Pearls On Wheels

It has been a lovely couple of days on the bike. We have been up a hill today and round a few, very few, corners. I made a new friend today. We played for a while. He knows this is an 'O'. His expression sums up what it fees like everyday on the bike - Lots of delightful surprises. Yesterday we rode through Bowen.Plenty of Mango trees but it is not the season for fruit.  There are many 'This road is subject to flooding' signs. It is hard to imagine floods when the river beds are almost dry just now.  Mella attracts lots of attention and comment.  We stayed at Lees hotel in Ingham. The home to the Slim Dusty song 'The Pub with no Beer'. We went up a hill today. Warning sign  'Steep gradient ahead 10%'. It was 113m high. Our highest elevation since the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It rained a little today.  The Tully sugar mill steaming on.  Some banana plantations near Cardwell... and tropical rainforest as ...

A hundred years or so ago my Danish great Grandfather, Piers Augustus Nelson, was a coach builder here in Rockhampton.  This hotel would have been around then. We headed east to Yeppoon to the golden Keppel and Cooee Bay beaches...  and our first sighting of a coconut palm. Fog accompanied our first 100km as we rode north from Yeppoon. There were no road works until the outskirts of Mackay. Hooray. We have encountered roadworks for most of our journey from Sydney to Rockhampton. The roads are being upgraded and in many cases dual carriageways are being built.  Lots of stretches of road have reduced speeds and the traffic police are vigilant. There are average speed cameras, mobile speed cameras, and many signs about speed - and about taking a rest. There are signs with trivia questions are intended to keep drivers alert. The answers turn up about one km down the road. *e.g. What is Queensland's state flower? These were best road sign...