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.
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