We had a good meal last night of sushi and ice cream. Lutzi joined us. Cairns was humming, and we finished of with a pint at an Irish Bar. The evening marred by the theft of Gordon's bike light.
Woke this morning to the sound of aircraft taking off - didn't realise the motel was so close to the airport. On waking, Gordon said he had been dreaming of doing unspeakable things with a baseball bat to the people who stole his bike light......now, I'm not being funny, but that was not the sort of reaction I had expected from a person of Gordon's supposed left wing political leanings. I was expecting a dry and rather dull lecture on social policy along the lines of "what do you expect if they don't get enough jam on their sandwiches when they are younger..." But no! A rant! He did feel better after it though....
We said goodbye to Lutzi (again) as she went off to dive on the Barrier Reef and pedalled off down the Captain Cook Highway towards Port Douglas. The road to Port Douglas is quite narrow and undulating as it winds its way right alongside the ocean, quite often through shady sections of rainforest. There are fantastic views of the beaches stretching out into the distance and wooded headlands in the distance. It is one of the most spectacular rides so far.
We reached the turn off for Port Douglas and had a cold drink before continuing on towards Mossman and turning inland through cane fields towards Mount Molloy. It was here that we encountered a real shocker...."The Big Hill". We had an 8 kilometer continuous climb of about 10% along a winding road up through the rainforest onto the Tablelands. It was hard work, and we were both drenched with sweat, but I enjoyed it. Quite a lot of the route was shaded by the rainforest, and there was a lot of noise from the forest. If you are going to have an 8 km climb, then at least this was in a nice place and the road was not too bad. I think this may have been the longest climb of the trip so far. Bring on another....
The ride to Mount Molloy was pleasant and relatively gentle. It was so green and and felt so temperate after the summit of the "Big Hill" that it almost looked like the Yorkshire Dales in some places.
We are staying in the National Hotel in Mount Molloy. It is an old fashioned pub with rooms off a wide balcony. Very basic facilities, no room keys or soap, but clean and comfortable. Gordon collapsed on the bed winging about the lack of daytime TV. I feel a beer coming on....
Thoughts and comments:
- Today there is a banana packing championship in Innisfail....
- Traffic heavy up until Yorkey's Knob today.
- Lots of colourful butterflies on the 8 km climb.
- Temperature much cooler on the tablelands around Mount Molloy than down at the coast.
- Today the views were: shopping centres...skytrain...zoo...beach....beach....beach...beach...beach...cane...cane...rainforest...pub
- Snack of the day:Clifton Village - Danish Pastry
- Tune of the day:Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls
- Fact of the day: Mount Molloy sprang up in the 1890s as a timber and copper mining town.
Tomorrow Palmer River Roadhouse...still on tarmac though.
Gordon says ...
Thieving bastards ...
Anyhoo ... Nasty climb today, but a very beautiful one, up through rainforest - for the Brisbane cyclists amongst you - its the back of Mt Coot-tha, times 4. Thank God I have one of those granny cogs. And when we got to the top, all of a sudden I was in the Yorkshire Dales, except without the Tetley Bitter, and the little old men in flat caps, with collies - bizarre - I never even knew this part of Australia existed.
Before that, the ride along the beach north of Cairns was pretty, but a very narrow road, and a lot of particularly stupid drivers. Mt Malloy is not what I expected - ie. a dusty, one-horse hell-hole, full of drunken misfits. Rather, it's quite a lush little oasis in the mountains, full of drunken misfits. I'm sure they won't notice one more for the evening ...
Re: my ongoing literary education. I wish to formally thank Jo Lampert for recommending 'The Little Stranger' - once it got going, I thoroughly enjoyed it - Edgar Allen Poe meets 'Remains of the Day'. Still smarting from my Tolstoy experience, I went to the itunes store and downloaded what appeared to be one of its most popular books (surely millions of people can't be wrong?) - 'Pillars of the Earth', a mystery about the building of a medieval cathedral, by someone I'd never heard of - Ken Follett. Mother of f.....g God! - what a pack of utter drivel - it was like it was written for toddlers. I don't think a single sentence had more that 6 words in it. I lasted about an hour, by which time I wanted to puncture my eardrums with a pencil. I have now embarked upon 'The Blind Assassin' by Margaret Atwood. It's a bit flowery and girly, but after having had my brain partially Follettized, I'm prepared to be patient.
Colin should turn up soon. I'm looking forward to no longer having to talk to Nigel. And I don't know what Nigel's dribbling on about: 'Bring on another' for more big hills. Bugger off. I think the stupid pratt is hallucinating.
Was "the big hill" the australian equivalent of "the dab ons" you came across on jogle ? Can't believe that you have come across the Yorkshire Dales all the way over there - or that you still have internet reception. Not long to go now - and company (the cavalry) on the way !!! Take care Lots of love Luley/Stan xx ps at least they didn't steal your bike Gordon x
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