I had a day off writing. Yesterday we had a short days cycle ride into Gladstone we arranged through Couchsurfing to stay with somebody there. We arrived fairly early and set about cleaning ourselves and our stuff.

After this our host very kindly took us out to dinner we went to an Irish Pub which was fairly big. Although I have not be travelling that long it was fairly overwhelming to go in there. There just seemed to be a lot of people all in one place and the music was loud.

The food was excellent and I really enjoyed eating something a bit different to the rice or pasta that we normally have.

After dinner we went for a drive around Gladstone taking in the industrial sights. There is a lot of aluminium refining which goes on and also a lot of coal that gets shipped out. Tour was interesting and it was good to see quite a lot of one of the cities we normally pass through. Our host knew a lot about the industry.

The car we drove around in was a Land Cruiser, confirming that there are a lot around. Our host also had one in his garage that he was doing some work on, he said that it had done about 400,000kms.

Today was a fairly none eventful day of cycling, there were some nice downhills which almost but never quite make up for the uphills!

We got to our rest stop fairly early, which is always nice.

I have not noticed many VW camper vans on the roads at all. I always thought I would see a lot of them but there have been relatively few, maybe 4 at most.

Today was probably one of the most uneventful days so far. We cycled a fairly long way to Mount Larcom were we stopped at another rest area, this one even closer to the road and rail tracks, fairly noisy.

It is located opposite Dan Kelly’s Royal Hotel. Well I suppose that is not strictly true it is located opposite Mt Larcome Cafe and Collectables which is for sale should anyone be interested in making a purchase. And diagonally opposite to the hotel. I am not to sure what makes it royal maybe they showed the wedding on the big screen. I popped into the hotel (pub) and got two Victoria Bitters to take away. We had these with our dinner. From the brief time I was in the pub I noticed that it was very well lit, and out of the three people in there, two said hello.

Apart from this not much else has happened. We quickly passed through Rockhampton picking up a bit of shopping on the way. There were a few oversized loads with police escorts, not sure what they were carrying. I am also unsure of the requirement for a police escort or just a yellow flashing light, on top of a car driving in front, I think it is fairly random maybe the general rule of the bigger the load the more police and flashing lights you need.

As I write this I am sitting under the shelter pictured. Its about 8pm and I have noticed how there seem to be a lot more lorries on the road at night time than during the day. No scientific research has been carried out to back up that statement and interestingly there seem to be very few Automatic Traffic Counters (ATCs) on the road. So I wonder if anyone knows the real facts! Or just traffic flows.

As you can tell I am quite sleepy so this is the end of this post!

Tonight we are staying at what seems to be a very popular stop in Yaamba. There are a lot of caravans and camper vans here.

There are also a lot of birds making a lot of noise, in the trees. Despite the rest stop being very close to the highway and there being a lot of birds making a lot noise, it seems fairly peaceful, in a strange contradiction.

We had a good ride today, at the end I slowed down a bit and it was good to look at some of the landscape and see what was going on. Sometimes it is hard not to just see Sydney as the fairly destination rather than the trip as a journey as a whole, but today I enjoyed the journey.

There were a lot of over sized loads being moved, a few houses and lots of mining equipment. We also encountered a lot of road works. At one set of Stop/Slow (not Go as they would be in the UK) the guy said that we would be okay as long as we kept out of the way of the roadworks and the oncoming traffic, which we did and we were okay although it seemed very dusty going through the roadworks. The birds are still making a lot of noise, but they have quietened down a bit, not sure what they are chatting about.

On the way we stopped at a very expensive convenience store in Marlborough, which I guess was fairly convenient, but seemed to sell dusty supermarket goods at a least 2 times the price.

I am taking a lot less photos than I thought I would mainly because getting a camera out is a bit of hassle I think I will start to take some more.

Whilst I didn’t do much research into this trip I did look at one website that said that Magpies sometime attack cyclists. I didn’t think to much of this. But the solution to this was to attach cable-ties to your helmet.

We have seen a few magpies but have not witness any attacks but we did see somebody giving the birds some water cycle up with a cable tie helment, but he took it off to feed the birds.

Well bedtime now.

We got back on the bikes today. I was feeling a lot better and we rode a fair distance. As there was no convenient rest area we are wild camping tonight which means that we had to carry all our water.

Water is very expensive here and cost more that petrol, we brought this today for the stove petrol that is in case anyone was wondering if you could get a water powered stove, as far as I know you cannot get one.

We were overtaken by a helicopter on the back of a lorry as well as some massive tyres on a separate lorry.

There have been a few strange road signs since we got here but on of the strangest has to be the one attached to this post.

Despite having the day of yesterday riding and camping are becoming a bit more routine. It still seems strange that I will basically be living in a tent for the next 6 month or so. Being so transient with no fix base is also going to be different.

I forgot to mention that this morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise over the sea. The sun rises surprising quickly and is quite high in the sky fairly early on around 7 and it is fairly high.

Just as we had finished cooking dinner there was a massive downpour. One of the great joys of outdoor life. We had to rush to our tents and eat inside everything got very steamy and rice got all over the place.

Well it nearing 8 and in a dark wood with nothing for miles there is not much to do apart from sleep, or maybe listen to the lorries go past.

I woke up in Sarina and felt pretty rough I had a stomach bug or something. We cycled on to Clairview stopping in Carmila for lunch. Where we met a guy that drives one of the Oz tour buses that go up and down the same route we are cycling.

It was a fairly good ride and I felt a bit better after lunch. Once we arrived in Clairview we stopped at a nice camping spot that said camping was allowed.

After dinner I felt a bit worse we had a campfire and I went to bed early hoping the bug would pass.

In the morning I was still feeling rough so I thought it would be best if we took the day off so I could get back to being 100%.

We are camping at the Clairview community centre which the WAGs (women’s action group) have a stall. I brought a book to replace the one that I finished reading.

Things I have noticed on the road are that they are a lot of people towing things mainly boats and caravans.

There are also a lot of Toyota Land Cruisers of different ages on the road. I am not sure if they are the most popular car but if you like looking at Land Cruisers I could recommend you come here and am fairly sure you would not be disappointed.

Today was fairly long but good around 90kms. The road went up and down a bit.

Not much happened until we got to Mackey. Where we visited Rock and Road Cycles so that I could get a new stem. The one I had was a bit to long and it felt that I was to outstretched on the bike.

The shop were very kind and did a straight swap. They also let us drink there nice cold filtered water. They also kindly let us use there plates and a knife.

We spent about an hour in the shop chatting having lunch etc. It was a good bike shop.

After this we cycled on to Sarina were we are spending the night. We did a fairly big shop in Woolworths, (not the same as the one you are think went busted in England) a supermarket chain. We shopped for the next few days food as we are only going to be passing through some very small towns/villages which will probable only have service stations at best.

I haven’t talked much about the landscape I have been cycling through mainly because I find it hard to describe landscapes in words. There is a lot of sugar cane growing in fields in some places, which looks like very tall fat grass.

There are some fields with cattle in. We cross over a far amount of streams and rivers. Often the remains of old bridges can be seen and they have been replaced with much taller new ones.

The roads are relatively flat there are some quite straight bits that can get a little boring. I hope the above words painted a lovely picture but fear they may have just told you we cycled through some fields of sugar cane, and that there is some water.

The park we stayed in last night was very comfortable with plugs and showers, cold and without a shower head but a shower none the less.

As normal we got up fairly early and cook breakfast and were on our way to Calen. The ride was good and not too long.

We stopped in a layby for some Milk Coffee biscuits which are just like rich tea only a bit harder. We got offered and accepted a coffee of a couple in a caravan we had a chat with them they were very friendly.

We hit the vegimite for the first time at lunch it was quite intense and I could only manage a few slices before a lovely desert of peanut butter on bread and melted chocolate fingers.

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, about 5 lorries with army amphibious vehicles overtook us.

We are now in a little park in Calen opposite a newsagents/general store called the Golden Casket that looks like it hasn’t changed for years. It is run by an elderly lady who prefers bore water to town water, “I’m a bore water girl”. I personally prefer town water. Its hard to describe the shop but it seems to sell everything and is arranged in a very strange way. There are a lot of magazines, some kept inside a fridge, I think it is not switched on.

I had a long chat with an elderly gentleman who was sitting outside the store. He chatted a lot but spoke fairly softly so it was quite hard to understand what he was saying but he got quite animated. He told me about a music festival that is happening in the mountains.

Whilst we were sitting down two trains past one carrying containers. What a great invention, they have changed a lot, of things. The other train was a cattle train carrying cows.

Whilst we have been cycling we pasted over quite a few level crossings. Called cane railways I think these are used to transport sugar cane around the farms. Most of them look like they haven’t been used for a very long time but all the signals look to be in fairly good condition. I did a bit of research and the railways are used to transport the cane from the fields to the mills.

It is dinner time now, so that’s todays blog. Enjoy the wedding!

I haven’t updated the blog for the last few days mainly because I have been cycling lots and been tired in the evenings. I will try and summarises what we have been up to the last few days. We have also met some interesting people.

We stayed in Townsville with a guy from warm showers. He was very friendly and let us into his house on his lunch break. We did a tiny bit of route planning and some washing.

When he got back from work he kindly cooked us dinner and we watched some tv. We watched a bit of a netball game which was the first time I have ever watched it. It seemed very fast, and a bit confusing. After this we watch Bear Grylls, which seemed quite ridiculous but made for good TV.

I also learnt that all the frogs we saw were in fact toads not frogs. They were Cane Toads brought into Australia in the 1930s to try and control the Cane Beetle population, they liked other things more and have turned into a bit of a pest.

After Townsville we had quite a long day to Home Hill. On the way we met out first touring cyclist, a french guy, we stopped and chatted for a bit but he seemed to want to press on. The wind seems to be get worse and worse each day. Everyone we meet seems to know about the wind direction. Shame nobody told us before we left! Maybe we should have done some research first but never mind!

The Home Hill rest area was very nice with hot and cold showers and BBQs for free. There were quite a few people drawn to this high quality facility. A girl from Belgium who was driving around in a van, she kindly cooked us second dinner. A Canadian who had just retired and was taking a year to travel around also in a van, and a guy who was living in his car studying medicine. It was interesting to met all these different people doing different things. There were an Austrlian couple who were travelling around as well from a town we will get to in a few days they offered us a tour but we will be arriving before they get back.

Following the night a Home Hill we got up fairly early and had bacon and eggs for breakfast not a great pre cycling breakfast but tasty, we did this because of the free BBQs.

We had another long day from Home Hill to Bowen. I am not sure if it was this day or the day before that we saw what I think was a pump or engine that was made in Lincoln England it was nice to see this in a strange sort of way.

Bowen was a little of highway one. It felt a little strange cycling on another road and cycling a small distance that didn’t get us to the final destination.

The town seemed fairly strange and quite hard to describe we didn’t see much of it. We headed back to the highway 1 and carried on to a rest area. There were a lot of signs saying no camping so when Cliff was looking around he found a man who was living in this caravan nearby we camped near him sort of on a beach. It was dark when we cooked which made it a little difficult but okay it also rained a little bit. Soon after dinner we went to bed.

We had a bit of a lie in till 6:30 as we were both fairly tired. We went back to the rest area to cook breakfast. After a late start we got off toward Poserpine. It was a bit rainy and windy as normal. On our way we met another touring cyclist this time from Australia we had a good long chat with him in the rain. He had a lot less equipment than us but seemed to be doing well. It goes to show you don’t need all that much.

He helped inspire the afternoon ride which went well and we did a few fairly quick sections, when the wind died down.

We are now at a very nice park in Poserpine where we plan to camp there are no no camping signs.

So far so good.

Today we decided to upgrade and trade in our bikes for a 4×4 and horsebox caravan.

With such a big distance to cover we felt that it was the only way we could do it, with the time span available.

Some might say this is opting out too soon but well cars are easier to drive than bikes are to ride.

All of the above is fiction! Don’t worry we are still on our bikes, although if anyone wants to give us a camper van we won’t say no.

Today we cycled it is becoming a little more routine. But the operation is far from slick mainly due to me! There is so much stuff so many bags well it is hard to remember where you have put that thing you have now forgot you were looking for!

The headwind was horrible today it meant it much harder, but we came further than originally planned.

We stop off at two bad shops the first Frostie Mangos which a few people had mentioned it was basically a fancy service station with prices through the roof.

We felt we should buy something so shared a 1.25 litre of coke. And hoped there would be a water tape. I got told me the girl behind the till no but there was a servo (service station). As we were enjoying a coke and other food we had not brought at the shop. We got told that these tables were for customers only. I explained that we had brought a coke, and silent thought that at $5.50 we should have a right to sit at the table.

After this happened we then got told that no bikes were allowed so we left.

At the next services station we asked if they had a tap they said no. She was just fairly unhelpful, and very slow at serving people. In the end I brought some water it was very cold and tasted good.

We headed on to Rockville were we got some water from a helpful general store lady. It looked like an interesting place lots of bridges.

So far we have had a 100% success rate in getting train drivers to blow their whistles at us and a 50% success rate with lorries. Lorries are less exciting and more frequent so we don’t signal to them as often. In total the scores are 3whistles to 4waves.

Today, well yesterday was a toughie, long it terms of the ride length 110kms and the heat. There was a small climb which left us gasping and decent which was over all too quickly.

After 3 days the bike is holding up well so far. Two of the most useful bits of kit so far are a head torch and a silk sleeping bag liner.

The blackberry phone and t mobiles bb worldwide booster are also great for keeping in touch and writing things like this.

Well back to the day after the hill there was a little road side stall selling fruit and veg. The cheapest thing was a pineapple a $1 we had one straight off and the man cut it there and then it was good. We had a second and our mouths started to burn telling us that a whole pineapple each consumed within a few seconds was not the best idea.

We had a nice chat with the store holder. He told us that, that lady just there, (she was getting in a car) husband was a morning tv presenter. I didn’t enquire further. But thought where does he do that as the towns round here all seem fairly small. Maybe it was local radio.

We cycled on for a while and found the driver reviver. On the map it said it had water it did but it said that it was not suitable for drinking. Which was annoying as it meant that we had to boil and use water purification tables. We also had to boil the water in the pan we cook everything in. After the boil the water had a fat film on top we decided to leave it till the morning let it cool down and enjoy tomorrow.

As it got darker the frogs came out and it was the most frogs I have ever seen. They just came out and sat near the lights and eat the flies up.

Please note in the photo I didn’t damage the sign it had already fallen down, I didn’t want anyone to think I was a vandal. It just made a good photo!