To read from the beginning, click here.
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.
It was another mix of coastal and highway riding and we had a particularly nice ride along the Tweed Coast. I forgot to mention the guava fruit of which Amy had provided us a few days supply from the trees in their yard. Well, we ate all of those and stumbled on a roadside tree full of ripe fruit next to a sugar cane field. We ate a few and grabbed a few of the less ripe ones to take along.
We stopped in Pottsville for lunch and found a perfect riverside picnic table to park in. While we were finishing up, a car pulled up and a woman got out and asked if we were leaving. She was there to set up a birthday party for her son and her classmates. We noticed immediately that her accent was more US than Aussie and found out she was originally from the Gaithersburg MD area, pretty close to where Dana used to live. Small world experience #6 (I’m not really counting, and it’s probably higher than that!).
We made it Chinderah in the late afternoon, just a few miles short of our hosts house. Given the heat of the day, we of course had to sample the offerings at the Chinderah Tavern and had a nice refreshing recharge before making the final (uphill, of course) push to Pete’s & Kath’s. Pete greeted us and showed us our space and the shower. We went upstairs to meet Kath and then showered and got ready for dinner. Dinner was a filling and tasty pasta/fish dish topped off with some rich and ambrosial dark chocolate. We again exchanged touring and life stories and learned that Pete’s son will be going to Uni in PA. We are looking forward to a visit from him when he comes to see his son.
After that nice, long chat, we headed to bed to prep for our final push to Brisbane tomorrow.
Leave a Reply