More of the same… just rested, cleaned the room, went for a wander, met some more arriving members.
Category: Circuit of Oz 2017
Day 26 – Wooli (0 km)
Nothing. I did almost nothing.
A wander through the park, meet & greet a few more OzSToc members arriving, eat, check emails/Facebook, stood around a lot just chatting. Didn’t even take a photo. Did the washing (a lot of effort there), and I upacked and hung up the tent to dry off.
Nothing.
My dorm room-mates will arrive tomorrow – so spose I’ll have to clean up a bit. Oh, the humanity!
Day 25 – Byron Bay to Wooli (282 km)
Packed and ready, I headed out of the caravan park on to the main drag looking for a café for breaky. Bacon & eggs on toast, coffee, done. Then wandered around a little have a bit more of a look. The shops had already started to open, but since surfing and boutique clothing isn’t my thang I moved on, starting with a quick ride up to the local light-house. Parking was a bitch at this time, especially with the trailer and the rain had started – quite heavy now. I didn’t feel like parking at the bottom and either walking with all of the gear on (sauna mode at max) or getting wet – so I kept going.
Day 24 – Tweed Heads to Byron Bay (188 km)
Next stop was Byron Bay. There wasn’t much point riding only 66 km, so I thought I’d make the ride out to Kyogle – where I probably would have ridden through had my route not been aborted yesterday.
So, I headed out through the Tweed Valley… an amazing run up through the hills again to Kyogle, albeit raining/drizzly the whole way.
Tweed River:
Continue reading “Day 24 – Tweed Heads to Byron Bay (188 km)”
Day 23 – Esk to Tweed Heads (401 km)
Well, what a day!
The rain had stopped for a few hours after dawn so I was able to pack up easily, and then put my soggy m/c gear back on. The helmet has developed a smell not unlike a fermenting durian. It was especially unpleasant putting it on when also cold and damp from the rain yesterday. I can’t wait to replace it when I get home.
First off – Esk Bakery. This place has been a sponsor of OzSToc for some time and is often a place for an RTE (ride to eat) for those in the club in southern QLD. So, I had to pay them a visit for breaky. Nice coffee, nice bacon/egg roll, nice scones. I have to say – Esk is a real gem. It’s a lovely little town.
Day 22 – Bundaberg to Esk (407 km)
Another tour around Bundy, mainly to see the Bundy distillery. Unfortunately, it didn’t open until 10am – way too late for me to be hanging around given the weather. Oh well – mail order it is.
Day 21 – Yeppoon to Bundaberg (359 km)
3 weeks!… sometimes it doesn’t seem that long, but then again sometimes it seems longer.
It rained overnight. A lot. I woke at about 5am, and listened to rain for what seems hours… trapped in my prison. Next time – limit fluids before I go to bed… I was busting!
Over the last few hours (and I suspect the next few days) I’ve been focusing on the weather and the threat of storms and subsequent flooding in SE Queensland… pretty much on my route. Some good advice from fellow OzSToc members, forecasting sites, etc. has left me with a suck-it-and-see approach.
Day 20 – Yeppoon & Rockhampton (0 km)
First into the local Honda bike shop in Rockhampton, where it took over 1.5 hours to do the tyre… I’m glad I wasn’t in a hurry. Anyway, it is good to have new rubber. 😊
This was a reminder that I was in cowboy country… only here would you see someone in a cowboy hat wearing spurs in a motorcycle shop… I also assume it was his quad-bike getting serviced, not his pony:
Day 19 – Arlie Beach to Yepoon (499 km)
Another quick ride through Arlie Beach in the morning before I head further south:
Today was only going to be another short ride of 200-ish kms. However, when I got to Carmila I wasn’t too impressed, so bugger it – on I went.
Day 18 – Townsville to Airlie Beach (275 km)
I’d made a few phone calls yesterday and one was to Novus Glass – they said they could custom-make a mirror for my bike for only $40. So, that was first stop today. It took 30 mins so I rode around a little while they did it. I picked it up, fitted it, and took off. What a piece of crap! Where some mirrors are curved to provide a slight fish-eye/wider view, this was the opposite… things were magnified (around x2). It’s better than what I had, but not good. Worst thing is I think he glued it in so I’m now worried I won’t be able to easily replace it (and will now have to buy another part – grrrrr). Oh, well. Live & learn.
Townsville is surrounded by quite a few very steep-faced hills. I thought as I leave I’ll take a drive up to the top of Mount Stuart for the panorama. Crap – they’d closed the road up to the top for maintenance. Typical! Anyway, I gave it a shot.
Continue reading “Day 18 – Townsville to Airlie Beach (275 km)”