Australian Adventures

Wednesday 29th December 2010 – Ride statistics:

Whyalla – Broken Hill
Distance: 478km
Depart: 11am
Arrive: 6.30pm
Total ride duration: 7.5 hours
Temperature: 37C (at Olary Hotel)

Friday 31st December 2010 – Ride statistics:

Cobar - Cunnamulla
Distance: 406.7 km
Depart: 9.30am
Arrive: 4.00pm
Total ride duration: 6.5 hours
Temperature: 40C (at Enngonia Hotel)

Saturday 1st January 2011 – Ride statistics:

Cunnamulla - Balcardine
Distance: 674.6 km
Depart: 6.00am
Arrive: 4.30pm
Total ride duration: 10.5 hours
Temperature: don’t know but still very hot

Monday 3rd January 2011 – Ride statistics:

Balcardine - Hughenden
Distance: 480 km
Depart: 6.00am
Arrive: 2.00pm
Total ride duration: 8 hours
Temperature: unbelievably hot!

Had the day off yesterday, but back on the road today.

Balcardine onwards saw the introduction of my first 3-trailer road trains. As I came out of Longreach I encountered 4 of them in a row so I got whipped all over the joint.

When I woke up this morning and thought about having to do another Development Road in the blistering heat, I almost didn’t get up at all. I had really scared myself yesterday and I didn’t want to end up over-exposing myself again. So I prayed (I’ve been doing a lot of that recently), “I’m going to need some help today God”. Within a few minutes, it occurred to me that I should just ride as far as Charters Towers (250km), then do the Development Road tomorrow morning when its still cool.

Wednesday 5th January 2011 – Ride statistics:

Charters Towers - Atherton
Distance: 502 km
Depart: 6.00am
Arrive: 4.00pm
Total ride duration: 10 hours
Temperature: humid but cooler

Thursday 6th January 2010 – Well, 3,330 km and 8 days of riding later, I’ve finally made it to Mount Molloy. And what a beautiful place it is. High up in the rain forests, just a small town with one main street containing a pub/hotel, a cafe, a post office, a general store and 2 art galleries. It was sunny when I arrived but we’ve just had the most almighty thunder storm. I loved it! The sound of the rain hammering down on the tin roof and the energy of the storm was fantastic. The house I’m to be looking after is absolutely beautiful too.

Wednesday 12th January 2011 – Sorry I haven’t been online for a while, life in Mount Molloy has been pretty full on since I arrived and this, plus the fact that everyone wants to know if I’ve been affected by the floods, means I thought I'd better update this again.

Thursday 13th January 2011 – Oh boo hoo. I had been so looking forward to going back to Cairns, but OMG, what a mess they’ve made of it. Obviously the town planners were more interested in increasing their bank balances than in preserving the essence of the town. Every spare bit of land has been filled with either a horrible hotel or a hideous shopping centre. What used to be a lovely, open, low level town with a sense of space and plenty of green areas, has been transformed into a concrete labyrinth.

Sunday 16th January 2011 – After a few days of air-conditioned luxury in the car, I decided it was time to take the bike for a spin again, so I rode it down to work and back again. This is the first time I have ridden it naked (i.e. unladen) for weeks, and what a difference it makes. The road to the coast crosses the Great Dividing Range so is another windy, twisty one full of hairpin bends and steep decents, but I managed it with scarcely a touch on the brakes.

Saturday 22nd January 2011 – The wet season is well and truly upon us this week. It must have started about 4 or 5 days ago when I took the dog for a walk up to have a nosey at a lovely old Queenslander-style house that’s for sale on a nearby hill. Just as we got there, the heavens opened and we had to shelter on the veranda for about half an hour for the rain to subside enough for us to run home (not that it made any difference, we still got soaked). And its pretty much been raining ever since.

Sunday 23 Janurary 2011 - As if to test me, a Praying Mantis flew into the living room last night. The cat immediately went after it and half killed it but left it with just enough life to flounder on the floor for a few hours. So, after another sleepless night from the dog barking at every shadow that passed, my resolve for staying in the house was severely dented this morning. Then, this afternoon I came home to find the squirming dissected innards of a cockroach on the kitchen floor with the cat overlooking it with a gecko in her mouth.

Monday 24th January 2011 – Over the weekend I spoke to both my mum and my dad who are dealing with health issues at the moment and last night had an overwhelming desire to go back and help them. So this morning I phoned the owner’s sister to get a contact address for the owner. Suddenly it was all too much and I was in floods of tears, so she took the situation in hand and arranged for the owner’s son to move back in and take care of the pets and to contact the owner to let her know.

Thursday 27th January 2011 – I’m free! I’m back in Cairns, staying in an insect free room at the YHA and acutely aware of how much anxiety I’ve been carrying in my body since arriving in Mount Molloy. I’ve ordered a new set of panniers for the bike as one of them has developed a large tear, so I’m staying here for a few of days until they arrive. It feels good to be back, even though its not the same town it used to be – enough of it is still the same to make me feel at home.

Friday 28th January 2011 – Contrary to my first thoughts, I’ve now decided to return to Melbourne via the east coast highways – going through the centre at this time of year would mean dealing with temperatures in excess of 45C and I’m not sure I’m up to that again. Whereas the east coast route will only be about 30C! Plus its a much more populated and interesting route and is also a more direct route to Canberra and Bateman’s Bay.

Saturday 29th January 2011 – I got the call late yesterday afternoon saying my new panniers had arrived so this morning I jumped on the bike and headed up to Atherton to collect them (I ordered them from the same place I got my tyres as I thought I’d be going back that way before I changed my mind and decided to go down the coast). I took the road to Mareeba via Kuranda which is very windy then took the road back down over the Gillies Ranges to Gordonville. Now I’ve done some twisty roads since I’ve been in Australia, but this took the biscuit.

Friday 28th January 2011 – I decided to do a bit of sunbathing today so donned my bikini and headed down to the lagoon on the Esplanade. This is the first time I’ve done any sunbathing since I arrived in Australia and like most Brits abroad my stunning white flesh practically blinded the locals. I did, of course, apply sunscreen but when I later got changed back at the hostel I realised I hadn’t applied it very evenly as my tummy and legs were covered in red blotches where I’d obviously missed some bits.

Sunday 30th January 2011 – When I left Mount Molloy the owner’s brother-in-law told me to watch out for 2 cyclones making their way towards the coast. However, I was too busy trying to fit the plastic supports inside my panniers so they wouldn’t collapse again (I think this is why the last set ripped) to pay much attention to the weather reports, so I was up at the crack of dawn this morning and on my way south down the Bruce Highway. I wasn’t exactly sure how far I’d go, but, Townsville seemed like a good target.

Monday 31st January 2011 – I awoke to a calm and peaceful morning today. Cyclone Anthony did a bit of mischief down at Bowen but we were unaffected in Townsville. So, by the time I’d retrieved my bike from the toilet block, it was about 7am before I got on the road. However, I made good time and got to Ayr by 8.30 so stopped for a cuppa in the local servo.

Tuesday 1st February 2011 - Having fled south for the last 3 days like a Wild West outlaw, it would appear I’ve managed to outrun the most imminent danger. I’ve just seen a TV report saying the cyclone is currently heading towards Cairns.

Thank goodness, I’m not sure I could keep this pace up much longer (I’ve been doing 400-500km a day). I saw a newspaper report this morning saying Yasi was heading for Rockhampton which almost made me weep as I couldn’t have taken riding all this way and still getting hit with it.