Townsville Times…

Riding back towards Rockhampton from Yeppoon, I realised that the previous afternoon, I had crossed the Tropic of Capricorn for what was the 5th time on my journey thus far… I wondered why there wasn’t a signpost along the highway to identify the spot… I recalled the one in Western Australia, just north of Carnavon, where I had stopped for the obligatory photo session, and the three others in Southern Africa I had also stopped at… It all seemed like the long, long time ago…!!

Long way to Townsville and only four hours of daylight left to do it in...!!

Halfway between Yeppoon and Townsville, I began to question the wisdom of doing two long rides in a row, so soon after my three week lay-off…!! I had ridden 755 km to Yeppoon the day before; had been on a 40 km outing earlier that morning with Cecil; and was now in the middle of another 760 km stint to Townsville…!!

My shoulders ached, and my left elbow began reminding me that it was not in the best of condition… Just outside Mackay, a large signpost gleefully informed me that Townsville was only 400 km away… I had already covered about 400 km since dawn’s crack, and was still nursing a sore head brought on by the red wine of the previous evening…

Telita and hers sons David and Jaedon... It had been a 30 years since last we saw each other...!!

I had ridden through Marlborough, where I refueled, and up past Clairview and Carmila, and on to Kuomala and Sarina, the countryside flat and rather boring… After the massive floods that wrecked havoc on Queensland’s infrastructure earlier this year, many parts of the Bruce Highway were still under repair, causing delays which turned what was always going to be a long day, in a very long one…!!

I skirted the large town of Mackay, where fields of sugarcane, and the mountain range running behind them, reminded me of Malelane, and the road that ran from Nelspruit to Komatipoort… Plantations of bananas and mangoes confirmed that I was heading into the tropics, and as if I needed further reminder, the sun beat down, and the humidty picked up, the further north I rode…

We stopped at Proserpine to refuel again, then hammered north to Bowen and on to Ayr via Home Hill, crossing the wide Burdekin River, from which the massive sugar cane plantations get their water… I slowed down to take a good look around me, reminded again of places in South Africa that looked so similar to me…

The last 100 km to Townsville seemed to take forever, and finally, a little after 6 pm and after nine hours on the road, I arrived at my cousin Telita’s home on the southern edge of this sprawling town…

I had stayed with Telita’s brother Dennis, in Greece, on my way to Turkey and the Middle East, and like him, I had not seen her for almost thirty years…!! Telita and her husband John, and their two boys, David and Jaedon, were there to meet me as I pulled into their driveway and gratefully killed the engine… It had been a long and hot day…!!

It was a joyful reunion to say the least, and the questions flowed back and forth between us, as I got my kit offloaded and parked the Big Fella under open spce beneath their home…

A hearty meal and a couple of beers later, we had caught up with our most recent news and I was settled into Jaedon’s room and made more than comfortable… We’re family after all…!!

The following day, John drove us up to Crystal Creek and on to the small hamlet of Paluna, perched up in the misty mountains north of Townsville… The twisting winding drive up to the village, along the very narrow Mt. Spec Road, had Telita muttering things like, “if we fall off the edge here, they’ll never find us…!!”…

We stopped near an old stone bridge, changed into our “swimmers” and then hiked down to the creek, where we spent an enjoyable hour or so, splashing around in the cold waters, and ducking under the small waterfall that feeds the large pool close to the high curving arch of the bridge itself…

Hand built in 1932...!! The beautiful stone bridge that spans Crystal Creek...

John and his boys, David and Jaedon in the cold waters of the creek...

Not to be outdone, I got into the action myself...!!

Mmmm... Still figuring this message out...!! You can never be too early, methinks...!!

The bridge had been completed in 1932, using the most basic of methods, and the Mt. Spec road had taken 5 years to complete the 18 km that wound from down on the coast to the village of Paluma…

Despite the warm sunshine we had ridden up in, up on the mountain, mist swirled around the parking area close to the little restaurant (closed on Tuesdays…!!) and the temperature was markedly cooler than I had expected…

On the way back home, we stopped at the Frosty Mango for home made ice cream, and slurped it down as quick as we could to prevent sticky fingers… The temperature had climbed again, and messy faces and hands were the order of the day…!!

On the second evening I stayed with Telita, she and John arranged a BBQ, and invited her oldest brother, Alec’s two sons to come and meet me… I had tried to get into Saudi to meet Alec when I was in Bahrain, but a sharp-eyed border guard sent me back to the border post and chastised the immigration official who I had sneaked past…!!

Alec has a house here in Townsville where his sons now live… Claudio and Alec Jnr arrived later that evening, and looking at them together, I could see the resemblance to their father, who I had last bumped into about ten years ago…

Circle of family and friends...

Claudio and Alec Jnr... Shades of their father very evident... You should have hopped on a plane sooner Alec...!!

We sat in a large circle in the back garden, reliving days gone by, while enjoying plates piled high with food… And there might have been a few beers thrown into the mix as well…

And some Canadian whiskey that Telita’s friend Gill had thoughtfully brought along, when she heard I was partial to the sweet nectar…!!

It was a pity that I would not be seeing Alec himself, as he arrives back in Townsville on the same day the Big Fella is due to be serviced in Brisbane… Ah, well, two out of four De Paivas after so many years is better than none at all…!!

The following morning, I rode the bike up to the top of Castle Hill, passing Gill on her run up to the top as I did so…

The views from hill were stunning…!! Townsville was much larger than I had thought, and lay spread out on all sides of the mountaintop…

Looking north up the coast, from the top of Castle Hill...

The harbour and easterns subburbs of Townsville...

I watched a pair of fighter jets training out over the bay, the sonic boom from their engines drowning out all other noise as they passed overhead and shot out into the wild blue yonder…

Even though the skies were a little overcast, the ride up to the top of the hill had been well worth it…

I passed Gill again on the way back down, thinking about how unfit I had become since leaving Bali, where I had least taken frequent walks and indulged in a bit of Yoga from time to time, in an effort to keep Patricia’s critical eyes away from my expanding abdomen…!!

The Big Fella gets "re-branded"...finally...!!

For the last few weeks, I have been riding “without an identity” so to speak…!! I had become so used to seeing the branding on my windscreen, which served as a constant reminder to me of what I was attempting, and wanted to have it back in position as quickly as possible.

Back in Brisbane, I had attempted to attach the new stickers to my windscreen that Rakesh of Kyama Printing in Centurion had sent to me, after the last set had been destroyed by the crow I had hit crossing the Nullabor…

I had replaced the broken windscreen in Melbourne, and on arrival in Brisbane, the envelope containing the replacement stickers had been waiting for me…

I made a bit of a hash attaching the South African flag, and ended up having to use a needle to get rid of all the bubbles of trapped air under the sticker…

I resolved there and then to let an expert handle the remaining “Gypsy Biker World Tour” sticker, and this afternoon, I rode around town looking for a sign-writer to do just that… The guys at Grace Printing were happy to assist and did not charge me for their efforts either…!!

The fact that one of the managers rode a BMW 800 GS might have had something to do with that…!! Thanks again guys…!!

My heartfelt thanks also must go to Rakesh for all the support he has shown since the start of my trip… He has on three or four occasions sent me additional flag stickers for countries that I had not intended to visit, as well as the cards I distribute on my travels…

The next leg of my ride north was due to resume the following morning, and I spent the remainder of the evening planning my route and getting my gear sorted… Telita had made sure that every bit of my kit, including my riding gear, had been washed and neatly folded, and fussed about me, constantly checking to see if I needed anything that she might help with…

Sunset over Townsville, and with it, my short stay had come to an end as well...!!

Her concern was touching, and I forget how many times she asked me to stay longer, and relax in the comfort of her home… I wished I could, but I was no so far behind the schedule that I had originally planned for, that it was beginning to do my head in…!!

Despite knowing better, I have begun to fret about stuff I have no control over, and whenever I am off the bike, my mind starts whirling… When this happens, Patricia’s descriptive words, “Honey, you’re a hot mess…!!”, comes to mind, and I have to smile and admit to myself, that her description of me is rather apt…!!

But November has now slipped away, and now that I have decided to add New Zealand to my itinerary, South America has been pushed back by another few weeks…Which means that I am beginning to toy with the fickle weather gods that inhabit that part of the world… The short window of opportunity to ride down the length of Patagonia to Ushuaia has been cut down by almost half…!!

I have left barely four months to ride through South America, a continent that I had originally hoped to spend at least eight months in, and one that I had been told was God’s gift to Bikers…!!

I guess I just need to focus on the things I can control, like getting to the next destination in one piece, and making the most of the short time I am spending at each one…

Townsville HQ... The next to last push to the far north starts here...!! "Big Thanks" to the Trowers, who made my stay a comfortable and unforgettable one...!!

With this in mind, I now have Cairns in my sights and Cooktown after that… The rest will no doubt fall into place at some point, as it always has…!!

©GBWT 2011