Riding Down Under - Tropical Cairns Australia

[MacDoc]

Up and back down the Gillies with an hours break yesterday left me happily tired and a good pic for our weekly contest.
Went to my fav volcanic lake hangout for tea and scones all local.

Prices are up 12 for a filling tea and scones - they've increased their tables by a lot. Would go on the boat cruise again. There are very interesting critters in the lake, on the lake and the verges.

Lake Barrine

www.lakebarrine.com.au

 

[MacDoc]

This very current hour long 4k video of where I live ( in a tiny corner in the wet tropics by the Great Barrier Reef )

This covers the whole country in highlights... Australia is 90% the size of the US with only 25m people.

choose the top quality using Brave browser
You can use Chrome too but may get ads

 

[MacDoc]

Got in a 214 Km loop in before noon yesterday. Arm was a bit sore as no break and no Panadol aboard - accidentally left my pain drug supply at home.. Two range roads in the mix - it's crazy dry even along the coast. Didn't even need the motoskivvies as did not intend a long ride but as it turned out would have been smarter to wear them.
Lots of sugar cane double wagon trucks about and they boogie on the straights...lots of debris, leaves, small chunks of cane come off the open top andopen mesh sides. Have to keep the visor down when near them. Very courteous tho when going down the twists on the Rex. Both pulled over to let me by.


Going to 33 feeling like 36 later. Full tropical sun which has amazing power and no wind so can hear the birds for a long way. Very good sleep from 10 pm to 6am which is unusual and very welcome - likely due to that ride yesterday

We've found a sourdough we really like if we can get there early enough before they sell out. I snagged some yesterday.
Bitey cheese, butter and a small slice of that bread plus tea. A very nice way to welcome the day.

 

[MacDoc]

Lovely morning ride up the the Palmerston Highway which is the least twisty of the range roads.
Tea and home made rumpsteak pie for brunch. 🍽 My fav tea house near Millaa Millaa.

Home | Mysite

www.fallsteahouse.com.au

I'm stuffed - they've upped their prices but also upped the presentation and size.
Tasty red cabbage salad and an Anzac cookie with the tea. Hobbits have the right idea. Second breakfast.
11 am and 27 - not bad now when riding - but going 33 feels like 36 later. First time we put on AC last evening to clear the air a bit.

I rarely appear in my riding photos but a guy doing some maybe pro shots of the iconic Millaa Millaa Falls offered



300 km and home by 3 pm. Enjoyable tho my arm was sore going down the Kuranda Range. Forgot to pack celebrex.

 

[MacDoc]

Nice ride up the Cap Cook with the wind. My fav cafe in Mossman The Junction has closed down
Many work and eat lunches there.
Made up for a with a new discovery just up the street - equally good food and slightly less money. Win I think.

BEECHWOODS CAFE, Mossman - Restaurant Reviews, Photos & Phone Number - Tripadvisor

Beechwoods cafe, Mossman: See 90 unbiased reviews of Beechwoods cafe, rated 4.5 of 5 on Tripadvisor and ranked #1 of 16 restaurants in Mossman.

www.tripadvisor.com.au

Looks small from the outside and only two tables at the front but goes on forever in a garden at the back.
Chicken breast bowl.. very generous chicken serving, rice, mango, tomato, generous avocado slices. $14.50 I just set aside the onions and red pepper.

Good coffee and had my Baileys with me so that doubles as dessert. I'm nicely full and a good meal.

From the reviews sound like they make a great Burger as well which is a hard find here.
Mind you Maccers has a 2 x small cheeseburger, garden salad and small drink for $4 - hard to beat for fuel.
My phone is not set to Aus region so a bit of hoop jumping to get the deal but same for all the fst food apps. Quite a war on and they are forcing people to the app so reducing staff pressure. Jacks has a 18 nuggets for $10 ...can't get rid of the Frugal Feeds spam but they do offer some good deals.

DEAL: McDonald’s - $4 Small Cheeseburger Meal & Extra Cheeseburger on 6 November 2021 (30 Days 30 Deals) | Frugal Feeds

On Saturday 6 November 2021, for today’s 30 Days 30 Deals offer, you can get Small Cheeseburger Meal and a Extra Cheeseburger for $4!

www.frugalfeeds.com.au

When you consider no tipping and all prices are tax in .....pretty cheap eats. At least Beechwoods is a healthy feed.

This is turning into Davy's food blog ...actually always was sort of but nice to have a destination in mind and gets me out of the house. Was going to go across the Daintree but got away too late. Maybe tomorrow if I get a good sleep. Will be home by 1 am. ...nah that's when I got up ...home by 1 PM.
31 now but feels cooler with the wind off the Pacific. Even sitting at the cafe the breeze enters the HWK riding pants through the three large mesh panels.
Head home now for a leisurely twisty ride along the Pacific.
Australia is open up to travel on the 8th both internal and international. No covid where I am ...hoping it stays that way.

 

[MacDoc]

Sun was hitting our rainforest backyard and hit this plant that wandered in a while back and apparently liked the neighborhood/

decent all native foliage ...the tree with three turnks runs 20m....maybe more - that big leaf plant is 3m at least.

stuff grows insanely fast here but sure keeps the house cooler. Figured a bit of greener for Nov Ontario riders. One of the trees at the back has edible native plums which the dog loves and it's funny to see her finish her supper then go down the back and put her front paws on the tree and stretch as far as she can to grab one or two.
We put tiger grass in pots along the southern wall to keep it cool in the morning and provide some sound damping in the evening ....started at 1/2m in the pots...now three years later had to be severely cut back as they were far over topping the roof but sounds nice in the wind and the frogs love it. You'll hear a few late night crashes.

I did not like the security screens when I first came 10 years ago but have gotten used to them and to a degree can photograph through them and the air flow is just vital.
The latest reno almost finished has eliminated them in our master in favour of screened california shutters not yet installed. At this point we are sleeping with the windows open and no bug barrier....it's so dry there are not many mozzies tho I burn coils when working on the deck at the back. They are not much of an issue but bites itch for a few days. There is no dengue fever left thanks to a neat genetic trick that wiped them out.

Dengue fever virtually eradicated from Far North Queenslandhttps://www.abc.net.au › news › dengue-fever-virtually...​

26 Sept 2019 — Queensland study takes a bite out of dengue and zika mozzies. Aedes aegypti mosquito.

 

[MacDoc]

Lazy sunday morning ride up the coast. Loads of mcycles out. Birdwatching under the trees just S of Port Douglas - hauled out the big lens. Afternoon tea with friends. Loving weekend ..no work.
The lens lets me sit and reach out.... this was 1/2 km taken at Yellow Water.


Not the most detailed shot but hell ...the distance!!
This tho - good light and boat grounded


this today - happy with the bokeh on it.

Willie Wagtails are a bear to photograph as so flighty.

 

[MacDoc]

Hopefully a ride across the Daintree Ferry tomorrow - there is a Free pass for locals and would save me $17.
Emailed them tonight and asked if I could pick up the pass.
Had a very generous afternoon tea with medical friends and one gentleman flew Tiger Moths and towed sail planes so good common ground. The other a newly moved to the area family and he rides motorcycle and has both a Himalayan and a larger cruiser type bike so once he settles I'll show him around. Will be nice to have a riding buddy again tho he's got a family, a new house to sort and a medical career so time to ride might be an issue. We'll see.

 

[MacDoc]

May finally get to test the waterproofing. Still will be only light showers.

 

[MacDoc]

Not quite sure about the Daintree run. Lots of orthogenic rain on the radar but no rain here in Cairns.
Daintree is always wetter anyways. Tabletable lands are dry. Zilch wind and cooler today.

Have nor been to Dimbulah west of Mareeba in a couple of years...not that there is much there but high of 35 is a bit daunting. I have the big lens with me and there are giant wedgetail eagles up there outside of town and likely black cockatoos. I think that is a reasonable goal then.

 

[MacDoc]

Actually realized I'd come up this way trying to get to Chillagoe but could not handle the washboard. Tiniest bit of drizzle going up the mountain then cleared up to white fluffy clouds and hot but relatively dry weather with very little wind which made for a pleasant ride. Had to pass a cane truck that was littering bits of cane and got up to 124 kph indicated pretty easily. Getting excellent fuel mileage.
No wedgetails and not even a black cockie tho I saw one.
Took a road out of Dimbulah that I had not done before even tho I knew it would eventually dead end. Endless acres of mangoes and the sweet smell was wonderful. The road deadened here.

lovely gums lining the road to station.

To the right of the gate there was a different crop...a few acres of ant hills.

including this old 2-3m monster lurking in the scrub.

Stopped for a coffee and snack at Dimbulah bakery ...was spoiled by that Millaa Millaa pie and the pies on offer did not look as appetizing so opted for a yeast raised donut which I like. Coffee was decent but of course Bailey's helps .
Hit the spot until I got home to some fresh sourdough.
It's spring here and loads of trees in bloom.

very nice town centre park.


just glorious colour.

 

[MacDoc]

They are not all this friendly but will get used to you and they are wild

Took the CB300F in for rear brake, Regina chain, full sprockets and front tire but both mechanics off. Just left it there.
Too hot and humid today anyway 30 at 9 am - feels like 35 ...yep.
At least on the Tablelands if was much drier and didn't feel the actual 35 degrees yesterday but managed to dehydrate myself. Really have to carry more water with me ...if the bike broke down on one of the roads without cell contact I could be hours before another vehicle came by and shade is sparse.
Suggested is 8-10L per day per person. Bit hard to carry on the bike.
Will get at least 2L sorted plus the 750ml on the handle bars. Don't think the 3L milk jugs will seal well enough.
Most rides I'm on well travelled roads but exploring some of the dead end roads.....even tho paved....can mean little traffic. I had one ute pass me yesterday in on a 50km out and back paved but dead end road.
Glad the Honda is reliable.

 

[MacDoc]

Got the bike back this morning ...will ride early tomorrow when cooler. New radial on front feels "different".
Happy to have the rear brake sorted as preferred to use both. Regina chain on and we will see if is truly maintenance free. New sprockets front and back.
They dropped my front tire pressure to 29 according to Honda ...will see how that holds out.
Off to a new spot tomorrow near Mareeba buddy recommended. It's so nice in the farm lands in spring. Leave early and beat the smelly garbage trucks up the range road, duck the radar out of Mareeba and take the second left.

Got my rego ( registration in Aus speak ) completed and the transfer fee for the bike was $113. and will cost $353 a year for a solo seat including 3rd party liability insurance.
There are no paper docs or stickers....it's all fed into a computer system that the cops can check on the fly.
No where in the entire transaction did either the seller or myself need to go to an office and the safety ( roadworthy here ) is registered online by the dealer that did it. So we completed our transaction in his showroom and I rode away on my legally owned and insured ( for May Dec ) machine. Way it should be in Ontario ....it surely is not.

Decided to check on the cost of Fire and Theft and also the cost of comprehensive.

$289 for the year for comprehensive which was only $120 more than fire and theft with the same $750 deductible but it includes roadside assist including towing anywhere in Australia which would cost me $99 independently so was a no brainer for comp.

So $642 for the year comprehensive including roadside.

In Canada $980 for the CB500x comprehensive no roadside.

Some thoughts of going across the Daintree now I have the free ferry pass but told I'm on deck for lunch with family - it's not the best day anyways as almost certain rain up there.

 

[MacDoc]

Ugh 10 am 31 feels like 37 ...even normal thin blooded partner was feeling it. Too much work kept me from leaving early and now showers in the afternoon. Might be a veg day. $2 onion rings might lure me out
Too hot ....living vicariously with Itchy Boots

Damn 47k km on that 250.
Enjoyed that and it has cooled down.
I'm such a sucker for a pretty girl...especially who likes adventure


I wear a hoodie on the deck most nights both for warmth ( not so much lately ) and mozzie protection. About $80 US shipped. Okay for this. Her Rev-it jacket looks good but beyond my pay grade. Happy with the HWK.

 

[DownUnder]

Got my rego ( registration in Aus speak ) completed and the transfer fee for the bike was $113. and will cost $353 a year for a solo seat including 3rd party liability insurance.

Inflation has hit there too I see. I used to pay $350 a year for dual seat with 3rd party and $150 for my single seat bikes 17 yrs ago. Is the transfer fee (stamp duty) still 2% of the sale price? They took Roadworthies a lot more serious too, where the mechanics would actually go over the entire bike by the book, and the ones that didn't would lose their licenses real quick.

 

[MacDoc]

Fast trip to Cape trib ..only one on the ferry and very little traffic but it’s very busy at Cape Trib lots of tourists staying locally - decent coffee too bailey’s aided. Excellent wifi too. Not warm at all. Just a nice relaxed ride.
Came straight up to beat any traffic and will take it slow going back ...likely kick back on a beach
Glad I came...not looking so good rest of the week tho calling for showers.

Cape Tribulation - Destination Daintree Visitors Guide

Yeah inflation has hit especially for food and fuel. Insurance still cheap compared to Ontario tho the KLR use to be cheaper....there was no point in comprehensive on it

 

[MacDoc]

double post - I must admit girls with thongs under VERY light summer clothes are a distraction. Time to head back south before traffic builds. It is Sunday here.

 

[AllistonGT]

double post - I must admit girls with thongs under VERY light summer clothes are a distraction. Time to head back south before traffic builds. It is Sunday here.

So where are the pics??

 

[MacDoc]

Would have been a bit rude under the circumstances but here's one from a few years back at Cairns Lagoon....always a bird or two to be seen.

 

[MacDoc]

Trying to square no rain forcast
Maybe try to slip to the table land before it gets hot.