Chilling out in Cairns - Cairns, Australia
Cairns, Australia
I woke up at half 5, after a solid 8 hours sleep. Nice, though I wouldn't have minded more though! I set about planning my day - originally I had intended to head to an Aboriginal centre and the "SkyTrain" rainforest cable car North of Cairns at Kuranda, or perhaps even a bus tour to see the Atherton Tablelands that I had missed out on during my ride up. However, I needed to stay in touch with the bike shop in case any extra problems came up, and being phone-less meant I needed internet. I also had loads of little jobs to do, like getting a haircut, getting my underwater camera developed, buying stamps, posting some souvenirs home and so on. Wandering around Cairns taking in the sights and doing these things would do as a cheap and easy day. I also needed to visit the Flight Centre. Over the last few days, I had been in contact with a new friend called Kevin from Harvey in Western Australia. Back in Bundaberg, Rhianna had put me in touch with him, for being a good guy in Western Australia who was into bikes. I'd emailed him to get a few route tips (can't beat local knowledge after all!), but Kev went far beyond the call of duty, offering me accommodation at his place, putting me in touch with someone in Perth who would have me to stay there, and providing me with a detailed route and list of things to try to see. All this from someone thousands of kilometres away, who I'd never met! These Australians!! As well as all of that, Kev had mentioned that he was organising a couple of bike races. I didn't think I'd be much use at a hill climb on my 15kg tourer, and my 3200km of base miles had probably blunted me a bit for a time trial, so I had politely declined. (Especially as it was on the 1st December, and I had already booked to fly to Melbourne on 30th November). However, Kev then told me a little more - it was actually a cycling exposition, with a stage, music, and the local radio station who wanted to interview me about my ride! After he'd been so kind to me, I really felt that I had to try to rearrange my flight to fit this in - he was so enthusiastic about it and had gone to so much effort on my behalf that it was the least I could do. So I headed down to arrive at the centre as soon as it opened. They had been so helpful in Townsville I hoped against hope they might be able to just change my flight date for a small nominal fee...but those airlines do love making money out of people! I'd have to suck it and see! Yet again, I was greeted by a friendly member of staff who was very interested in my ride. I don't know if this had an influence or not, but fortunately the flight change I wanted was not too pricey, so I went for it! So now I'd have a few extra days in Western Australia to fit in the bike show. It also meant I'd now arrive in Melbourne on 2nd December - so I'd have about 5 and a half days to get to Adelaide in time for the fourth day of the Ashes match. Could be a tall order! With job sorted out, it was onto other bits and pieces. I got a haircut, which involved an unexpected back of neck shave with a cut throat razor! I'd never had this done before, so kept deathly still when I saw it appear! Apparently the barber had been doing it for 23 years so had very steady hands. And the haircut looked pretty good, although it revealed some hideous tan lines in my hairline!! Probably a good thing to get rid of those before I get home... I did a little bit of tourist shopping - my plan had been to grab a few bits and pieces and send them back to the UK by post, along with a few things I'm carrying that I don't need at the moment (number one being a big warm fleece, which has only found use as a nice pillow so far). However I found that it would be 90 dollars to post 2 kg back to the UK...I think I'll just put up with it carry them for now. It's interesting how flexible my view on spending cash can be - developing my underwater camera cost another $17 on top of its $20 price, but I just sort of accepted that! At 2.30 it was time to go and get the bike. I'd been worried that something would have gone wrong and it wouldn't be ready for me to fly off the next day, but of course the mechanics had been very professional and got the job done on time. I now had a shiny new Mavic back wheel, a new back hub, a new chain, a new cassette, four new brake pads, a trued front wheel and more. So hopefully a reliable and safe bike for a few more weeks at least! It all came in at $600 (£350) though. Ouch!! The bike only cost £480 or so to start with... But what can you do...it's not like I'm going to sit down and chill out for three more weeks instead of riding! And of course, servicing bikes is inevitable, and I guess I have put this one through its paces so far! I struggled back to the hostel, pushing the bike with a big cardboard bike box to pack it into to travel on the plane. I realised I'd forgotten to buy tape to seal the box and had to head out again. On that little trip I also popped into another little bike shop. I wanted to get some new bike gloves to see if they could help protect my ulnar nerve a little better than my current ones, which are ancient. Unlike my usual self, I decided not to spare expense, and went for the best padded ones I could find. Fingers crossed that they'll work... I got back to the hostel ready to disassemble and pack the bike up at half five. This shouldn't be a big job - turn the handlebars round, take the seat out, deflate and take the wheels off, take the pedals off, wrap it all up and tape the box up. However I came across a bit of a problem - my pedals had been tightened up so much during the bike service that I could not get them off! Pretty soon I was sweating hard in the Cairns humidity, as I tried to unscrew them with my little stamped metal spanner. Alas, eventually the spanner jaws bent out of shape! Now I was stuck. I wished I'd thought about this when I was in the shop, and asked them to loosen them with a proper tool. Now it was seven they were shut. I tried cutting some holes in the side of the box, so I could pack it up with the pedals poking out of the side. Maybe that would be OK fly? In all honesty, it probably would not be...but I'd become fixated on trying to get things packed that night. I eventually got it in, and tried to pack up my other belongings too. It took ages - I'd been thinking about visiting Cairns Lagoon (a bit like a public lido) this evening, but that plan went out of the window as I faffed about. At 9, I decided to call it a day, and headed off into the bar in town where the hostel's free meals were served. Can't miss that free food after all! I found a little bit of internet and thought things through. The airline's baggage policy specifically said nothing could protrude from the bike box, so I'd have to do something about those pedals. I wondered if they'd have a pedal wrench at the airport, or I'd be able to appeal to the better nature of the check-in staff?? Probably not worth the risk. I looked up the opening times of nearby bike shops: I'd have to go to one early and see if I could buy or borrow a proper wrench to get these pedals off. It would be tight though - the earliest opening bike shop within walking distance I found was 8.30, I needed to be out of the hostel by 9.30, and probably on my way to the airport by 10 in order to check in in good time for my 12 o clock flight. Just about possible, if I was organised. I guess I was lucky that I had a mid day flight - I'd have been sunk if my flight had been at five in the morning or something! I got to bed at 10.30, after exploring Cairns Night Markets for a bit. I didn't get any of the exciting looking food they had there in the end, as I'd been too busy rushing about, ah well! It had been quite a busy day all in all - I suppose being on the road for a month builds up a lot of administration to sort out!! And now it was time to say goodbye to the Bruce Highway, Queensland, and the East Coast, and crack onto the next bit of the adventure: Western Australia! Just as long as my pedal wrench problems don't throw a spanner in the works of course!