|
|
May 11th-20th, 2001May 11th; Brisbane to Caboolture
Cycled with Rob into the center of Brisbane, his normal commute route. Nice cycle path along the highway and then along the river. Brief stretch on side of the freeway. We parted company at downtown Brisbane. I cycled further and through the botanic gardens and also walked through the downtown Queen Street pedestrian mall.
The Bruce Highway is the main road and goes 1700km from Brisbane to Cairns. This will be my route for the next few weeks. At this point, the Bruce Highway as two busy lanes each way. I decided to ride the highway the last 8km to see the road so far. Definitely busy and with less shoulders than the Pacific Highway. In those 8km, two segments with road construction and thus jersey barriers along the left instead of shoulders. Stopped in Caboolture. An early stop, but now already outside Brisbane
and heading outbound. May 12th; Caboolture to Gympie
I got off the highway to take the tourist route through Nambour. First stop was a 15 meter high fiberglass pineapple, appropriately named "The Big Pineapple". Inside the three story pineapple were exhibits about tropical fruits. Outside were little pineapples on a plantation.
Shortly after I rejoined the Bruce Highway again, it became just a single
lane with occasional overtaking lanes. For most of the next 40 km, the
road wound its way through hilly area with forests and ranches, but no
commercial establishments. At 10 km south of Gympie was a large roadside
complex, the Matilda rest area. This had shops, petrol (gasoline),
etc. Apparently, stocks of diesel will be in short supply here.
Partially due to joint US/Australian military exercises and partially due to
refinery problems. Stopped for a late lunch and then cycled last 10km to
Gympie for the day. May 13th; Gympie to Maryborough
Fog in the low areas and fairly chilly starting out. Most motels seem to have space heaters, so never really expect to get very cold. Somewhat open terrain with cattle. Bike was riding well though I'd needed to tighten a rear spoke and raise the seat slightly. About 15km into the ride, came to Gunalda. I'd been seeing signs for "Windsong" including a cafe, so eagerly pedaled there to find they were not yet open. Instead climbed over a low hill and stopped briefly at roadside area of Glenwood. I've been seeing signs for a tropical fruit, spelled both "paw-paw" and "papaw". The Glenwood Service Station had jams made with various tropical fruits.
From Tiaro, ranching lands gave way to pineapple, sugar cane and other
crops. Nice visitor stop outside Maryborough. Nearby a winery and
also a big fruit packing factory. Cycled into town for lunch. Made
it an early day and wandered around town. Sunday and most shops were
closed, but still a nice museum and historic buildings. May 14th; Maryborough to Gin Gin
Lots of forest cycling today. North of Maryborough was Wolgi State Forest with pine trees neatly planted in rows. Later mostly eucalyptus along the way. Shoulders continue to be intermittent. Forest riding went quickly without side distractions. Turnoffs to small towns of Torbanlea and Howard after 30 km. From here, forest again for 20 km and the Isis River. Crossing the Isis River, noticed orange trees in big nets. Also, a quarantine sign to prevent transport of banana or cane plants. Town of Childers was situated on a ridge. Cute downtown with many shops. Childers gained notoriety June 23rd, 2000 when an arsonist burned down the backpacker hostel in center of town, resulting in fifteen lives lost. Apparently, this hostel helped some backpackers find migrant work picking fruits in the area and the fatalities were all fruit pickers under age thirty. I found the hostel along the main street and paused briefly at the memorial.
From the road junction, continued through woods for 20 km to Booyal and short
lunch stop at a roadside service station. Last 25 km had more sugar cane,
including areas with a narrow gauge cane railway. Stopped at the small
town of Gin Gin. Walked through main business district in 15 minutes. May 15th; Gin Gin to Benaraby
Today was a four water bottle day. Normally, two bottles is enough with frequent places to fill up. However, no such places expected until Miriam Vale at 99 km. Sparsely wooded terrain, with grassland and cattle along the way. Long rolling hills that included gradual climbs and corresponding long glides downhill. Quite a bit of caravan traffic and truck traffic. Stopped briefly at 18 km at turnoff to the dam and continued down the road.
From Miriam Vale, the terrain followed the railroad tracks and was
flatter. Still quiet with only a small burg of Bororen before I came to
Benaraby. Several military vehicles passing as US and Australia are having
joint military exercises in the area. This and some refinery problems are
causing Queensland a potential short term shortage of diesel fuel. Felt
good to stop after a long day. May 16th; Benaraby to Rockhampton
Today busy riding along the Bruce Highway. Many motels here have meal service. I have dinner, but frequently leave before breakfast. Instead, stopped briefly in Calliope at 16 km. Another quick stop 7 km later when signs said historical village. Wasn't officially open yet, but dropped by admission fee in the tin and took a quick look around at old historic buildings and train cars. From there, straightforward riding through wooded terrain. Cows with large humps would frequently take a look at my bicycle, pause for a bit, and then decide to stampede away from this strange beast. Rockhampton is known as the "beef capital" of Australia. Australian beef has been doing well, partially because of hoof-n-mouth disease has inhibited european beef. Stopped again at Mount Larcom, known for its pies.
Shoulders were mostly narrow with a fair amount of truck traffic. Also a few occasions of huge construction equipment being moved as "wide loads". These loads would be preceded by a pilot car and a police car with flashing lights. Otherwise, most trucks gave me good room. After Mount Larcom, went through several small places before coming to the
big metropolis (~60,000 people) of Rockhampton. There were several cow
statues, a visitor center at the Tropic of Capricorn and some nice downtown
shops. Found a nice place downtown. May 17th; Rockhampton to Marlborough
Left "Rocky" as the route followed a 50cm wide aboveground pipe for about 25 km. Not certain if this is water or something else. Also, railroad tracks through only two trains today. After 25 km, a turnoff to The Caves, some natural limestone caverns. Another 11 km later, Yaamba had a service station and a hotel. Stopped in and stocked up. Light fog in this stretch. At 50 km for the day was a roadside marker commemorating the gold discoveries in 1858 that brought numerous settlers to the area and led to the start of Rockhampton. Another 10 km later was a turnoff to a mine as part of the "Queensland Magnesia Project", presumably a manganese mine. This area was considerably more open which allowed the wind to pick up.
May 18th; Marlborough to Carmila
Today a ride back from beef to cane and bananas, though changing slowly. Previous evening a front had come through, dropped some rain and generally cooled things off. Estimate about 10° C (59° F) instead of 15° C these past few mornings. Felt great to ride in cool morning air through the forest. A slight crosswind, though that started changing more to tailwind. Perfect morning! Made good time, pausing briefly at the closed Tooloombah Roadhouse at 35 km. Short while later, met a cyclist coming from Cairns and going to Melbourne. Traded road information and also stayed out of the way of a huge "Wide Load" boat carried on trailer.
First real water stop was a roadhouse at 88 km. Their specialty was big burgers, though it didn't hit home until I saw that "big" meant a burger that seemed almost as large as my head. Most of the terrain until now had been sparsely wooded with cattle. This started to change as I came past first banana plants in several hundred kilometers. Also came close to the coast for first time in a week. Beautiful blue-green waters with small islands offshore. Almost tempting enough to stop, but put in another 30 km to stop at Carmila. Carmila is a small town surrounded by sugar cane. Library is open two
afternoons a week. Small Anglican church and a Catholic church that has
mass once a month. May 19th; Carmila to Mackay
Easy ride today, mostly flat with some tailwinds. Road surfaces are somewhat rough. Not bumpy rough, but instead larger chips and not as much tar on the road. Mackay harbor handles approximately a third of the Australian sugar exports and there were plenty of cane fields along the way. Cane plants were almost three meters high. Apparently, the "crush" will start at end of next week. From Carmila, followed the railroad tracks over past Orkabie and Ilbilbie sidings to the small town of Koumala. A store, post office, pub/hotel and community building were the main establishments in town. Outdated postings for a local basketball league with six teams.
From Sarina, a bit more tailwind to blow me through the cane and fairly
quickly the last 35 km to Mackay. Stopped here at a visitor information
center to get town information. The town itself had a large mall, "Caneland"
(closes at 3pm on Saturday) and many small shops including an internet
cafe. Otherwise seemed like a fairly sleepy town. May 20th; Mackay to North Mackay via Kuttabul
Nice cool morning starting out. Smooth roads and light winds from the side. Tall and lush cane along the way. Unlike corn, seems like the tall plants grow right to the sides of the field. Sunny and nice day riding. Stopped in for breakfast two kms down the road and then passed North Mackay with large shopping center and cinema. Then out of town and along the small burg of Farleigh. Road passed a rock outcropping, "The Leap" and a shop selling sapphires.
Tightened up all spokes on the left by half turn and investigated the wobble further. I might be able to remove the worst of the wobble, though truing wheels, particularly on the road, is awkward. Figured if Bowen had a bike store, might stop by tomorrow 150 km down the road. Unfortunately, Yellow Pages listed no bike shops northbound for the next 200 km and thus likely to Townsville almost 400 km away. Decided to be very cautious and turn back to Mackay with its four bike shops. On a previous trip across Canada, I'd broken three rear rims. This time, I wanted to avoid weakening this rim, and wobble into Townsville, just prior to heading into the outback. Instead, having a professional with truing stand get wheel into solid shape was worth some peace of mind. Pretty cautious, but I had some extra time in the schedule. Turned around and saw scenery from the other direction. Passed Wade
Hatler who must have been keeping close to a similar route. Climbed up
past The Leap. Side winds or perhaps slight tailwinds. Stopped in
North Mackay. Bike shop (and most other shops) closed on Sunday, but open
tomorrow morning at 8:30am. They'll have a client waiting.
Otherwise, relax here and walk over to shops and cinema. |
Unless otherwise specified, this page © Copyright 2001-2002, Mike Vermeulen |