Rest day in Airlie Beach! And a bit of planning... - Airlie Beach, Australia
Airlie Beach, Australia
I wake up looking forward to a day off from sitting down wearing Lycra all day! It seems like and age since I started riding, just 3 weeks ago. I've managed to cram so many experiences in, and met so many great and friendly people, that I really can't imagine what will happen next. Airlie Beach has a reputation as being a great place to look around and get out to sea, and this is exactly what I intend to do today. My time efficient tour booking last night gives me an easy morning. After a relative lie-in until half six, I take my time over a shower, catch up on guitar, pack my kit away and leave it in locked in the campsite reception, before having a breakfast of fruit, yoghurt and toast, which I'd picked up at Coles last night and stored in the camp kitchen's fridge. High living indeed! I even have time to head back to the supermarket complex, where I manage to get an underwater camera, some more souvenir stickers from a bike shop, and some small bottles of shampoo (for a dollar - I'll certainly be visiting "The Reject Shop" again!). I then stroll back to the campsite, and write some postcards whilst waiting for my 9.45 pickup. How relaxed! In this bit of downtime, my thoughts turn to the fact that is Remembrance Day today, and I think of all of the people serving in difficult situations way from their families. I'm very lucky to be able to enjoy myself like this when you think about what else is going on in the world at the moment. We are taken by bus down to the boat, called "Big Fury"' which carries about 40 people. The idea is that it will tour around the Whitsundays, which are the islands dotted out to sea from the town, stop somewhere for some snorkelling, then head over to Whitehaven beach. After the safety brief, the boat roars out at a surprisingly high speed. I do like a good fast boat, and it's great fun as it bounces over the waves. The driver seems pretty relaxed about the choppiness, as he spends a lot of time steering with his feet! (Not wearing an engine kill cord though, which is a bit stupid...). There's a guide who points out the islands we are travelling past, reeling off various facts and figures. The mix of passengers is pretty cosmopolitan, with people from Switzerland, Canada, China and more, and I manage to practice a bit of my rusty French and Chinese. The trip out to the snorkelling site takes about an hour. The boat's anchor goes down, and we don "stinger suits" (to protect from jellyfish), fins, masks and snorkels and jump into the water, which is pleasantly warm - I always expect the sea to be freezing from numerous trips to the seaside at Scarborough (the UK one that is)! It doesn't take long to spot fish - the coral is teeming with them, ranging from shoals of tiny ones, to a couple that looked to be about 2 feet long, lurking underneath some rocks. I don't think I have ever seen such brightly coloured fish before, with all sorts of stripy patterns and iridescent markings. Some other people also saw a turtle, sadly I missed out on that - too busy stalking a big fish that was just a little too deep to photograph! The stinger suit provided quite a bit of buoyancy so I couldn't go far underwater - I think that when I get to Cairns I may have to do some proper SCUBA diving to get a proper look at the reef! After about an hour of swimming, we clamber back on board, tour round some more islands, and end up at Whitehaven Beach, which is sparkling white. According to one of the guide's more spurious tales, the sand is 99% silica and was used to make the Hubble telescope lenses (in the 1950's?!?!). I'm sure there's a grain of truth in it somewhere (and a joke about grains of sand... but anyway, I digress). We are given a huge lunch, and then left to our own devices. After watching a lizard for a while, I take a stroll down the beach. There are all sorts of boats, planes and helicopters about, all trying to get a good view of the beaches and islands. Perhaps the large lunch had an effect on top of the riding over the last few days, but I felt pretty tired. So I had a bit of a lie down...and woke with a start, 45 minutes later. For a horrible moment I had visions of the boat having left me behind, but I still had plenty of time. I decided to go back and continue my lazing right next to the boat though, just in case! The trip back to the mainland entailed more shiny beach and verdant island spotting. It was all very relaxed, sometimes on trips like this I feel the need to try to take all of the information in, but here I just let it flow by. There won't be a test at the end after all! The seats are pretty comfy, (a good contrast to a bike seat!), so I get a little more napping in! The tour ends at about 5, and I walk back to the campsite. It's seriously hot - have I really been riding in this?! I get my stuff back and then sit in the air conditioned reception, doing a bit of research on the next bits of my trip (see below). It's good to have left the tent up all day too, no extra effort will be needed for that tonight! I use the rest of the daylight to sort my kit out, and do some guitar practice. My plan had been to go to the supermarket to get food to cook myself a proper meal at the camp kitchen, however I end up chatting with some Belgian travellers and they give me a spare hamburger they had made, which was delicious. Thanks guys! At about ten, it starts to rain a little. I hadn't really expected that! It makes me think of the bad storms reported on the news in Brisbane today. It doesn't seem that it is that long since I was there and I wonder if they could affect me...but actually I'm more than a few hundred miles away now! Saying that, I can't believe how lucky I've been with the weather on the trip so far...famous last words of course! So, there goes my rest day. Lots of food, lots of napping, lots of planning, but no cycling. All good. Let's see what tomorrow brings! Miles ridden: None! Time on bike: Zero Metres climbed: Nought Forward planning..... As I had some time to spare today, and plenty of internet access, I started to try to plan what I will do once I have reached Cairns. When I set out, I didn't really know what speed I would be able to ride at, or when I would arrive. Now I've got used to it, things are a bit clearer! With a bit of luck, and barring any disasters or injury, I should be able to leave Cairns by 20th November, if not before. I'm due to fly back to the UK on 11 December, from Sydney via Adelaide. So there's still 3 weeks to fill up! I have been given so many great ideas and suggestions it's a little tricky to see the wood from the trees, but I come up with the following:- 1. Fly From Cairns to Perth (1 day) 2. Ride South from Perth, via Bunbury to Albany (600km, approx 6 days) 3. Fly from Albany to Melbourne (1 day) 4. Ride from Melbourne along the Great Ocean Way, perhaps doing some of the Tour Down Under (like the Australian Tour de France) route, as far as I can towards Adelaide (1000 km? 10 days) 5. Arrive in Adelaide in time to catch a bit of the England-Australia test (running 5th-9th December) 6. 10th December - find something exciting to do... 7. 11th December - pack and fly home back to the cold, wet UK! Pretty adventurous maybe?! I guess you just have to have a go at things sometimes. It might just work...and how great would it be to see all those places! I am feeling so confident from how things have been going so far, now is the best time to get organised and have a crack at it!