Monday 6th April - Cairns (and flying home to Adelaide)
I fly out for home at about midday today, so that I can attend the presentation of my award at Government House on Tuesday. I have a busy morning chasing up repairs to the bike. The good news is that Hank Enginnering can repair the bike, and it will be finihsed when I return to Cairns in a couple of days. The bad news is that I will only be able to carry a minimum of luggage, or risk the same thing happening again. The adventure is at a turning point and I must consider quitting and returning home by the quickest route (with hardly any luggage) or finding a way to continue. I have several options available to me, and I need to discuss them with family. I left all my stuff at Cairns and flew home via Melbourne, arriving back home at about 7.00 pm. It was lovely to be home again.
Sunday 5th April - DISASTER DAY!!
The day started well, and I decided to ride to the Daintree. The Captain Cook Highway heading north from Cairns rivals the Great Ocean Road. It is simply beautiful, with the road winding around the coast where the rainforest meets the ocean. I stopped at Rex Lookout for a photo opportunity and to watch hang gliders just a few meters overhead, swirling back and forth on the uplifts. I continued on to the Daintree River. On my return to Cairns I stopped for fuel and noticed that the whole back of the bike behind the seat had dropped about 50mm. The ducktail and all my luggage mounts were just flopping up and down. I rode slowly back to camp, and pulled the back of the bike to bits. The frame had completely snapped just behind the shock absorber mounts, and everything was held in place with only the plastic mudguard. The back half of the seat, the tail lights, and all of my luggage carrying frames were in danger of falling off. Clearly it was caused by overloading, which just broke the frame, wich was never designed to support the loads that I was carrying. I can no longer carry any luggage and the back half of the bike threatens to fall off!
A
couple of Dutch guys ran me up to some shops to get some washers that I needed for temp strengthenign repair, and I bought them some Coopers Pale Ale, which we then shared together. I rang Laurie Miller from the local Ulysses Branch, who directred me to Hank Enginnering, a local bike builder and welder who may be able to assist. This setback will probably bring the trip to an end, and I have limited options for getting the bike and my stuff home. Even with the frame fixed, I can't carry much luggage. I'll know more tomorrow after I've spoken to Hank Engineering. It was truly lucky that this happened at Cairns, where there is good support and an engineer who can help. If this had happened in some isolated part of the outback, the problem whould have been far more difficult to deal with.
On a brighter note, I spent the evening with three girls from Israel who were touring Australia. They are friends who had just finshed their two year stint in the Army. All citizens of Israel spent time in the Army. They invited me to have tea with them, and we shared a traditional meal, the name of which was totally unpronouncable. It was disapointing to hear that in two months, I was the first Aussie that they had spent time with, as all of the backpackers they were mixing with were visitors.
Fish and Steve rang. We exchanged disaster stories. Steve had a near miss with a kangaroo, which he missed by about one meter while travelling at around 100 km/h. In the middle of the day is dashed across the road from the scrub!!
Saturday 4th April - Townsville to Cairns
I left Townsviille at first light (6.00am) as I wanteed to get to Cairns andd have the bike serviced before the shops shut at 1200. This was a beautiful ride for most of the way with
mounains to the left and right, and the roads lined with bannana palms and sugar cane. The scenery was just fantastic. As has become usual, the weather was in the 30's humid. I made good time, and had my first stop at Tully after about 200km in the saddle. When passing through Innisfail I came across Steve Hunt Yamaha, who were happy to do a oil change on teh spot for me. The pressurre was then righ off to get to Cairns early. On arrival I rode around town a bit and then booked in at the Big4 park which is fantastic. Once I was set up I rang Vernon L. who picked me up and took me for a tour of the town and the surrrounding areas. It was a great afternoon, followed by a a meal in the everning. It was great to catch up, and was a lovely day.
Friday 3rd April - Rockhampton to Townsville
Today we parted company after travelling together for 2o days. After hugs, farewells and best wishes for safe travel, Steve and Fish headed west for Longreach and I headed north for Tonwsville. A new phase of the great adventure has begun, and I have mixed feelings as we've had so much fun and shared so much together in those three weeks. I was surprised a how few towns were along this route, and it was a long day and I travelled 790 km, the furtherest I have riden in one hit. Just after lunch I was getting tired, so I stopped at a nice grassed roadsice rest, took off my boots, and had a snooze for fifteen nimutes. It made a big difference and I continued quite refreshed. It was a hot ride and I rode into Townsville at about 5.30 and found the local Big 4 caravan park and grabbed a cabin for the night, and I wanted to get an early start the next morning. It was a chance to catch up on some laundry again. A big day, and my first alone.
Thursday 2nd April - Rest day in Rockhampton
This is our last day of riding together, and we decided to head to Yeppoon for lunch at a pub. I updated the blog at the park internet cafe, and we wandered over the road to the Kawasaki dealer to see if Fish could get a second hand switch block to replace the one that burnt out. No luck. Yeppoon was lovely, and we explored the lookouts and has a beaut lunch at the Keppel Bay Sailing Club, overlooking the bay with Great Keppel Island in the distance. We watched a large school of fish move across the bay, up onto the beach and across the road. It was not a school of fish, but a cloud 
shadow (Steve, you idiot!!) We rode back to Rocky via Emu Park, exploring the marinas along the way.
I fly out for home at about midday today, so that I can attend the presentation of my award at Government House on Tuesday. I have a busy morning chasing up repairs to the bike. The good news is that Hank Enginnering can repair the bike, and it will be finihsed when I return to Cairns in a couple of days. The bad news is that I will only be able to carry a minimum of luggage, or risk the same thing happening again. The adventure is at a turning point and I must consider quitting and returning home by the quickest route (with hardly any luggage) or finding a way to continue. I have several options available to me, and I need to discuss them with family. I left all my stuff at Cairns and flew home via Melbourne, arriving back home at about 7.00 pm. It was lovely to be home again.
Sunday 5th April - DISASTER DAY!!
The day started well, and I decided to ride to the Daintree. The Captain Cook Highway heading north from Cairns rivals the Great Ocean Road. It is simply beautiful, with the road winding around the coast where the rainforest meets the ocean. I stopped at Rex Lookout for a photo opportunity and to watch hang gliders just a few meters overhead, swirling back and forth on the uplifts. I continued on to the Daintree River. On my return to Cairns I stopped for fuel and noticed that the whole back of the bike behind the seat had dropped about 50mm. The ducktail and all my luggage mounts were just flopping up and down. I rode slowly back to camp, and pulled the back of the bike to bits. The frame had completely snapped just behind the shock absorber mounts, and everything was held in place with only the plastic mudguard. The back half of the seat, the tail lights, and all of my luggage carrying frames were in danger of falling off. Clearly it was caused by overloading, which just broke the frame, wich was never designed to support the loads that I was carrying. I can no longer carry any luggage and the back half of the bike threatens to fall off!A
couple of Dutch guys ran me up to some shops to get some washers that I needed for temp strengthenign repair, and I bought them some Coopers Pale Ale, which we then shared together. I rang Laurie Miller from the local Ulysses Branch, who directred me to Hank Enginnering, a local bike builder and welder who may be able to assist. This setback will probably bring the trip to an end, and I have limited options for getting the bike and my stuff home. Even with the frame fixed, I can't carry much luggage. I'll know more tomorrow after I've spoken to Hank Engineering. It was truly lucky that this happened at Cairns, where there is good support and an engineer who can help. If this had happened in some isolated part of the outback, the problem whould have been far more difficult to deal with.On a brighter note, I spent the evening with three girls from Israel who were touring Australia. They are friends who had just finshed their two year stint in the Army. All citizens of Israel spent time in the Army. They invited me to have tea with them, and we shared a traditional meal, the name of which was totally unpronouncable. It was disapointing to hear that in two months, I was the first Aussie that they had spent time with, as all of the backpackers they were mixing with were visitors.
Fish and Steve rang. We exchanged disaster stories. Steve had a near miss with a kangaroo, which he missed by about one meter while travelling at around 100 km/h. In the middle of the day is dashed across the road from the scrub!!
Saturday 4th April - Townsville to Cairns
I left Townsviille at first light (6.00am) as I wanteed to get to Cairns andd have the bike serviced before the shops shut at 1200. This was a beautiful ride for most of the way with
mounains to the left and right, and the roads lined with bannana palms and sugar cane. The scenery was just fantastic. As has become usual, the weather was in the 30's humid. I made good time, and had my first stop at Tully after about 200km in the saddle. When passing through Innisfail I came across Steve Hunt Yamaha, who were happy to do a oil change on teh spot for me. The pressurre was then righ off to get to Cairns early. On arrival I rode around town a bit and then booked in at the Big4 park which is fantastic. Once I was set up I rang Vernon L. who picked me up and took me for a tour of the town and the surrrounding areas. It was a great afternoon, followed by a a meal in the everning. It was great to catch up, and was a lovely day.Friday 3rd April - Rockhampton to Townsville
Today we parted company after travelling together for 2o days. After hugs, farewells and best wishes for safe travel, Steve and Fish headed west for Longreach and I headed north for Tonwsville. A new phase of the great adventure has begun, and I have mixed feelings as we've had so much fun and shared so much together in those three weeks. I was surprised a how few towns were along this route, and it was a long day and I travelled 790 km, the furtherest I have riden in one hit. Just after lunch I was getting tired, so I stopped at a nice grassed roadsice rest, took off my boots, and had a snooze for fifteen nimutes. It made a big difference and I continued quite refreshed. It was a hot ride and I rode into Townsville at about 5.30 and found the local Big 4 caravan park and grabbed a cabin for the night, and I wanted to get an early start the next morning. It was a chance to catch up on some laundry again. A big day, and my first alone.
Thursday 2nd April - Rest day in Rockhampton
This is our last day of riding together, and we decided to head to Yeppoon for lunch at a pub. I updated the blog at the park internet cafe, and we wandered over the road to the Kawasaki dealer to see if Fish could get a second hand switch block to replace the one that burnt out. No luck. Yeppoon was lovely, and we explored the lookouts and has a beaut lunch at the Keppel Bay Sailing Club, overlooking the bay with Great Keppel Island in the distance. We watched a large school of fish move across the bay, up onto the beach and across the road. It was not a school of fish, but a cloud 
shadow (Steve, you idiot!!) We rode back to Rocky via Emu Park, exploring the marinas along the way. The memorial to Capt Cook is stunning, as it sits on a point overlooking the bay. It incorporates wind chimes and is quite evocative. We spent a lovely evening chatting with a Dutch couple who had just got engaged, and with Alan who was doing a residential at the local Uni. There are so many travellers, with so many stories.
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