Copperlode Dam

I knew it wouldn't be long and we'd be back on the bikes for more adventures albeit little ones.

When we first arrived in Cairns we both talked about riding up to Copperlode Dam/Lake Morris. The road is a narrow winding road up the mountain directly behind Cairns to which at the end you are met with Cairns's water supply.

So last night we talked about it almost seriously so when I woke up this morning at 5am (for some reason) I waited until 5:45 and woke Sandy who was keen to go......sort of.

We pumped up the tyres and oiled the chains of our trusty touring bikes and set off.

It wasn't long and we were both wet with sweat

but the views were amazing

It was a fantastic ride with stunning views and incredible that we have this about 3km from our house.  All up we rode 40km in 2h 50min with a total elevation gain of 810m.  Not bad for a lazy Saturday morning.

Cairns shrinking as we started the climb

The best part about this ride is that unlike most roads in and around Cairns that are always packed with cars hell bent on trying to kill you, we only saw a few vehicles.  There was this one lady in a 4WD that kept driving past up then stopping, we'd ride past then a few minutes later she go past and stop not far ahead.  We shrugged our shoulders and thought she was just weird but it turns out that she was the support vehicle for her husband/boyfriend/partner who was riding up.......soft.

We past quite a few cyclists on road bikes, MTBs and some plain old city bikes.  The one thing all these people shared was big smiles and a bit of huffing and puffing.  It really is a great ride.

At the top there is a kiosk/cafe so after 1:45 to get to the top we indulged in a croissant and then headed back.

We arrived back and as I type this Sandy is having a bit of a rest in bed :)

It was back to Plan 'A', The Kuranda Range

In a mad panic Mum rings me to tell me that there is some big festival up at Port Douglas on the day we were supposed to ride up to Port Douglas/Mossman and that 20,000 people are expected there on the Friday night. So it's back to riding up the Kuranda Range. Famous for it's traffic and lack of shoulders on the side of the road so we were a little nervous and as it turns out rightfully so.....it was crazy. We got off and walked a couple of times when we heard trucks approaching but it was so bad that there was hardly any room for that. Anyway the point of this post is, if you every get the urge to ride the Kuranda Range, dont do it at lunch time, maybe a dawn but not lunch time.

To make things a little more exciting Sandy had a bit of a tummy bug going on on the day we flew over. The sort of problem that makes you nervous if you are too far from 'facilities' if you know what I mean. She had tummy cramps, had no food and also dehydrated and put in a stoic effort to climb the range. She's a trooper.

At the top of the range with a big sigh of relief we found a caravan/camp park that was absolutely beautiful in the rain forest.

The cycle tour of Cairns and the Tablelands

We got back last night a great week. We got sick, got scared, laughed, caught up with family, ate lots of food, saw some magnificent scenery and will need to write more words later. But for now we attach the photos.

Oh my Gawd, have you looked at the countdown

Sandy and I bobbing along doing what we do and having a great time suddenly realise that we have about two weeks until we are supposed to riding around the Atherton Tablelands!!!!

Quickly last weekend we load up the bikes with front and rear panniers filled with stuff to simulate a load and go for a 40km ride. The result was not too bad, could've kept going so we feel a bit better. Having said that there are no mountain ranges in Darwin :)

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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