23 weeks until March 23rd 2013

The time is just flying by this year, may have something to do with organising this trip. Last week we went to the Leisurefare at Sandown and bought further cooking equipment and a generator. Yesterday we went to the Bike Expo in Melbourne and checked out the range of bum creams. During the week Collis got a new bike rack built and applied; so it is all happening.

We are tossing up whether we should do some advertising or not. It has been a couple of weeks since our last applicant came on board. Currently we have vacancies on all legs with fewer on some than others.
The current vacancies are:
Melbourne to Cairns- 6 spots left
Cairns to Darwin- 5 spots left
Darwin to Broome- 3 spots left
Broome to Perth- 8 spots
Perth to Melbourne- 6 spots

The training ride in January is looking good with at least 20 people coming along so far. Should be a fun 5 days (3 days riding).

I have been practicing some new recipes for the bush camps and have been cooking large amounts trying to work out the correct amounts we will require. The menu will have to be fiddled with depending on the ingredients that will be available at all the towns with grocery shops. Hopefully this ride we will not be running out of nibbles for morning teas; I have been making all sorts of treats and testing them on the family.

Nearly time for the next Newsletter with 2 of our past riders highlighted.

We are still placing accommodation bookings for across the Nullarbor but it is nearly done. We will be ringing everyone again in the new year to check they have us in and then again a couple of days before we arrive to confirm everything.

Cairns to Darwin ride

Banka Banka to Elliott 150 kms

Banka Banka is an historical cattle station which was the first operational pastoral lease in this region, and a supply camp during World War II, providing meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables. It was occupied and run by the Ward family and is still the site of a mudbrick homestead and camping area. "Philip and Mary Alice Ward bought Banka Banka Station in 1941. Mary supervised the development of an extensive garden at the station. The homestead was a regular stopping place for travellers and Mrs. Ward's hospitality became legendary. In 1945, Philip Ward was among the first to truck cattle by road. After her husband's death in 1959, Mary ran the station. Due to her efforts, a government school for Aborigines opened at Banka Banka in 1961. She was known as "The Missus of Banka Banka." In 1970, suffering ill health, she sold Banka Banka and moved to Adelaide, where she died two years later."(Wikipedia)

The corned beef sandwiches at Renner Springs are highly recommended. This may have to be our morning tea stop at 58 kms.

Renner Springs

Renner Springs

Elliott is a small outback town with very little on offer us but it is available for a nights accommodation.

Cairns to Georgetown - 395 kms

Cairns to Yungaburra - 70 kms

We only have one other day on this leg with a 70 km day and that is from Bang Bang to Burke & Wills. 70 kms is the shortest day this ride. Leaving Cairns behind we head for the Atherton Tablelands. Nice flat ride up till morning tea which we have at The Little Mulgrave River rest area. Yungaburra has an elevation of 750 mts therefore we have a climb after morning tea. The road we take is 20 kms of constant climbing before we flatten out and have some undulating terrain until we hit Yungaburra. The riders that are not good at climbing will need to let us know before they decide to tackle the hill as there are very few places along the climb for us to stop and pick people up. If a rider does not think they can do it we will take them up the hill. Unfortunately we can only fit 3 riders in the car at once but we may have another 2 cars as crew cars which should be able to fit a few more riders. I am trying to find out if there is still a train that goes up the mountain other than the tourist train. The views on the way up are spectacular and worth the effort if you think you can make it.

Yungaburra is an historic town and is famous for it's 18 heritage listed buildings. The town got started off in the mining boom days but nowadays its economy revolves around tourism. The landscape around Yungaburra has been shaped by millennia of volcanic activity. The most recent eruptions were over 12000 years ago. We will be camping out at the backpackers, which the riders can upgrade to a dorm if they want. The backpackers will do a BBQ for us at a cost which will be covered by Cycle Across Oz. There are also platypus tours at dusk if anyone is interested.

Yungaburra to Mt Garnet- 105 kms

Today the terrain is gently undulating all day. Some of the tourist features along the road are:
1. Curtain Fig Tree

2. Malanda Falls

3. Millaa Millaa Lookout (Morning tea)
4. Ravenshoe (lunch)

Tonight we stay at the Mt Garnet caravan park. This was an interesting looking caravan park when we stopped there on the way down last year. Nice shady gardens with a great looking camp kitchen for the riders to cook up a storm if that takes their fancy. I know a couple of girls that love to cook.
The manager's partner, when we stopped there, was willing to provide massages for the riders at a small cost; not sure if they are still there or not.

Mt Garnet to Mt Surprise - 125 kms.

We haven't travelled every inch of this road but the locals at Mt Garnet told us that the road is good with little traffic. We take the Savannah Way turnoff and the road is single lane at times (the trucks and roadtrains are few and far between) but care will need to be taken at all times and especially when trucks, cars or caravans are passing.

Mount Surprise is a railway town on the old Cairns to Forsayth Railway line and is the first Gulf Savannah town we will see.

It is the centre for gem fossicking with quantities of topaz, quartz, spinel, garnet, cairngorm and aquamarine. They say we are a chance of finding some at various spots around town. Mount Surprise sits on the edge of the immense Undara lava field caused by ancient volcanic eruptions in the McBride Plateau. The surrounding country is flat, wooded savannah grasslands, with isolated hills.

We have our first rest day at Mt Surprise. That wasn't too hard for the start of the trip, 300 kms and then a rest day. Later down the track we go quite a bit longer between rest days due to the lack of accommodation and barren surroundings. Mt Surprise looks like a nice town to rest awhile.

Mt Surprise to Georgetown- 95 kms

This should be a pleasant ride today in both distance and scenery. The Savannah Way is unique. We cross over the Einasleigh River which should be well watered and a nice spot to cool off in the middle of the day. We may stop for morning tea here depending on what time we leave camp today, it is only 32 kms from Mt Surprise. Today we climb 270 mts over the Newcastle Range. If it is a hot day, there is a great pool at the caravan park we will be staying in.