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the
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These
entries are ordered by Journal Date.
( Record 155 of 449)
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Date:
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04.25.03
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Location:
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Childers , Australia
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| Title:
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ANZAC Day |
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Details:
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5:20pm at my campsite in the caravan park, sitting
outside my tent watching the sunset, and listening to
M.A.S.H. on the TV band of my radio. Overall it was a
good day, especially considering when I woke up at
6am it was POURING rain. I can tell you that listening
to the rain fall on your tent in the early hours of the
morning is NOT a motivating sound. I did not want to
cycle in the pouring rain, or even worse, pack my tent in
the rain! So I settled in as much as you can in a
one-person tent, and proceeded to read my book. By
8am it was still raining and so I was planning to move
to a hostel for the day and at least spend the day inside
somewhere. So I took a shower, and when I came out
the rain had stopped and the clouds were breaking.
Hmmm, what to do. Well I decided if I was going to
pack up all my stuff either way and it wasn’t raining
anymore, I might as well cycle.
So I had a late start, but I finally left Hervey Bay at
10am. On the way out of town I stopped for a double
espresso just to get the energy going and man, that
kept me jazzed all day! I’ve got to do that more often. I
did 25 km before I even looked at the computer! I was
on a great back-road for the first 40 km, but
unfortunately I had no choice but to take Highway 1 for
the last 30 km. It’s only a 2-lane highway, but it’s the
only road running north-south. Not the best shoulder,
but I think because it’s ANZAC Day (he Australian
Memorial Day) that the traffic was lighter than normal.
Just before I got on the highway I stopped at a fruit stall
and bought a bag of mandarin oranges for $1. The 2
guys working there could not believe that I was cycling
through Oz on my own, and they gave me their address
and asked me to send them a postcard when I get to
Cairns. Pretty funny.
It was a miracle that the rain held off all day. I got to
Childers around 2:30pm, and stopped in the center of
town to have a look, although nearly every store was
closed because of the holiday. I did stop at the Palace
Hotel, I think the name was, where 15 backpackers
died 2 years ago in a fire. The building has been
restored and on the second floor there is now a
memorial to the victims with photos donated by their
families.
Continued on from there to the caravan park, which
happens to be full of backpackers who are working in
Childers as fruit pickers for some extra cash. I talked to
one guy here who said the work is really tough and they
treat you like a slave and the money is crap. No thanks!
Supposed to rain a lot tonight. Hope I don’t get washed
out!
Distance: 71.88 km
Time: 3 hours 38 min
Avg Speed: 19.7 km/hr
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| Anzac Day Parade |
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| Beautiful backroads |
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| Wow thats a sunset not to be missed |
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