Crossing to the Queenslander Side

I was washed, I was clean, I was well fed; and I was all set for another adventure!

(Look how white that t-shirt looks)

DAY 10: Sat 20 June

I couldn't believe how sunshiny and happy life was when I finally set off from Coffs....

 Any day on the bicycle generally means a wet one!

I stopped off to lick the Big Banana (A ritual I've done every time I've passed it) and carried on into the unknown.

Google sent me into the Barcoongere State forest to avoid the highway and it was a nice break from the hum drum of traffic, and it was rather beautiful; but after 3 hours on dirt roads going in every direction I finally realised I was lost.

Very very lost!

I waved the first (and only) car I saw in the forest down and they, being lost themselves, decided it was best to throw the bike in the back and return with them to the highway; so I did... Three hours of pedaling and I was back where I started.

...And by then it was raining.

Instead of a coastal route, I ended up racing to beat the dark and make it to Grafton for the night. 

It was the second coldest night of my life - even wearing everything I owned, and cuddling the bear.

DAY 11: Sun 21 June

The day was wet, but relatively flat and filled with wildlife - most of which was the same species: dead.

I camped out at New Italy for the night and had my first bonfire of the trip with an exceptionally awesome mismotch of grey nomads.

Day 12: Mon 22 June

I was all set for an early start when I suddenly discovered I'd lost my keys... I'd chained my bike to a tree for the night and I was quite stuck.

I had every man and his dog out looking for it. Some of my new friends even had their metal detectors out. I'd checked everything I owned thrice when I suddenly realised I'd slept in a sleeping bag... and low and behold....

I carried on to Ballina

And took the long scenic tour that leads you to the little ferry

(Selfie taken while waiting for the barge to return)

And on the other side was the Big Prawn - But it was far too high to lick.

The shire of Byron Bay welcomed me with this sign

And then welcomed me with a shower and a beautiful sunset before I retired to the comforts of a friend's brother's couch.

DAY 13: 23 June

After a narrow escape from a falling plane (it crashed in the trees just next to me) and while I survived to tick "survive a plane crash" off my bucket list, the pilot  wasn't quite as lucky!!

I was expecting Queensland to welcome me with big signs and flags and sunshine, but all I got were signs forbidding me from riding on the highway

And when it stopped raining, I tried to take some Queenslany pictures, but they're not that exciting... 

I spent the night in Robina (Gold Coast) with a friends mum who served me soup and shnitty and wine and chocolate and to quote her - "Had all the food groups covered"

DAY 14: 24 June

It was the rainiest day yet and I had to laugh at the irony as I passed wet and wild.

The Queensland bike paths were pretty good, but their labeling system is a lot on the confusing side!

After a very hilly day, I finally arrived, soaked to the core, to these lovely people, and another day rest in Mount Cotton.

Day 1: Roast dinner

Day 2 : A braai

DAY 15: Friday 26 June

I stopped in at Cleveland high on the way to Brisbane because the awesome student chaplaincy committee were doing a Bikes 4 Life fund raiser. (And doing it well!)

I continued on to cross Brisbane and met up with some legendary human beings I haven't seen in over 5 years.

...and their little dog Barney

...And their daughter, Poppy

DAY 16: Sat 27 June

It was just me (and the bear) and the road again. Gone were the days of plans and knowing people along the way.

After a late departure and many random conversations and awesome donations (you'd be amazed how many people are curious about a barefoot cyclist carrying a giant teddy), I cut the day short and camped out in Caboolture.

DAY 17: Sun 28 June

The scenery was awesome, but the sunshine coast wasn't quite as bright and merry as I'd hoped.

Soaked to the brim, I took shelter in a hostel in Marichidoore for the night.

DAY 18: Mon 29 June

I guess I didn't really know what a hill was until yesterday.

I have now added three swear words to my cyclist vocabulary:

"Hill", "Flat" and "Rain"

And I have had a lot of all of them!!!

At least there were some pretty things to see along the way

And after getting lost in Yandina and having to trespass across farms to avoid going back the way I came (up a very big hill), the road became rather beautiful

And the view from the tops of the mountains was awesome

I camped the night out in Pomona and met some exceptional people before crawling into a moggy tent (waterproofing doesn't work so well when you keep rolling your tent up wet)

DAY 19: Tue 20 June

Would you believe that this morning began with sunshine???

I delayed my start this morning to drink more coffee and dry my everything. And then some  hilly dirt roads have led me all the way to Gympie

It's weird how your body adjusts to the cycling life. My butt doesn't hurt as much, the rain doesn't bother me as much and the worry of where I end up in the day has become the least of my concerns... I still have no idea where I'm staying tonight and where I'm heading next)

I used to be a skeptic about cycle touring  - but over the last few days I've realised than I'm happier than I've been in a long time - there's something about combining exercise, adventure, an amazing cause, and going slow that seems to make life that little bit more epicer!

Bikes 4 Life is right - bicycles do transform lives!

Injured Insanities and Failures

It’s been one of the most bizarrest weeks of my life. I had it all planned out. I was feeling more prepared than I had in years: say goodbye to mom and hello to Hong Kong and then proceed to find my flightless way to Borneo. Simple[ish].

 

I was doing well too. On day one I’d already visited immigration and the maritime authorities - I had leads of all sorts and life was good as it glistened under the sparkly city sky. I handed a friend my camera as we watched the sun drop down into the bustle, I clambered up a little building and leaped into the air as he clicked away and I clicked to the ground in a ball of pain.

I’m still trying to work out why exactly I can’t walk – it seems to be a bit of a combination of a sprained ankle and maybe a hairline fracture and… well, whatever it is, it’s messed up my head mostly! And there’s no medical explanation for that! 

I spent day 2 limping between boat/ yatch/ maritime clubs and busses speaking to any and everyone and plastering notices on whichever sign boards would accept. It wasn’t looking good though; monsoon season has hit and even cargo ships have been rerouted!

Hong Kong hit me with another picturesque sunset that sent my head into a spiraling vortex of ponderings that kept me up all night. And even 5 cups of coffee on Day 3 and a long session in the massage chair couldn’t help me! And then I messed up massively. I made what could potentially be the biggest mistake of my life…

 

…It was weird standing back where I’d hugged mum goodbye only 3 days earlier. I didn’t belong there. I felt like my lunch was going to escape my body. I looked nervously from person to person around me, why were they all so calm?

An hour later I finally found the front of the queue. I was shaking. “I’m sorry ma’am, but unless that bear is boxed, we cannot allow it to board” I should have run away right then, but I didn’t… “May I see your return ticket please?” “Return ticket?” You can't enter the Philipines without an exit ticket. I tried to subtly photoshop one on my laptop but I was a wreck and after an hour of standing I was about to fall over in a ball of pain   so, almost in tears, I followed Nini across the airport and allowed her to book and cancel me a return flight to the cheapest destination possible and she telephoned a colleague to check my bag in and another to get Teddy through customs and then she acted as my crutch as we ran to departures where I caught a train across terminals and heard “final call for Miss Adeena…” and then I boarded a bus and a plane and the doors shut and just like that 8 months of flight freeness [and my soul] were destroyed.

The flight was pretty at least.

  

Two and a half hours was just long enough to calm me down again and when I touched down I was a happy smiling me again – even if it was raining and I was still disabled (They even tried to get me into a wheel chair).

And that’s how I became a Pilipino.

From there it was a staggering 6 jeepneys to Cebu Guesthouse (I might have taken a flight, but taxis are still against my religion) where, even though all the stores were shut, I was lucky enough to meet an American with a broken leg and painkillers and I slept.

A Jeepney

I woke up to find I had a dorm mate. She’d arrived at 3am after breaking her leg… Bringing 75% of the guesthouse to ‘disabled’… She, being a physio, told me that I should get a good 3 or 4 days of solid rest in and I’d probably be alright. But if I was going to rest, I was going to do it in a hammock…

It’s supposed to only be 3 hours to a little paradise called Loboc. And as I was leaving I found an American heading the same way and together we took a wrong jeepney and then the right one and then a ferry and then a trikee and then another jeepney and we were only a few kilometers away when the wheel blew and the driver lost control and we crashed into the sandy curb where our jeepney was laid to rest.

A Trikee

It was a VERY long walk that may have involved me falling a couple of times into pools of stagnant mud and I may have a very dirty teddy, and a very swollen ankle and it may have taken us 4 and a half hours longer than it should have but I now have a hammock and beautifulness all around and that makes me happy.

The washing of the Teddy the Fourth

Anyway, I’m afraid I’ve made many many mistakes of late and I think life’s trying to get me to slow down a little so, before I venture onward to Borneo [to become a vegetarian, etc], I’m going to rest and heal and absorb beautifulness (wow, I sound like a hippy) and then a whole new type of adventure continues. Life is brilliant, even when it hurts.