Day 89: Rest day - A happy ride around Australia (second attempt) - CycleBlaze

May 10, 2021

Day 89: Rest day

It was a wonderful start to the day with pancakes and coffee.
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There are lots of big melaleuca trees growing amongst the hotels and restaurants. 
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We checked out of our nice Palm Cove hotel and made our way back to Cairns. 

We walked around some shops and I found some more wings.
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Miso omelette and fresh OJ for lunch.
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And collected my food parcel.
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Sandra LawnStill enjoying your journal, great nature photos, no worries about not doing the Cape, I reckon once you achieve your epic ride around Aussie and recovered you’ll go back and ride the Cape as a ‘leisure’ Holiaday ride......I’ve been reading random forums on riding around Aussie and some say you will be tired by the time you get to the Top Western part of Aussie so I reckon you’ve made the right decision. In these sparse cycle touring Covid times we look forward to “ Vince cycles the Cape” I bought one of those water filters for back country NZ but haven’t used it yet will be interested how you get on with it. Take care and stay hydrated
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2 years ago
Vince McCarthyThank you Sandra,

I really enjoy getting the nature photos.

I'll post comments when I have to use the water filter.

Cheers
Vince
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2 years ago

I had prepared this before I started my ride. It contains 6kgs of food. 

Serena mailed it to the Cairns Post Office before she flew here.

Serena also brought with her a couple of items with her that I'll use on my next riding section.

A 10 litre water bladder and a Sawyer Mini water filter.
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Jean-Marc StrydomThose little Sawyer Mini water filters are great and are potential life savers. You won't get the bad taste out of sheep dung filled puddles but you can rest assured the water will be safe to drink.
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2 years ago
Vince McCarthyHi Jean-Marc,

Thanks for the review. I hope I don't have to drink poo tainted water.

Cheers
Vince
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2 years ago
Rodney PrestonSounds smart ditching Cape York!!!
A part of the ride you don’t need! Hope the ride to Darwin goes awesome and is a bit more leisurely than the Cape York one would have been!! 😎👍
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2 years ago

I'll now have the capacity to carry 26 litres of water. I'm sure this is a little overkill but I prefer to have too much than too little.

I have never used a water filter before. I met a traveller early on this ride and they recommended this type.

This brings me to my next point and I hope I won't disappoint any of you nice people that have been following along with my adventure. 

I had originally planned to ride another 1,000kms north from Cairns to Cape York. This will be an arduous ride.

I don't want to do a hard ride and then have to spend the next few months cycling in remote Australia if I am fatigued from the Cape York ride.

So I won't be riding to Cape York on this trip. I'm sure you will forgive me.

Instead, tomorrow I will head west from Cairns heading to Darwin, covering about 2,400kms.

I think there is a gap of 300kms between water points somewhere between here and Darwin, hence why I want to have a lot of water.

Ditching the Cape York ride will also give me an extra 4 weeks of time which means I can pace myself a little easier for the rest of the trip.

In the afternoon we checked into the same hotel we stayed at a few days ago. This was convenient as I was able to leave my bicycle here in their secure luggage room.

I spent the next couple of hours packing all of the food into my panniers. It was mostly dehydrated meals and muesli bars. 

Serena checked that none of my gear had been accidentally put in her suitcase during the last few days. 

Serena also kindly cleaned my sunglasses which had become covered with sweat salt and sunscreen during the last 3 months.

After seeing all of the pretty birds this week I thought it would be appropriate for this book to be my next read.
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We then went out and had a nice dinner by the waterfront. 

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Dave ErtelGood call on Cape York. I was just researching Cairns to Cape York for an escape winter ride. It looks pretty remote and rough. Plus you'd have to ride back the same way. You'll have to do this with Darwin but there at least you'll have an airport and good food! Keep going!
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2 years ago
Lednar De NallohA wise move, you want to be through northern WA before September, major extreme heat risk.
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2 years ago
Vince McCarthyTo Dave ErtelHi Dave,

Thank you.

I hope you get to do the ride and post a journal.

There is a cargo ship that takes passengers between Cairns and Cape York called the MV Trinity Bay. It will save you backtracking.

All the best.
Vince
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2 years ago
Vince McCarthyTo Lednar De NallohThank you Lednar,

I should be well clear of the top end country by then.

Cheers
Vince
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2 years ago
Simon JohnstonAs long as *you* wont be disappointed by not going to Cape York, then do whatever you like. It's meant to be a "get out and see things" trip. I think you have that covered :)
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2 years ago
Vince McCarthyThanks mate 👍🏻
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2 years ago