August 30, 2015
A bearly believable rescue operation: Watch out below!
Before leaving Port Macquarie we organised a stay with some more warmshowers hosts one hundred kilometres further north. Although Dea's wrists had recovered somewhat it was disheartening to see her write in the request that she might need to organise alternative travel from there to Surfers Paradise. I really hoped that wouldn't be necessary and that we would be able to cycle all the way to Surfers together.
With that in mind it was important that we make the right choice of route from Port Macquarie in order to protect Dea's wrists. We had three options – an apparently very difficult sandy track by the sea where we would probably have to get off and push was ruled out first for obvious reasons. That left us with either the highway or another gravel back road. After being told that the gravel road would be flat and not too bumpy we opted for this and overall it proved to be a good choice. After taking a ferry from Port Macquarie to get to it there wasn't much traffic at all. Unfortunately what traffic there was was mostly 4x4 vehicles, most likely taking the gravel road just to justify their existence, and every time they passed us they covered us in great clouds of dust.
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The road brought us to the pretty little holiday town of Crescent Head. There were plenty of accommodation options here, but none in our limited price range, so we continued further up the coast and found ourselves something much better. We had a beach all to ourselves. The white sand stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. It was so vast and empty and beautiful. Big waves crashed ashore and the wind swirled around us as the daylight faded and we watched a big yellow moon rise from the sea. It was a special place to spend the night.
The next day was another pleasant one. We woke up by the beach and did a bit of cycling on a flat road, and I saw four kangaroos, which, all-in-all, was a great way to start the day. And after another nice quiet road alongside a river we reached Gladstone where we ate cheese sandwiches for lunch and relaxed in the sunshine.
With Dea's wrist doing alright on the flat roads we didn't have much at all to complain about on this fine day, and we were doing so well, in fact, that we even had time to stop and help when we saw someone in need. It was rather a surprise when we first came upon the distressed individual in question, as we were by mid-afternoon back amongst an unpopulated region of forest on another dirt track of a road. Cycling merrily along our eyes were diverted upwards by a big white body hanging limply over a tree branch. The victim was a bear - a large cuddly one - and he looked as if he'd been hanging around up there for some time.
We cycled past, commenting on how sad the poor bear looked and wondering how he came to be in such strife, before we were both halted by a forlorn voice. “Please help me!” it sighed. Dea and I stopped and looked at each other. We'd both heard it. There was no doubt the bear wanted our assistance. After a brief hesitation we decided it would be best to do something for the stricken bear, and agreed to free it from its uncomfortable position.
We got off the bikes and tried to grab at the bear, but it was too high. Looking for an alternate strategy we next picked up fallen branches from the ground and attempted to leverage the bear with those. It was no use. The bear, sodden from rainwater, was too heavy. To get more force I shimmied up the tree, but still he couldn't be freed. Then I noticed that there was a rope shackling the poor creature to the tree branch. Well, there was nothing for it, we were too committed to our task as good Samaritans to give up now, and so I climbed further up the tree until I could reach the rope. I untied the knots and finally the bear was free. “Watch out below!” I cried, as the heavy animal finally returned to earth.
With Karen and Kennet the kangaroos, Mr Plopples the platypus, Kevin the koala and Wilma the wombat our cuddly toy family was already quite extensive, and there sadly just wasn't room for a giant wet teddy bear on either of our bikes. Fortunately, on this occasion the bear was just happy to be free and didn't want to come with us, and was quite okay with staying in the woods with his friend, Grumpy Monkey.
Trying to steer proceedings back towards normality we arrived at our hosts later that afternoon. Stephen and Jacky, a lovely couple, put us up for the night at their charming countryside home. With pleasant conversations, pizza, and a warm bed for the night, life felt really good here. Even Dea's wrists were feeling strong and there would be no need for her to seek alternate transport or even take any more time off. Come morning we were both rested and ready for the final push.
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30/08/15 – 49km
31/08/15 - 60km
Today's ride: 109 km (68 miles)
Total: 46,808 km (29,068 miles)
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