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Journal: |
Although I was comfortable enough sleeping on my picnic table, my
sleep disturbed by a huge truck which parked next to my table and
left his engine idling in my ear. I eventually got up a little
before 4am and quickly packed up and left. It wasn‘t raining
and I listened to the Test Cricket from the West Indies on my radio
as I headed north to see how much time I could make up on my
schedule. I passed through the beautiful Cardwell on the ocean
just before dawn and continued north. I was still very tired
and was dozing while riding as I approached Tully where I ate a
much-needed Big Brekky. It had been raining for the last hour
and now looked to have set in for the day. This is the wettest
part of Australia and looked it. Dense tropical growth gave
way to cane fields and banana plantations in places.
Everything was very green, including the jungle clad mountains
nearby, some of which rose to about 1,000m.
I decided to
make Cairns and a good night’s sleep my target for the day, hoping
to arrive early enough to do a load of washing and catch up with my
cousin, Phil, and wife, Denise. There were quite a few hills
in the afternoon, but I tried to maintain a good speed despite
continuing rain, narrow roads and lots of traffic. My right
Achilles became increasingly painful and I ended up stopping and
lowering my seat a centimeter, which seemed to ease the pain a
little. Hopefully that will help resolve what was becoming a
worsening problem.
I found a motel on the way into the
centre of Cairns, got my washing done, and met Phil and family for a
hasty early dinner. I have a solid climb over the Great
Dividing Range first thing tomorrow, so it is unlikely I will make
up any time on my schedule deficit.
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