Bicycle Touring:
These trip notes are very important and help visitors, not only from Australia, but from all over the world, plan their activites more efficiently. So if you have been helped by these notes, please let us know. Comments. Also send us your trip notes for publication and you'll be helping the next cyclist who visits our wonderful Tropical North Queensland.
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Thankyou Paul Keen from Adelaide for your contribution. CAIRNS TO THE OUTBACK:
Email pekay@bigpond.com
Hi Guys, I've compiled an info sheet on my recollections of my ride out to Normanton. Feel free to add to this as I thought something is better than nothing.Cheers Paul Keen.Cairns - Normanton
Distance - Approx. 698km.
Road Conditions - 85% sealed 15% dirt.
Cycling Time - 7 days
Direction Summary -
Leaving Cairns head south to Gordonvale ( flat riding ) - A warm up for whats about to come.
An 18km. constant incline to the "Tablelands" - Gillies Highway
Take the road to Malanda & continue onto Ravenshoe.
Next stop is Innot Hot Springs - Take a break & strip off & pamper yourself (you may have to dig a little)
Once revived it's a short ride into Mount Garnet - The Gateway to Outback QLD. complete with Quarantine station meaning all fruit must be declared or eaten on the spot.
Next turn is to the right at a road junction immediately after passing through Forty Mile Scrub National Park. Sign posted Mount Surprise. On this road is a side road leading out to the Undarra Lava Tubes. (an ideal place for a stop over)
Mount Surprise has a clean & friendly Pub & a Caravan Park next door. Also the Savannahlander tourist train is based here.
(I took a one-way ticket out to Forsayth. A unique experience)
From Georgetown it's a gradual decline all the way to the coast so slightly higher average speeds were obtained (especially as I had a tail wind to contend with).
With an early start the 150km. days between Georgetown, Croydon & Normanton can be reached without too much strain. (weather conditions on your side that is), (my legs had 8000km clocked up on them by this point).
Final Note -
There were several sections of unsealed road surface which were corrugated & quite sandy on the edges . (Note / This was in 1996) I traversed this road in June with temperatures still reaching 40 deg. C. I was carrying 11litres water capacity spread over the bike to distribute the weight. Combined with 5 days of food stocks my poor spokes were at breaking point.
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