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**saralou** · #1 16 May 2018

Sunday morning we made for the weekend market for breakfast of Vietnamese soup and iced coffees! Then it was some mall time for the air con before a visit to the new aquarium. Rachel made some great meals for us and we did a lot of relaxing at their place.

IMG_2603 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

IMG_2596 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #2 16 May 2018

We were up early and Skip dropped us at the marina at 7 am for our 730 departure for a day on the Great Barrier Reef. It is over a 2 hour trip on our slow boat, but we had 2 snorkel sessions with lots of fish. It is a shame to see the extent of the death of the coral!

Reef-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

IMG_2612 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

11B36B40-D427-4502-8A72-4DF8F28D651B by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Reef-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Reef-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Reef-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Reef-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Reef-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Reef-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Reef-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Reef-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

IMG_2624 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #3 17 May 2018

We are back to out team of 3 for the long ride to Darwin.

Screen Shot 2018-05-13 at 20.04.43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Step one get to Hughenden or Charter Towers.

Screen Shot 2018-04-26 at 16.26.23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-04-26 at 16.31.35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We had a nice morning on the Gillies twisty road.

Screen Shot 2018-04-26 at 16.27.00 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE4610 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #4 17 May 2018

By 930 we were up on the table lands and though flatter and straighter riding it was not boring. The entire area is overrun with termites!

FILE4642 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE4652 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-41 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There is almost no other traffic except the occasional road train!

FILE4675 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE4681 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE4686 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #5 17 May 2018

We had a “deep fried” Bogan lunch in Mount Garnet and then rode south to The Lynd. So far the scenery is not boring and dire as we have been warned. It seems to change type every 50 km or so from rolling hills, flat farm land, grassy dry marshes, scrub land, and forest. Sometimes the main road is a strip of seal on a dirt road.

FILE4698 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE4713 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

In The Lynd there is a gas station and we asked how the road south was. The gas station attendant said it is 264 km (with absolutely no services on the road) and only half is surfaced, it has water on it in places, and they recommend we ride around. It is 506 km around and actually takes 1 hour less! We also checked with a road train driver who said there is a fair amount of deep sand and that we will have to ride in the ditch and try to avoid the washouts…around it is we can not risk any issues. Its after 2 and we don’t have enough food or water anyway to camp out. If we start out now we will not make it to Hughenden before dark.

Screen Shot 2018-04-26 at 16.28.38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE4725 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE4738 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

A long day for the Swede!

IMG_2627 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #6 17 May 2018

It was 430 when we arrived to Charters Towers after 250 km. We headed to the Woolworth for supplies and then to the caravan park. It had a nice shaded grass area for the tents. The camp kitchen was a bit sketchy as they only had BBq’s and a wood stove. Luckily we had bought a cooked chicken and salad for dinner. The wine/

helped. We are pretty tired and hit the sac not long after 9. We were woken up not long after by 2 possums fighting, but that did not last too long.

We had planned to get up early for the 830 ANZAC day parade, but despite actually getting up at 730 with the birds we did not leave the park until almost 930. This was after boiling eggs on the bbq (takes longer than you think). We rode into town and caught the last half of the ceremonies and the wreath laying at the ANZAC monument. There is one in almost every town. The poor school kids standing in the hot sun were dropping like flies.

North Queensland-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #7 17 May 2018

We headed out of town west after 11 and made for Hughenden to the road house, which was THE ONLY thing open as it is a national holiday. The road here is flat and straight with mostly grassland. There is almost no other vehicles and you might see a few every 50-60 km. There are not even that many road trains either.

Sara had a “toastie” , which is a grilled cheese of sorts and here it is made with laughing cow, which does not really melt. The guys had deluxe burgers, which had a bun, a burger patty, a thin steak, bacon, cheese, a fried egg, a slice of pineapple, lettuce, tomato, and a slice of pickled beet root. Dan ordered a large fires, which would feed 8!

Screen Shot 2018-04-26 at 16.32.10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE4755 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Queensland-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr