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We had originally planned to go to the coast at Iluka.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/943/4...586dc276_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-09 at 22.22.07 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Chris in Mona Vale had put us in contact with Peter and Kay Forwood and we heard from them last night. They are away on a cruise this weekend Saturday until Tuesday. They live 100 km north of Brisbane, but will actually be just north of the city tomorrow for a family event and so can meet us for lunch there. This means a 280 km ride in the morning from Iluka unless we go farther north. This is a good spot to decide to change the route and we will still go north on th B91 now further and all the way to Casino, where we will take the B62 thru Lismore to Byon Bay. These are all secondary roads with little traffic and will leave us with only 175 km to go tomorrow. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/963/4...5b6a53eb_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-09 at 22.22.59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr From about 30 km before Casino until Byron we saw numerous people pulled over by police. It is interesting unlike NZ people drive 5 km under the speed limit and now I see why. There is definitely a palpable police presence here. Byron is a hip surf town with cool vibe. Our motel had direct beach access thru the back fence. We arrived with about 20 min to spare before sunset. We enjoyed a long walk down the beach where it was 21 degrees even after dark. The town is hopping there are numerous cool places to eat and live music and buskers on every block. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/967/2...9b36b314_b.jpgQueensland-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/959/2...65104454_b.jpgQueensland-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/959/4...b949e2f9_b.jpgQueensland-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/909/2...0edfd37e_b.jpgQueensland-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We left town about 9 and did a side trip off the M1 into koala territory (no sightings) and then headed back to the freeway to make it to Numbah by noon for our lunch meeting with the Forwoods.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/961/4...7c3ba2ce_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-09 at 22.24.27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/791/3...0da22a98_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/923/3...46e79eb8_b.jpgFILE4151 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/866/4...94a8067b_b.jpg Super nice people and so humble. There trip was epic was done before the cellphone/internet age. Their bike has been ridden in every country in the world including all the island nations. Peter and Kay Forwood on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. World's Most Travelled Motorcycle. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/912/4...250521ab_b.jpg They advised us on a route north to end at their house where we could camp in the yard as they will be away this weekend. We traveled thru Samford to Dayboro again on great riding road. Here we stopped at IGA for a slush and as we were getting ready to go a man in van pulled us and said “are you on HU?”. His neighbor had seen us parked and called hill to come down from Mt Mee “because you have to see these 2”. He is the Hepko Becker dealer here and a big HU fan. After our chat we continued up the hill to Mt Mee and then on to Woodford, Peachester, and Beerwah. We then had a short trip on the M1 to get to the Sunshine Coast and Maroochydore. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/946/4...b707e75f_b.jpg |
Here we will camp in the Forwood’s yard and we can use the public facilities at the river 50 m away. We then had a message from them that their cruise is cancelled as the last sailing this week there was a woman lost after jumping overboard.
We arrived to their yard and set up the tent up under the biggest tree for shade. We had stopped at the ALDI on the way and took our meal down to the river side for a picnic. There are thousands of Lorikeets here and just at sunset (and sunrise) they go insane with squeaking and flying about. It is quite a sight and a racket. We tucked in for our urban camping for a quiet night other than the birds. This morning we walked into the city centre along the river for breakfast and then further along to where the river meets the sea at Cotton Tree. We stopped at the Woolworth on the way home and took our lunch across the footbridge near the house. It goes over to the island in the river. Here at low tide you have to walk a long way out on the sand bar for it to get deep enough to swim. Late afternoon Kay and Peter arrived home and we had access to the laundry!!! Tonight we all walked into the town to a great Asian fusion place for dinner. In the morning we rode their bikes back to Cotton Tree for a swim in the ocean and so the guys could do some body surfing. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/910/2...0901c27c_b.jpgQueensland-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We then saddled up the bikes and rode just 15 km to across town to join a party in a park with some of their friends. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/2...a35ae3a5_b.jpgQueensland-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/872/2...7f338bf6_b.jpgQueensland-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/870/2...13a3ed2a_b.jpgQueensland-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/978/2...e3d8231c_b.jpgQueensland-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/968/2...b367a0b5_b.jpgQueensland-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/869/4...ace9795e_b.jpgQueensland-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/959/4...e9762278_b.jpgQueensland-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It is a hot day and in the afternoon it was the for a swim in the river to cool off. Kay made us a lovely turkey dinner. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/2...13ab8462_b.jpgQueensland-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We were up early to swim in the ocean again and then set off north. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/863/2...ab850e14_b.jpgQueensland-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/823/2...4549a047_b.jpgQueensland-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We are trying to get to Cairns 1700 km north, but west as well. Well actually we had to ride south first to join the tourist route. The road is surfaced, but at times it is just a strip of pavement down the centre of a dirt road.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/828/3...ea413630_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/844/4...e0ba6736_b.jpgFILE4188 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/807/4...ce6416f8_b.jpgFILE4193 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/908/4...f4c15dc8_b.jpgFILE4195 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/867/4...91a06fd3_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/897/4...71ecdb30_b.jpgFILE4248 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We wove our way north west thru small towns to arrive to Munddubera just after 4. It was 34 degrees most of the day and we were happy for sunset when it cooled off considerably. We walked into town and had a pretty good meal at the bar of a local hotel. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/930/4...c12b17a5_b.jpgFILE4253 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we may or may not make it the 558 km to Emerald.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/785/4...9c9e4e7d_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-17 at 20.44.16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We gassed up before leaving town and then rode north to Banana on the A3 or Country Tourist route. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/903/4...522ff8e4_b.jpgFILE4256 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The riding is mostly thru farmland, but there are some treed areas and hills. West from Moura we continued on the 60 and more west thru flatter and flatter landscape and on very straight roads and passing thru the small towns and villages. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/805/4...623bc5c6_b.jpgFILE4263 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/855/4...160534c9_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/910/4...1b5411aa_b.jpgFILE4276 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/787/4...acfcaaa7_b.jpgFILE4277 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/818/2...fd023ac4_b.jpgFILE4279 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/916/2...f46514ae_b.jpgFILE4283 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/845/4...219e98ae_b.jpgFILE4287 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/891/4...491eb09a_b.jpgFILE4300 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/919/4...cae11b0e_b.jpgFILE4318 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/884/4...574e1480_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/888/4...b5f8fc66_b.jpgFILE4339 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
At Bauhinia we decided to try out the 110 km cross road. The first 20 km is a single lane of sealed road, the next 30 are good dirt, and the rest is a newly sealed road.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/926/2...248e11fe_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-17 at 20.45.20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/835/2...e5e48f24_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/876/4...a83c8746_b.jpgFILE4375 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/949/2...6cae0c89_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/848/3...61e924e0_b.jpgFILE4395 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/840/4...903270ea_b.jpgFILE4402 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Just about half way Daniel noted his voltage meter was reading low at 12.5. When we got back to the main road (the Capricorn Highway) and onto Dingo for gas. The voltage was holding and we hoped to get the 150 km to Emerald to swap out the stator, but 60 km later the voltage was dropping and luckily there was a very shaded rest stop right there. We changed out the regulator, but as usual no luck and we had to swap out the stator. This is our last spare as Sara’s was changed in Wellington.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/935/4...8fe6a63b_b.jpgFILE4416 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/838/3...2f2f5481_b.jpgIMG_2504 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/879/2...83f94f6a_b.jpgIMG_2506 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/906/2...82658d6e_b.jpgQueensland-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/867/2...9cf9d6d4_b.jpgQueensland-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It was then 90 km to ride directly into the setting sun. We had a room at a pub and it came with a free beer! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/840/2...e589d8c9_b.jpg |
We messaged the HU HUBB in Darwin and have had several replies with addresses to use to ship the new stator from the USA. We in the end sourced the part online in Oz and they want to ship to the Yamaha dealer in Darwin.
We have to decide which of 3 routes to take to Cairns from here the direct (960 km), the inland (1058 km), or the coastal (1119). In the end we went for coastal even though it is a bit longer since we have not seen the ocean for a while and because we will likely backtrack to Charters Towers (inland and direct routes via CT) on the way to Darwin. It is supposed to be a scenic historical town. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/964/4...72ef4c97_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-13 at 18.08.07 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/980/4...4a68d346_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-13 at 18.09.06 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/950/4...43d1d3e4d8.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-13 at 18.08.38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We are finally on the last push towards Cairns via the coast.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/909/4...de6f1f7e_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-22 at 21.49.54 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We have recovered from the stator trauma of yesterday and are up and out early. For the first 2 hours it was straight thru farm land for the most part on the A7 Country route. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/969/4...ec899f7a_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/828/4...f26c2661_b.jpgFILE4468 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/905/2...02be34f0_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/949/4...1e495212_b.jpgFILE4480 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/944/2...65fba270_b.jpgQueensland-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/908/2...6df7776d_b.jpgQueensland-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From Nebo it starts to get more treed and winding. We had booked an apartment on the Blacks Beach near Mackay. Arriving at the “resort” we were very warmly greeted. We had a cute little place with a kitchen and a WASHING machine! So it was laundry time before a walk on the beach and dinner.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/831/4...b456ac89_b.jpgFILE4492 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/865/4...8fa9d63c_b.jpgFILE4505 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/904/4...919d8d8b_b.jpgQueensland-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/956/4...185dd0a6_b.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/831/4...26f0ef3c_b.jpgQueensland-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We woke to a cloudy (yeah) day and cooler temperatures for our ride north to Townsville.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/963/2...e8827dbd_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-22 at 21.50.38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We left the beach and backtracked to Mackay and back on the A1. There are hundreds of km of sugar cane! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/943/2...c89df66d_b.jpgFILE4522 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We arrived to the iconic (full of tourists) Airlie Beach. Here we got some lunch and spent a few hours sitting by the water. We did not go into the water due to the killer jelly fish!They have spray bottles on vinegar you are supposed to take swimming with you. Everyone is in the "lagoon", which is just a swimming pool that looks like a lagoon. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/969/4...b8310fa4_b.jpgQueensland-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/970/4...928f1f13_b.jpgQueensland-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/958/2...6b6c74f8_b.jpgQueensland-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had a break in Bowen at the "Big" Mango. This is another of the famous Big things in Oz. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/974/4...15a739e7_b.jpgQueensland-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/945/4...85f0d2c0_b.jpgReef by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We finally arrived to the city just before 530. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/973/2...51e1f591_b.jpgIMG_2509 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/981/2...fbc7c9b6_b.jpgFILE4536 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We are getting to Cairns tomorrow and have not yet had word that our Carnet had arrived. We received an return email from the Swiss Motoring Association that they did not get our payment sent 10 days ago and they did not ship the Carnets. WTF are we to do now as we have to drop the bikes in 2 weeks time at the shippers. We gave them our Darwin address. We need a renewed Carnet as our original will run out before we will leave Malaysia. We will exit Oz on the current one and then enter Timor Leste on the new one. We had to go down for a Grey Goose on ice. By the time we had come back from dinner we had a very apologetic email from SMA. They had a clerical error on their end and they have already express shipped they new Carnets to Darwin. Crisis averted. |
We did attempt to have a walk in the city, but even at 10 am it is scorching out in the sun. Another Australian GIANT thing!
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/951/2...09597a5b_b.jpgIMG_2517 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We have another cloudy and at time rainy day on the A1 to Cairns. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/827/2...397366b1_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-04-22 at 21.53.13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This was a long boring ride and in fact we had to stop half way for a nap on a bench from road fatigue. It is sugar cane or bananas for scenery. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/949/4...ec3bd8d0_b.jpgFILE4543 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/832/2...a8a78d6f_b.jpgFILE4558 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We started to see these road condition signs when we entered Queensland. They tell you you by section if the roads are passable or flooded and impassible. Luckily we planned to be here in the dry season. (Two seasons in QLD dry and hot and wet and hot!) https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/4...4d88227a_b.jpgFILE4562 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/868/4...056b4c8a_b.jpgFILE4568 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/943/4...aa58a029_b.jpgFILE4578 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/949/4...82344c08_b.jpgFILE4587 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/824/2...9fd92fae_b.jpgFILE4597 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We made another stop in Edmonton at the bottle shop for some bubbles to celebrate with Skip and Rachel. It is great to finally be here with them after 7 years.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/831/4...e0a02678_b.jpgReef-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/831/4...59692e87_b.jpgIMG_2610 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/828/4...f2c3e45c_b.jpgReef-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/959/4...c1374928_b.jpgReef-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today is Saturday and we decided on a day trip 70 km north to Port Douglas. We stopped first at a few auto parts dealers in search of oil and then the Swede messaged us that he had just ridden 120 km to cairns and was at Yamaha having tires mounted. We were 2 blocks away so we snuck up, took this pic, and texted him! Surprise. He was also headed to Port Douglas coincidentally today.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/964/4...cd1e9524_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-05-15 at 20.50.54 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/831/2...d73962fa_b.jpgIMG_2523 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/868/4...73019307_b.jpgIMG_2525 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We drove north to Thala Beach resort for a coffee and an amazing view and then headed north for lunch with Orvar and a walk on the beach. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/969/4...8eacdd01_b.jpgIMG_2526 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/982/4...ff3d7733_b.jpgIMG_2530 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/867/4...86614354_b.jpgIMG_2529 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/960/4...e1df8c28_b.jpgReef-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/869/2...d25f12e2_b.jpgReef-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/964/2...f165c4d1_b.jpgReef-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/828/2...99137bc3_b.jpgReef-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/970/2...77ce05ca_b.jpgReef-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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