Rather than following our initial plan of riding down the Pacific Highway along the coast, we took Daniel's advice and headed southwest out of Brisbane. Fewer cars and road trains, less people, and more nature. Right up our alley. We headed southwest to Beaudesert, making our way to Border Ranges National Park. Knowing we need to cover quite a large distance between towns, we stocked up and had enough dry food for 3 nights. A typical day of eating when we know we will not being hitting towns on a regular basis: oatmeal for breakfast, tuna packets in tortillas for lunch, nuts and dried dates for a snack, and a rice or noodle packet for dinner. It's amazing how delicious these meals actually are after spending the day pedaling.
We were extremely fortunate in finding great camping areas in the Border Ranges. One of the most beautiful spots was only 30 miles outside of Beaudesert. We set up camp along a river that homed platypus (although we spent a lot of time looking, we never saw anything more than bubbles) and strung our hammock under enormous trees that lined the water. A book in hand while swaying in the hammock is a relaxing time to kill a few hours. The camping areas often provide firewood from the timber mills, a great treat when spending the evening under the stars.
Our third night out before hitting another town, clouds came in and carried in rain. With a slight leak in our sun damaged fly, we were wiping drips from the mesh inside the tent throughout the night, hoping it would clear before morning. No luck. Running low on food (4 packets of oatmeal, 1 salmon packet, 3 tortillas and 2 ramon), we opted to stay put, eat sparingly and cross our fingers that the weather would pass and our tent would have a chance to dry before being stuffed back in its bag. A bit hungry and bored, we passed our time reading and playing dice. A few moments outside to check the skies and make a dash for the bathroom, we were mostly confined to our lovely abode.
Our third night out before hitting another town, clouds came in and carried in rain. With a slight leak in our sun damaged fly, we were wiping drips from the mesh inside the tent throughout the night, hoping it would clear before morning. No luck. Running low on food (4 packets of oatmeal, 1 salmon packet, 3 tortillas and 2 ramon), we opted to stay put, eat sparingly and cross our fingers that the weather would pass and our tent would have a chance to dry before being stuffed back in its bag. A bit hungry and bored, we passed our time reading and playing dice. A few moments outside to check the skies and make a dash for the bathroom, we were mostly confined to our lovely abode.
Later in the afternoon, we heard a car pull in and park rather close to our tent. We peaked our heads out and sure enough it was a couple we had met a few days earlier. They were in a camper and were headed home after a few weeks on the road. We chatted for a bit and I made mention of being stuck for the day and running a bit low on food. I now refer to this couple as our food angels because they gladly stocked us up with extra ramon, spaghettios, apples, oranges and sardines. We were in heaven and were so thankful for more kind people to help us on our travels. Rain or shine, we were on the road the next morning. And although this seems like a lot of food, it goes quickly when you are in constant exercise mode and our next town was still 40 miles.
The next morning was no different. Clouds passed overhead, spitting rain ever so often, just a bit less rainy than the day before. We loaded our panniers inside the vestibule, preventing as much rain as possible from touching our gear. Having wet gear gets exhausting, but at this point, we had no choice but to get back on the bikes. With a small sliver of sun, we quickly loaded our bikes and started taking down the tent. Each taking a side of the fly, we started shaking out the water as much as possible. Not having a great grip combined with long finger nails, three of my nails went right through the fly. Yikes! Now it was torn. My heart sank and the rain started coming down again. Not much we could do now but pack up and start riding. I felt just awful, but Ryan assured me that because of sun damage and the constant 8 month use of the fly, it really wasn't totally my fault. Thanks for that Ryan!
These instances are embedded in our brains and will always trigger the emotions we felt. It makes us stronger individually and as a couple. I am thankful for both.
The riding in and around the Border Ranges is absolutely amazing. There is light traffic and small roads cutting through sub-tropical rainforest's and pasture land. These mountains make up the border between Queensland to the north and New South Wales to the south and are protected from most forms of development. Although it is hot and humid in a rainforest, we had no problems with the heat after spending the summer farther north.
We stocked up in Kyogle and traveled to the unique town of Nimbin, a highly recommend town in the Lonely Planet guide. And unique it was. Local shops, hippies, organic farms and green buildings, we spent the night in the campground just outside the town. Thankfully we had repair tape specifically designed for tents, borrowed a hair dryer from one of the workers, we easily fixed our fly which held together for the rest of our time in Australia.
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