo54QpYWWQm7Lg0AwKj09SbO3_k32bztW3pm-Ru-2Mt2PLmWRyu-pSZcyW-bYcwRI_3q-zmce87mmeya6ZR4BnWVAd_dJzQM09RjQwqoz_PMA2nU2wO3sOap3jgVgLnfkwrI0i2nKQ/s1600-h/Noosa+002.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377166538690582418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlVo54QpYWWQm7Lg0AwKj09SbO3_k32bztW3pm-Ru-2Mt2PLmWRyu-pSZcyW-bYcwRI_3q-zmce87mmeya6ZR4BnWVAd_dJzQM09RjQwqoz_PMA2nU2wO3sOap3jgVgLnfkwrI0i2nKQ/s320/Noosa+002.jpg" /></a>me beach time in and starting my running program for Ironman West Oz.There are so many awesome trails through the Noosa National Park that even though my run fitness is low right now I really enjoyed my few runs as there is just so much to see.I also took my little camera wth me a couple of times so I could get some cool pics of the area.That also gave me a good excuse to stop and rest lots which stopped my still pudgy body from complaining to much.I did some work on my bike as well and even though I'm not much of a mechanic I do try to look after my bike as best I can.</div><br /><br /><div>Each afternoon I set myself up a little spot in the common room under a huge flatscreen tv where I could plug in my laptop and get to work updating my blog and posting photos on Facebook.Around 6pm each day they have a little welcome drink for the new arrivals and as that days group filed in I was joined at my table by a tall German guy who introduced himself and we started chatting about travelling and what each of our stories were.Shortly Frank and I were joined by a tiny little girl from Italy who told us her name was Ani.I'm not kidding when I say little,she was teeny,tiny at under five feet tall and I'm sure my loaded bike weighed much more than she.The three of us got to c<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZMRUBPTAzGf9cI6DoiAE4u6KCK0YUZmc9k-Ipkd_DiQEGfxm9bgAq5RzfNtjCvoVknaT7Nt2USxCFRsnCXmSW0bY99rgsn_-6nNfoOTxtT-qAkjIDKn4mFmocfQH2y5eezejVQNa7K3k/s1600-h/Noosa+008.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377162998261864306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZMRUBPTAzGf9cI6DoiAE4u6KCK0YUZmc9k-Ipkd_DiQEGfxm9bgAq5RzfNtjCvoVknaT7Nt2USxCFRsnCXmSW0bY99rgsn_-6nNfoOTxtT-qAkjIDKn4mFmocfQH2y5eezejVQNa7K3k/s320/Noosa+008.jpg" /></a>hatting and getting stuck into the free wine that the hostel puts on during the welcome speech.</div><br /><br /><div>I liked these two immediately and it was not long before we were sharing a bottle of wine over dinner and laughing loud over stories told and funny interpretations of Aussie culture and the English language.Actually both of them spoke English very well and I was amazed to find that Frank had only been in Oz a relatively short time on a work internship in Sydney.I would have guessed that he had travelled Oz for ages the way he knew all about the place.Thirty-something Ani cracked me up with her thick Italian accent and feisty personality and there was no doubt that some seriously hot Latin blood flowed through the veins of this pint sized traveller.She worked for an advertising agency in Milan and had only a couple of short weeks to travel Oz.This stop in Noosa was very nearly the end of the road in Oz for both of them.Over the next couple of nights we spent a bit of time together either just chatting,playing pool or attempting table tennis which was a total crack up as after Frank and I had split victories in pool and ping<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97SOFav4EjUJYhfLRV1uwq7NRg9FhyphenhyphenI0KrqDziMZ538yj4VS9w9Sj3lMlsubvzgMSSmGdu9KX_pdZcyhSVfkO1j8XW0-jTJtIwIlAK_jXyZx8koJ_j4l_JUoKxV06vCjqmN9qtUr9M8s/s1600-h/Noosa+003.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377165355880712914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97SOFav4EjUJYhfLRV1uwq7NRg9FhyphenhyphenI0KrqDziMZ538yj4VS9w9Sj3lMlsubvzgMSSmGdu9KX_pdZcyhSVfkO1j8XW0-jTJtIwIlAK_jXyZx8koJ_j4l_JUoKxV06vCjqmN9qtUr9M8s/s320/Noosa+003.jpg" /></a> pong,Ani took up the challenge of the ping pong table with Frank.Apparently there was more than one rough Italian expletive to come out of the mouth of that elegant little lady.Very funny to think of tiny Ani taking on Frank who towered above me( that's not hard though)in a sporting competition.</div><br /><br /><div>Their last night was supposed to be mine as well but due to the fact that I was having way too fun at dinner and the small bar area afterward I knew that there was no way I was getting up to go cycling the next day.At least having too much wine helped me deal with the loudest snorer I had ever heard in any hostel anywhere,anytime.This guy had kept the two girls in our room up for hours each night and even my ear plugs could not stop me feeling the vibrations of each heavy snore from the bed underneath me.It was amazing!!!</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGxhy9V8nwh8J2R3_WG4GCqXvi4x0TWZpdYTEDN5S84ijiiO9n02CiLW473dR79uEQJ3wVJ4hDrZt6XE4qZ0IzgY0-LGcelesSupSltQ6BrwrbCzz6XrQ4uSEUQpCeOVDJ0hkjkIjWZQ/s1600-h/a-Bay+039.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377161930455750690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGxhy9V8nwh8J2R3_WG4GCqXvi4x0TWZpdYTEDN5S84ijiiO9n02CiLW473dR79uEQJ3wVJ4hDrZt6XE4qZ0IzgY0-LGcelesSupSltQ6BrwrbCzz6XrQ4uSEUQpCeOVDJ0hkjkIjWZQ/s320/a-Bay+039.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>Frank cooked me breakfast the morning of his departure and we caught up with Ani just before she headed off for a surf lesson so we could say our goodbyes to her.I was sad to see them go and I spent the day walking the National Park and sitting on the beach thinking that the worst part of meeting these great people is having to go back to being alone again.I didn't like it much.</div><br /><br /><br /><div>I did manage to get to know a few other cool people while I was there and spent bit of time chatting to Ian who as a guy a few years older than me,travelling from job to job and using up a high milage bus ticket by seeing all the nice tourist towns along the coast.He was a fountai<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOnyQpmg5OtPeEI9A0ZHkyWaKGQ1y8OQAGNSG3NIQrRkWB3z39NxrHGkPMKda7I3YseAw7VSEwOCw3iQHsMieuGKt9sjMXWwP4c8QwJ29t4plx_DgoZ17dX74cWMxHaIQ5ggsB-3pjTvI/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+259.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377159614556903762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOnyQpmg5OtPeEI9A0ZHkyWaKGQ1y8OQAGNSG3NIQrRkWB3z39NxrHGkPMKda7I3YseAw7VSEwOCw3iQHsMieuGKt9sjMXWwP4c8QwJ29t4plx_DgoZ17dX74cWMxHaIQ5ggsB-3pjTvI/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+259.jpg" /></a>n of knowledge on every topic and there was clearly more to this guy than the "old loner" that his appearance and body language portrayed.He quizzed me quite a lot on my bike and my trip and it was great to have someone so interested in my ride at a time when my enthusiasm was waning.I know it is hrad for guys like Ian when they stay in hostels.Like myself,we older guys tend to be largely ingnored by the masses and it is only the very few who take the time to actualy find out what we are about.Sometimes being in a crowded room can be a very lonely place and I know both Ian and I have had our fair share of nights like that.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKYiH2Bd02kqbTBMdik9cs1v60IlzeMbXHWYbMD54dVlABMvkH4ZoEaV7JrFZ1Gipha0QXqjQqRYbVrFTwHPs8ngaL7ubHaA4TMEsb-WaHqOwYjZyvHgvYMoZs0ieov8KHbtZzqP05NZQ/s1600-h/a-Bay+040.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377160644900746018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKYiH2Bd02kqbTBMdik9cs1v60IlzeMbXHWYbMD54dVlABMvkH4ZoEaV7JrFZ1Gipha0QXqjQqRYbVrFTwHPs8ngaL7ubHaA4TMEsb-WaHqOwYjZyvHgvYMoZs0ieov8KHbtZzqP05NZQ/s320/a-Bay+040.jpg" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div>It was one of those exceptions to the rule that made me so happy one night when my last roomie,a very attractive English girl called Amanda,came down to have some dinner and a drink at the hostel restaurant.I started chatting to her and Ian turned up and sheepishly sat down with us as we made small talk about our travels.I was taking some sunset photos for my blog and the conversation moved to all things photographic.It turned out that Amanda was a keen amatuer photo nut and started telling us about her camera and with that Ian produced his whiz-bang $5,000 you-beaut state of the art digital,does everything but cook breakfast camera.That was it they were soon engrossed in photo talk with Ian giving Amanda lessons in all aspects of photography.I really don't think he had recieved that much genuine interest in his opinion from woman for a long time and he was just beaming.I don't know why but it made me very happy to see him light up like that.Maybe I can relate.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_RWpN-2N7YQWREgyTweAFb2-BaHefRj1pMkYL8ZT28MH5RQnxKW1TqEDRBeHwzk4qrfGntS7aj4iIE7R4HYIpJBlA8wqdnPis_u1ObD-ImKeT50c60tarYWo8mhT8Q1aWC13NiGvufM/s1600-h/Noosa+020.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377150200109623122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_RWpN-2N7YQWREgyTweAFb2-BaHefRj1pMkYL8ZT28MH5RQnxKW1TqEDRBeHwzk4qrfGntS7aj4iIE7R4HYIpJBlA8wqdnPis_u1ObD-ImKeT50c60tarYWo8mhT8Q1aWC13NiGvufM/s320/Noosa+020.jpg" /></a><br />There were others,too like the three English med-students who shared my room one night.Those girls were great and took a huge interest in what I was doing.One of them even knew all about Ironman and was very impressd that I was riding across the country as training to compete in Ironman West Australia.They were a fun group and were all on their way to postings in various places around the South Pacific for a few months.</div><br /><br /><div>I will say though,every now and then you meet a young person who you just know you will either see again or read about in the future.I met one of those in the form of a nineteen-year-old guy from England who was riding a motorbike up and down the east coast of Oz by himself.He was a cool guy who for all i<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHd5dbSFJhBWsG1tfaHGxDn1EpajXGPXmpuM3QhtH4mycOq-X2VKoseLxIX4-HLEF3SYX5SP7t576WqXnH2djzeMlQCsHeRVJ3ov0kycv6WuPtSDnnUBr8f2gpe6szl_LoCsmEhKeEK3s/s1600-h/Noosa+004.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377151444733282914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHd5dbSFJhBWsG1tfaHGxDn1EpajXGPXmpuM3QhtH4mycOq-X2VKoseLxIX4-HLEF3SYX5SP7t576WqXnH2djzeMlQCsHeRVJ3ov0kycv6WuPtSDnnUBr8f2gpe6szl_LoCsmEhKeEK3s/s320/Noosa+004.jpg" /></a>ntents and purposes was doing what Ewan MacGregor and Charley Boorman do but he was doing it without all the support crews and at such a young age.We talked a lot about both mine and his trips and discussed the diffrerent problems that we had faced along the way.He won hands down with issues like breakdowns and replacement costs and it made me thankful I was on such a simple machine.I also talked about how accessible Charley Boorman was through his dyslexia foundation on Facebook and he informed me that he too was dyslexic and he jumped straight onto a computer to find the Dyslexia Foundations site and try to contact the man himself.I felt very pleased to have met this fine young adventurer and asked if I could take a picture or two of him when he was ready to leave the next day.He had already added me to his list of Facebook buddies and we would be following each others adventures with interest. If you ever hear the name Pete Southern I suggest you follow his story as well.</div><div>My time in Noosa though was drawing to and end and I felt that it was time to move on.Not far though,just a days ride (and a lift) through Brisbane and on to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast where I wanted to visit some people and some places that I had not seen in a long time.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-77232069054675683442009-08-30T15:07:00.000-07:002009-08-30T16:24:45.308-07:00I CAN ALMOST SMELL THE OCEAN<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Another fog delay greeting me he next morning and I spent some more time chatting to Quentin before the fog listed and I was able to hit the road again.I was about 130k out of Noosa and I realy didn't feel like making it a huge day to get there.I have ridding that section before and did not want hit the hills that are to be climbed late in the day when I am tired and trying to negotiate traffic.I decided instead to make it two easy days and make the first nights stp on the southern side of Gympie some 70k away.</div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQTDrqZv-JsbVhvLzNBLVHCfTnczvNBQUNhNKWb1F5TDk2AeK7eskU3pMBIUgJXLf3FX_WLae8u-JnlhHBJm8BlHrlVSYVRaW_IkEcgnhmXjQ1PVyP-Drd3dkKkV4vaezV3-Xx0lwjSg/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+241.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375901528819686658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQTDrqZv-JsbVhvLzNBLVHCfTnczvNBQUNhNKWb1F5TDk2AeK7eskU3pMBIUgJXLf3FX_WLae8u-JnlhHBJm8BlHrlVSYVRaW_IkEcgnhmXjQ1PVyP-Drd3dkKkV4vaezV3-Xx0lwjSg/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+241.jpg" /></a><br /><div>After chatting to a nice family about bike fundraising and my trip while I was at the Information Centre I set off and found my legs surprisingly fresh after the huge effort the day before.My first rest stop was to be a nice little rest area that I have stopped in a few times before on rides I've done from both the Sushine and Gold Coasts.It is near a little hamlet called Gunalda and is a really nice little spot.Once I arrived I set up all my cooking stuff and made coffee and some lunch.This was going to be a long stop so I decided to do some washing while I was there.Some of the other people who drifted in and out of the place must have been wondering just who this dude was,sitting at a bench just wearing a towel and a hat,surrounded by a clotheline full of lycra flapping in the hot northerly wind.The chance to have clean clothes that no longer stank was worth all the weird looks.<br /></div><div>A couple of hours later I woke up from my little nap and got myself ready for the afternoons' ride through Gympie.Luckily the wind had picked up and the next 30k was very easy and even the part I was dreading the most was bearable.Gympie is a shitty place to ride through.There are all kinds of roadworks going on and it seemed not much had been achieved since the last time I rode through the previous year.It wasn't much fun as the drivers in ths town tend to be real pricks and this day was the first time I had some young punks giving me some choice abuse as they drove past.So nice of them!!</div><div>I was happy to be through the main part of town and stooped at the local info hut to find<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Cw-skCliwtmF4Y_Whqmy5LZnK447ibHRPSlvz-HTvP6polyXHTb-gJynrhrbwX1Jf1Mb9dqGNXZP0wuKx75q6PK2wiEX6Dqp3n895s-5R6UOhyzHp2CUnnBCNTZAT-M-GEoC4Gsd_CE/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+246.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375899123486156770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Cw-skCliwtmF4Y_Whqmy5LZnK447ibHRPSlvz-HTvP6polyXHTb-gJynrhrbwX1Jf1Mb9dqGNXZP0wuKx75q6PK2wiEX6Dqp3n895s-5R6UOhyzHp2CUnnBCNTZAT-M-GEoC4Gsd_CE/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+246.jpg" /></a> out where the next rest area was.Just before I hit the rest area something hit me.My first bird-strike of the trip.Australia is famous for having extremely territorial and aggressive birds in the spring and they just love to attack cyclsts and little kids walking to school.This little bastard gave himself away too early and missed me as I ducked under his attack.Last year one of the little dive -bombers actually took a slice out of my ear and I bled all over the place.It is acutally really dangerous as your instinct to swerve out of their way can force you into the path of an unforgiving semi-trailer so I've learned to just suck it up and let the little buggers peck my helmet.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9Sl5Ql1pFFQpleMkT7xgukzFFbMs_L_w3bcIOba8e7MYJg758KPSfocntr8SJvcn9sG1J8tlmflCeZ0wLSMfjeCcov6gYl-GtaF5nq36SmhBLYBmQTj_x_6rDW7I1AW5gBoG2cJl1Fc/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+231.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375898389836574434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9Sl5Ql1pFFQpleMkT7xgukzFFbMs_L_w3bcIOba8e7MYJg758KPSfocntr8SJvcn9sG1J8tlmflCeZ0wLSMfjeCcov6gYl-GtaF5nq36SmhBLYBmQTj_x_6rDW7I1AW5gBoG2cJl1Fc/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+231.jpg" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>After finding out all the info I needed I got back on my bike under the watchfull eye of that bloody bird and rode on another few kilometers to the rest area at Six Mile Creek.It was a pretty average place with an even more average vibe about it.There was not a lot of love being shared around and everyone just kept to themselves and didn't seem interested in making friends.That was okay by me and I just went about my daily routine and after feeding myself was tucked in bed before the sun went down.</div><br /><div>I was up well before sunrise the next moning and packed my stuff but really I should have stayed in bed as this mornings fog was by far the thickest I'd encountered.I was all <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegw9wFt3MmdjnlbUqoMaiD52zDZ9Wan0VBR4jifvzZKyjDVTMRTeiHuNsIv9a4jZw21m2-BG8WVksjLfmzifhwPxHFOrj8NCxHAWgOGz1UiTt4tffm-zyGcfFK48iO6hSx50VJZL7-rU/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+232.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375897513468606050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegw9wFt3MmdjnlbUqoMaiD52zDZ9Wan0VBR4jifvzZKyjDVTMRTeiHuNsIv9a4jZw21m2-BG8WVksjLfmzifhwPxHFOrj8NCxHAWgOGz1UiTt4tffm-zyGcfFK48iO6hSx50VJZL7-rU/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+232.jpg" /></a>packed up with nowhere to go and it sucked.That was,until one of the campers told me that just at the top of the hill,about a kilometer away was a truckstop I could hang out in.I needed little encouragement to make the mad dash up the hill in the cloak of mist knowing that hot coffee and a dry place to sit were on offer.When I got there I found the truckstop had the coolest western themed restaurant which I though would be more fitting in Texas and not here in South East Queensland.I felt like I had stepped straight into some South-Western U.S. antique store like the ones I had seen while visiting my brother in Austin, Texas.I was strange but really cool at the same time.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>A couple of coffees and a nice<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiMI6SZBoFUD2ghJIzTE2y6E046Ki_GSfOYXGyMxbMXttdB5uaFKs0yynGhNupxG2Wg9L8CS-FdF7SmVPDzYhDRgPLeQM3-uaPq8LMVYOOVd0DTH3s8_XY66trjv4LEVXc4pH91DYrmvM/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+255.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375896602942529938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiMI6SZBoFUD2ghJIzTE2y6E046Ki_GSfOYXGyMxbMXttdB5uaFKs0yynGhNupxG2Wg9L8CS-FdF7SmVPDzYhDRgPLeQM3-uaPq8LMVYOOVd0DTH3s8_XY66trjv4LEVXc4pH91DYrmvM/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+255.jpg" /></a> chat with the manager later and I was off for the 60k ride into Noosa.I was going to be at one of my favourite places in a couple of short hours and that thought pushed the pace on the bike to the extent that I score the fastest average speed of any day of the ride.I was pretty happy with that as there are quite a few killer hills on that stretch of highway but my legs didn't care,they just wated to get to the beach and fast.It was hot though an by the time I reached Noosa and climbed the stupidly steep driveway up to the heritage listed old building that is the Halse Lodge Youth Hostel, I was ready to put the bike away for a few days and just hit the beach.</div><br /><div></div><div>Which is exactly what I did....for the next five days!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-32221191223639855332009-08-28T02:36:00.000-07:002009-08-30T15:07:25.541-07:00THE LONGEST DAYGuess what I woke up to the following morning?That's right fog,fog and more fog.Holy crap I was getting sick of being soaked by the stuff and delayed every day.What can you do though but just accept and move on.I moved as far as the truck stop on the northern outskirts of Gin Gin and sat myself down with a coffee and waited my usual wait. Thankfully I didn't need to wait to long as I was soon climbing th<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPGQwFjcG_aVNGFicaucTRpmuzm5N6SSc41HINgFl-RyoLH5_uYyPw98A2DbRAawWw7UKdvO4NFnFtSkyZYvsNF0V7EwbAxklxkenSHA98IHqAGdTWnEfG0ZY5VkQp3EoGhtvyKjCdZQ/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+234.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374969198501445730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPGQwFjcG_aVNGFicaucTRpmuzm5N6SSc41HINgFl-RyoLH5_uYyPw98A2DbRAawWw7UKdvO4NFnFtSkyZYvsNF0V7EwbAxklxkenSHA98IHqAGdTWnEfG0ZY5VkQp3EoGhtvyKjCdZQ/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+234.jpg" /></a>e little hill out of Gin Gin heading for what I knew whould be a cruisy day,if the wind did what it was supposed to.For the first hour or so it did just that and I raced along the highway on nice wide,smooth roads wearing a smile from ear to ear.For the first time on my trip I actually started to feel like the ride was working and I was getting fitter.<br /><br /><br />As I passed over a long bridge over a river that certainly didn't seem to warrant such a crossing I stopped and took some happy snaps.It turned out to be pretty scary though as the whole bridge bounced up and down as each semi-trailer roared over it.I can't deal with show rides at the best of times so this was not fun for me.I got on my bike and was outta there in a hurry which lasted about 800meters when I slowed down to see if what I was seeing on the side of the road was real or I wasjust going nuts.As I passed a T-intersection ther on the side of the road were two Asians jumping up and down and going nuts at me cheering and clapping.I'm thinking WTF!!Then I reaised that I knew them,They were the young Asian couple that I had met in Home Hill while I was being evicted by the city council guy.I turned my rig around and rode up to them to smiles and hugs and of course the obligatory photo session.They were so happy to see me for some reason that was lost on me and the fact that they actually saw me out there on the highway made it so special,like they were able to witness some great feat of humankind.I didn't get it but I was very happy to see that there were some people out there who were into my trip with enthusiasm.It was great.I said my goodbyes and rode of as they stood there and waved me on.Too funny!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9n0BWxQgvYkC4TW1gN2yCXwZGllZoe-63JQHIvjOZ1jz-ymAmFDlidSN-rgu02KkOuE1mP4eMM0Jytd1CEO21el9zwk5KBdf375C63ntShYeUzdVVne12q74oWTsHraF7IO-1290USM/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+236.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374967681406648898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9n0BWxQgvYkC4TW1gN2yCXwZGllZoe-63JQHIvjOZ1jz-ymAmFDlidSN-rgu02KkOuE1mP4eMM0Jytd1CEO21el9zwk5KBdf375C63ntShYeUzdVVne12q74oWTsHraF7IO-1290USM/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+236.jpg" /></a><br /><br />From there it was a quick hour into the town of Childers,the scene of the horrible " Childers Hostel Fire" a few years ago when the local hostel full of fruit picking backpackers burnt down in the middle of the night killing many of then as they tried to escape through locked and barricaded doors.Very sad indeed. I was pretty happy to see the place as I had made the 50k trip by 10am and was literally blown up the long climb that you have to ascend to reach the hilltop town.<br />I was pretty quick to spy a camping store and ducked in to see if they had the gas cannister that I was looking for and woo frickin hoo,they did.I snapped one up and make a hasty exit down the steep descent on the southern end of town ably assisted I will say by an ever increasing tailwind.That wind stayed with me all day and blew me ever closer to Maryborough which I figured would be a good place to stop for the night.I don't know what it was though but I felt stronger than I'd felt and thanked the lord for the wind and the Queensland Government for the new roads.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZf3sYGA-GiBLqupMuxswiMuG4l8x-_xlknnJsvAwzylwTFgBvmMm7NtfRnLmpVhwXBwc0r5ierqrNseYqi_uIaL3F-I8gUZSG7GP3reTEg-UuxlLR2siBllppMOT5pLIZK24h0LLb1I/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+237.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374966828920106610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZf3sYGA-GiBLqupMuxswiMuG4l8x-_xlknnJsvAwzylwTFgBvmMm7NtfRnLmpVhwXBwc0r5ierqrNseYqi_uIaL3F-I8gUZSG7GP3reTEg-UuxlLR2siBllppMOT5pLIZK24h0LLb1I/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+237.jpg" /></a><br />In the mid afternoon I hit the Maryborough turnoff and found myself on a new bypass which shave a few kilometers off my trip I knew then that I was in for an epic day and when I rolled into the huge Matilda Service Centre in south Maryborough I figured my day was done I dicked around drinking toxic water out of the tap and gorging mself on two gourmet pies from the restaurant.The chocolate milk was overkill and I really felt like having a nap.The only problen was the wind was still blowing and there were three hours of sunlight left.As I said,for the first time I felt a little athletey and actually felt guilty about sitting around while I could be rolling through another 10 k or so.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Y9eRSa1kHULC1f072pQCymYXOYtW4qimN8eANboJoEBs7r5E4A2d31NAAmi560SWYSkCx5JVaZwODc61DYL4GrNVD7zLM-tnCUUOccbHdRD_o1HFSAbwMedDz9t7ptzVGAXPNgV-mRY/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+238.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374966123307859154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Y9eRSa1kHULC1f072pQCymYXOYtW4qimN8eANboJoEBs7r5E4A2d31NAAmi560SWYSkCx5JVaZwODc61DYL4GrNVD7zLM-tnCUUOccbHdRD_o1HFSAbwMedDz9t7ptzVGAXPNgV-mRY/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+238.jpg" /></a><br /><br />I bit the bullet and rolled out onto the highway again thinking I'd just go 10k down the road and that would be it but within the hour I was entering the town of Tiaro.My god,I had just made up for the shit half day the I had suffered the day before and could not believe it when the ladies in the town Info Centre told me that the rest area that I was looking for was directly outside the windows at the back of the building and that I had a hot shower waiting for me when I needed it.I could have hugged them both but I just didn't have the energy after 141k of windswept highway.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOp9uT0iVRtQ17-eTtMxgvQZq22PryNdVFrkeSGmrfiXv2bSx_floLqVOAjvSQCBec3RGTturVC4cXBmpaW3pXc-APSUE7SjWX6TaEJ34yyYDCS_eN1SG9usboagX3tbvdUxu1ALctmk/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+235.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374965285462049906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOp9uT0iVRtQ17-eTtMxgvQZq22PryNdVFrkeSGmrfiXv2bSx_floLqVOAjvSQCBec3RGTturVC4cXBmpaW3pXc-APSUE7SjWX6TaEJ34yyYDCS_eN1SG9usboagX3tbvdUxu1ALctmk/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+235.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I rode down to the rest area and started seaching for some flat land on the sloping campground.As luck woulds camper.It was perfect really as I could rest my bike against the have it there was a guy talking to a lady next to his camper and he when he saw me checking out the area he told me that I was welcome to pitch my tent on the small patch of flat grass near hifence and just throw my big tarp over the bike and tentkeepingeverything under shelter. I had a short chat with the fellow and then told him that I really neede a shower and made a beeline for th facilities where I was treated to finve minutes or so of blissfully hot water.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwdvQ43yNshD66Mk9dZakY2UEn6VYMCSNTeBlnEOeiSSLk-8F9Ulb2Tz1mQPWlM8v4jRMLS7FBJZENgJlE_cSi7Ot98Keezx_gf_mHhk99iSOVUwOoENIdItTBUUtoSjZcJRMBXesRsQ/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+239.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374964123378140258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwdvQ43yNshD66Mk9dZakY2UEn6VYMCSNTeBlnEOeiSSLk-8F9Ulb2Tz1mQPWlM8v4jRMLS7FBJZENgJlE_cSi7Ot98Keezx_gf_mHhk99iSOVUwOoENIdItTBUUtoSjZcJRMBXesRsQ/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+239.jpg" /></a><br />After I was showered and my neighbour had done is little bike ride around town we introduced ourselves and I found, for the first time on this trip a real athlete and a world champion to boot.Quentin is a surf lifesaver and at the ripe old age of 61 could put a lot of guys half his age to shame.He had won a world title for his age group at the World Masters Surlifesaving Champs in Italy and was very active in his lifesaving community at Avoca Beach on the New South Wales central coast.He was a great guy to spend time with and he even ended up cooking me dinner which we ate in his trailer.I really could not believe this guy was 15 years older than me.He was so full of life and is eyes sparkled with youthfull joy for the life he lives.We swapped all kinds of stories in the two hours or so that I sat with him and he even told me about the sponsored relay paddle he did with some friend from Hong Kong to the Philippines.I mean,they paddled across the South China Sea...Jesus!!Like <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7GIHM_lZnbKbuCG22wEcnAOWZum1be9bnSr5HWpXLf7WJvg-lOVer1mJLMGPONE7VHtlEmP9R4613ZK3Wins5fxQ8Rl5b_1BAKNMn4BJgu3GOiOd5_rwNSZIa_BgwEoVpEGxnEJmlDfo/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+230.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374963320866213122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7GIHM_lZnbKbuCG22wEcnAOWZum1be9bnSr5HWpXLf7WJvg-lOVer1mJLMGPONE7VHtlEmP9R4613ZK3Wins5fxQ8Rl5b_1BAKNMn4BJgu3GOiOd5_rwNSZIa_BgwEoVpEGxnEJmlDfo/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+230.jpg" /></a>the Saxbys who live not far from Quentin and his family. I made a promise to myself to try and visit them on my way to Sydney if it was not too far out of my way.From what I've studied on my maps it certainly looks doable.You just never now.<br />Quentin had to make some phone calls and them wanted to watch the rugby and the cricket on the TV but I was tired and excused myself with many heartfelt thanks.I could not believe some of the nice people I had met on this trip and my faith in the Australian people was returning in bucketloads.<br /><br />What a day,what a night,what a life!!!!Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-89772766728333263432009-08-27T21:12:00.000-07:002009-08-28T02:02:50.756-07:00ALMOST IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY<div><div><div><div><div><div><div>I took off quite early the next day with the plan to get into the next town called Miriam Vale by lunchtime so I could visit a store and buy some groceries and perhaps some gas for my cooker.Once again it was a foggy morning but it wasn't too bad and I made great time bouyed by an impromptu cheer squad that was standing at the the top of a hill in what I thought was just about the middle o<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7N6IHA4BeXHaJGfW23UPTRgIPCfp1SEFIcanYy0u7fXImGzmV0od2H1AvILPHwVs59RABDNQUmK5rRA3DoToNMR9Bn_4SaZRNVIdDpLBFZ_MBt19HrcATFaX2CuHDLVwU7_-G9-6Z-ZE/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+161.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374937409536196914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7N6IHA4BeXHaJGfW23UPTRgIPCfp1SEFIcanYy0u7fXImGzmV0od2H1AvILPHwVs59RABDNQUmK5rRA3DoToNMR9Bn_4SaZRNVIdDpLBFZ_MBt19HrcATFaX2CuHDLVwU7_-G9-6Z-ZE/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+161.jpg" /></a>f nowhere.I had been riding for about 40 minutes when upon nearing the end of a long climb I spied the figures of four people.The only thing was they looked tiny and I couldn't believe that the hill was that long as to make people at the top look so small.As I drew near the mystery was solved.Standing next to a school bus stop were four little girls dressed in their school uniforms jumping up and down and waving frantically at me.As I passed them they all stood in a line and clapped and cheered which brought a huge smile to my face.They could not have been more than nine or ten years olds and I wondered what could have motivated them to be so excited by my riding by and that is when I saw in the background,something that moved me emotionally for the rest of the morning.There was an old,old man who was obviously ones of the kids grandfathers standing at attention saluting me as I rode past the girls.I didn't understand at first but as I looked back over my shoulder it became clear.Out of the corner of my eye I could see my Australian flag fluttering behind me,he was saluting the flag on my trailer and the Australian flag jersey I was wearing.That kind of patriotism is rarely shown in this country and I wondered what kind of hell he must have gone through at some time in his life defending that flag to move him to such a dispay.It was a humbling moment.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbu8c4wxH5cGAw5e3IdhOqPc4zyV0yaTZCwc_HpHpjo1w-8FlXdtsnvgN9oP1Y6ghjYVJK9iMI9PnIhjsM3vzzuSw8uebuJvfP8SedGXAhl5UCoGqo-urazBXO25Pd48rUY-6_tZhuFKA/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+146.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374935963170650210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbu8c4wxH5cGAw5e3IdhOqPc4zyV0yaTZCwc_HpHpjo1w-8FlXdtsnvgN9oP1Y6ghjYVJK9iMI9PnIhjsM3vzzuSw8uebuJvfP8SedGXAhl5UCoGqo-urazBXO25Pd48rUY-6_tZhuFKA/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+146.jpg" /></a><br />Spurred on by a renewed sense of purpose I quickly covered the 67k into Miriam Vale by 11am and set aout trying to do some shopping which put me in a bit of a mood.The only store in town was horrendously overpriced a was lacking in many things that I needed the most important of which was gas.I realised that there was going to be not much cookig done that night and so perchased some stuff that could be eaten cold.Not every rest area allows campfires so I could not assume that I was going to be able to cook at all,not even a coffee-good lord!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBBHkFQ1yQG6P9q6jeVkfGhltOHg20rYLKGOa4lw-nQeNU8uDIoTRWXSY6fNcpSea3iCWzXEnHy4x-CVaq3sqPp1TGLARyXzayL_FxGoxTzsXkRIQ8OwAwl1ZSDoxAjOi4y9s29smk5g/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+225.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374936718100008946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBBHkFQ1yQG6P9q6jeVkfGhltOHg20rYLKGOa4lw-nQeNU8uDIoTRWXSY6fNcpSea3iCWzXEnHy4x-CVaq3sqPp1TGLARyXzayL_FxGoxTzsXkRIQ8OwAwl1ZSDoxAjOi4y9s29smk5g/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+225.jpg" /></a><br />I did have a chance to check out the cool info center and they helped confirm that the rest area I was planning on staying at was only about 38k away.So after a couple of hours of hanging in that little town checking out the parks and having some lunch I too off and made the afternoons ride without incident.105k done and early to boot.now it was time to find out if campfires were allowed and unfortunately they were not.I did strick it rich when a nosy camper came to investigate my camp.He chatted for a while and after hearing my tales of caffeine adddiction he told me to give him my cup and he would get his wife to boil me some water in their van.Awesome,coffee sorted and I was a happy man once again. The rest of the<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeN5SmpU4zAKJFpTPJqvcNvMeu4u6QCD1t9_frTsXT_tsCy1wgGjRV6PyqJA1GTtra7wbQb7j-wnfvxK0-MAUz__5xq8ho2CqpDBkAyZgwWqK6kqIKehZex4xU73haeAVyfbm2IL-kfxM/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+222.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374935216573867378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeN5SmpU4zAKJFpTPJqvcNvMeu4u6QCD1t9_frTsXT_tsCy1wgGjRV6PyqJA1GTtra7wbQb7j-wnfvxK0-MAUz__5xq8ho2CqpDBkAyZgwWqK6kqIKehZex4xU73haeAVyfbm2IL-kfxM/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+222.jpg" /></a> afternoon and evening was very quiet and I was in bed early preparing myself for an early start to the day.<br /><br /><br />Just after sunrise the next morning,while I was finishing the packing process a huge semi-trailer pulled into the entance to the rest area with some massive machine perched on the trailer.The driver got out and scratched his head fo a while before coming over and asking for my help.it seems that the hydraulics on his trailr were not working properly and the 50 ton portable cane crushing machine was listing to one side.He needed me to puch accelorater down with my hand so he could pressure up the hydraulics and level out the<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNBr-zrgSBFrQAXTv-5TdrBWvnWQvfmrOd_R1AZdFtoZ6rcaJBuJjtOTx8AQQI5_Z-I3vg-af74u1RnYOhZ8O5jAoLLOR-wj804AlihhcKBT_EAISIqaKG3n-sb1tC5PMvm8_AvspM-ek/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+157.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374934073476999970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNBr-zrgSBFrQAXTv-5TdrBWvnWQvfmrOd_R1AZdFtoZ6rcaJBuJjtOTx8AQQI5_Z-I3vg-af74u1RnYOhZ8O5jAoLLOR-wj804AlihhcKBT_EAISIqaKG3n-sb1tC5PMvm8_AvspM-ek/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+157.jpg" /></a> trailer.We tried several times but each time the trailer bottomed out and to make matters worse the poor bloke had a flat tyre as well.He resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to call for help but where was he supposed to park the truck?He couldn't leave it there as it was blocking the driveway and there was no room anywhere on the side of the highway so he had to drive on and crawl along the highway until he found an truck pullout.He wasn't happy.<br />As for me,my day was a repeat of the day I had endured before the Calliope River stop.The roads into in Gin Gin were narrow,rough and very dangerous.I rode the 67k into Gin Gin well before lunch but they were hard miles an wih a superhot afternoon in the offing I wasn't looking forward to the rest of the day at all.Ihad a bite to eat and then took off in search of some propane/butane gas for my cooker.Do you think that in a town with about four truck stops,three hardwear stores and a supermarket I could find any gas.Nope,no luck at all.Bugger me!! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMgiJV56qH6P73GcBWFQ_zjrTHpPb2tgrVU_gvEh_JVvxuDAfIsLSeZTXqRby8LvEtENN3_qGLnZCVXkwO3dloB8XbGAp3q8GtuKPcIwtaDmzMIX8NRajK9KYG2dgjK8z__O0aea4wGw/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+223.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374931276550979810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMgiJV56qH6P73GcBWFQ_zjrTHpPb2tgrVU_gvEh_JVvxuDAfIsLSeZTXqRby8LvEtENN3_qGLnZCVXkwO3dloB8XbGAp3q8GtuKPcIwtaDmzMIX8NRajK9KYG2dgjK8z__O0aea4wGw/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+223.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br />As I was wandering around town a couple of van dwellers stopped me and asked if I was staying the night here or moving on.I told the that I was supposed to be gone already but had stalled so long it didn't seem worth it to ride on.With that they invited me down the road to the rest area for a cup of tea and cake.I never turn down a food offer and after a short 1k ride I was sipping tea and eating chocolate cake.Yaaay.<br />Later on in the evening I was just getting a fire started when a familiar voice told me not to bother as dinner was already being cooked for me.It was old Frank from the Home Hill rest stop all the miles ago.He told me that his wife Carmilla was cooking dinner and saw me so s<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5fGK_8ZFfGji1YesGs32zRVIMCVwMg7Yl4iuY10ABOCfmSq3Wlcd8-cpTRx1hPk5dDcLmJz-ZPfEHGkxx5XuI0QyKrCgm2NGJZY-gHnRgPKhA8PBlUGMt1VIOjYGbBvTEI9lkr6e2Jc/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+229.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374930406430186834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5fGK_8ZFfGji1YesGs32zRVIMCVwMg7Yl4iuY10ABOCfmSq3Wlcd8-cpTRx1hPk5dDcLmJz-ZPfEHGkxx5XuI0QyKrCgm2NGJZY-gHnRgPKhA8PBlUGMt1VIOjYGbBvTEI9lkr6e2Jc/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+229.jpg" /></a>he just threw in some more and sent him over to get me.We had a great time chatting about our travels over dinner and after moving into their trailer for coffee and a cupcake it was time for bed.Even though it was still early we were all tired and I slid into my sleeping bag a happy man with a very happy belly.The next day I knew could be a long one as I had ridden these roads the previous year and knew that they improved a lot from Gin Gin south to the Sunshine Coast.Only three more days to Noosa was my estimate as I looked at my map book and I turned off my torch praying for a tailwind.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-32459851232423771332009-08-27T14:27:00.000-07:002009-08-27T21:11:58.853-07:00CLOSE CALLS AND A DAY OFF<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqMxVA-X267vhAeHSbOsEF4vl2rZLtxDt7-1AIZh1ALzas5uECweifu2SlwE9o1r13aAOmPqyy7IDUhbQJIXN0pRjjoTqESwx-pBAEFPlC0DpKowSwix9uRizc5JoHFoTwbwGD7pHPFU/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+221.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374794213255225234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqMxVA-X267vhAeHSbOsEF4vl2rZLtxDt7-1AIZh1ALzas5uECweifu2SlwE9o1r13aAOmPqyy7IDUhbQJIXN0pRjjoTqESwx-pBAEFPlC0DpKowSwix9uRizc5JoHFoTwbwGD7pHPFU/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+221.jpg" /></a><br /><div>The next morning I was woken up early by a couple of trucks which had driven into the deserted gas station for a sleep break.I figured that I might as well get up and stat the packing process but I must say my enthusiasm for the day waned when I realise just how cold the mornings ride was going to be.I did manage to get going well before 7am which was the earliest departure of my trip so far.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div>The first thing I noticed about the mornings ride was just how much hillier it was compared to the previous few days.The road was just as shitty as the day before and I had a real fight on my hands when I reached the run ino Mt Larcom only 26k from where I was camped.The road was like a narrow alley flanked by trees and with the sun still low in the sky what little light there was made visibility poor.I had so many close calls with trucks and was run off road three times.<br />I stopped at the Mt Larcom gas station for a coffee break and realised just how much my legs hurt after fighting with my bike for the first hour of the day.The lousy road and close calls had rattled me and I sat in the cafe for 90-odd minutes before I took to the highway once again.Things did not get any better and after another 25k I came upon a rest area at the Calliope River Crossing.I rolled up to a really nice looking old store in front of which looked like some sort of heritage village.I was in need of cheering up and an ice cream,a mars bar and a coffee went a long way to achieving that.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0JLdRQszJ2rKVVHeuYkGzeQX7y7XSsCf3UqaOEw8p5vmxdhzvYNYhAun5G3Toelw3pv26dzr8sx7MsQk1uq5CK0WwGUZTFpbyLzyf1woN076KnqnpworTrjpeYliDJEMduwim36cHYU/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+214.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374793539545229970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0JLdRQszJ2rKVVHeuYkGzeQX7y7XSsCf3UqaOEw8p5vmxdhzvYNYhAun5G3Toelw3pv26dzr8sx7MsQk1uq5CK0WwGUZTFpbyLzyf1woN076KnqnpworTrjpeYliDJEMduwim36cHYU/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+214.jpg" /></a></div><div>There was an old lady working the kiosk and she told me that the Calliope River Historical Village was a labour of love for an historical society in nearby Gladstone and that she was one of the many volunteers who manned the kiosk and looked after the little village.I thought the place was great and after chatting with a few people who drifted in and out of the place I decided to stay for the night.It had been a rough moring and I would have to be happy with only 50k in the books for the day.</div><br /><br /><br /><div>I asked where the rest area was and was directed to a beautiful park-like area at the bottom of the hill behind the store.The large Calliope River split the rest area in two and I picked a spot to camp on the northern side,closest to the village and kiosk.What a great pla<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOCi5P_T7Neb87uLzPfbPL9DrHx2YCz3ot_eoRgFeDhvIvh_WBTQf-ZscJ6WjJ3IYcNi4qllcZuvb70CEEMvqQ3PTCyVtqyK30_GrlmIemShuZYvRK3iaChCbTmNfRn6fS09k6VrTo_I/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+210.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374791284706858066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOCi5P_T7Neb87uLzPfbPL9DrHx2YCz3ot_eoRgFeDhvIvh_WBTQf-ZscJ6WjJ3IYcNi4qllcZuvb70CEEMvqQ3PTCyVtqyK30_GrlmIemShuZYvRK3iaChCbTmNfRn6fS09k6VrTo_I/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+210.jpg" /></a>ce it was and as I lay out my tarps to dry and set up my tent I made the decision to take a complete day off and stay at this great little place for a second day.It would give me a chance to spend a few hours checking out the village and hopefully recharge my enthusiasm after such a shitty morning.The ladies at the kiosk cheered me up no end when I went back up to ask if I could plug my laptop into their power supply.They were all very interested in my trip and loved checking out my blog (why is it that strangers like my blog but my friends really don't seem too fussed about it at all?) and asked me all kinds of questions about life on the road.It was a pretty funny afternoon but as the sun started to set I realised that I'd better go wood collecting for a campfire that night as my gas supply had expired that morning.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnMDx_UcFhHDMBjceACrC_NS0rn9PNLntYOAHfaiDKG5AUYyUOM6hm7cdazusuXJv5P7_KzCB6GllH6RRa3f_g-qk0XPIvKhH9FFWxADhWNT1uUroLIIdsgms8ehT9HROYvh1nrJ1TGI/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+202.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374789507942660210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnMDx_UcFhHDMBjceACrC_NS0rn9PNLntYOAHfaiDKG5AUYyUOM6hm7cdazusuXJv5P7_KzCB6GllH6RRa3f_g-qk0XPIvKhH9FFWxADhWNT1uUroLIIdsgms8ehT9HROYvh1nrJ1TGI/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+202.jpg" /></a><br />With a healthy supply of wood collected and a roaring fire started I set about checking out the maps of the Asian leg of this long trip.I figured that if I could get excited about riding through South East Asia then maybe my enthusiasm for this part would return.I must admit, I think it did the trick and I got stuck into my maps and guide books with renewed energy. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmFkauiyS6XoM9KPSoIOmnZy20rxhysVfHcvL4PVhzrSzeFNPq2hOVhclmo_hMNY4gqYpiGyr1Hoc1HHDgw3Mk1r8zTOYGTNgrJuYs0VahNEu3xIow3jQfZgWbtcpevpX8wtBpZBFeYg/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+201.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374788901279538962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmFkauiyS6XoM9KPSoIOmnZy20rxhysVfHcvL4PVhzrSzeFNPq2hOVhclmo_hMNY4gqYpiGyr1Hoc1HHDgw3Mk1r8zTOYGTNgrJuYs0VahNEu3xIow3jQfZgWbtcpevpX8wtBpZBFeYg/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+201.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div>The next day I woke up early as usual and stoked the fire to make breakfast and watch the sun break though the mist floating through the campsite.I sat there overlooking the river and watchd the day come alive,the other campers took quite a bit longer to stir so I was already on my way up the hill to the store before anyone emerged from their camper vans.I was looking forward to visiting the historial village and I must say it didn't disappoint.There were all kinds of different buildings which had been trasplanted from various communities in the district.They were the sort of buildings that you don't really see much anymore and some had quite a significant history in the local community.I loved the place and spent a good two hours walking around and reading all the little info cards posted round each building explaining the significance of each room or what was stored there.Another hour or two of chatting with some new volunteers and a new wave of travellers made for a great morning all around.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDFxU14psoOeisvP4NHMB9q6JYb00ZFvRMToBg30IwqSFKKyN8kH86YIT23SCfbbbfO-1A19Of9PlPPtaXeE98nVaF6Kiiv_cuZ818au_sjJRKb7lsoUEUk_4PFmI4Mol1mTLj2xeD24/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+199.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374787206623543634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDFxU14psoOeisvP4NHMB9q6JYb00ZFvRMToBg30IwqSFKKyN8kH86YIT23SCfbbbfO-1A19Of9PlPPtaXeE98nVaF6Kiiv_cuZ818au_sjJRKb7lsoUEUk_4PFmI4Mol1mTLj2xeD24/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+199.jpg" /></a></div><div>The rest of the day was spent doing some organising of my gear and more research into the Indonesian and Malaysian legs of my trip.I was really looking forward the different challenges that Asia was going to present and realised the main part of my funk was the fact that Queensland is just so large and is taking so long to ride through without any real changes in landscape,weather or culture.It got me to thinking about what it would be like once I crossed into New South Wales where I know things are a little different.I also thought that I might actually head inland after my Noosa break and see some of the country that I have never seen before.The coastal tourist path is a well worn one and did I really need to go over it again?I wasn't so sure.All that was in the future though and for the moment I was just happy to be in one place clean,dry and away from the bloody highway.</div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-89547189623358382512009-08-27T05:24:00.000-07:002009-08-27T14:21:15.654-07:00SOUTH AND OUT OF NORTH QUEENSLAND<div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimOYl19f4c5N4iruJxCZkfiPsTKAk9xdSAxMw2jnR92a2skUNacPmpzoIfIydrLZtLU22FvCPy-0E2SkUK9jYlBlzwvDjCPiCjMuWlARj98xUeef1AOt8q9Q1B2opHIzOuwKeTC9GTZlI/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+174.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374754935978817122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimOYl19f4c5N4iruJxCZkfiPsTKAk9xdSAxMw2jnR92a2skUNacPmpzoIfIydrLZtLU22FvCPy-0E2SkUK9jYlBlzwvDjCPiCjMuWlARj98xUeef1AOt8q9Q1B2opHIzOuwKeTC9GTZlI/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+174.jpg" /></a><br /><div>After my breakfast with Paul and Judy I hopped on the old bike and headed down a misty highway thankfull that I had made the stop at Waverley Creek.It had been a treat and set my mind in the right place for the second half of the "death stretch",the 170k south to Rockhampton.Unfortunately the weather had other ideas and I only lasted 10k before the fog closed in again and it became much too dangerous to ride.I know that the trucks appreciated the fact that I had pulled over as many of them gave thier horns a little honk and waved at me as they thundered by.<br /><br />I was on the side of the road for about 40 minutes and managed to squeeze in a little nap as well as snapping a few shots of stuff looking weird in the mist.It really in pretty funny to think that I now think nothing of lying in the dirt on the side of the road with my helmet as a pillow and catching a few comfy moments of peacefull sleep.I guess we can adapt to just about anything when we are challenged enough,I just think there is not enough personal challenging going on in our modern world.That is a sad state of affairs as I just know how much people could achieve if they just let go of some of our modern notions and just tried to experience life outside the co<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTs3zs6l7RJY0kwaW5bJqoS_-qmF36jNtzuBTufcBekZ9kijpDP9o6KrBejrMEgd-hfKK8uEYWyhjkSvXbOM6seQW_wpCSIQJZ2sG0IBZkd0YDSBSfNtj169ITqpN1o3q_3SrC95MIUEs/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+177.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374756448333935586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTs3zs6l7RJY0kwaW5bJqoS_-qmF36jNtzuBTufcBekZ9kijpDP9o6KrBejrMEgd-hfKK8uEYWyhjkSvXbOM6seQW_wpCSIQJZ2sG0IBZkd0YDSBSfNtj169ITqpN1o3q_3SrC95MIUEs/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+177.jpg" /></a>mfort zone.<br /><br />Once the fog lifted and I was on the road the temperature started to climb for yet another day.Yes,I had a tailwind but the heat,combined with the dry landscape that I was riding through made for a tough old day.The first little milestone for the day was to make it the the Marlborough turnoff some 60k away by lunchtime. I did it without too much trouble but I did regret not starting the day with more water on board.By the time I reached the little truckstop a couple of kilometers past the turnoff I was out of water and feeling a little dehydrated.Thankfully the non-potable water at this place tasted better than all the other "not for human consumption" fluids I had been drinking for the last ten days or so.I figured that they just put those signs up to encourage people to buy bottled water.I also figure that we are all going a bit soft and that there is nothing wrong with drinking bore water.Mind you,if you saw what the inside of my water-bottles looked like you would give no respect for anything I have to say on the topic of safe food preparation practices. After a lunch of my special muesli mix and a curry pie from the truck stop I refilled all my bottles with the dodgy bore water and set off again into the Queensland heat.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbQfjvaAEXXOmF_JaMPzwgbxWxYZC38ynUDKxJ8f7gKuwhXR8K2zgOYzW5d6HVjj1_8OC-_txkwLIAiW8J2BCBt0yXVuTrPP7oTXm3dKUpBO2Dzra6tb099OCtbeuUc78uyGMWprIflU/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+164.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374754063252615954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbQfjvaAEXXOmF_JaMPzwgbxWxYZC38ynUDKxJ8f7gKuwhXR8K2zgOYzW5d6HVjj1_8OC-_txkwLIAiW8J2BCBt0yXVuTrPP7oTXm3dKUpBO2Dzra6tb099OCtbeuUc78uyGMWprIflU/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+164.jpg" /></a><br />That afternoon was a tough one and the combination of increasing heat and decreasing road surface to ride on stopped me in my tracks at about 4pm.I was just sick of fighting for my tiny little bit of highway.The shoulder was almost non existant and in my increasingly fatigued state I really found it hard to keep my bike on the road.As I crested another of the many hills I climbed that day I was lucky enough to spy a nice clear area off to the right,down a little railway access road.It wan't perfect but I didn't care,I just did my little tarp roll over some more long grass and set up camp.I had ridden 109k that day and just down the road I could see the 60k marker for Rockhampton.That would be m<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVmGh5hTOgCGB_DitcVnys2-GLHtTTFWaEIul26AtZ8mXn3kbJ_FazFeP9POPwlcU4PPh7j9m8c7yZhHHZc9xHJdSNP7cRSpTM5y-piumAsr2rNadF-UB1_fO7-yKCWjAy3slae-Ssm8/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+187.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374752640170932482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVmGh5hTOgCGB_DitcVnys2-GLHtTTFWaEIul26AtZ8mXn3kbJ_FazFeP9POPwlcU4PPh7j9m8c7yZhHHZc9xHJdSNP7cRSpTM5y-piumAsr2rNadF-UB1_fO7-yKCWjAy3slae-Ssm8/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+187.jpg" /></a>y target for lunch the next day but dinner that night was the priority and it wasn't long before my little stove was heating up a big pot of pasta for me to inhale before settling back for a nice cup of coffee and a most beautiful sunset.<br /><br />In spite of the non-stop train traffic I had a peacefull nights sleep and woke to a chilly,foggy and very damp morning.I packed up camp and headed off down the road as soon as I figured it was clear enough for the trucks to see me.It was the first day that I needed to wear my full fingered gloves and I wondered if that would become the norm as I slowly rode my way south and out of the tropics.<br /><br />The ride into Rockhampton was a pretty easy one and as expected the road surface<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4z5-nL4GlkHVa-6sgMk5Jj2oL6_kIHT0ErBUUFQqqWzEFRa76lZu_rMRieOTHiaBu0aI7NqK5e-EExyrqHGENUckbDnakwbP8pGBc5pK9VUjbXQSX4JmdZ1T67AMffHlW30MF4d93jvU/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+181.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374750298275788178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4z5-nL4GlkHVa-6sgMk5Jj2oL6_kIHT0ErBUUFQqqWzEFRa76lZu_rMRieOTHiaBu0aI7NqK5e-EExyrqHGENUckbDnakwbP8pGBc5pK9VUjbXQSX4JmdZ1T67AMffHlW30MF4d93jvU/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+181.jpg" /></a> improved the closer I got to Queenslands cattle capital.I rolled through town as fast as the horrendous traffic would let me and I was thankfull that there was a nice city bypass for me to follow as it made leaving town a whole lot easier.I did have a couple of close calls with a convoy of semi-trailers crossing a bridge or two and also had to deal with a few local idiots who thought cutting me off would be a fun thing to do.I've survived worse though and just brushed it all off as stuff that you have to put up with,anyway it was time for lunch and my belly didn't care what was happening to rest of my body,it wanted attention.I pulled into a big roadhouse and sat down to a sandwich and a couple of coffees much to the disgust of an elderly couple sitting not to far away.I guess I did stink a bit.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KhzJSeEgtZFJ-hBar3gjoiiYCcP9fmJnHhzxqNZM-VREUtwmio-3BEq5y_iXlc4ZuXWLpahv7kjLDOUU06cRzqjfocystATmNTlfdu0_jyFJDsVzr5vOc4vuF_p025HMg8SIMtLM4Zk/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+178.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374751768938828594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KhzJSeEgtZFJ-hBar3gjoiiYCcP9fmJnHhzxqNZM-VREUtwmio-3BEq5y_iXlc4ZuXWLpahv7kjLDOUU06cRzqjfocystATmNTlfdu0_jyFJDsVzr5vOc4vuF_p025HMg8SIMtLM4Zk/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+178.jpg" /></a><br />It was a long lunch as I figure I would make my planned stop at Raglan about 50k away quite easily.I figured that there was no rush and I even managed to fire off a few smart comments on Facebook and check out the state of the triathlon world on Slowtwitch.I knew though that I should not delay too long and after a quick chat and a small donation to the surf lifesavers selling raffle tickets outside the truckstop I was on my way again very,very happy to be south of Rocky.For me it was another small milestone and for the first time on my trip in knew that in a couple of days I would be halfway to Sydney.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCb9xxdfrBwlf8ncAmV4OT8T1mwtZBewqzr6PeRWlfToQN13OlnlZt9DUcfTjoIyHSWMcfjUhiFyByIDtOmbs3oBTzVXquZX8B8xsnIRe2w_xIR5ZoB7cBFY_zSRWgTFTOJ7nHiyrMGAQ/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+193.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374748742959889490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCb9xxdfrBwlf8ncAmV4OT8T1mwtZBewqzr6PeRWlfToQN13OlnlZt9DUcfTjoIyHSWMcfjUhiFyByIDtOmbs3oBTzVXquZX8B8xsnIRe2w_xIR5ZoB7cBFY_zSRWgTFTOJ7nHiyrMGAQ/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+193.jpg" /></a><br />The rest of the afternoon was pretty easy and I even had the time to have a coffee break late in the day with ony an hour or so of riding required to make Raglan that hight.The tiny little town appeared quicker that I expected and even more unexpectedly I found an abandoned gas station with lots of vacant land surrounding it.Perfect for a nights camp.I checked the place out and set my tent up behind a big shed which sheltered me from both the wind and the highway noise.It was not a pretty place I must say,in fact it was a little creepy but I was tired and it would have to do.The was another 117k in the bank and I went to bed actually feeling like I had started to make some progress on this little adventure.The next day would turn those thoughts around and slap me in the face.A little dose of reality rose with the sun the next day,a day I could have done without.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-3690900650097674972009-08-26T16:52:00.000-07:002009-08-27T02:08:14.435-07:00INTO THE "DEATH STRETCH"<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><div>You know that you are getting used to being on the road when you no longer think that the trucks are loud at night.I realsed ths little fact when Eduardo and I were having coffee the next morning.He was commenting on how noisy our camping spot was and I agreed that the scrub turkeys had kept me awake most of the night as they scratched around in the leaf litter under the trees near us.He said that he wasn't talking about the birds but the noisy trucks.I hadn't even noticed them.That is wierd.<br /></div><div>The start to the days ride was delayed by a foggy morning and the fact that Eduardo and I had so much to talk about.It was great to have a fellow cyclist to talk to as everyone else that I had met on the trip had no idea just what it was all about.Talking with a like minded traveller put a lot of enthusiasm into the days ride for me and when I eventually got going it was renewed vigour which was only helped by the massive tailwind that had sprung up.Poor Eduardo was going to have a tough day but I learned that he was a much more patient cyclist and only riding 50k or so a day was quite acceptable to him.The stupid triathlete in me did not allow for such small distances without a great deal of guilt involved.I'll have to get over that. </div><div> </div><div>My first chore of the day was to get through my first traffic jam of my trip and that was the ride through the outskirts of Mackay.It had been a fast and easy 35k to the northern appraoches of the booming little city but t<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKYqybQxErGqgXxnEKXeTFhNvDtBSRxsUKqdWsE3EH20Da1OqjY_rr0LFtgkmLt0FAXvSiOhBXPBcVpAmrjQpkoQHd3dsg_VjeXjTtSFIq1Vfmjdwkxl_VjG_FYBK80r_Ub4MRYh0WGY/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+150.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374567302092476338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKYqybQxErGqgXxnEKXeTFhNvDtBSRxsUKqdWsE3EH20Da1OqjY_rr0LFtgkmLt0FAXvSiOhBXPBcVpAmrjQpkoQHd3dsg_VjeXjTtSFIq1Vfmjdwkxl_VjG_FYBK80r_Ub4MRYh0WGY/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+150.jpg" /></a>he only thing booming for me that morning was the traffic.I hated it and was thankful that I didn't have to ride through the center of town and could just bypass most of it on the highway.Still,I did have some hair-raising moments and was happy to be through the mayhem and on the hot road to Sarina some 37k away.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div>I hit Sarina just before lunch and made straight for the local supermarket to buy some supplies for the next isolated leg of my ride.The only problem with that was once I was inside the air-conditioned store I didn't want to leave.I sat in the mall bakery for an hour trying to summon the enthusiasm to ride in the 40C heat for the afternoon and eventually I dragged my lazy butt out the door and back on the road into what used to be known as "the death stretch".</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCoiY2GtNH0hTEO5_xeYaAo411O-qVQL59pNRL7nuWxpTsS6pyI-ylvGBToZTRnwtLTolGKimT9xLhhUZTZyCoTZlZbrrgSVHtYk-i7hBjVFqdIAaaXMsDxp0u3OPKhsFLgPpIN26Cgo/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+151.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374566497619479506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCoiY2GtNH0hTEO5_xeYaAo411O-qVQL59pNRL7nuWxpTsS6pyI-ylvGBToZTRnwtLTolGKimT9xLhhUZTZyCoTZlZbrrgSVHtYk-i7hBjVFqdIAaaXMsDxp0u3OPKhsFLgPpIN26Cgo/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+151.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>During the '80s this 300k stretch of highway was totally isolated with only a very small village or two hidden away off the narrow,bumpy old highway.It was said that more than a few travellers went missing during those years and it was not deemed a safe road until major upgrades and a few truckstops were put in.These days it is an easy ride from village to village and carrying three days of water is not needed.I was lad of that fact as during tat long hot afternoon ride I began to fade really badly and I went through so much water that I was starting to get a little concerned,that was until I stumbled upon an old truckstop that I had completely forgotten about. I had stopped at the Ilbilbie Caltex truck stop on a couple of previous trips and after 108 very hot kilometers it seemed like an oasis as I rolled into the carpark.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc05vjrXEkHeyTON3yHHLTFTv5g7Y9zDZopq55sFSDXEw7Y0uIfmaxJWFYMWbmTpJpOHM5_sR9ZY9GsEqwwGm2ovMd1s6t-xYy19JljTbIHzDj9JMg-e4LKhcloY9yCy9QI9DKHqEpcDM/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+149.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374565519488095346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc05vjrXEkHeyTON3yHHLTFTv5g7Y9zDZopq55sFSDXEw7Y0uIfmaxJWFYMWbmTpJpOHM5_sR9ZY9GsEqwwGm2ovMd1s6t-xYy19JljTbIHzDj9JMg-e4LKhcloY9yCy9QI9DKHqEpcDM/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+149.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>I went inside and asked one of the ladies behind the counter if it would be okay for me to camp somewhere on the grounds and after a little conference with the other employees on shift she agreed and just told me not to get in the way of the trucks.She also told me that I could have a shower and use all the truckies facilities as well as allowing me to plug in my laptop in the cafe area.That was a relief as I really didn't want to ride on any longer and the thought of actually cleaning myself up and sitting in the cafe with a meal that actually came on a plate was just too good to decribe.An hour later camp was set,I was clean and my laptop was logging on to the net while waiting for my dinner to arrive.It was a great evening as I got a chance to talk to some truckers and catch up on the news of the day on the t.v,all in air-conditioned comfort.</div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOIXIy64tp_F0cxmk1oObIo16qGhUe2l1Yc4_K5_c2tE7_rJVahMngWuaO85p94KGiRFoHAX7c8sR0kmndO-2-cPeVkDqn31L6CVVAP7hWVyNFq3y4YeohEOJ6Oev57EW8alXeKw064Cg/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+152.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374564626242507794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOIXIy64tp_F0cxmk1oObIo16qGhUe2l1Yc4_K5_c2tE7_rJVahMngWuaO85p94KGiRFoHAX7c8sR0kmndO-2-cPeVkDqn31L6CVVAP7hWVyNFq3y4YeohEOJ6Oev57EW8alXeKw064Cg/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+152.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>The night in my tent wasn't all comfort with the crazy amount of trucks coming and going and the trains which seemed to pass through my tent at regular intervals.I did manage to get some rest and was up before the dawn packing all my stuff and heading to the cafe for a coffee while I waited yet again for the fog to lift.It was so dark that morning that the cars still had thier headlights on two and a half hours after sunrise.I did manage to get away at about 8:30am and headed off into the unknown.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>I again was blessed with a tailwind that blew me along the highway and through some really dry farmland.I thought of the people who lived out here and wondered just what thier life must be like.Hard I would imagine.The road did swing back toward the coast from time to time and I spied a few little coastal hamlets all with rest areas attached.I couldn't help but be totally surprised that these little seaside places ever became inhabited,I mean,there was just nothing there.Maybe that was th<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvXNdh6uchf6tePgbr4ZgHtJscwT3tWX0ZOuQq7MfTRvyWh_bIxzSiDu7OdjJ7JOy_euhGa3LaEBRqHyyNDrdBxsXlWXIvJ3IedRxjBp1kntOoj4z1h0BCQaGs0KyveJSwDK5Wf1YRwY/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+155.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374563741492430930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvXNdh6uchf6tePgbr4ZgHtJscwT3tWX0ZOuQq7MfTRvyWh_bIxzSiDu7OdjJ7JOy_euhGa3LaEBRqHyyNDrdBxsXlWXIvJ3IedRxjBp1kntOoj4z1h0BCQaGs0KyveJSwDK5Wf1YRwY/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+155.jpg" /></a>e attraction.I couldn't even bring myself to stop at any of them and opted for short breaks on the highway instead.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>By early afternoon I was still trucking along when I came across a rest area that just blew me away.For a part of the state that is supposed to be deserted here was certainly a lot of places to stay.This place had huge camping areas,covered picnic areas and best of all, drinking water.I decided that the 91k I had done that day was enough and I could use the rest of the afternoon to do some washing and dry out all my stuff in the intense afternoon heat.<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjozPsKt1Muf0CRx3iI76X2QAPLldbOf3pdyd4EyggOTwWSUTxYhOll6nW_N8-2nLhzvtwA2zvF1cltg0Vsc_fKvVjlEahDWl5erUqeZIQ-_oeGcahJAcDthyphenhyphenjBP2Wh99hOPd7ZlD9Ot6Q/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+168.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374562686986648818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjozPsKt1Muf0CRx3iI76X2QAPLldbOf3pdyd4EyggOTwWSUTxYhOll6nW_N8-2nLhzvtwA2zvF1cltg0Vsc_fKvVjlEahDWl5erUqeZIQ-_oeGcahJAcDthyphenhyphenjBP2Wh99hOPd7ZlD9Ot6Q/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+168.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>It was while I was drying all my stuff that a guy from a trailer parked nearby asked if I would mind keeping an eye on his trailer and especially the solar panels that he had sitting outside soaking up the suns rays.It seemed that his campervan had shed a wheel the day before and had caused some damage to his trailer and the wheel itself.They were now stuck in the Waverley Creek rest area for the weekend as they could not get a new wheel sent to them until the Monday three days away.He and his wife wanted to go to the nearest town,St Lawrence,to get some supplies for the next couple of days.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNA93vEXuXE7QT4FWy7VMlszCUIlI6vDBIegF75Vv_d9Mr5EC_dhIiAc9zQuE1IG_f6HhUsIqXdZMaNqvPfHmCdO59FcWxBEMpO4pREqPfU0eKk1cvW10EBs8Y_9-QqvPM9c6A-wxBRs/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+175.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374561686091627458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNA93vEXuXE7QT4FWy7VMlszCUIlI6vDBIegF75Vv_d9Mr5EC_dhIiAc9zQuE1IG_f6HhUsIqXdZMaNqvPfHmCdO59FcWxBEMpO4pREqPfU0eKk1cvW10EBs8Y_9-QqvPM9c6A-wxBRs/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+175.jpg" /></a><br />While I was keeping guard I did manage to get all my chores done and met a few of the other travellers as they came and went over the next couple of hours.When to owners of the trailer came back they asked if I had eaten and if I would like to join them for dinner.Nothing special,just some vegetables and whatever else that could be found.That nothing special turned out to be some lamb roast with vegetables,beer,coffee and dark chocolate.Man was I spoiled.</div><br /><br /><p>I sat there with Paul and Judy for hours and chatted about all kinds of things and had a truly wonderful night with two very generous people.Eventually our eyes started to close of thier own accord and it was time for bed.I wasn't sure if I would see them as I had planned to leave very early so I said my goodbyes and snuck into my tent to what ended up being a very deep and satisfying sleep.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKaBRIbmhVh9QLsiVLu95ddU53L9TgM99AKCLfIgVpuaor1IioKGpX1HnakzpJi1ahmnz0Ngsj1pClqoIE1c8AVGl8zgP261TuCofVC0bISj4PFYJd5l46H9nDsihtQMQczyoaSruBqY/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+169.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374560439313582418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKaBRIbmhVh9QLsiVLu95ddU53L9TgM99AKCLfIgVpuaor1IioKGpX1HnakzpJi1ahmnz0Ngsj1pClqoIE1c8AVGl8zgP261TuCofVC0bISj4PFYJd5l46H9nDsihtQMQczyoaSruBqY/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+169.jpg" /></a><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>In the end I did see Paul and Judy again as yet another thick fog blanketed the area and as soon as they saw me the coffee was on and some toast was provided.I was really touched by the warmth and class of these two lovely people from Port Stephens on the New South Wales central coast.I vowed that if my ride took me close to thier home town then I wold drop in for a visit.Finding them would not be a problem as their surname is a famous one here in Oz .Paul is the uncle of one of Australias most famous female athletes, racewalker Kerry Saxby.There is no doubt in my mind that they would be easy to find. </p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-68348733080270427362009-08-26T12:57:00.000-07:002009-08-26T16:09:04.028-07:00HEAT,HILLS AND BANDIT CAMPING<div>During that night in the truck pullout I got the shock of a lifetime when my tent was lit up like daytime thanks to a trucker who parked his rig right next to my tent.I thanked the lord that I chose to put my tent under a tree because heaven knows,he may well have parked right on top of me if the tree wasn't in his way.It did wake me up enough that there was little point in going back to sleep as it was near 5am and 20 minutes away from my alarm going off anyway.<br />I got out of my tent to find yet another heavy dew had coated my tarp and so as the sun rose I stripped the tarp off and spread it out on the ground to dry.Bad move!!Above me,in the tree were a bunch of very noisy birds who had woken up about the same time as I but for these guys it was bath time and they used the heavy dew in the tree to wash with.As they rubbed up against the leaves the moisture fell off in heavy drops onto,you guessed it,my dry tent.Bloody hell!!I had gone to all the trouble of covering it with the tarp and those bloody birds snuck in while I wasn't looking and soaked the place.Grrrrr...<br />After packing everything away and having a quick bite to eat rolled my rig out toward the roadside when I noticed a few small thorns(or Bindi-eyes as we call them here in Oz)stuck to my bullet proof, $130,y<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5MoaY6O9ZYJ7Y-XEbxDNo5vVBWiyS0S3UHC12j2xcQ1y_POvFyv3RIgaRgP95aieAWn2oCtQOfeC7YRKRmzuqrla2aaZul5QweScJWLMPjWhoIEhtlQoR1nKT-ezXEMrU5NhsHHJe_g/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+132.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374387341916869570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5MoaY6O9ZYJ7Y-XEbxDNo5vVBWiyS0S3UHC12j2xcQ1y_POvFyv3RIgaRgP95aieAWn2oCtQOfeC7YRKRmzuqrla2aaZul5QweScJWLMPjWhoIEhtlQoR1nKT-ezXEMrU5NhsHHJe_g/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+132.jpg" /></a>ou-beaut German tyres.I removed the ones from my back tyre but of course as I picked the one out of my front tyre I heard the unistakable sound of air escaping rapidly through a puncture hole.Damn,damn and double damn.Bloody Germans and their bullet proof tyres!! Not much to do now but to change it and why not brew some coffee and enjoy the clear morning while I was at it.<br />The rest of the day passed without incident as I contintued ever southward with the assistance of a very hot tailwind.I had made a prediction at Bluewater that the winds would turn around and the headwinds that I had fought for the first week or so would begin to help me.How right I was but to an extreme degree.The winter in the north had failed to materialise and with the weather patterns shifting around to cause north -easteries the heat began to rise.I didn't mind so much but the road temps did start to climb into the 40 celcius range and in the afternoon heat I began to suffer mightily.Around 3pm I started to fade badly and a quick look at my bike computer told me that I had just passed the 100k mark for the day.That was all the convncing that I needed and I p<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVf_WB62DsyQAhN2GclaYlaUoKZ79gIwUchr1qtw2QDksZGn2g0CMw7anmPhprd-zdFLuaR10n_TYqtaBC3_h5dwO2Aq81OUedkC_aTCS4TfOtR-bpLeokVxaaWhh9qaOX-mTsJYBaOM/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+138.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374386725996850882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVf_WB62DsyQAhN2GclaYlaUoKZ79gIwUchr1qtw2QDksZGn2g0CMw7anmPhprd-zdFLuaR10n_TYqtaBC3_h5dwO2Aq81OUedkC_aTCS4TfOtR-bpLeokVxaaWhh9qaOX-mTsJYBaOM/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+138.jpg" /></a>ulled over right then and there and made camp.<br />The chosen spot was about eight meters from the highway but hidden by some very thick long grass.It was on that grass where I made my bed.I found that if I lay my small tarp out on the grass and rolled around on it for a little while,the grass flattened out quite nicely and formed a comfy matress for me to set my tent on.This became the standard practise for my campsites where soft ground was not available.Having the small tarp to protect my tent from underneath and the large one to protect it from above made for a very secure and dry little house.After all, I did spend a huge part of each 24hour period in there so it needed to be a comfortable as possible.The noise of the trucks however,would take a little longer to get used to.<br />Next day,I was off again early for the run past the small town of Proserpine which is the gateway to the famous Whitsunday Islands,one of Queenslands tourist meccas.I rode the 37k into Prosipine pretty quickly and stoped for a break at the only gas station on the highway.The heavy fog that had been around early in the day had made it a very humid ride and I was soaked by the time I sat down in the shade and had a coffee.I could tell that it was going to be a hot day and as I rolled south through endless fields of sugar cane the northerly winds blew in again and pushed me along down the highway.<br />That afternoon was really a bit of a chore as I soon became weary of the same sights and even more weary as a result of the ever increasing temperature.I still had trouble beliveing that we were having such a hot winter and could not get my head around the fact that it was getting hotter the further south I rode instead of cooler as is the norm.There was no fighting it though,once I rolled into some hilly terrain mid-<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlDg0tJA05c-OhIYSn5I7T49qaeO2aS8LwmGnFZIy3qTmrljaeuE-GZzGK9pS15vm-i6JbmMvHIyuoXz6cwlCtWaMu_8xVlJvqVz0biIKTuBeeyzcrndg9TU6eTLSRkRK8tawX3gwJbo/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+136.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374385726129723826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlDg0tJA05c-OhIYSn5I7T49qaeO2aS8LwmGnFZIy3qTmrljaeuE-GZzGK9pS15vm-i6JbmMvHIyuoXz6cwlCtWaMu_8xVlJvqVz0biIKTuBeeyzcrndg9TU6eTLSRkRK8tawX3gwJbo/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+136.jpg" /></a>afternoon I was toast,well almost.The last 15k of the day were hard but I had seen a sign telling me that there was a rest area ahead and so I pushed on until I finally reached the Palm Tree Creek rest area at around 4pm. I rolled in and was a bit pissed off to find that camping was not permitted there but there was no way I was moving anywhere.I had ridden 126k for the day and I was hot,tired, stinky and in no mood to pass up a night in this pretty park.So as the coffee was brewing I set about washing my clothes and hanging them up to dry in the stiff afternoon wind.<br />It was during that time that a met an old couple from Oregon in the U.S who pulled over in their van and started wandering around the bushes seemingly lost.I walked over and asked if I could help but they told me not too worry as they were geo-cachers looking for a cache at a hidden location in the park.WTF!!Turns out tat they spend their holidays touring the world geo-cacheing(trying to find purposely hidden objects with hand held GPS units).I can't say that it would emy idea of a fun way to see the world but then again most of what I'm doing 'aint fun most of the time.So,whatever floats your boat I okay by me.<br />Just as darkness was envelo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxYsjizBUM-d9Wrm_eKyjImmFfYIU5brvxGqKxlrBTEEkyB_ta6yQnHZQjrO_OMVpidwcucN_ofSyR4fJN_ZFdKZvzm6isTHcE_JPSzMnpEWDrg-5KMC4PPlel3EX6nJh0CcVKzppU2I/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+140.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374383966609550338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxYsjizBUM-d9Wrm_eKyjImmFfYIU5brvxGqKxlrBTEEkyB_ta6yQnHZQjrO_OMVpidwcucN_ofSyR4fJN_ZFdKZvzm6isTHcE_JPSzMnpEWDrg-5KMC4PPlel3EX6nJh0CcVKzppU2I/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+140.jpg" /></a>ping the park in rode a dude on a touring bike all kitted out like mine(minus the trailer).It was another long distance cyclist who was heading north from Sydney to Cairns.His name was Eduardo and he is a young Swiss guy who had already cycled through Europe and parts of Sth America.He told me that he once drove across Australia and promisd himself that he would ride it one day.Well he was hard at it ploughing into endless days of hot headwinds. I showed him where I had hidden my tent uner the cover of a big tree and he put his tent next to mine before we sat at the park picnic table and shared stories about each others adventures.Soon though,it was time for bed and we headed off to our respective nylon bedrooms for a well earned sleep.The next day,I was to enter what used to be called "The death stretch".</div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-65145248595785814022009-08-26T00:46:00.000-07:002009-08-26T16:14:18.433-07:00HOME HILL AND EVICTION<div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WNG2IsAL-urXP-wIZ0JbGFlh0v-4g4-dcQWY0o1kPPmmtHZkHHiE_ubpcpLgFY4a-NWeppaS7Qk8pKPJmRmY7TP7oj9pvNjecF73gumpRwgZgIR0FGJ5JAnz1e43DrEe94SdjloJt04/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+124.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374290982037802946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WNG2IsAL-urXP-wIZ0JbGFlh0v-4g4-dcQWY0o1kPPmmtHZkHHiE_ubpcpLgFY4a-NWeppaS7Qk8pKPJmRmY7TP7oj9pvNjecF73gumpRwgZgIR0FGJ5JAnz1e43DrEe94SdjloJt04/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+124.jpg" /></a><br /><div>I had a pretty good sleep in the next morning and rose well after sunrise which was quite a luxury for me.I had only 40-odd kilometers to ride to Home Hill that day so I was able to let the sun dry the heavy dew off my tarp before I packed it away.It seemed that every day was started with me folding a very soggy tarp and soaking my shoes by walking through wet grass.No such worries this morning but the late start left me riding into a very stiff wind for the entire 38k to Home Hill.Now that would not normally be a problem but the road surface was heavy chip-seal with lots of potholes and very little shoulder.Add to that the wind and it was a really tough morning and one that I really didn't enjoy. </div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISMn42sUmLkvbw3e2-OasMEmG1SEmPSN5ZIFWdteZ01FmVNKn907myFO-B0qpyoL5HhbGN_kXC4RY9YyUcD_7xMOjFvOXEsjwSclSjpeWAL_4xpBDBnSmR9kmE7-ORfBW7I1y0Ue64eA/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+123.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374414216126664210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISMn42sUmLkvbw3e2-OasMEmG1SEmPSN5ZIFWdteZ01FmVNKn907myFO-B0qpyoL5HhbGN_kXC4RY9YyUcD_7xMOjFvOXEsjwSclSjpeWAL_4xpBDBnSmR9kmE7-ORfBW7I1y0Ue64eA/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+123.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>The little town of Ayr was a non-event and given that it is the home of champion golfer Karrie Webb I would have thought that there would be some kind of recognition of her in or around the town somewhere,but no.I don't really know why it was issue for me but I guess I am comparing Ayr to Mirriwinni just south of Cairns where world series triathlon champion Brad Beven is celebrated by a big sign on both side of his home town.<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div>Once through Ayr and there was the huge bridge over the Burdekin River to negotiate.I hate bridges at the best of times but this one required me to get off the road,unhitch my trailer,carry the bike and trailer down a bunch of stairs to a metal,mesh walkway and ride on to the end some 400meters away.The<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRbcSV872kyabPjBrAqbN1ntWcF87NQkVvYHTlX4oQKJ9Ibnx_4Jxmfl9FJBY6K7IK3fnsjpBzi4LCCUYxBTtIBvX15lhOyUCgaY4BLRHahTvBxozTTUIyCzoaagq2TsmZnsIK4p7mJ8/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+134.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374290394283938386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRbcSV872kyabPjBrAqbN1ntWcF87NQkVvYHTlX4oQKJ9Ibnx_4Jxmfl9FJBY6K7IK3fnsjpBzi4LCCUYxBTtIBvX15lhOyUCgaY4BLRHahTvBxozTTUIyCzoaagq2TsmZnsIK4p7mJ8/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+134.jpg" /></a> problem was the workmen in the middle of the bridge who were not happy with my request that they raise the platform they were working on so I could get my bike through.After some cursing on their part they raised the platform just enough for me to squeeze under and I was on my way again.The old,rusted mesh walkway did nothing to give me any sort of confidence and I was pretty happy to have made it to the end.Thankfully,Home Hill was only about 5k past the bridge and it was a happy little Nick that reached the comfort stop in the middle of town. I parked my bike in the shelter of the huge rest area and set about having the first hot shower(or any cleansing process)of my trip.It was bliss!!!</div><br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlzp-RQvC4wXpvw_GttGFOFzdQCmttX3yZuOh6H4P-QrPdPqyzBMj5egJrisf49dAYl-WpigpxhlnAoQRHIdczPaJUtl7yKwCrZlUA8yqwTCZ4RtlqHQ4F_NDianiOXrfRL4jrLbPY1A/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374289340018967266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlzp-RQvC4wXpvw_GttGFOFzdQCmttX3yZuOh6H4P-QrPdPqyzBMj5egJrisf49dAYl-WpigpxhlnAoQRHIdczPaJUtl7yKwCrZlUA8yqwTCZ4RtlqHQ4F_NDianiOXrfRL4jrLbPY1A/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>After a quick trip to a local Cafe for some real food I was set to plug in the old laptop and start documenting my adventure.It felt great to be clean,fed and in touch with the world again.One thing I really wanted to find out about was the results of the Ultraman Canada Triathon which had been run and won during the first week of my trip.It was the first year in the history of the event that I wasn't present and I felt more than a little sad about that fact.I missed my friends in Penticton and really wished I was there but there was more than one reason that I was on this epic journey and one of them was to get myself back into the kind of shape that won me two Ultraman Canada Championships.My last two efforts were not spectacular and I had a lot of work to do to undo the damage I had done during the last few depressed years.</div><div>I sat in the rest area for about eight hours working on my blog and chatting with all the travellers who were parked in their vans nearby.It was a fun night spent mainly with a multitude of French backpackers who were in the area to help pick the local harvest.The travelling backpackers really do a world of good for our economy as they do the work that most Aussies just will not do.Sadly they are looked down upon as road scum and I really think that is not fair.Little did I know during that night of wine charged chatter that the next day I would find out just what to felt like to be cast out of a town as an undesirable.</div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMR6wMokNk2qILDLMeLuRfe_UvnIYYQFQ_dmRgTBh_5WwjdU1jL38kybhr2zzLC_Z7FO9Z0Uo-SpQswQNeQR3o4f-CCyjwqgGYFzjDAB367uyQrGKnS1v45hfXvurE5U59zpvYJG-gzzo/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+128.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374288878930310642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMR6wMokNk2qILDLMeLuRfe_UvnIYYQFQ_dmRgTBh_5WwjdU1jL38kybhr2zzLC_Z7FO9Z0Uo-SpQswQNeQR3o4f-CCyjwqgGYFzjDAB367uyQrGKnS1v45hfXvurE5U59zpvYJG-gzzo/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+128.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Dring the afternoon I met up with two really,really,sweet,young and naive German girls who asked if they could plug their phones into my electrical adaptors for recharging.Or course I let them and then knew I was a soft touch when they plugged their I-Pods into my computer for recharging as well.There I was with all this crap plugged in and recharching while half a dozen people were giving me evil stares for using one of the two communal power-points available.The two girls were living out of a station wagon that they had bought and they just left all of their stuff with me and wandered around town doing whatever two young German backpacker babes do.The funny thing was that parked next to the them were an old Spanish/Australian couple,Tony and Carmella who took it upon theselves to act as surrogate parents for the two wayward Germs.It seems that the girls had left the back of the station wagon open with their handbags on full show.It was pretty funny to see Tony tell them off like an old grandad.I guess they realised just how stupid they had been and thanked me profusely for looking after all their electronic equipment.I just laughed it off but did manage to give them a stern warning of my own before they went off to bed that night<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXJu0dSeCIuKNrtWGplscibh8DTeClPT7xG9dk0BLwpX79bJVXZm7Bk51E53P_Fu_0jwyHpEbDqLwBpwSg9GROd53iQsZG2oJdui0FToMhLDr7wikwyCb64NHblyQtj3ediL7w2WmkM8/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+127.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374288267546421010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXJu0dSeCIuKNrtWGplscibh8DTeClPT7xG9dk0BLwpX79bJVXZm7Bk51E53P_Fu_0jwyHpEbDqLwBpwSg9GROd53iQsZG2oJdui0FToMhLDr7wikwyCb64NHblyQtj3ediL7w2WmkM8/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+127.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div>After what was a very late(11pm) night for me I went off to my little tent in the train station garden and slept long and well,emerging at around 8am the following morning.As usual it was time to brew some coffee and have a little bite to eat before logging on again to continue my contact with the real world.It was a very peacfull morning until one cranky local started giving some of the backpackers a hard time.He had his portable fridge and other assorted appliances plugged into one power point and refused to let any of the van dwelling youth plug into the spare spots on his powerboard.He was a real dick about it and when I offered to share my multi adapter with a young French couple he gave me a hard time as well.I was in no mood for this dickhead and gave him a serious piece of my mind which made him pack up all his stuff and storm off in a huff.<br />While the assembled cast of charcters thought that I was pretty cool for standing up for them the gods of Karma descended and hit me right between the eyes.At around 10am I was approached my an offficial from the local council and was told that camping was not allowed in that rest area and my tent would have to be pulled down.WTF!!!!Living in a car or camper was okay it seems but not in a tent.Sometimes I just don't get the world. Anyway I told him that I would take my tent down in a little while to which he told me to either rent a bed in a local motel or leave town as there were no campgrounds in Home Hill..nice!!!<br /></div><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWv6yvwlF7Hwm-I-r_xjxpHGA_MmxAcj-pZsVRNXPS3sdKbGaKUqvvRieGXBuiK9yioJJtVsew72KRk2bVIdvI84sENsXEw3otsEp89m7MCJG5xLBmLMYkCzzXPxS_yUOGNviefAm-tk/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+130.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374284525877879234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWv6yvwlF7Hwm-I-r_xjxpHGA_MmxAcj-pZsVRNXPS3sdKbGaKUqvvRieGXBuiK9yioJJtVsew72KRk2bVIdvI84sENsXEw3otsEp89m7MCJG5xLBmLMYkCzzXPxS_yUOGNviefAm-tk/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+130.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>I stayed and chatted to a bunch of people as they got ready for the days work in the fields and had a awesome chat with a young Asian couple(he Korean,she Japanese)about all kinds of topics before I was reminded yet again by a council worker that I could not stay the night.I got mad at him and bluntly told him that if he wanted me out of town then he could go and get the cops first and they cold escort me out,Otherwise he could just fuck-the-hell-off and watch me leave when I was good and ready.What a dick!!!!!!!</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>I stayed at the comfort stop until around 3pm before I headed out of town in search of a campsite and was pleasantly surprised when I came across a roadside truck parking area 27k out of town.It was perfect and I set my tent up on the only grassy area in site right next to a tree which I figured would act as a kind of barrier just in case a weary truck driver pulled in for a sleep at 1am.I really didn't fancy getting run over while I slept.So after a spot of dinner and a nice sunset I was back into my sleeping bag and ready for a long sleep and another long day on the road.I was starting to get used to this whole idea of life on the road and my sleeping bag had fast become my best friend in the world </div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-37812313156183217642009-08-25T01:00:00.000-07:002009-08-25T16:38:19.673-07:00FUNNY VAN DWELLERS AND A MILESTONE OF SORTS.<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMn136YqXPIJXJgM3yNjXFQevW5lCWj90UJWv6ixr-dhQyCuOLtubPzXQJ13qAndV_VSwPcI0mPPKetEw8qPVVgCbXdxd2_SKu8t2ozZQKseZEgEEhagA99oJHn-Afg7YBKYimGrmFCcA/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+142.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374049461423634450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMn136YqXPIJXJgM3yNjXFQevW5lCWj90UJWv6ixr-dhQyCuOLtubPzXQJ13qAndV_VSwPcI0mPPKetEw8qPVVgCbXdxd2_SKu8t2ozZQKseZEgEEhagA99oJHn-Afg7YBKYimGrmFCcA/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+142.jpg" /></a><br /><div>After settling in for the night at the Bluewater rest area I had the chance to meet up with a few of the "Grey Nomads"(retired campervaners) who seemed to know all the ins and outs of what goes on in a sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere.<br /><br /><br /><br />It seems that each Friday the local community center(just across the football field) holds a burger and hot dog night to rise funds for various school projects in the area.Not to be one to seem like the dullard in the group I didn't need any convincing when asked if I would be joining the assembed cast of van-dwelling characters at this weeks version of "eat-as-much-as-you-can" Friday in Bluewater.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1Hr0WPH2gGU21491RV2sBK2IXg6DaD1vDiuCZK8XF3mSp9BV3I8ncNl2VEPHWUI9UcJX1oSvY2QtCn0mO7s1P22jIqk0r3hGDjSW8Ctd5-ZzJVK99yob5Rid0FXeR_HRAAC3kbAQ-QI/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+102.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374048504292842482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1Hr0WPH2gGU21491RV2sBK2IXg6DaD1vDiuCZK8XF3mSp9BV3I8ncNl2VEPHWUI9UcJX1oSvY2QtCn0mO7s1P22jIqk0r3hGDjSW8Ctd5-ZzJVK99yob5Rid0FXeR_HRAAC3kbAQ-QI/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+102.jpg" /></a><br />We had early cocktails(cheap wine and beer) at the camper nearest to me which was owned by Scottish Eddie who is perhaps on par with Billy Connelly as one of the most hilarious Scotsman on the planet.He is a retired physics professor with a degree in electrical engineering and spend all his time writing out lengthy equations to show just how useless all the equipment on most of the campervans are.There was a never-ending line of guys coming over to him and asking about solar-panels,inverters,voltage requirements for camper t.v's and all kinds of other things electrical.It was pretty funny to see all these grown men acting like school kids in trouble every time they approached him with a new problem.Eddie loved it as it kept his mind busy and gave him something to do.His wife loved it too as it kept him out of her hair for most of the day.<br /><br />It was Eddie who was responsible for my taking a rest day that Saturday as during the Friday burger night he was telling so many funny stories and buying me wine that at about 8pm I had a decision to make.Do I leave the fun early and ride out in the morning or do I stay with all these funny old folk and enjoy the evening?It was a no-brainer really and I hung out with those great old campers for that night and the next day,lounging on the grass an watching the wild horses tear up the football ground.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKTWhFTEa2rGnj2fxo4diTFpBryxNKQcVe11xeEWPUTkoMk1r9ucKyBAVwa9AS788mqN0biVS9E8DJe7Ero4UAZ4eYBsI3ngduTHJqdtTKTpNFxnAvIdxVX6Qx_yBU66oDzkNruGt2eI/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+096.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374047532936000994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKTWhFTEa2rGnj2fxo4diTFpBryxNKQcVe11xeEWPUTkoMk1r9ucKyBAVwa9AS788mqN0biVS9E8DJe7Ero4UAZ4eYBsI3ngduTHJqdtTKTpNFxnAvIdxVX6Qx_yBU66oDzkNruGt2eI/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+096.jpg" /></a><br />The decision to stay ended up being a smart one as I realised that as I was about to pass through north Queenslands biggest city the next day it was a good idea to do it on a Sunday when the roads would be quiet.I have learned from experience that the best day to ride through any city is on a sleepy Sunday morning.I was only around 40k from Townsville and it didn't take me too long to reach the outskirts where I found,to my surprise,a brand new ring-road which by-passes the city.Cyclists or course,are not allowed to ride on motorways like this one but I was in no mood to ride through town so I hopped on the best stretch of tarmac that I and seem thus far and sped around the city.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8d9S4NHjM9P9_OFQxpoZOF-j7rpjqRWRD4DsRnjnI_9nYCr51yv3kM0Eh3Sy0fudLcJA0uTwWW_3TBW9NP4LNI1wylP3XYBhSw8OP7c4ywKwcwy5U24b3nJOVFUIj5O0MLTg6SrstvA/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+100.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374046706140330322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8d9S4NHjM9P9_OFQxpoZOF-j7rpjqRWRD4DsRnjnI_9nYCr51yv3kM0Eh3Sy0fudLcJA0uTwWW_3TBW9NP4LNI1wylP3XYBhSw8OP7c4ywKwcwy5U24b3nJOVFUIj5O0MLTg6SrstvA/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+100.jpg" /></a><br />The enevitable happened and as I neared the end of the short by-pass I heard the all too familiar sound of a police siren directly behind me.It's not the first time I've been pulled over by the cops for riding on a motorway but unlike the Quebec cops,who gave me shit about it,this guy was sympathetic to my plight and let me ride on with a friendly warning and good luck wishes for the rest of my trip.I was glad to be through Townsville but I must say that I was a bit pissed off with the fact that it had taken me so long to reach this little milestone.Had I not taken the detour through the Atherton Tablelands I would have passed Townsville some five days earlier and would not have spent so much time in soggy misery trapped in my tent going nowhere.The upside,and there always is one,is that my delay did allow me to meet with some great people and it was those people who managed to put a whole lot of enthusiasm back into my head when I was starting to get a bit down over the whole process.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqoAM9_lyyQMytdRBirMtjf_vt_akbIVGiQhxppfEsQO8uJpX1TXuouSU4DHPss7BlsXX_IIv7KgB9PpkdvBzcUraiBKnJls_wzIl96pDqKpQrRC8w20ts54WDZgoaAu-OQTCjXIz0kBs/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+121.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374045627737200402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqoAM9_lyyQMytdRBirMtjf_vt_akbIVGiQhxppfEsQO8uJpX1TXuouSU4DHPss7BlsXX_IIv7KgB9PpkdvBzcUraiBKnJls_wzIl96pDqKpQrRC8w20ts54WDZgoaAu-OQTCjXIz0kBs/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+121.jpg" /></a><br />One thing that I did find out from the folks at Bluewater was the exsistance of Australias best rest area,the comfort stop at Home Hill.I had spoken of the lack of opportunity to plug in my laptop and charge my phone while I was on the road and they told me all about this great rest area in the middle of sleepy little Home Hill about 140k to the south.I was really pleased with the though that I would be able to get in touch with the world again and really,really pleased to learn that I would be able to have a hot shower.I really needed one by that stage let me tell you. First things first though, I still had to get there so onward it was down the hot highway ever southward through the dusty brown landscape that surrounds Townsville.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zWbWEFD29H5aJliSrOHPnjXeGuLgbuJiZC2G_mVtGtX-Wjb_0ix9xAiXHUMs08B1ngpziCtYa0jKm3NWPjuoZy7Gzi2-6_S6vUejfDKU1SNkyRWaDJcMPftUjK4Z0s7H1on654uOqrE/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+112.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374042971740684018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zWbWEFD29H5aJliSrOHPnjXeGuLgbuJiZC2G_mVtGtX-Wjb_0ix9xAiXHUMs08B1ngpziCtYa0jKm3NWPjuoZy7Gzi2-6_S6vUejfDKU1SNkyRWaDJcMPftUjK4Z0s7H1on654uOqrE/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+112.jpg" /></a><br />The rest of the day was pretty uneventful although toward the late aternoon the lanscape did change a bit and I rode through a huge area of marshland that left me wondering exactly which country I was in,Australia or Malaysia?Everything about that stretch was so different to the rest of the scenery on my trip that I did spend a fair amount of time stopped on the side of the road taking picures.I also started looking for somewhere to camp for the night.There was no way I would be able to reach Home Hill in one day and after a long pause in the shade of a small truckstop outside the tiny town of Brandon I decded to just pull over and camp on the side of the road.<br /><br />As luck would have it I did spy some tyre tracks cutting through the roadside scrub and I followed them to find a nice flat area to camp,well hidden from the highway a few meters away.I went about the daily ritual of setting up camp and organizing dinner but this night I was in for a treat.It is cane harvesti<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1tYLGiY4XbH2TN5Q63YsTYTA6BQx_gxgx7N4Zn4LZsSInUKFRaI7lQYQAKcR7TFyWPZrXowZiS_ODv1aWNXS2xPoeIl2FmgzNofvXGBhi9FW7SLoz_kpp-CZMGrzyaxqfhp2dKHNhr3Y/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+115.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374041552846034562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1tYLGiY4XbH2TN5Q63YsTYTA6BQx_gxgx7N4Zn4LZsSInUKFRaI7lQYQAKcR7TFyWPZrXowZiS_ODv1aWNXS2xPoeIl2FmgzNofvXGBhi9FW7SLoz_kpp-CZMGrzyaxqfhp2dKHNhr3Y/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+115.jpg" /></a>ng time and I was treated to what is fast becoming a rare event in the north,the awesome cane fire!Farmers have always used fire as a means of buning off all the vegitation around the cane stalks,making it easier to cut and handle.The greenies have pretty much put a stop to the practise due to the huge amount of smoke that these fires produce and to see such a large one so close and at sunset was a real treat.<br /><br />With the fireshow over it was back into the old tent for a long sleep knowing that I only had a short 40k or so to ride to get to my next stop at Home Hill and reconnect with the world.<br /><br /><p></p><p> </p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-22188020897192147112009-08-10T19:55:00.000-07:002009-08-26T06:49:41.045-07:00OVER THE RANGE<div><div><div><br /><div>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.<br /><br />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 high<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-P-rDdNfk1z50HQ0wto9FxjmNsQQV0AS96ObXfGnyh5qC2l0yFeQD5gYkazbdQYIbOwxnjGBx8EkvYIl2P4UhN4AeSsjSvHxDMKdOsmJCBwxEOk33dAuhmiC4gSgXl7OvzRiyYH-vCgE/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+091.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374268975357517058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-P-rDdNfk1z50HQ0wto9FxjmNsQQV0AS96ObXfGnyh5qC2l0yFeQD5gYkazbdQYIbOwxnjGBx8EkvYIl2P4UhN4AeSsjSvHxDMKdOsmJCBwxEOk33dAuhmiC4gSgXl7OvzRiyYH-vCgE/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+091.jpg" /></a>way before making a pit-stop at a truck pullout to rest up for the sprint up the range.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dcrFJkqHFwSSaUmz-OM2dzquD1Hk1tfPXsw1alRDxbUm2XAWLcFxUTNaoKqzxHNK3V6OZZF5Lp31UvRUnDshX_6XnND8zH28W1dcChCS8Dgf3Bor7bGb4iefsm07AA_o0-HPgs3FAmM/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+050.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374267545650450594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dcrFJkqHFwSSaUmz-OM2dzquD1Hk1tfPXsw1alRDxbUm2XAWLcFxUTNaoKqzxHNK3V6OZZF5Lp31UvRUnDshX_6XnND8zH28W1dcChCS8Dgf3Bor7bGb4iefsm07AA_o0-HPgs3FAmM/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+050.jpg" /></a><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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,al<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCE0xoaDDKYaXPrvZE31C7JENZt5mtxmFICVEUv_d5f6Ke_u8TnkqfF589F1MvQruMZ_2eLyvBu2ICwPeL1SRAouWM3wdwbeu79N48yxW4mbVYuhoMYIiaw71YUJ6QGS9QHgPmWm7RIFc/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+047.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374266787251741378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCE0xoaDDKYaXPrvZE31C7JENZt5mtxmFICVEUv_d5f6Ke_u8TnkqfF589F1MvQruMZ_2eLyvBu2ICwPeL1SRAouWM3wdwbeu79N48yxW4mbVYuhoMYIiaw71YUJ6QGS9QHgPmWm7RIFc/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+047.jpg" /></a>l free food is appreciated and I thanked them for their generosity.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlUJKkm9kkzId8_8gg2aLh_eV2R4OEb9M_d2yuXpsElNkJM76QT9upUn9Z9Bnh9IQa-YqBCXZQrWtwWBpLhlWHF1gvKxgR3IRMARBT6ZDwvMb1DPsJFmYk9lP9itiogd5lzHl5xhFdXQ/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+049.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374266094264272354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlUJKkm9kkzId8_8gg2aLh_eV2R4OEb9M_d2yuXpsElNkJM76QT9upUn9Z9Bnh9IQa-YqBCXZQrWtwWBpLhlWHF1gvKxgR3IRMARBT6ZDwvMb1DPsJFmYk9lP9itiogd5lzHl5xhFdXQ/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+049.jpg" /></a><br />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.<br /><br />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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6Nsxcx6Wkzm89XJZgQTruJFfQYQyhXaPhzbpjE7EaIftq4b5d1X-HadI-Agr9p7rnVrB4EBYYpLVRDL_rUl8OY3kHCfv2VcSBZ4mZ1fQF4tSDgiNWk7tv8b6LQ2GELTNCCDJcrjEvh8/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+094.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374222632457241266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6Nsxcx6Wkzm89XJZgQTruJFfQYQyhXaPhzbpjE7EaIftq4b5d1X-HadI-Agr9p7rnVrB4EBYYpLVRDL_rUl8OY3kHCfv2VcSBZ4mZ1fQF4tSDgiNWk7tv8b6LQ2GELTNCCDJcrjEvh8/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+094.jpg" /></a> 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.<br /><br />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</div></div></div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-71791323104199830562009-08-10T14:37:00.000-07:002009-08-10T19:55:38.611-07:00BACK ON THE COAST<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvY3D-yykqwcJKtgDy53gv5rGrjQYWBnqapO-1AHVA5Phf39VmVpPdTy2Oykaz1ryZEcHqCbyJyW7lkVcJVnPOlsOXJeYRMpPcCtdas12a876vtwfPPfDuqCRZjBUs-RGpcDzSxUBXlo/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+002.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368475525285920818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvY3D-yykqwcJKtgDy53gv5rGrjQYWBnqapO-1AHVA5Phf39VmVpPdTy2Oykaz1ryZEcHqCbyJyW7lkVcJVnPOlsOXJeYRMpPcCtdas12a876vtwfPPfDuqCRZjBUs-RGpcDzSxUBXlo/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+002.jpg" /></a><br /><div>I woke the next morning to another blanket of think fog but I was determined to get away from the weather that seemed to have closed out the whole Atherton Tablelands.I guess the term "Misty Mountains" is correct when they named the tourist drive that winds it's way through the lush rolling hills around the district. After a quick coffee and about an hour packing up all my rain sodden stuff I hopped back on my bike and headed off along the Palmerston Highway back toward the coast and my planned campsite 100k away.</div><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiKzQSlUcPLNeQPyp8nwo971J8fKmrg3Y8VRjp213gr6zUsvrzYdOlip7g6NivytOAqaaWLTgm26F8_VsraqJPhxUtxFjwyc3IthY9vivqV0qOtVDwYcnz4w90uzF_QKu1Q38f0uhLRK4/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+032.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368474865269749266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiKzQSlUcPLNeQPyp8nwo971J8fKmrg3Y8VRjp213gr6zUsvrzYdOlip7g6NivytOAqaaWLTgm26F8_VsraqJPhxUtxFjwyc3IthY9vivqV0qOtVDwYcnz4w90uzF_QKu1Q38f0uhLRK4/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+032.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>The first hour or so went well and even though there were a few hills to struggle up I knew that once I hit the little hamlet of Milla Milla there would be way more down than up.I was right and the rest of the morning passed quickly as I dropped out of the green farmland of the Tablelands and into the National Parks that make this area so poular with the tourist droves.The lower I got the warmer it got and after about three hours I was having a spot of early lunch by a stream surrounded by thick rainforest.It was beautiful. Onward though as I was on a mission and apart for pausing at a couple of great viewpoints it was the express train to the flatlands of the coastal plain.<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44MYFRMFNdNGQy-_0E4U0XAkZKlVXuXV_x0g2ovGwpcZIaBdb3IoBO-8aBmXffbQagFWQ2BRVMxci4LlxoGNKQGsHLQiTbyJsJlwefCy24STAdGEJVwxzrQ1X2muQkEWoQrBmGz8pHe0/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+042.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368473716402932018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44MYFRMFNdNGQy-_0E4U0XAkZKlVXuXV_x0g2ovGwpcZIaBdb3IoBO-8aBmXffbQagFWQ2BRVMxci4LlxoGNKQGsHLQiTbyJsJlwefCy24STAdGEJVwxzrQ1X2muQkEWoQrBmGz8pHe0/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+042.jpg" /></a><br /><div>By midday I had reached the bottom and was riding through endless miles of cane fields and banana plantations while being toasted by the afternoon sun.I was pretty happy even though the wind gods had conspired against me by slapping me in the face with yet another headwind.It didn't matter much as I only had about 30k of riding to go before hitting the main highway from which point it was a short 5k to my campsite at the rest stop near El Arish.</div><br /><div></div><div></div><div>So it was 98k for the day and I finally felt like I had a positive day on the bike.The day just got better when I met up with some other travellers who had parked thier assorted vehicles in the roadside rest area.Straight away I was being asked all kinds of questons about my trip and offers of coffee and biscuits were abundant.It was great to be around some people after what I felt was an eternity of isolation in the soggy mountains.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDk1MK4dg_XYb0ZOPWGsJUh1nS3ppXs88RLO9O2ztTa1fPgOQuOPDOnK5y16z3XyN5EL1CHvGl4o-99GtuXk31LkNmUyho8rpp_riVjOJdc2Hb_cm4m-5SCtJ771H1sQLvgwJZ-TnewBI/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+037.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368472154888260786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDk1MK4dg_XYb0ZOPWGsJUh1nS3ppXs88RLO9O2ztTa1fPgOQuOPDOnK5y16z3XyN5EL1CHvGl4o-99GtuXk31LkNmUyho8rpp_riVjOJdc2Hb_cm4m-5SCtJ771H1sQLvgwJZ-TnewBI/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+037.jpg" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div>I went about having a wash in the stream and spreading all my stuff out on my two tarps in an attempt to dry everthing out in the afternoon sun all the while chatting with my fellow campers.Attention soon turned to feeding myself an it wasn't long before we were all sat around the park bench tucking into our respective culinary creations and asking all about each others trips.With two Aussie couples,a young French couple and a couple from the Netherlands the conversation was always going to be interesting.We were given sage advice from seasoned van-dwellers about the best rest areas along the coast,given a slideshow on French Fred's computer,had something of a tour of one of the you-beaut,fold out campers that one couple had and I even managed to plug into one guys campervan to check out the Ultraman Canada results.Talk about civilized!!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>It was great and I went to sleep a much happier camper.The next morning kind of sealed my fate for the day when I crawled out of my tent to find a heavy dew had soaked everything again.Oh well,not to worry,I would just wait until mid morning to dry it all out and go for a run instead.There was a rest area that I had been told about only 40k or so down the road and apparently it was a really good one so I decided to have a little active recovery day and finish the day there.</div><div></div><br /><div>By about 11:30 everything was dry and packed away and I was on the road pedalling easily into an ever increasing wind.I still have trouble getting my head around the patience require to be content with riding at about 20kph.After years of competing in triathlons at a decent age-group level, going that slowly is just so damn frustrating.I know I will adapt, as I always do but it doesn't make the first few days any easier.To be fair,I think I was getting down on myself a little bit as I was dragging that bloody load into a headwind."One day the winds will turn around",I kept telling myself,"One day".Not today apparently!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0_W6iJaarGGJDeBIri9aXfip7J51BX-dLuxbw5Z300sYmdtsIrritw6XAzLjb1a6xMjrtkokl67BeLrC2EE5lUcF03o_8j-C50kfYRkRxLWVHjBHQeJZtrL0o1mBDGHixf9cwh1GYrg/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+059.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368469966370129810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0_W6iJaarGGJDeBIri9aXfip7J51BX-dLuxbw5Z300sYmdtsIrritw6XAzLjb1a6xMjrtkokl67BeLrC2EE5lUcF03o_8j-C50kfYRkRxLWVHjBHQeJZtrL0o1mBDGHixf9cwh1GYrg/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+059.jpg" /></a> A couple of hours was all it took to find my camp for the night and it was,as promised, a great one.Lots of shade,lots of room for everyone and great facilities.The State Government does an awesome job of providing these areas for free for everyone who is driving the highways and as much as the caravan park operators hate them, they are a godsend for the thousands of "Grey Nomads" who drive the northern highways,escaping the southern Australian winter.</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6Inpw7loD9IElXIfhVpBrtyJ9ZWNR7s9sfx_yN6gJHKDEWrLV-NC1d3biR7CPXSHxSVF6yGVqVWfSMUzcdaC_8e_hyphenhyphenN9WI4nV2rPXxTj6FkYWmC5PgQ03lh8tk7pBZOVgRwV6FrUEdI/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+063.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368469319930170962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6Inpw7loD9IElXIfhVpBrtyJ9ZWNR7s9sfx_yN6gJHKDEWrLV-NC1d3biR7CPXSHxSVF6yGVqVWfSMUzcdaC_8e_hyphenhyphenN9WI4nV2rPXxTj6FkYWmC5PgQ03lh8tk7pBZOVgRwV6FrUEdI/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+063.jpg" /></a><br /><div>It was a couple of these old travellers who made my stay that night a memorable one.Rex and Tina are classic example of the army of retirees who spend their winters on the road.They had left wintery Victoria a few months earlier and had toured the north waiting for the seasons to change.I was asked to join them around thier campfire and had a marvelous time discussing and endless list of topics while listening to a brilliant C.D full of classic old songs from the 60's.That is the part of trips like this that I love the most,meeting wonderful people in the most amazing of places and enjoying the simplicity of it all.It was a truly memorable night!</div><br /><div></div><div></div>Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-6376841519078807042009-08-10T01:00:00.000-07:002009-08-10T05:29:51.212-07:00REALITY BITES!!So the day finally came and it was without farewell or fanfare that I loaded up the bike,locked the door to my apartment and headed down the Cairns Esplanade to begin another trip into the unknown.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJzp2jswoQYO5bBXxA7kLbTNIWUy_MXMGe8fRkDceTW_mWbjS5yb8bLlBWYMYcg0-rJ1mqYxWK7oy35brsEtmJPNoVJ4wWfUCqWf3vIzNnzJ4yRDBJqEaZLp5OXE5hKcbjuqUGSJlzuy4/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+005.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368305473434116930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJzp2jswoQYO5bBXxA7kLbTNIWUy_MXMGe8fRkDceTW_mWbjS5yb8bLlBWYMYcg0-rJ1mqYxWK7oy35brsEtmJPNoVJ4wWfUCqWf3vIzNnzJ4yRDBJqEaZLp5OXE5hKcbjuqUGSJlzuy4/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+005.jpg" /></a><br />I had delayed my departure a few days and right now I was beginning to think that it was a decision that I might regret.The weather for the winter thus far had been sunny and unseasonably warm and yet today there were grey clouds in the distance and we were on a collision course.I prayed that there would not be a repeat of last years two weeks of wet,cold, Canadian riding but as I turned off t<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOJ6zk0xio7LZ8-cEz_4LnTMs_Kpip2b0kN8JYc4B6OCksQMWJeoTU8TTYtquNupKOFyzY4EWElSITT6cu_AzW4Vct5SqZpRHl19gkmrtglAEsruf46-_s0xcggtxTAG9NxUxBjUPcBE/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+009.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368304793662900338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOJ6zk0xio7LZ8-cEz_4LnTMs_Kpip2b0kN8JYc4B6OCksQMWJeoTU8TTYtquNupKOFyzY4EWElSITT6cu_AzW4Vct5SqZpRHl19gkmrtglAEsruf46-_s0xcggtxTAG9NxUxBjUPcBE/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+009.jpg" /></a>he highway onto the road toward todays climb out of the flatlands the rain started!Damn!!!Luckily for me the temperature wasn't too bad and as I started the long 19k climb up the Gillies Range I soon shed my rain jacket and concentrated instead on the rough road slowly passing under my heavily laden wheels.<br /><br /><br />It soon became clear that this was going to be a long sufferfest and the seven weeks of sloth-like inactivity that I had lived before my ride came back to haunt me.I was suffering badly.So badly in fact that I was in my smallest gear just crawling up the road.It became so bad that the top third of the climb became a case of mearly surviving each evil mile with a little rest to stop my heart from exploding.It should be said that I was dragging a hell of a lot of stuff with me and I'm guessing the extra 65kilos was the culprit.Certainly it wasn't the extra 20 kilo's of pudge that had encased me recently that was to blame.Surely not! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQeTg-4HRjSO4OBUunfTS6hKN2RBflid_0gY6nU9Nz8x2eFsTPrrIFPJ5M4AgGHPC7VhXSUiXRegx8wisG_JtJmOi0LP3IS12XfwW2Zgs_aIjk4lrxMyhhMf7jvp9D_dH-Y3C2DkcQ8U/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+010.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368301346806256626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQeTg-4HRjSO4OBUunfTS6hKN2RBflid_0gY6nU9Nz8x2eFsTPrrIFPJ5M4AgGHPC7VhXSUiXRegx8wisG_JtJmOi0LP3IS12XfwW2Zgs_aIjk4lrxMyhhMf7jvp9D_dH-Y3C2DkcQ8U/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+010.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Whatever the reason,I gave up on my trip about ten times on that climb alone not to mention during the cold, wet,windy descent back onto the Tablelands.It was the first of the "rolling hills"(HA HA) after that descent that got me and I walked my stupid little bike with all it's fancy flamin' gear up the last 200m of the hill straight into a rendevous with a major tantrum and an abandonment of my trip for the 20th time that day.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I did,however,during my swearing session, spy a little spot hidden behind a row of sugar cane which I thought would make for a great campsite for the night.I rode over and up a little track for about 100 meters and found "camp one".I was done and set about putting up my tent and getting some dinner ready.There was no celebration though as it had taken me all day to ride a paltry 60k.Crap,I've run faster than that!!!!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ532dGhulVoJm-gRJ6-m5Y-ENXWGnek1RzuTvF01mT6r5sGJpqJGyQAZYQiwWNIJ97WAWuY6svPfQ8EP74R2D9DCwG0pUV-wdd6GW1SHnIrXadM6-FOnXqeLoQzQcK7pKHcN5bG4NmvQ/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+013.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368300228069317634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ532dGhulVoJm-gRJ6-m5Y-ENXWGnek1RzuTvF01mT6r5sGJpqJGyQAZYQiwWNIJ97WAWuY6svPfQ8EP74R2D9DCwG0pUV-wdd6GW1SHnIrXadM6-FOnXqeLoQzQcK7pKHcN5bG4NmvQ/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+013.jpg" /></a><br />The next day dawned with one of the Tablelands famous winter fogs and I had to wait a little while until it was safe enough to ride.To fill in the time I went for a little run,which was nice.Well warmed after my run and well caffeineated after brewing up some powdered crap, I was off again dragging a million useless kilos of stuff over the rolling(read; short and steep) hills toward Atherton.It was over these very hills that an old friend of mine,Lloyd Wallington ,had dragged my lame ass over when he was training me to do my first Ironman,18 years ago.I thought of him at the time and missed the enthusiasm that we had for our sport and for life in general.Good times indeed but times were not replicating themselves on this day.I bitched and whined my way the 16k's to Atherton and after a brief chat with the residents of the Atherton Cemetary<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvTV70xkpaSTnVz8gFCGDYV_by-WuCIfBqd-Ov3toO3Ro-6QY657sDn4dzPDRl6wa3ww6Rbgf-iAnCzidiXJdzzyBBRzG0BtMZunHTH89yv-VhyphenhyphenvnpIGYXAwtJ8BRXhyphenhyphentgRU56_dSnIQ/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+018.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368299597255433522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvTV70xkpaSTnVz8gFCGDYV_by-WuCIfBqd-Ov3toO3Ro-6QY657sDn4dzPDRl6wa3ww6Rbgf-iAnCzidiXJdzzyBBRzG0BtMZunHTH89yv-VhyphenhyphenvnpIGYXAwtJ8BRXhyphenhyphentgRU56_dSnIQ/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+018.jpg" /></a> I rolled out on the quiet country roads toward Ravenshoe.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />For a while everything was going just fine and I thought my goal of reaching the rest area at Millstream would be a no brainer but then the weather closed in again.As if the ever-increasing hills weren't enough to deal with the seasonal south-easterly wind kicked up and with it came more rain.Ever so slowly I climbed each soul-sucking hill until in the middle of bumfuck nowhere I came upon two cops conducting a random breath test for all motorists.I figured that the top of this hill was as good a place as any and pulled over for a can of beans and a chat.The cops waved me over and I told them a random breath test was a waste of time as I had no breath left to give.They laughed and as I had my lunch they asked me all about my trip.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHodYaweTHBgI0CJ7pWhrmgo_qbNo8TlQS7tqAldtypFil5fFA8DnSrJE21i3sw_UZmIM1CLtxtLzXAdTFPPRpIjImtqN1sQYxsZXfG3WctmaJpHd0c_86Vmz5gBp1wgQRPcmCtbgh1mo/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+020.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368296415733717986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHodYaweTHBgI0CJ7pWhrmgo_qbNo8TlQS7tqAldtypFil5fFA8DnSrJE21i3sw_UZmIM1CLtxtLzXAdTFPPRpIjImtqN1sQYxsZXfG3WctmaJpHd0c_86Vmz5gBp1wgQRPcmCtbgh1mo/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+020.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />I gave them a rough outline about my wanting to ride down the center of Queensland and New South Wales using the developmental roads instead of using the popular coast road.They both shook their heads and immediately warned me against it.One of the two cops had attended a double fatality on that road the week before and there were two motorcyclits under medical care in Atherton as a result of an accident a couple of days earlier.You see, these developmental roads are the domain of Australia's famous "road-trains".They are narrow,rough,dusty,strips of ashpalt with soft sand and bull dust at the edges.The rule of the road is that the road-trains have the right of way and everyone gets off the road when they arrive.Over the years the asphalt has worn even narrower and there is not much room at all.Just plain unsafe for a little dude on a bike.I told the cops that I would think about it but really they had talked me out of it and I rode on thinking about alternate plans,in other words,back to the coast.An hour or so later I came across the intersection where a decision had to be made, turn left and head down the Palmerston Highway to the coast or head on, into the bush and take on the semi-trailers and the four trailers that they dragged,fishtailing behind them.I chose the coast.<br /><br />First things first though,time to make camp.It was late afternoon so I figured I'd have a good nights sleep and make for the coast in the morning.I had only travelled about 70k that day but was content in that it was all part of the process and I'd make the time up on the downhill run the next day.I did not realise that I would end up staying put at that intersection for another 36 hrs as a combination of fog and storms kept me tent-bound and miserable.The only bright light came fom a visit from my friendly police mates who had heard reports from local residents about some dude camping on the side of the road.They came to check it out and when they found it was I,not only did they give me permission to camp there they gave me a supply of cookies that they had taken from a driver-revivour station earlier in the day.Good blokes!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix7vO-fgp9Vy7OMMVgHlmJwzPA1HslJztSJnN-9UzQ1-TWtEwTqOoaPg7li80zHFfCvJ2KfwjGKob31lNDkDRNpTyYKV-hQffCE9kg9clHYg7yrjckcU1dUZjdpIIWcOqukuGTr0eZagE/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+023.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368295058833459634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix7vO-fgp9Vy7OMMVgHlmJwzPA1HslJztSJnN-9UzQ1-TWtEwTqOoaPg7li80zHFfCvJ2KfwjGKob31lNDkDRNpTyYKV-hQffCE9kg9clHYg7yrjckcU1dUZjdpIIWcOqukuGTr0eZagE/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+023.jpg" /></a>The day I spent in that cold and rainy place really got me down and I questioned what I was doing so many times.I was wet,cold and very unhappy but I figured that I just needed to be strong and get through the misery for a day or so.Not easy to do when everything you have is getting wetter and wetter by the hour.Even the tarp I had over the tent didn't keep the moisture out.WTF!!!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZD1Jk6ws4BlwWXOgJQ1HUZsu5z6eF3FpBcfx5RDw8q7qsRE4dYNViEkxqX89LjieRXSec9wgsUW4MaNiomwCHCVybTAczbCMcglxwehLad0A1ugFGuxUc29ZtT9sSDKQFGQFQVhTb-w/s1600-h/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+031.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368294462226491730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZD1Jk6ws4BlwWXOgJQ1HUZsu5z6eF3FpBcfx5RDw8q7qsRE4dYNViEkxqX89LjieRXSec9wgsUW4MaNiomwCHCVybTAczbCMcglxwehLad0A1ugFGuxUc29ZtT9sSDKQFGQFQVhTb-w/s320/Cairns+to+Ayr+----day1-11+031.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I did manage to go for a run and fiddle with my bike with enough enthusiasm to actually fix my gears which had stopped shifting properly.That is no mean feat for a guy who by his own admission is a lame-ass bike mechanic.On the up side,I did have enough food to last a week or so and enough water tumbling down all around me to cook it with so I did eat well for a day.I also began to memorise the South East Asia edition of Lonley Planet.If that is ever a catergory on any future trivia night them I'm your man!!!Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4479833976493009784.post-18131293823558441392009-07-29T20:47:00.000-07:002009-07-30T07:20:45.255-07:00CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUl3Rk9iQlCDYuN1zWE-rU98k8BhAyQoxTzpSPUUPUuJKMvvGXhIEoQSHrkhTgQllaL59dtl_bScicldoI4cDYuAdOpyoOICkLA5XiVr57eh3iaAHhTkBCpZet5BNpsvHS0JJeWZrGvBk/s1600-h/riding+in+Cairns+017.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUl3Rk9iQlCDYuN1zWE-rU98k8BhAyQoxTzpSPUUPUuJKMvvGXhIEoQSHrkhTgQllaL59dtl_bScicldoI4cDYuAdOpyoOICkLA5XiVr57eh3iaAHhTkBCpZet5BNpsvHS0JJeWZrGvBk/s1600-h/riding+in+Cairns+017.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364117783538096562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUl3Rk9iQlCDYuN1zWE-rU98k8BhAyQoxTzpSPUUPUuJKMvvGXhIEoQSHrkhTgQllaL59dtl_bScicldoI4cDYuAdOpyoOICkLA5XiVr57eh3iaAHhTkBCpZet5BNpsvHS0JJeWZrGvBk/s320/riding+in+Cairns+017.jpg" /></a><br />About twenty-three years or so ago I left my job as restaurant/bar supervisor in the trendiest five star hotel in cosmopolitan Melbourne to travel to the far-flung northern reaches of the Australian continent.I hopped a bus and headed north on the seemingly endless ribbon of ashpalt until,after four days on the road,I reached the hot,humid and decidedly backward city of Cairns.The place reminded me of so many of the small towns that I had visited in various countries in South East Asia when I was a kid living in Hong Kong.It felt different,looked different and my god did the people act differetly to anything I had ever seen in all my travels around the southern states of Oz<br /><br /><br />The place,no doubt was the wild west but only in the east and on the coast and with no cowboys but you get my drift.There were aboriginals fighting each other in the streets,white folk fighting each other in the bars and everyone fighting for the almighty dollar from the fledgling tourist industry that had sprouted up due to the proximity of the Great Barrier Reef and all that came with it.It was also the end of the line,so to speak and with that came an influx of shady characters who were escaping from all kinds of things to find a new life in the north.I loved it.<br /><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364116770988160514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0YtyxrAkVseIExjShXIY9ffII1Rcr3hzCy0Y5ZkLJOjoblb2guoTE1YW2rO9EZx0ssJ0VlGdC9TLQ_SvnjZFzAJ9hKxQdStXncYsDTFUvaaa6_HjgB0f9z4r-MFg1jrHVdL_M-RU3aok/s320/riding+in+Cairns+048.jpg" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8fb0eGc6mOvfa4Qy2-O7lVqPYXrPRHyBc-ZfORbg_nSwv-MgDgG1Aw-hNUSgFOD6JSreqiZIhNk9tmwvdu4J3gLhkJ0OaWcX892oyZ8CVFTvlgsuDOLqp1PifAPDAywztoD6bI_ZuDU/s1600-h/riding+in+Cairns+038.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364116217689852738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8fb0eGc6mOvfa4Qy2-O7lVqPYXrPRHyBc-ZfORbg_nSwv-MgDgG1Aw-hNUSgFOD6JSreqiZIhNk9tmwvdu4J3gLhkJ0OaWcX892oyZ8CVFTvlgsuDOLqp1PifAPDAywztoD6bI_ZuDU/s320/riding+in+Cairns+038.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I spent my first couple of years living on Green Island, a small coral cay off the coast which was only a mile around and four feet high(above the high-tide mark).In Port Douglas to the north,I ran the gym at the most luxurious resort Australia had ever seen.I tended bar in a wild mining town way up in the Gulf of Carpentaria.Later,I moved back to Cairns and became part of the city and even though I have come and gone on many occaisions over the years,it was always my home base in Australia.<br /><br />It was also in Cairns that I became a triathlete.I had done one triathlon in Sydney after I rode my bike from Cairns to the harbour city to visit my parents but the passion didn't burn strong until 1991 whenI started what became my Ironman obsession and the almost yearly trips to Penticton for Ironman Canada (amoung other races).Things change though and people too and for whatever reason,I just don't seem to fit in anymore.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSys0Wc9Jkngyvc1awbfwA00j20_cT6VAcEFb7jjzDnefJaIt6_I9PQFrltmd4vyO9onVmuWzgspJ7Pra3bA5k5qNBxJ4PtJkqrBpjctm4aMg8TwCkRSdxRR_5sIdxLlCCEm3Jl5CTyE/s1600-h/riding+in+Cairns+028.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364113750557800386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSys0Wc9Jkngyvc1awbfwA00j20_cT6VAcEFb7jjzDnefJaIt6_I9PQFrltmd4vyO9onVmuWzgspJ7Pra3bA5k5qNBxJ4PtJkqrBpjctm4aMg8TwCkRSdxRR_5sIdxLlCCEm3Jl5CTyE/s320/riding+in+Cairns+028.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtRsnUmvkXCuNn4VDYjm7HEdr4fIag675pbOLqpwLeg40tq637QStRQ4SHOgEZsPOhcAdqru2bmoCU94-b4qO1Q8OyGWLeWQ1o1RzOA_6ZVXVXIz93_TSL71eFtAVHR8CkkFI8jVs43U/s1600-h/riding+in+Cairns+019.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364113138413671058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtRsnUmvkXCuNn4VDYjm7HEdr4fIag675pbOLqpwLeg40tq637QStRQ4SHOgEZsPOhcAdqru2bmoCU94-b4qO1Q8OyGWLeWQ1o1RzOA_6ZVXVXIz93_TSL71eFtAVHR8CkkFI8jVs43U/s320/riding+in+Cairns+019.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />These days people are still fighting but now the aboriginals are fighting for recognition,respect and the tourist dollar.The white folks are still fighting in the bars both these folks are usually drunken English backpackers and the city is fighting to stay afloat during the financial devastation that is the Global Finacial Crisis.<br /><br />The city is unrecognizable from the sleepy town that I first saw all those years ago and as thousands of people put to shore on the wave of progress, the charcter of the north was washed out to sea.Don't get me wrong it is still a beautiful area and there is quite a bit to do in the surrounding hinterland and beaches but something is lacking and most defi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmeyYfT8ymPzCg7dYUBaAKtyXar6qV4dsfyl1uixWs7tIa2MANPIEdc44cFvsKRHzKfHV1MLVEmxNgUcSc3YTJaBNBAo7XHB3SGLWD_cW6M8SJaWo4IkGI_FaoXTFEf8ProORQEiy2v4/s1600-h/riding+in+Cairns+014.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 341px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364112437695093266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmeyYfT8ymPzCg7dYUBaAKtyXar6qV4dsfyl1uixWs7tIa2MANPIEdc44cFvsKRHzKfHV1MLVEmxNgUcSc3YTJaBNBAo7XHB3SGLWD_cW6M8SJaWo4IkGI_FaoXTFEf8ProORQEiy2v4/s320/riding+in+Cairns+014.jpg" /></a>nately, the generic stamp of mass tourism is well and truly imprinted on the culture of this city.In short it's a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live here...anymore.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQ3czwBpy_RBYTtNp93e70VB8SIhQco8y75-_AXyAItMYbhNIRNFvV1t2rxotXe6lToEzGHF4DTAb-YDnevh-A8BHVAtDQOfo0cLoSKu1XLbk80iOlbKg-hevHjzgjVIRiVrREbnwMhc/s1600-h/riding+in+Cairns+041.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 252px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364108507244103106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQ3czwBpy_RBYTtNp93e70VB8SIhQco8y75-_AXyAItMYbhNIRNFvV1t2rxotXe6lToEzGHF4DTAb-YDnevh-A8BHVAtDQOfo0cLoSKu1XLbk80iOlbKg-hevHjzgjVIRiVrREbnwMhc/s320/riding+in+Cairns+041.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So it's off to who knows where and who knows when I'll get there.Ideally I would like to move to the little town of Penticton in Canada where I have spent so much time and made so many friends but there is that little problem of immigration status.Short of finding some misguided Canadian woman to marry me I'm thinking that I'm S.O.L on that score.Hmmmm.<br /><br />Most likely my trip will eventually involve another long visit to Penticton but there is a lot of asphalt winding it's way through many different countries on the way.I thought I'd go check them out and maybe race an Ironman or four while I'm at it.Nick Mallett:http://www.blogger.com/profile/12670415233651181522noreply@blogger.com1