Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Cairns to Cape York - ready to go...

Monday 2nd Sep 2013

This is the ride I have been wanting to do for ages – Cairns to Cape York, the northernmost point on the Australian mainland. I have heard, and read so many accounts of other cyclists experiences along this route and I'm really excited about it. It's going to be tough – around 1000kms of dirt road, some very steep sections, and above all, very little in the way of supplies to be had along much of the route.

I'd originally planned to do the ride in May this year, at the start of the dry season when the roads on the Cape York Peninsula become open. However an opportunity arose for me to spend 3 weeks in Darwin that month, and by the time this ended, there wasn't enough time to fit the Cape York ride in before a scheduled 3 month trip back to the UK.

While in the UK I didn't get much time to go cycling, however I did loads of skating including a 360km tour in Finland, plus more skating in St Petersburg, Moscow, and Beijing.

Arriving back in Sydney at the end of August, I flew to Cairns with my bike yesterday.Today was spent obtaining a tent and some camping gear, as accommodation is going to be very sparse on the route north.


About to set off from Sydney


There was time to do a bit of sightseeing in Cairns, which is noted for not having a beach:




It's a big place, with masses of tourist activities on offer, but the tourist industry has been in decline for some time and it seemed much quieter than when I last visited, about 15 years ago. There are a few heritage buildings, and some impressive banyan trees in the town centre:





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