Bicycle Touring in Style

For a couple of months now I have been avidly reading various cycling blogs, and feeling stronger and stronger urges to get back out on my bike for a longer, overnight trip.

In the UK it had been easy for me to find a good, challenging, mostly off-road route to take for a multi-day bikepacking trip. Here in Australia, I suffer from a healthy respect for venomous snakes, a lack of familiarity with what’s available, and a serious lack of Ordnance Survey maps!

Reaching out to various sources for help with planning, Mick and Jen at my local bike shop, The Bicycle Pedlar, came up trumps for help. They told me to pop in and discuss it with them, and after becoming a regular visitor to the shop we had a firm plan in place. Not only that, but the trip had grown from me going somewhere by myself, to having a whole group of great people interested in coming, and a place to camp has been arranged.

Fast forward a few weeks, and the plan has become action. We had a local long weekend (I have no idea how a particular town can have a public holiday, but that’s what happened) and we used it for cycling.

Saturday was all about style over speed; this was because of an event called Style Over Speed organised by the local Bicycle User Group to raise awareness of what a great activity cycling is. A large group of brilliantly fun people all met up in the city centre, dressed up in a variety of interpretations of the black tie dress code.

We all set off in procession for a gentle ride around The Strand. The atmosphere was great, with people cheering us, and the cyclists also cheering and ringing their bike bells.

The ride ended in Townsville’s City Lane, with a few silly competitions and then the evening’s musical and acrobatical entertainments. A really great night!

The following morning I packed up my panniers with camping gear, first aid kit, spare tubes, etc, and headed down the road to the bike shop to meet up with the rest of the cycle tourists. My set up was better than last time - I don't have a fancy bike with all the frame bags like some other bikepackers I admire (maybe one day) but I had at least got panniers both front and back this time, so I didn't need to carry any backpack at all. Especially important with cycling in the warm climate here.

Between hanging out at the bike shop and the Style Over Speed event, I had already met everyone who was coming, and we had a great group. We even had a last-minute addition to the group in the form of Cycling Josh, an Austrian lad who had been cycling around Australia.

Me and my bike - this was taken at the top of the hill, hence the pained expression! I want to replace those black panniers soon.

Off-road cycle routes are few and far between around here, so unfortunately we were sticking to the tarmac for this trip. We headed west out of Townsville towards The Hervey Range. This involved a long, pretty much flat ride out of town – initially on the city’s bike lanes, then later taking care on the more rural road – followed by a cheeky hill at the end rising a couple of hundred metres over a relatively short distance.

Being the least cycle-fit out of our group, I was left far behind on the hill. I didn’t feel too bad about it though, as I had known I would be slow. Plus I was carrying a respectable amount of weight on my bike. Cycling Josh was a similar pace going up the hill – he was far more cycling fit, but he was also carrying more weight. We made it though, which was the important thing, and met up with the rest of the group at a lookout near the top of the climb.

Heading up the hill, that's Cycling Josh behind me. This picture makes it look less steep than it really was.

The hill is not all bad though, as a short ride on from the top you come to the Hervey Range Historic Tea Rooms, where you get to indulge in a hot drink of your choice (I was craving tea) and a guilt-free cake (apple pie with cream for me!)

We relaxed and chatted at the tea rooms, and caused a bit of a spectacle as well: we were a tandem, a recumbent bicycle, and 4 regular bicycles, mostly fully laden with panniers, so we drew looks and questions from other people there, some of whom were a bit disappointed to learn that we had only come up from Townsville…

Thoroughly refreshed, we hopped back on the bikes for a very short ride on to a local home with land, where we were camping for the night. We were hosted by a friend of my new cycling companions, Vic, who was awesome. Not only had they agreed to let us all stay, and gotten a camp fire all ready for us, but he had also prepared 3 options of delicious homemade soup for us to tuck into!

I may have carried my stove and camp food unnecessarily, but I decided to make use of my camping gear and set up my new bivy tent (which seemed great at first, but turned out to be rubbish. I have returned it to the shop) and it felt good to know that I could be self-sufficient if I had needed to.

Quick Tourer bivy tent - I do not recommend this tent

Wine o’clock followed, and with a camp fire and great company the evening rolled into night time quickly, and bed time soon followed.

In the morning we had a leisurely start: mugs of coffee around the still-burning camp fire, plenty of time to pack up all our gear, and a demonstration by Mick and Jen of their new toy: a bike pump powered espresso maker, the Airspresso. 

For the first leg of our return journey, we made it a whole entire kilometre back to the Tea Rooms, where we stopped for some more food, yet more caffeine, and even more relaxed fun chatting…

Finally setting off for real, we had the glorious steep descent to look forward to. Josh and I stopped briefly at the lookout to get photos, before we flew off own the hill – even overtaking a lorry on the way, quite exhilarating.

We regrouped down on the flat again, and then set off at a good pace back towards the city. I pedalled hard on the way back and kept up a strong rhythm, meaning that I manage to keep up with everyone the whole way back. I was having to work a lot harder than everyone else to keep the pace, but I was pleased with my riding and it means I will be fitter for it.

Back in Townsville, we stopped for one more coffee, before heading our separate ways to go home.

What a great way to spend a weekend – I can't wait for the next adventure :)

The Bicycle Pedlar also blogged about this trip - and we both picked the same title! I guess great minds think alike...

Return to Magnetic Island

Very recently I got to return to Magnetic Island, an island just off the coast of Townsville and a place that I love.

We had won free accommodation for a couple of nights, and this was perfect as I had wanted to go back to the island to enjoy hiking in cooler weather, and watersports outside of jellyfish season.

First stop for me was to visit the rock wallabies again, before passing a bit of time strolling the beaches and drinking coffee while we waited for the tide to get low. 

Magnetic Island has a couple of self-guided snorkel tours, where features are marked with buoys so that you can spot different corals and so on quite easily. The recent winds had all been from the south east though, which apparently makes the waters around there more murky, so visibility was not good for us and we didn’t see a great deal very clearly.

Heading out on a low tide though did mean we got to see a few cool things, like giant clams, some corals, and the odd fish. Maybe not my very best snorkelling experience, but it was still great to get out in the water and experience another world.

Attempted snorkeling selfie

Giant clam

Corals

The following day, my plan was to hike across the island. The trail we followed wasn’t nearly as long as I had expected it to be, but this was perhaps a good thing as it seems my walking shoes had gotten a bit bent out of shape during our move to Australia, and I ended up with painful blisters. The scenery was worth it though, and it was fun to know we were hiking across an island.

That evening brought more wildlife encounters, as possums came to our accommodation. They make quite a racket running along the roof of the small building, despite being so small. I sat quietly in the doorway watching the shy creatures, and one even came pretty close to investigate what food we might have inside.

One day remained on the island, and I wanted to spend it looking for turtles. We had seen marine turtles out in the bay, poking their heads up to breathe, while sitting by the beach, and I thought that maybe if we were out on the water we would see them closer up.

We hired stand-up paddleboards (SUP) to go out on the sea, and I took snorkelling gear in case the opportunity arose to watch turtles underwater. 

I only got one good view of a turtle while we were out, as it breached the water coming up for air. I wasn’t quick enough getting to my camera though, so the only turtle photo I ended up with was taken from the beach, and the turtle is only visible as a black dot in the water.

Finally, we went for one last hike - I really didn't want to leave without having seen a koala! So on the way back to the ferry, we stopped to go on the Forts Walk. This walk is well known for being a good place to spot koalas, and as the evening was approaching it was a good time as well as a good place. Luck was onside again, and on the return to the car we spotted a cute little koala perched up in a tree just next to the track, lazily munching on gum leaves. A perfect farewell from Maggie again :)

'Wild Swimming' at Alligator Creek

One weekend, we decided to make a visit to Alligator Creek. This is a little place within Bowling Green Bay National Park, and a mere 20 minute drive from where we live. According to the website, “Rugged mountains rise abruptly from the wetlands, saltpans and mangrove forests of the coastal plain. Alligator Creek descends in a series of cascades, deep pools and waterfalls.”

The Park is pretty big though, 57,900 hectares, and is divided into three sections, so of course we didn’t see all of these features. We didn’t even see the waterfalls, which are a fair walk away from the car park and are best tackled in slightly cooler weather. What we did see though, is the swimming hole near the car park and camping area at Alligator Creek.

The last time we came here, this area was chock full of people, and we just walked on by to go for a bit of a hike until we got too hot. On this occasion however, we had the place almost to ourselves.

We followed the path from the car park towards the water side.

This way doesn't feel very adventurous as it soon turns into a boardwalk for safe and easy access, if you have a pushchair or mobility issue, or simply lots of stuff to carry!

We enjoyed the shade of the trees and plants, making it nice and (relatively) cool. I love these huge jungle-ferny looking cycads.

This is the swimming spot we were after – the sun was really bright, and it has bleached out the colour a bit in these photos. Those rocks were actually a really warm orangey-yellow in colour.

These fish made me laugh, with their mouths sticking up out of the water :)

Sitting on some nice, smooth rocks, we admired the quiet and beauty of the spot for a while, the warmth of the sun being all the more enjoyable for knowing we could cool off in the water.

Then in we jumped!! The water was cool but not cold, and felt gently warm once you got used to it. It was pretty clear for fresh water, although it doesn’t stay that way as the water levels drop during the dry season, and therefore the water pools and becomes stagnant. I’m hoping we’ll get another chance to visit before the water goes bad though, as I’d love to explore some of the other pools heading upstream – it would be great to take your stuff in a drybag and see how far upstream you could get. A future mini adventure perhaps?

We enjoyed our little area though, swimming with the fishes.

It’s funny, in the UK this would have been called ‘wild swimming’ – in fact I mentioned wild swimming previously. You can buy books to recommend good wild swimming spots, and even join wild swimming clubs or communities. Apparently Australians find that all quite strange – heading to a ‘swimming hole’ for a cool off during hot weather is pretty common for lots of people, so they just call it ‘swimming’…

Castle Hill

Castle Hill is a Townsville landmark, and it attracts lots of people who are keen on their fitness, as they tackle the various paths to the top, or maybe run up the road route. I’ve even seen ladies running while pushing buggies up the hill – now that is impressive!

Normally I am working on my fitness and hiking up it as fast as I can, with no stops apart from very occasional brief pauses to catch my breath - if I absolutely need to. This time, I was taking a friend up there to show her the route, and were doing it with a bit more enjoyment in mind and our cameras in hand.

The Hill up ahead

The route that I go up begins at the road, but then turns off onto a trail heading steeply up the side. The track covers rough ground, but is well-maintained, and affords wonderful views. From some directions you can see Magnetic Island sitting serenely out to sea. I love looking out to the island and day-dreaming about the koalas!

Other views look out over the town’s port, a less pretty vista. The sun is rising in this photo – people who know me well will be amazed to find that I am ever up early enough to see the sun rising!

There is wildlife on the Hill too, and on this most recent trip up there I heard a rustling in the undergrowth. Venomous snakes are an issue in Queensland, so I was worried about what might be causing the rustling. A quick check (from a safe distance!) didn’t reveal scales though, but rather spines!!

I got to watch it snuffling around while desperately trying to dig my camera out of the pouch. Of course, it had hidden it’s little face by the time I managed to get the camera switched on and pointed in the right direction, but I was still very excited: I had seen my first echidna!!!!! 

I watched the little guy for quite a while, but then I needed to carry on. The rest meant that, for a change, I got to enjoy the scenery of the path as I carried on.

I love the tropical foliage

The last section of this path is a set of seemingly never-ending steps. My legs burn and I struggle for breath as I walk up them, but I am determined to make it to the top without stopping again!

We've come a long way...

...but there's still a way to go!

Once at the top of the path, I normally turn downhill on the road to jog back to the bottom as normally the Hill is tackled for fitness training. This time I turned uphill on the road, for the short walk to the car park at the top.

Here there is a mister to cool you down, but it was so humid anyway that the mister made no difference. 

We took in the views from the top instead:

I live over in that direction somewhere!

The view over Cape Pallarenda

This monument is to Robert Towns, for whom Townsville was named after he founded it in 1865.

Angry skies brewing!

There are a few plantings up here too, with what for me is the Flowery Trinity of Tropicalness: Hibiscus, Frangipani and Bougainvillea.

Then it was time to head back down the road, and the threatening skies release their rain just in time to make it impossible for my camera to focus on this tree full of sulphur crested cockatoos.

So that’s Castle Hill, all the more exciting to me now for having seen an echidna!

I’ll just leave you with these beautiful frangipani flowers that we saw in a garden at the bottom, just because they are so pretty :)