OK we'll take the train!!!

Apparently the Kuranda range is not the place to ride a bike so we've decided to catch the train to Kuranda for a day trip when we finish.

So the new route looks like this.

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Sandy's new touring bike

After riding to Mandorah on her mountain bike with me on my shiny new touring bike Sandy decided to get a real tourer. 

It's a Vivente World Randonneur bike geeks should click the name.

It's got a dynamo front hub and I love it, no more flat batteries.  

Planning our Carins cycle tour

As a shakedown for the NZ trip later next year we are going to kill two birds with one stone. Visit Mum and siblings in Cairns and test the waters on a camping based cycle tour with a couple of mountain passes thrown in.

Flights are booked:
DWN-CNS 22-May-2009
CNS-DWN 30-May-2009

The following map is loosly where we will go.

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Day 2 - Tumbling Waters to Darwin

Day 2 - Tumbling Waters - Mandorah - Darwin
82km, 5 hrs riding
The plan was to leave at 6:30 like yesterday but upon hearing the weather forecast of NNW winds of 10-15kts later in the morning, we decided an early start was best as they would be head winds so we left at 6am. Later the heat made us think 4am would have been a better choice.

Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself..........

Yesterday I mentioned a little bar at the resort/park. Sandy and I cruise down and ring the buzzer for service. The owner comes down and tells us it's $3 per beer and help yourself and then he trots off leaving the fridge and till open.....I love trusting people, it gives me confidence in the world.

So picture the two of us, ridden 58km in searing heat, haven't had dinner yet and we knock-off four heavys each.........had a great time and staggered back to the cabin to cook our dinner. Frozen spag bog sauce and some pasta.


Took the first photo of the day....didnt come out too good. Had a look at the lens and it was fogged up from being in the aircon all night and then taken out in the humidity.........








Came across these termite mounds with caps on????











Careful Sandy, don't hit a horse. We keep an eye out.












This sweaty thing is very cleansing.













Stopped by a creek to have a snack and rest.











Very nice lilies on the same creek











These signs might be OK in a car but to see them every 10km is just depressing on a bike.









As close as we got to hitting a horse.











The road......lots of this.










Crested the hill and saw the harbour. You can see Darwin on the other side so all that remains is to catch the ferry and then ride 17km home.











There is something very special about a cold Coke after 4 hours of riding is high heat and humidity. The Mandorah Pub has a great view of the harbour and the Darwin skyline 4 miles across the harbour but 140 by road.
The publican felt sorry for us and gave us some free Gatorade.






The view










At the end of every adventure we take a self portrait. We think they capture the true Gary and Sandy. In this case we didnt have much time to take the shot as we both stank :)






Now probably through heat affected brain I forgot to take any photos of the ferry ride or the ride from the ferry terminal at Cullen Bay to home.....nevermind you've all seen a ferry and some of you have seen Darwin. Due to waiting for the ferry we did the final leg at lunch time by which time it was the hotest I've ever ridden in. We got home, turned on the aircon and then went to the pub for a burger and a shandy.....bloody beautiful.

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Day 1 Darwin - Tumbling Waters

Day 1 Darwin - Tumbling Waters
58km 3hrs 10mins riding time, 4 hrs total

We got a bit concerned when leaving town we saw a sign that suggested that this area might contain crocodiles......we keep our guard up.







The ride out of Darwin is great, apart from a couple of km leaving our house we were on bike paths for the first 22km
Filled water bottles at Shell servo at Palmerston.














Left Palmerston and headed down the Channel Island road (Channel Island is where our power station is). Hit the Elizabeth River bridge and stopped to admire the day.....luckily it was overcast so we had no beating sun......yet.













Worry about the dirt road soon disappeared when it turned out as smooth as the bitumen (mostly).
Only saw a few cars coming the other way and none that overtook us.
Humid!!! I don't think I have ever sweated so much.
Had 3 bottles on my bike and one on Sandy's, two soft drink bottles
filled with water and a camelback bladder. Turned out to be heaps but
we might be on the road a bit longer tomorrow.

Stopped, set the tripod up in the middle of the road (not too many cars) and took the mandatory self portrait.

Looking back, Sandy churning the miles. Funny but these photos do not show the heat and humidity.....we need sweato-vision.

OK, I said the dirt road was smooth but it's all relative, we still smiled when we reached the bitumen.

Once we got onto the Cox Pennisula road we started to get a little
anxious about the heat and how far we had to go. A little further on we saw a sign for the Tumbling Wates van park (where we were staying) and we were hoping for a 'x kilometeres to go' notice but instead it said '5 minutes'. We had a laugh as we tried to convert 'car' minutes to 'bike' minutes.

Arrived at the park at about 1015 and pressed the radio buzzer to attract attention. The surrounds were not luxurious but very nice and very tropical. The lady appeared and was lovely, gave us two cokes for free and $10 off because we cycled. The cabin is plan but most importantly airconditioned. We showered, cooled down and began the process of re-hydrating. The humidity this
morning was something to experience.

No flat tires today

We settled in with our books and discovered that they have a little
bar that opens for 2 hours at 5pm. The thought of a couple of cold
beers before dinner appealed.

Had just enough 3G coverage to post this from my iPhone (tidied it up and added photos once we got home).

Darwin - Mandorah cycle tour

And so it begins. At the worst time of year we decide to cycle to Mandorah from Darwin, overnighting at Tumbling Waters and then catching the ferry from Mandorah back to Darwin.

We have decided to take the dirt road down to Tumbling Waters so naturally it rained all day today so now we are taking the mud road. My nice new touring bike may not forgive me.


And so the packing begins. We think it'll all fit in two panniers (one each) and the handle bar bag.

We went sailing on the weekend on a friends 33ft cat. Very nice but as you can see from the photo there was an hour during the middle of the day where we didnt have much wind. It was spring tides so we had 2+ knots of tide so at least we were still going somewhere :)

Dinner on the boat

27/07/2008 We didnt even go sailing, just sat on the boat while it was tied to the mooring, cooked dinner and enjoyed the sunset.