Nigel says..... Awoke to a really loud dawn chorus at about 0500 hours. It was a really good sound so didn't mind too much. Gordon complained that he had had no sleep and could I inflate his airbed properly next time....."when I were a lad we slept on gravel....if we were lucky!"
After a quick breakfast we set of towards Lakeland. Again the road was good, but there were ominous clouds and sure enough after a few kilometers it started to rain. I decided to carry on and get wet - Gordon stopped to put his 'pac a mac' on. It was quite an undulating ride through the bush with one big hill which gave us a workout. Great views from the lookout and a fantastic long "yihaa" ride down the other side. We seem to be on a flat plain with quite pronounced hill features. There are no foothills here. We cycled along for quite a long time with the forested hills of the Looking Glass Bluff Feature to our east - a very steep looking long ridge line.
After a snack at Lakeland we turned onto the Development Road which will be our home for a number of days. The white lines were orange with dust which was quite ominous and quite quickly we started to get patches of dirt. We made good progress on the bitumen and Colin provided us with a really healthy lunch about 15 kilometers short of Laura. We decided that we would go beyond Laura tonight and try to crack about 20 kilometers of dirt track. This would take us to Fairview Cattle Station. Our experience of the dirt road short of Laura was grim. It was a thick sand like surface with terrible corrugations and progress was slow. Gordon fell off a few times and resorted to pushing - morale not high....
After a break in Laura we pushed on up the road. We are now on dirt. The road conditions will absorb most of our physical and mental energy over the next few days. As expected this is going to be the most challenging part of the trip. There is no relaxing as we have to find the best route through the rough patches. Passing vehicles do not slow down as it is dangerous for them to brake, so we are covered with a thin clinging film of dust. Our butts are taking some punishment from the road, but so far, my butt at least is standing up to it. Progress is variable, as road conditions vary so much, but an average of 20 kilometers per hour is now a distant memory.
It was great to roll into the Fairview Cattle Station and enjoy the hospitality of Ringer and his family. The people have been great allowing us to use their showers and toilets, and have even cut us off some prime steaks for us to eat tonight. I am writing this as flocks of galahs are flying around and Colin is trying to get the cooker going. Gordon is starting to smile as he opens a bottle of Shiraz....
Thoughts and comments:
After a quick breakfast we set of towards Lakeland. Again the road was good, but there were ominous clouds and sure enough after a few kilometers it started to rain. I decided to carry on and get wet - Gordon stopped to put his 'pac a mac' on. It was quite an undulating ride through the bush with one big hill which gave us a workout. Great views from the lookout and a fantastic long "yihaa" ride down the other side. We seem to be on a flat plain with quite pronounced hill features. There are no foothills here. We cycled along for quite a long time with the forested hills of the Looking Glass Bluff Feature to our east - a very steep looking long ridge line.
After a snack at Lakeland we turned onto the Development Road which will be our home for a number of days. The white lines were orange with dust which was quite ominous and quite quickly we started to get patches of dirt. We made good progress on the bitumen and Colin provided us with a really healthy lunch about 15 kilometers short of Laura. We decided that we would go beyond Laura tonight and try to crack about 20 kilometers of dirt track. This would take us to Fairview Cattle Station. Our experience of the dirt road short of Laura was grim. It was a thick sand like surface with terrible corrugations and progress was slow. Gordon fell off a few times and resorted to pushing - morale not high....
After a break in Laura we pushed on up the road. We are now on dirt. The road conditions will absorb most of our physical and mental energy over the next few days. As expected this is going to be the most challenging part of the trip. There is no relaxing as we have to find the best route through the rough patches. Passing vehicles do not slow down as it is dangerous for them to brake, so we are covered with a thin clinging film of dust. Our butts are taking some punishment from the road, but so far, my butt at least is standing up to it. Progress is variable, as road conditions vary so much, but an average of 20 kilometers per hour is now a distant memory.
It was great to roll into the Fairview Cattle Station and enjoy the hospitality of Ringer and his family. The people have been great allowing us to use their showers and toilets, and have even cut us off some prime steaks for us to eat tonight. I am writing this as flocks of galahs are flying around and Colin is trying to get the cooker going. Gordon is starting to smile as he opens a bottle of Shiraz....
Thoughts and comments:
- The Lakeland Horse Sports is on 14th August - be there!
- There is a $300 prize for a wet tee shirt competition in Mareeba on 28th August for anyone who thinks they might win....
- Snack of the day: Laura - caramel ice cream
- Tune of the day: Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
- Fact of the day: The Fairview cattle Station is 700 square miles and runs 10,000 head of cattle. They have a helicopter in the shed to help manage the cattle. It is small in comparison to neighbouring stations.
Tough day tomorrow to Musgrave Roadhouse - up early.
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