Paul's Touring Blog

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Home again

It took me two months to finish, but the blog is caught up to our return to the US. I have one more post to add and you’ll see that below as “Day 64” when I get it finished. That’s it for the updates. Thanks for reading!

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The Qantas gates opened about 3:30 and we queued for the check-in and baggage drop. There was some issue with our tickets so we had to wait in the line to see a real live clerk vs. the kiosks. To my surprise, it was Tony, the guy who tried to help me out with the bike boxes yesterday. He recognized me before I recognized him and he set about getting our bikes and bags checked and getting us seats. We did get seats across the aisle from each other for the Brisbane to Sydney leg, but despite his best efforts, we’d be separated on the Sydney-LA and LA-BWI legs. Oh, well. It all hearkened back to the trouble with Dana’s ticket/passport before we left. Lesson learned about using a third party booking agent.

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Our last day in Australia! 😢Natalie was off to work again and we were talking about how to spend our last day in the country. I wanted to take the train to town and visit the museum and Dana wanted to ride more. That’s what we did. Dana took her bike to ride the waterfront, and I did the short walks to the train and the Queensland Museum. We were leaving to the airport tonight since our flight is at 5 AM tomorrow.

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Natalie was off to work early, and we got up, ate breakfast and started scouting for bike boxes. Dana took a little ride around the neighborhood and found a bike shop with one box that looked a little worse for the wear and would take a lot of tape to seal. In the meantime, I went to the airport to see if we could get boxes from Quantas where a very nice Quantas employee, Tony, called around trying to find out if they had any. Nope, so he sent me to Virgin Australia, where I got a similar response. Well, at least I got a little ride in, along with a little bit of rain.

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We all got up early and Natalie took us to the Ferry to Moreton’s Island which assembled at 6:30 and left at 7. We were really looking forward to some kayaking and snorkeling. The package we got included both (with paddleboarding, too, if we so desired), and a meal ticket for use at the resort’s restaurants.

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The folks at the George were so kind as to let us keep our fully loaded bikes in their luggage storage room (along with a load of other baggage) which freed us to go exploring Brisbane on foot. Which we did. Across the bus/bike/ped bridge to South Brisbane where the Armed Services had finished up their race and an Army band was still rockin’ the crowd. Plus, they were giving away leftover fruit and gummy worms, so we stocked up on bananas, apples, oranges and gummies.

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Pete was out on his morning ride, and Kath had taken the dog to the beach for a walk, but they left us breakfast (and coffee!). We had a long day ahead of us if we hoped to make Brisbane — that was the plan, at least. Pete came back while we were on the porch enjoying the sun and view and we chatted more. He also showed us a copy of “The Simplicity Mobility Method” by Tom Morrison, a training guide for maintaining agility while aging. Going to get a copy when we get home. We said our good-byes to Pete, and Kath who had returned, too, and started towards the Gold Coast & Brisbane.

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A good rest, clean clothes, filling breakfast, great conversations; Kerry & Laurie had us all prepared for the day ahead. As Laurie didn’t have to sub today, they also showed us their album of photos from their trip to India — amazing photos and stories to go along with them, especially about the families they met and stayed with. While we wanted to stay and talk more, we did need to get on the road, so we said our thanks and good-byes, and left closer to our “regular” leaving time of 9ish.

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Up early, packed up damp, and got on the bikes at 7 and into town to Blueberries Smoothies and Health bar for coffee and breakfast before our 70ish mile ride to Ballina. Projected temps today were going to be in the 80s, so another reason to get out early. The coffee was a good start, and after a stop at the public restrooms on the way out, we bid Maclean “Taing” (Thanks) and “Slat gun robh ur dhiobrgainn” (Straight be your path)!

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Mixed bag night for me. I started the night off on a loveseat to avoid unpacking my sleeping pad and get to bed faster, but it proved pretty uncomfortable. Half way through the night I put the cushions on the floor and that proved a much better sleeping spot. Dana had a good night in the hammock and we got right to packing up and making breakfast, snapping some daylight pics of the camp spot, and talking with Tom some more. We have a 105+ km (65+ mile) ride in front of us to our next stop in Maclean.