Adventures by Human Power
Rosedale to Noosa - Latest Update
So Bob the crazy man form the back of beyond waved us off into the bush once again. Anywhere outside of the main towns and cities and one can expect this kind of thing; people living in very simple conditions, toughing it out against the wildlife, the scorching heat and many other challenges.
As we make our ride towards Bundaberg it suddenly dawns on me that Dean's parents may well be there - a slim outside chance - but nevertheless we may meet them today, after a full eighteen months.
Our route continues along the backroads, and Rich, Andrew and myself continue to roast. When will the temperature ever abate? Sugar cane and white barked thicker undergrowth continue to be our companions. I can't say I'm too chuffed at speeding along. Rich is keen and eager to rattle along. Somehow I don't see the urgency. Especially in the heat. Without actually saying the words I try to let Rich know that I'm not really in the mood for it by riding a little more slowly when it's my turn on the front. Speed of riding is probably the most difficult thing to sort out if your riding in a group - we haven't done badly until now.
On arriving in Bundaberg - the home of the largest and most famous Rum distillery in Australia, we dive into an internet cafe to find out what's going on. Tim and Tracy Farr of Tourism Queensland have arranged our accommodation for tonight. Great! How wonderful to have our place to stay ready and waiting for us - and better still it's paid for too! Excellent. Now, where is it? Ah....it's still another sixteen kilometres to go - now that's not quite so good. Another message coming in - from Dean - entitled Bundie on Monday! So it turns out that the Potters will all be here tonight. I barely have time to arrange my thoughts as we make for the small town just outside Bundie. How did Barry, Dean's Dad, get on with his globe trotting flight? Will I recognise Dean's brother and sisters? How will they all be coping with Australia, it's rough edges and its scorching climate at the moment?
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiich!", "Hi Rich", "Hello there mate, how's it going, Well done", the Potters have had a seven hundred kilometre drive to get here. I can't help but feel for them. "Must have been pretty hard that- eh?", nine hours on the road. The family look at me as if I'm a bit daft. Of course they know that we ride out in the sun every day for at least as long as that - with only our legs as propulsion. We try in vain to catch up with eighteen months of family chat - but to little avail. Still it's a late night before we finish talking.
One of our precious rest days is spent here on the coast near to Bundaberg. With just over three weeks until our official end of expedition welcome in Sydney at Mrs Macquaries Point, we don't have time to waste. The highlight certainly of our day, well of our night really, is our trip to the turtle rookery at Mon Repos. Here we witness a huge Loggerhead Turtle laying her eggs in the sand on the beach, then returning to the sea. And also at a separate location we watch the tiny hatchlings struggle down the beach and into the breaking surf. With a survival rate of 1 in 1000, it's hard to imagine how the tiny creatures can even make it out through the crashing waves. Now as a swollen team of 10 we wearily stumble back home and in to bed.
From Bundaberg it's just a single day's ride to Hervey Bay where we will make another excursion from our cycling - and out on to the World Heritage Listed Fraser Island. We ride through Maryborough, Howard and then into Hervey Bay itself. The weather fluctuates between rain and grey cloudy skies and bright blue fierce burning sun. By the time we reach Hervey Bay once again we're pooped. Oh how I look forward to the days where I shall not feel absolutely finished, dehydrated and sunburned at the end of the day.
Our two day excursion out to Fraser Island is a journey out into the largest sand island in the World. The island also however has a significant proportion of Rainforest, and our guide gives us some excellent history on the development of logging on the island - which ceased some ten or so years ago. As we wander through the heavy patter of a rain shower through the high up canopy he explains how tempting the logging of these giant trees is. "This Caurie Pine alone", he explains, "is worth an estimated forty thousand dollars". Suddenly my mind is transported back to the Rainforests of Sumatra, and the painful memories of the destroyed and ransacked habitats that we saw on our ride through the once proudly forested island. How could the locals refuse prices like that on an island with barely any other industries. But what will they do once their precious trees are gone. Of course, they have no replanting strategy.
The island treats us to many beautiful sights. Freshwater lakes, a seventy five mile stretch of golden yellow sand, and cool crystal clear springs of water coming from the deep down water table. We learn about the islands World Heritage Status and we see the inquisitive Dingoes roaming wild and undisturbed through the sand dunes. Rain clouds hang overhead and obscure the perfect landscapes that one associates with the island. But we had a view of the island that most people don't see.
From Hervey Bay we're heading for Brisbane. It's a two day ride down through Gympie and into the fast, luxurious lifestyle of Noosa. The two towns could barely be more different. The Empire Hotel in Gympie puts us up on a Saturday night. The local population is at it's frenetic best and The hotel is miraculously transformed into a heaving nightclub. We're warned that the DJ is 'seriously good' and really gets things going on a Saturday night. 'Oh yeah, it's really going to go off in here tonight' proudly exclaims the Hotel manager. Certainly it gets pretty excitable, and is egged on by the two for the price of one offer on everything behind the bar. The guys and girls of Gympie are on a mission tonight - and they don't care who knows it. The music selection is simply unbelievable. Just when we thought we had safely emptied our heads of the Venga Bus, a loud cheer goes up from he country folk who don't often seem to get out and listen to popular music. "Waap-waah - THE VENGA BUS IS COMING". Oh no, we all groan and look at each other.
Upstairs the walls rumble and vibrate. The lampshades away rythmically to the sound of the YMCA, and I remember Taunton on a Friday night. Of course it's no different there - but somehow you just hope that thing doesn't go on all around the world. But it seems that we are in a good position to report that country towns all around the world love this stuff!
On our way into Noosa we're joined by Phil, Fran and Harriet; Dean's brothers and sisters. Dressed up in full Team Saracen gear we ride as a peleton of seven towards our hotel for the night; The Twin Waters Resort. Noosa oozes money and modern seafront sophistication. New properties have been recently built all the way along the natural network of rivers and canals. People have their boats moored outside their houses and their fast sports cars parked on the drive. Four wheel drives with quivers of Surf Boards roar past us, and bronzed toned bodies whizz along the esplanade on roller blades. Suddenly it feels like we are reaching the Australia that everyone knows about back in the UK. Leisure, sun and sports surround us from every angle.
