Tuesday 18 April 2017

Turning point

Yesterday was a day of extreme contrasts as we left the open savannah and Brahman cattle and ended the day amongst sugar cane and banana palms.

We were packing up yesterday morning and found a little tree frog had taken up residence in a kit bag. We splashed him down with a few drops of water and released it back into the undergrowth near our campsite. 

The road climbed up to the Atherton Tablelands and with a lot of traffic heading back to the coast after the Easter Holiday. We were forced on to the shoulder by one road train and followed a lot of caravans and camper trailers. The tool kit came out for the first time this trip but not for our bikes. A Land Rover pulled up behind us in Mt Surprise, loaded up with a family and camping paraphernalia. They had blown a radiator hose and were going nowhere. We were able to make the hose pressure tight with self-binding silicon tape and cable ties, and we last saw them (still driving) in Atherton heading for home in Cairns.

The Atherton Tablelands were cool and lush - a temperature drop from 34C to 19C in a day's ride and even a few spots of rain. Atherton was the most northerly point of the road trip, and at 16:15 the point at which we started heading south back to Melbourne. 

We are following the coast to Townsville and then heading back Inland to Charters Towers. Heavy tropical rain this morning.

The Antipodean Mariners

1 comment:

  1. Barb and I send you much love. We loved the tableland when we were there, so much great fruit.Custard apples, yum

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