The Kedron Brooke Bikeway - To The Sea!

I finished work unexpectedly early today after a meeting was cancelled, and decided to head out on the bike again after enjoying yesterday so much. A storm had been forecast for the area today, but the most recent forecasts reckoned it would miss the Brisbane area, and there was just a slight chance of rain. The weather was much gloomier than yesterday and a bit windy, but I was still feeling good about it, and at least the gloominess kept the temperature down a bit.

I decided to follow the Kedron Brook Bikeway again, but find the rest of it this time! I followed yesterday's route until the part where I had looked for the cycle in coffee place and ended up looping round via a park. This time, instead of following the road around I crossed over, and found the bikeway continuing past a sports field and onwards.

After a little while, the bikeway became very new and well kept, with some areas separated for cyclists and pedestrians, complete with road markings and junctions painted on the ground. Very cute.

A little further along, and I saw a guy on a strange looking contraption, one large wheel with a footplate either side that you stand upon to ride it. I was curious, so I asked about it. Apparently it is an airwheel and this guy thought it was really great. I'm not totally sure of the point of it, but horses for courses!

Just a short way further along, and I saw another guy on another one wheeled contraption. This one was configured more like a skateboard with the wheel in the centre, but before I caught up to him he turned off on a different route so I couldn't ask about this one.

I continued along, passing some large roads and eventually coming to Toombul Shopping Centre. I was starting to feel hungry, but I was also curious to see where the bikeway led so I decided to carry on. I'm really glad I did, as it wasn't much further along that the path passed under some really large roads, and all of a sudden the suburbs were left behind and the scenery was drastically different.

As well as the land looking different, the brook itself was changing too. Mangroves began to appear at the water's edge, and the air took on the smell of briny water as I reached the tidal zone. The bikeway followed the edge of the river here for a while - sometimes perhaps a little too close, as erosion had caused a few bits of bikeway to fall away!

The smell of the salty water made me wonder if I could get all the way to the sea, so I carried on with renewed enthusiasm. I was rewarded a few kilometres later as I passed through a lightly wooded part of the bikeway, and a gorgeous 3 metre carpet python crossed the path in front of me. We were both a little startled by each other, and the python (pretty harmless to humans) stopped in its tracks and just stayed there for ages. I stayed too to get a good look at it, it was so beautiful.

After embarrassing myself by getting overheard chatting to the snake by a cyclist who passed me, I decided it was time to carry on... Just a couple of kms later I saw a sign advertising a shop at Nudgee Beach in 2kms. I hoped it would serve coffee, and figured this could make a good end point for my outward journey. I was in luck. At the end of the bike path I followed the road a little way, and came upon Pam's Cafe. A little place with a small shop and fish n chip counter, I ordered a coffee and some chips and sat outside. The guy who had caught me chatting to the snake was also there, and we had a friendly conversation over our coffees. One of the things I love about getting out and about is that the people you meet tend to be really friendly :)

After my little break, I took a short ride to the sea - just so that I felt I had completed my journey. It wasn't the best beach in the world, but looking out to sea always feels good.

Then it was homeward bound. The wind was kind and held its direction, becoming a tailwind for the return journey, and I was joined by another cyclist who caught me up on his electric bike. We chatted together the whole way back to where I left the bikeway to get home, and he told me there are lots more bikeways to explore - if I can just find them. Hopefully I can do some of that next week...

26kms out...

...and another 26kms back :)

Back Behind Bars

I finished work early in the afternoon today, and felt a really strong urge to get out on my bike. Luckily, for once I didn't have any punctures when I got my bike out of the garage (I seem to attract punctures at an incredible rate since coming to Australia - I think I need to learn to recognise which types of bushes and trees have thorns!)

I made my first stop at my local coffee shop down the road, the type of situation in which my Ortlieb handlebar bag comes in really handy. Although expensive, I'm so glad I bought it from my friends at the Bicycle Pedlar in Townsville. It's great to keep spare glasses (I have clear ones to keep the bugs out in the dark, and sunnies for the daytime), wallet, camera, phone etc in this bag, and it simply unclips from the mount so I can carry it in to the cafe and not leave any valuables behind :)

Coffeed up, I decide to get onto the Kedron Brook Bikeway, which I can access a short ride from here. I rode a small part of it several months ago, before I started work, and I also run along a little section sometimes as I prefer it to the roads. This time I want to see how far along I can get, and see where the bikeway goes.

It is a beautiful day, and I see heaps of birds - sulphur crested cockatoos, long-billed corellas, galahs. I don't have a camera with me, just the one on my phone, so not many photos come out too well...

Galah, I love these birds!

I follow the bikeway for a while, mkaing plenty of wrong turns as it is not well signposted. There are plenty of signs, pointing off to 'Road X' or 'Road Y', but if you don't know that Road X is nearby and this track will take you off the bikeway and back to the roads, while Road Y is further along and so that path will continue along the bikeway, then they are not very useful. A simple addition to the signs to label the actual bikeway more often would be really useful.

Eventually I come out to a section where a road is involved, and different paths are signed. I get distracted looking for this place, which seems like a great idea!

I can't find any more signs for the bikeway, but I see signs for a greenway and follow those. I arrive at a picturesque little area with a large pond and lots of ducks, swamp hens, and even a large water dragon in the distance, too far away to show up on my phone's camera. I have no idea where I am, but it's really pretty.

I explore a couple of different path options from here, one of them takes me through a nice little park and back onto the Kedron Brook Bikeway at a point I already passed. I don't feel like riding back out and looking for the rest of the bikeway again now, so instead I decide to head home. It's been a good ride though, about 30kms in total. I thoroughly enjoyed getting back out on the bike, seeing the wildlife, the sense of freedom in being being out alone under my own steam. I need to do this more :)

Back On My Mountain Bike!

No Parkrun for me this Saturday. Not because I am dropping out after just 1 week, but because I looked on Meetup the other day and happened to see a mountain biking lesson coming up for just $30 Australian. Bargain!!

The lesson was aimed at beginners, but as I am not very good, and haven't been on a bike in some time - let alone mountain biking - I thought beginner was the right level for me.

The lesson was through a mountain bike meetup group, and provided by Roadie Rob's Bicycle School. Roadie Rob himself was an experienced rider, and seemed to get a great balance of lots of instruction without making it feel too tedious or dry. There were only 2 of us who turned up at Gap Creek Reserve, and we both seemed to be at a similar level, so it was a really great (and super cheap!) session. We practiced a few different handling skills that make a foundation for more advanced skills later on, and then used the obstacle skills park for a bit more handling practice.

The lesson culminated with some trail practice, working on cornering first on an area of switchbacks and then on gentler trail. This was ideal for me, as cornering is definitely a huge downfall (often literally!) for me. I will still need lots of practice - and maybe even some more lessons - to get any good, but learning is fun :)  I just need a new Owen to take me out on the trails ;)

I'm the top one - photo credit to Roadie Rob

Back to The UK - part 1

I am now an Auntie!!!!!!

My brother and his lovely wife have had a baby girl, and I was so excited to meet her. I booked a trip home as soon as I could afford to, and when the date of my flight home came around I was really excited to get back and see everyone. It wasn't all going to be fun, I was going to have a lot of work to do while I was home as I had just been accepted onto a uni course (Graduate Certificate in Human Services). Being distance learning I could still do my work from the UK, but I had started late and had 2 assignments and a test to prepare and submit, then another assignment to submit as soon as I got back home to Brisbane! 

Still, I wasn't going to let a little bit (a lot) of stress get in the way of enjoying my baby niece, and even a bit of almost adventuring with friends and family :)

The first thing I did to get out and about was a bit of a catch up with my godson. He is very nearly 18 now, and it's weird to think that someone who has been in my life for the whole of their life could possibly be 18 already?? Still, aging process aside, he is growing into a really interesting young man with wide-ranging talents, one of which is mountain biking. We didn't have time to do much, and besides we were chatting too much for the riding to be the main priority. But, kitted out in his step-mum's bike helmet and his little brother's mountain bike, we headed off for a little bit of track riding nearby. Nothing too technical or anything, but a nice bit of time in the fresh air.

At one point we came across a large tree that had fallen and was blocking the path. We eventually managed to pull the bikes through - not the most elegant way ahead though I'm sure!

Overlooking the Milford Haven

My selfies are better when they are someone elsies ;)

All too soon it was time to head back to the house. I treated the godson to lunch and then had to head back to the dreaded essay writing...

In The Pipeline...

This post is mostly to remind me to / oblige me to get out and do stuff, even though I don’t yet have adventurous friends here in Brisvegas!

Since arriving a few days ago, I have:

1. Signed up to Warm Showers, if you haven't heard of it, it's like couchsurfing but for cycle tourists. A few of my Townsville friends are involved, and it seems a great way to meet interesting cycle tourists and be a part of their adventure, as well as helping you out with your own cycle tours!

http://www.warmshowers.org/

2. Visited Bunyaville Conservation Park, an area not too far away that has mountain biking trails (as well as walking and horse riding) that I can check out. I got chatting to a few mtbers while I was there, and they all seemed friendly, so hopefully I can go alone to start with but still get help if I get into trouble!

3. Written to Wild Runners; they are a trail running club, and I decided that I fancy having a go at trail running. I have never done trail running before as I have always been worried about my injury-prone ankles, but I decided that I should give it a go as it has always appealed to me – plus it has to be more exciting than running along the road! They wrote back really quickly and seemed positive and friendly, so I’m looking forward to joining in with them very soon.

www.wildrunners.com.au

4. Got myself on Gumtree and picked up my own first kayak! I am pretty excited about this one, partly as I have never had my own kayak before, and partly because this one seems like it was a bit of a good buy. There were plenty of kayaks for sale on Gumtree down here, but I went for a sea/touring kayak. I like kayaking rivers and white water, but I would never do that alone, plus I don’t know where around here I would be able to do that. This kayak, a Ysak RTM Touring Kayak, will be great for continuing with the sort of thing I was doing up in Townsville, and I plan to graduate up to doing overnight (or perhaps even longer) trips along the coast or to nearby-ish islands. 

My Ysak RTM Touring Kayak :)

5. I would also like to get back into rock climbing, so I have been looking up the many climbing walls/gyms and rock climbing clubs in the area - more work still to do on that front.

I think that should be enough to keep me busy for a while! :)

Leaving Townsville :(

I wasn’t sure I would be able to leave Townsville.

Not just emotionally speaking, but also because a couple of days before I was due to leave we had an epic wet season rain storm, complete with local flooding, and lots of us were convinced that some of the roads wouldn’t be open! (they were…)

Trying to photograph the flooding, but the rain was too heavy and it confused my camera!

In knee-deep water outside our house

The high water mark on our driveway the next day

Then, on the day I was leaving – after having had it serviced – my car broke down. I had been to one friend’s house to drop something back to him, and was on my way to another friend’s house to give something back to her, when the car got super hot. Parking up in the shade and waiting an hour, things seemed to go back to normal. That was, until I got round the corner from The Bicycle Pedlar bike shop, where I was headed for one last coffee. In the middle of the junction, the car completely gave up. I had to get out and tell everyone lined up behind me that I was stuck (they were very good about it) and then wait in the heat until I could get the car restarted and out of the way.

I managed to roll it around the corner and gently and slowly cruise to the car park by the bike shop, and from there I phoned the garage again. After a coffee and a wait, the car still didn’t cool down enough for me to risk driving it anywhere, so I had to get a tow back to the garage. 

For a while it looked like all would be ok that evening, the radiator had cracked and it was easy to replace. That done, the mechanic then discovered that the reason for the radiator’s failure was a broken thermostat. It was now too late to get a new part until the morning. Hmm…

Part of me was secretly glad that I didn’t have to leave yet – it had been an emotional morning, a frustrating afternoon, and I really wasn’t feeling enthusiasm for the move to Brisbane. Another part of me was simply frustrated that I had a big problem to deal with.

It was easily fixed though – I loaded up my bike with everything I would need for an overnight stay!

In the end, my friend Owen collected me and let me sleep on his sofa, but having the bike was still useful the next day. I had time to kill, and didn’t want to put Owen to more trouble after he had helped me out yesterday and then worked a night shift while I got to sleep. Therefore, I packed up my panniers and headed back to the bike shop.

On the way, I bumped into Jen; she was off to do a recycling run with their empty cardboard boxes, using a Surly Bill trailer for the first time. Jen invited me to join her for the trip, so we rode off together, chatting about the trailer, my car, and how great it is to have bicycles!

It was fun to be riding together with panniers and a trailer, and when we got back to the shop we got a coffee fix too – perfect :)

All too soon (although, also a day-and-a-half late) my car was ready to drive. It was with a heavy heart that I said my latest goodbyes, got back on my bike, and headed off to the workshop. I guess the journey south really does have to begin now… 

A Farewell to Castle Hill

I am going to be leaving Townsville soon. This has been a very difficult decision to make, and I’m still not sure if I’m doing the right thing, but sometimes you can never know if something is the right decision or not unless you give it a go. And so I find myself having to leave behind all that has made me happy over the past year, in order to move south to Brisbane. Hopefully it will work out, and I will do my best to make that happen, but if it is not meant to be then I will return to Townsville.

This move means I need to say goodbye to my friends, and it is easy to decide what to do with my main group of friends!

We meet up at a lovely coffee shop on the Strand to caffeinate and refresh, before heading for a ride up Castle Hill. 

After refreshment, we take a vote on whether or not to actually ride the Hill – the weather has been oppressively hot and humid lately, and it is impossible to do anything, even sit still, without sweating buckets. It makes physical exertion very uncomfortable indeed, and even waiting until the sun is very low doesn’t diminish the heat and sweatiness.

The vote is split, Jen, Mick and Bec are not too keen to head up the Hill, while Lucy is raring to go and has been looking forward to it. As a compromise, I decide to go up the Hill with Lucy (it was my idea after all…) while the others go to Bec’s house nearby for a glass of wine. Lucy and I will go for well-earned ice cream afterwards, then meet up with the others for the rest of the evening’s plans.

Lucy and I head up the Hill, we go at a very similar pace to each other so it is very pleasant chatting about different things we have found in Australia – Lucy is Dutch, but she has been in Australia much longer than I have. 

Another famously bad selfie...

Trying to get a photo of Lucy over my shoulder

I am working too hard to get many photos, but we pass so many people out on the Hill. People walking and running mostly, some even pushing prams, and a couple of cyclists pass us too. Castle Hill is always busy, and it is pretty heart-warming to see so many people getting out and being active. You see people of all shapes and sizes having a go too, and I feel a lot of admiration for the people who seem to be having a more difficult time of it, but who are still putting in the effort. It’s pretty inspiring :)

My newly installed bike computer, that may or may not be accurate, tells me that a lot of the time I am only going at about 7-9kph. This is pretty slow, so slow that the occasional runner catches up to us and overtakes. But we chug away, we stay cheerful and we don’t stop.

Eventually we make the top – I didn’t time it and now I kind of wish I had, but we enjoyed the journey and the sense of accomplishment so that was the main thing really.

Lucy's recumbent and my Trek hybrid

We chat to a few people at the top, some who we know and some who are strangers just being friendly.

Then we hear the ice cream calling to us, so we get back on the bikes and roll down the Hill. You can build up a lot of speed on the descent, but you have to take it easy: first of all there is a 40kph speed limit, secondly there are lots of walkers and runners to avoid, and thirdly the road winds a lot so you can’t always see cars coming up and you need to be able to avoid them too!

Back on the Strand, we head to Juliette’s for ice cream. This is my favourite ice cream place in Townsville, they have a great variety of flavours and they often swap the flavours around too, so you will normally see something new to try each time you go there. I normally just get one scoop, but Lucy gets two and I am easily led… I get a watermelon sorbet and a honeycomb ice cream; maybe not the best combination, but each of them is delicious.

After this it gets too dark for my camera to be much good, but our next stop is the Rockpool swimming pool. We lounge in the water, where the others catch us up too, and we all chat away as the sun sets.

Luckily for all of us, Mick asks what time we are going for our fish and chips dinner. Rushing out of the water and clamouring to get changed, we all make it to the chippy just in time to get our orders in before they close up for the evening – phew!! We carry our food back to the Strand to eat, but it is not the usual restful picnic spot down there this evening. There is no wind, so the humidity is cloying, and the combination of still air and recent rains means the mosquitoes are out in force. We have to eat while doing elaborate hand dances to keep the mozzies away, but we still all get bitten.

Mick wants to go for another swim as it is so warm, and I am keen as the mozzies can’t bite you in the water! We head back to the Rockpool for one last dip before cycling home, it has been a lovely evening but I am a bit melancholy when I think of leaving all this behind. New beginnings can be very exciting, but sometimes the excitement can be eclipsed by the sadness of the ending that precedes them.