Not a too long day and highest road of Queensland…
As usual, it is difficult to sleep long on camping park: others gets early up and don’t seem to really care about others. The night was a little better… I guess the wine is to be thanked! 🙂
So we had together breakfast, taking our time. Finally, just before 11h, we left the camp ground. My goal was easy: as the distance to Cairns was over 180km with lot’s of little up’s and downs and the wind not in my favour, I wanted to half the way and take it easy, so to arrive Tuesday evening – two days before my flight back.
On the road to Ravenshoe, there is a lot of memorial to military troupes from World War II because they were stationed over there before send to the war. And today is the memorial of that…
When I arrived in Ravenshoe I first wanted to buy some fresh water because the one I hade from the bags where tasting not as nice (chlorine). I had as well something to eat. I just wanted to check my emails to see what came in and could spend 15 minutes at the internet Caffe. There, Jeanne saw my bike and we started the discussion. At the end she spend me the 2 dollars for the internet and 10 dollars on top of it. Big thanks! 🙂
Ross had give the advice to follow the “old Kaban Road” and I made mistake by by-passing the Kaban Road instead of going first to Kaban and then take the road. Anyway, the result is bad and good: Punishment with a lot of crest to over 1100m. On the other hand: I have driven the highest road in Queensland. 😉
And the other positive aspect: I was like at home. That part of the “high” table lands are quite similar to some landscape of Switzerland. If you don’t look to closely and see the red ground or some “unknown” trees. 😉
So the road brought me to Atherton, from where I cycled in direction of Mareeba. After some kilometers, avocados were selled beside the street. I went to the farm because there was as well a secondary road that could lead me to “my tent spot”. There I met Betty who was interested of what I was doing. Her son is as well interested in bicycles… So after a while she gave me avocados “ready to eat” (I had chosen much harder one) and spend me some dollars for the WWF. Grazie mille! She told me I could put the tent behind the farm. But I frankly wanted to have a larger distance to the main road and it’s noise. So she told me I could go near the banana plantage… where I ‘m now: I won’t cook today something as I don’t want to start a new bottle of gas that I can not use anymore.
The day was kind of strange. Beside the usual thought I had the last days, I started to feel to reach my goal. Something I had not had in Chile – may be because the journey stopped in Arica instead of Lima. Strange feeling…
let’s have some food and sleep… tomorrow is the last day!
Cheers, Georges
The day in numbers: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81683959
