Day 0 of cairns to CANBERRA RIDE (and commencement of the EPIC FAILS

Hello world! (again). Well, it has started. I was pretty aloof in sharing to much about this ride, but I am underway. Day 0 of my bike packing voyage from Cairns to Canberra. You heard right, Cairns to Canberra (yes I know, 2800 odd kms… kind of like riding from Sydney to Brisbane, back to Sydney then back to Brisbane again).

Well, it “mostly” was pretty uneventful and ran smoothly. I was staying at my sister’s house in Wollongong, and the bro-in-law was kind enough to give me a lift to the airport. Massive bike box easy fit into the back of the Ranger. Total box weight, 28.5kgs. I got the bike into oversized luggage, plane left on time and arrived in Cairns on time (and yes, with Jetstar – I know right!?). Upon arriving at the airport, the Jetstar lady directed me to International where I would find a box crusher. I wandered over to Internation. Deserted. Population: me. I thus proceeded to take up residence right outside on a nice patch of grass. Bikes need to have tyres deflated, front wheel off, pedals off, seat down and handlebars parallel with the frame. Pretty straightforward job. I also proceeded to get changed into the riding kit – right there in front of International (didn’t include a photo of that bit).

So here is the part I tell you I cheated a bit (just this one time hopefully). On researching the ride up to Atherton, I noticed it was steep and winding. That didn’t bother me too much. What bothered me was the lack of shoulder and the fact that it was Easter = busy. I was right. The road was painfully busy and I would have been a PITA to motorists trying to pass. Added to that were three sections that were one-way due to roadworks (you know where they use the temporary traffic lights). So basically, I rode the 6km from the airport to the bus depot at Cairns central.

EPIC FAIL 1 (of who knows how many): I dropped one of my NEW gloves. Doh! So, until I find somewhere that sells something remotely similar, it is bare hand riding for now. Holding the handlebar is not so much the concern as is falling off.

Anyway, the bus ride was about 70km up to Atherton. On arriving at Atherton, I took my time to mosey on over to the motel accommodation I booked for the night.

EPIC FAIL 2: I booked the wrong night! The owner said I had little chance of getting anything but offered to let me “pitch the tent” on the lawn. He did mention the tourist park down the road might have room for a tent (which they did thankfully). Problem was when I got there it was drizzling, windy and rapidly getting dark (and I must add the sun seems to set a whole lot quicker up here than Sydney. It was an unprepared, very jumbled mess to get things set up. Here is the cluster f*$k of a setup. At least I had good feed at the the local pub. Atherton was a bit like hmm say Berry (minus the every second shop being a cafe).

Win 1: The ground mat was a total win on a “moist” ground. Alas the next morning I had to pack up everything rather damp (I’ll share more about the rest of the gear in time).

AND YES I WILL UPDATE THE DONATION LINKS ONCE READY (dragged the heals a bit on that one).