Having never really cycled any large distance in my life, I was pretty apprehensive about how far we could realistically cycle everyday. And after studying my dear friend Google maps, decided that I, for one, else wasn't going to travel all day by bike to end up in Caboolture (which is probably the equivalent of cycling out of Manchester all day to end up in Oldham (you'd be so disappointed wouldn't you?) So with my trusting comrades in town (they soon learnt not to trust me so wholeheartedly) and on a slightly cloudy Sunday morning, we set off on the train into the untold land of Caboolture.
Arriving in Caboolture, and with the wind at our backs, we nervously set off, and within about 30 minutes we relaxed into it. Leaving the bright lights behind us, and about halfway to our first stop of Caloundra, we followed Google maps to a tee...sort of. We were taken off the Steve Irwin Highway, and through some lovely forest to the east of Australia Zoo. We whooped and cheered and smugly rode two abreast, congratulating ourselves on a great adventure as we passed through beautiful landscapes. Crossing the Sunshine Highway, and passing few cars we arrived at a creek, where we settled in for a bit of lunch and a stretch, paddling in the warm shallow water.
Confidently double checking our phone maps for our following directions, a silence decended upon us. The good news? We were only 14 kms from Caloundra. The bad news? That is if we had a boat or we were willing to swim, dragging our bikes behind us.
So, only slightly more subdued, we returned the 10kms back to where we were supposed to turn off, only to be met with what can only very loosely be described as a track. A track that we had to follow for almost 2 hours, consisting of dirt bikers, sand and some nice spiky stones. Quietly we plodded on, playing 20 questions , and mainly trying to avoid punctures, sliding and tantrums.
Relatively unscathed, we finally rejoined the Steve Irwin Highway, and riding felt like silk on the beautiful road. At this point I may add I have never really considered road surfaces, comfy seats, slip streams and padded lucrative pants in such details - real cyclists, I salute you!
We finally rolled into Caloundra about 5pm, convincing a lovely campsite owner to take us know for the night, and wearily settling in for the evening, closing the evening in true Australian style with a BBQ and being in bed by 9.30pm.
Estimated kilometres: 53
Actual kilometres: 83
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