LOOPING OZ
HOME | LOOPING OZ	Mackay to Cairns By Meredith

Day 9 After a few days of R&R in Mackay we headed for the hills to Eungella National Park. The ride up to the highlands of Eungella is quite an amazing and twisty ride through landscape that changes from dry sparse grasslands to dense rain forests. The road is very steep and has a lot of 20km elbows. On the sharpest one of the lot, as I went to change from second to first, the bike stalled – right on the elbow! Arghhh! I had two cars up my bum and they couldn’t see that I’d stalled because I was just around the bend. The first car missed me by about 10 centimetres, and the second car, ‘cause it had warning from the first, missed me by about half a metre. It was very difficult to re-start the bike on the hill because you have to put it in neutral and then turn the key, which means at one point the only brake you can use is the front brake which was a bit touch and go on such a steep hill with a panicking rider! Anyway I got it going and got up to the top of the range. A couple of things I learnt from that was – get a five speed gear box and while I’ve got a four speed gear box, make sure I change gear a lot sooner than I otherwise would and use a lot more revs. When we popped into the kiosk at Broken River, the friendly shop attendant said that we should stay at the Fern Flat Camping area, because even though it is 600m from the car park and is a designated walkers’ camp, she tells all the bikers, “Just ride your bike around the barrier and take it in.” So we did. It was a lovely little secluded spot with only another half dozen or so tents in the area. No one else was there so we didn’t disturb the peace too much bringing in the old bikes. We set up camp and then put on our hiking boots and headed off to explore the area a bit more. The first walk was through the rainforest on the Broken River to Sky Window track. It is fantastic country up there. Beautiful forest, and we only passed one other couple on the track. When we got to the track access point we headed out to the road and wandered back along the road. The farm country you can see from there is very picturesque with undulating gold and green hills. As the evening approached the temperature began to drop rapidly and a freezing wind started to blow in from the lowering sky and the cows began to move to seek shelter for the evening. At one farm, on the sheltered side of a hill, we came across a cow that had just calved and the calf and its mother were both resting before the calf was prepared to take on the world. But in dramatic juxtaposition, on the top of the ridge another pregnant cow was dying. She was surrounded by eager crows that were hopping in closer and closer, and although she was able to make a few feeble kicks, the crows remained close by. I hopped that the farmer would get to the cow before the crows’ patience was rewarded, but that wasn’t to be. Day 10 After a cool night we got up eager to do a lengthy walk along the Crediton Circuit Track in the opposite direction of the walk from the previous day. Again it was a fantastic walk that followed the river and gave beautiful glimpses of the river and a peek into the rainforest. I felt like I was in an Aladdin’s cave. The forest was emerald and gold, shot with silver and flashes of ruby as beautiful birds were glimpsed from the corner of my eye. Day 11 We left Eungella NP the next day, starting with a ride around the Crediton Loop Road which gave another view of this fantastic place. On the way out of the National Park I could see that the cow on the ridge had died but had not yet been taken away by the farmer. The ride down the mountain was uneventful but just as magnificent as the ride up. We decided that we would pop into Finch Haven Gorge to see what was there for future reference. It is a beautiful looking place and well worth another visit at another time. But the road in was quite a shock. It was a dirt road that was under repair in places and was slippery or soft or both and there were at least five creek crossings with water that went over the pipes on at least one. The road on the other side was the slipperiest of the lot. It took a lot of concentration and positive affirmations to get me through! From there we took a back road from Gargett to Calen through sugar cane fields and lovely back country. Definitely one of the loveliest roads we have travelled on, made all the better by the tasty Irish Stew we had for lunch at the friendly Calen Hotel. The dull ride from Calen to Proserpine was made insignificant by the beautiful ride that had preceded it through to Calen. We camped at the Proserpine Caravan Park that night, and after tea went for a scoot to Airlie Beach. Just like Yeppoon, we were completely unprepared for the vibrant tourist destination this place turned out to be. And it was a really cold ride to get there, we had our bike gear on and were freezing. On the way back it was even colder and at one point we passed a Harley with a pillion. The rider was decked out in the usual kit, but the pillion had on a mini skirt, sleeveless vest and sandals. She must have been bitterly cold. We think they nipped over from Proserpine where the local HOGs were holding a fundraising do at the Proserpine show grounds. Apparently they had some sort of rally/ride that day culminating in the function right next to the caravan park. We were a bit concerned about how long it might go for, but it finished by about midnight, and in the meantime we’d really enjoyed the four live bands they had playing covers of a lot of great music. Day 12 From Proserpine we headed inland towards Charters Towers. We called in to Bowen, which was surprising because unlike Yeppoon and Airlie Beach this was a sleepy coastal town. Further along the road, there was an amazing box style bridge on the way out of Home Hill that made you feel like you were in the Tardis or some other time/space warping machine. It was a relief to turn off the main highway and get on to the quieter roads going inland. We stopped at a place called Bivouac Junction Holiday Camp about a dozen kilometres out of Charters Towers. We were the only people at the camp other than the enthusiastic caretaker. The place has recently changed hands, and Glen has big plans for the place. We spent a pleasant evening chatting to Glen and his friend Judy around the camp fire. Day 13 We had a lovely slow start to the day and didn’t leave Bivouac Junction until quite late in the morning. Alan did some maintenance on the bikes and I finished drying the washing and doing other small domestic chores. We spent a good few hours in Charters Towers looking at the lovely old architecture throughout the town before heading out to the free campsite on Fletcher Creek. This is a fairly extensive camp ground and it was full of grey nomads and their vans and motor homes. The only problem for us was finding somewhere to have a wee! There were no trees or scrub, only grasslands. We discovered that there was a public ablution block a fair way away, and other than that we just had to sneak out when everyone else was in bed. We figured that it wasn’t a problem for most people because they probably have porta-potties tucked away in their vans. Although one family, way down the end, drove past quite a few times that evening and the next morning just making the trip to and from the loos. Bit of a strange economy there, save yourself less than $20 on camp fees and spend a fortune on fuel driving to and from the loos, and to and from town for supplies. Apparently a lot of people stay at the Creek for an extended period of a week or so. I have no idea what they do for that time. Although the creek is pretty, it is surrounded by private property and there are no walks or anything. I think they must just sit there contemplating the creek and planning the next meal. Day 14 The next day began our encounters with road trains. They are enormous things. I think there is a mathematical formula that can be applied to the experience. Something like M (Motorcycle) over G (Gravel) times A(Apprehension) gives a factor of 10, so that the road trains become 500 metres long and travel at about a thousand kilometres per hour. Once the apprehension reduces – when you’ve had a bit of practice at diving into the dirt to get out of their way – they become normal, 50 metres long, 100 tonnes and travelling at 100km/hr. Even then, the scariest incidents always involve caravans rather than trucks. The truck drivers always seem to know where they are on the road and where you are, but a lot of caravan towers think they are in a sports car and that the motorbikes are stationary. There’s been a time or two where we’ve had to hit the dirt to keep from being pushed into it by these inexperienced drivers! As the day wore on, it warmed up and actually became quite hot. My bike chucked a bit of a wobbly at one point and seemed to seize up. We were a long way from anywhere and quite worried, but Alan checked it out and decided that it was the dodgy fuel we’d had to put in at an earlier stop. So once it had cooled down a bit and both fuel taps were opened we proceeded to Undara Volcanic National Park with no further problems. Day 15 The accommodation for this National Park is privately owned, but really nicely done. The unpowered camp sites are well separated from the caravans and other accommodation provided, and there is a nice bit of bush between each camp area so it was quite private and very pleasant. The Lodge also has a restaurant and bar which we were able to use during our stay at the Park. On our first full day we had a quiet morning because Alan’s knee needed a rest as it was playing up again. In the afternoon we went on the half day tour of the lava tubes, the main attraction of the National Park. The lava tubes were really interesting as was the rest of the volcanic history and geology of the area, but like many of these tours, the tour itself was a bit too slow for our taste. Day 16 We enjoyed Undara so much that we stayed an extra day so that we could do some walks through the National Park. This landscape was so different to Eungella because it was a very flat plain with a sparse savannah woodland with the remains of around 160 volcanoes dotting the landscape. We really enjoyed this landscape because it reminded us so much of the landscape of the Pilbara in WA, where we spent many years about twenty years ago. Day 17 The ride from Undara to Atherton was really enjoyable. The landscape changed quite dramatically for the relatively short distance travelled. By the time we reached Atherton, the savannah was well behind us and we were winding our way through rainforests and rich farmlands. We found Atherton to be a friendly and picturesque town. We had been thinking to travel through to Cairns that day, but ended up staying at Halloran’s Caravan Park up on the highest hill in Atherton. The outlook from our campsite was quite magnificent. You could see for miles across the town and farm lands to the distant mountain ranges. Atherton is surrounded by Nation Parks with lots of walks and points of interest. In fact, there was so much to do we didn’t do anything, other than to decide we’d have to come back for some serious exploration time some time in the future. Day 18 Alan needed to get some particular spark plugs and found that Repco Atherton had one and so did Repco Cairns. So he bought the one at Atherton, put a hold on the one in Cairns and we dashed off down the mountain. The road down through Yungaburra to Gordonvale is a fantastic bike road with 19kms of windy road and the entire length filled with striking (and distracting) panoramas. We were fortunate that the road up seemed to be busy but the road down was relatively quiet so we could meander at our own pace without pressure from boy racers or pushy cars. Even though Cairns is a tourist town to put Yeppoon and Airlie Beach to shame, it has been so well done that we enjoyed it greatly. We spent the first afternoon and evening wandering along the Esplanade and eating really nice food. When we came back to the tent we discovered that we’d become part of an impromptu bike rally. A number of NSW Ulysseans were on their way back from Cooktown and were spending two nights wrapped around our tent. That was fine until we tried to get to sleep that night and found one of them snored like a rutting bull. Even ear plugs did little to deaden the thunderous sound. Day 19 The next day we woke up early and nipped into town for a big cooked breaky before heading up to Kuranda on the old train. We had a lovely day in the town, then came back down on the Skyrail. Kuranda is a mountain tourist town like Montville only more so. But like Cairns, because it has been so well planned, it was an enjoyable place to spend time (and eat more food). The two rail rides are justifiably famous. They were both really interesting and exciting and well worth doing. That night Alan stacked all our bags to make a sound barrier between our tent and the bull’s and we stuffed as many earplugs into that orifice as we could and managed a less restless night! Day 20 That morning the rally broke up as the Ulysseans were heading back down the highway to be home by next weekend. We were hoping for a good night’s sleep that night, but who knew what our new neighbours would bring. We spent the day doing lots of jobs. Alan did a lot of work on the bikes, particularly mine as he found that the rear wheel seal had come adrift and urgently needed replacing. I spent a good proportion of the day getting the website up to date and doing the washing! Tomorrow we’ll be visiting my long lost uncle in Cairns before heading up Port Douglas way to catch up with my sister and her family who have just come down from a few weeks exploring Cape York.

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Alan’s Version Travel Notes