G'day Ron; G'day all!

Well I just spent a lovely day catching my breath in Townesville, Queensland
at the Aquarium and Omnimax theater showing "Shark Island". This after a two
day drive (about 600 miles) up from Bundaberg, the first day involving a mad
ride of about 30 miles of rolling hills from Childers to get to the car rental
station before it closed at noon.

I'm very glad I decided not to cycle that mileage, as it went from boring
rolling sub-tropical bush, to boring dry flat sparse bush, and then became
somewhat boring tropical bush (the tree types changed subtly as I went). I'm
now in a very warm area with highs in the mid-80's, but at the "best of" the
Great Barrier Reef visiting region. I've used the Lonely Planet guide, a tour
from the Pedaltours website, some info gleaned from 2 other cyclo-tourists
I've met on the road, and a couple from Ipswich, England I met on Fraser
Island to figure out how to spend the next two weeks. I'll be visiting
Magnetic Island (tomorrow), the Atherton Highlands, Cairns, back to the
highlands to reach Daintree National Park via Mossman, and return to Cairns
for some snorkeling and a flight back to Brisbane (whew!). This promises to
be a great tour for about the next 2 weeks, but will involve climbing to about
3500 feet twice from sea level, not to mention the abundant rolling hills. No
chain, no gain!

The drive up here convinced me I didn't want to drive back through it again
(been there, done that) and the flight is much cheaper - I just need to pack
up the bike again!

Fair weather and tailwinds,
Tony