Yungaburra to Cairns

Tuesday 1st October 2013

Leaving Yungaburra heading east on the Gilliies Highway, the route continued to climb steadily for the first 15kms. On the way I stopped briefly at Lake Barrine, a beautiful spot, if somewhat touristy:

There's a scenic walk around the lake, one of the highlights is the twin Kauri Pine trees. these giants are over 45m tall and 6m in girth:

Back on the road, soon afterwards there was a view over Lake Tinnaroo in the distance:

Then there was a long winding descent back to sea level, for about 15kms I coasted along without having to touch the pedals. Even better, the gradient was gentle enough to maintain a reasonably safe speed, 30-40km/hr without having to apply the brakes. And there were views like this on the way down:

It was quite noticeable also how much warmer it became as I got closer back to sea level. After 45kms I reached Gordonvale where I stopped for lunch; from there it was a fast, flat ride up the busy Bruce Highway back to Cairns:

So that was the end of the ride, and another one in the Lonely Planet Guide completed. Quite a tough ride with all the hill climbing, but certainly very scenic and there were plenty of good eating and accommodation options along the route. I was certainly very lucky that the rain held off for 6 days, it seems that that is an uncommon occurrence in this very wet part of the world!

There are 2 more Lonely Planet rides starting in Townsville so I'm going to head down there in the next day or so. I won't be riding all the way there, 400kms along the Bruce Highway would not be much fun - so I'll be taking the bike on the Greyhound bus. I'll update the blog soon so please take another look in a few days.

Distance ridden today 71kms, trip total 384kms.