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Journal: |
I got up at 3 and was on the road by 3:45. The first hour
was most enjoyable, riding across the Clarence River Valley with a
setting moon behind to my left and a clear sky with many stars
visible. I passed through a mixture of grazing country and
cane fields, casting a moonshadow on the road and with little
traffic to worry about. Magic! However, after an hour
the road moved into forested country, the temperature dropped and I
became conscious of how hungry I was. After 93km, I finally
reached my breakfast target town of Ballina, close to the coast
again, and wolfed down a big brekky and lime milkshake.
From
Ballina the road turned north and there was a long climb through
verdant country including citrus trees. From the top of the
climb , there were sweeping views to the north towards the Gold
Coast and to the east, Byron Bay. There were three colours, a
rich deep green of the forests and plantations, the brilliant blue
of the ocean and the yellow of the long stretch of beach. I
had a fast descent, hitting 70kph and having to brake a few times to
avoid catching the car in front of me. Then there was a long
stretch of freeway with a following breeze paralleling the coast
along which I made good time before reaching Coolangatta on the
southern edge of the Gold Coast, about 30kms of resort, culminating
the residential towers of Surfers Paradise.
I stopped for a
tuna sub in Coolangatta, and then rode north to Southport where I
met, Phil, and long-time marathon-running acquaintance who now lives
up here. Phil rode with me for about 30km as we navigated our
way northwards towards Brisbane and we had a good chat.
After Phil left, I continued onto my target for the day, Mt Gravatt,
in the southern suburbs of Brisbane after a fairly boring and tiring
ride through the hilly and sometimes industrial southern Brisbane
region. I got a pizza for dinner nearby and then grappled with
computer problems before another late night. Incidentally,
Erik Straarup finished his lap of Australia in Perth this morning in
just under 51 days, a great effort of whichj I am very envious.
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