Day 36: Redcliffe to Landsborough

March 22, 2021

Start: 9:45am
Distance: 69kms
Ride time: 4:02hrs
Average: 17km/hr
Max: 44km/hr
Finish: 3:40pm

It rained all night long. I got 94mm of rain overnight. Today was forecast to receive 80-120mm.

My tarp must have been sticking out from under my tent. Enough to catch some rain because his morning there was water inside my tent. It was under my mattress and on my sleeping bag.

And if that wasn't bad enough, my new mattress has a leak in it! I had to blow more air into it on 3 occasions during the night. The mattress that I bought was the shop display model because they had sold all of the stock. Perhaps this is why it is defective?

Anyway, last night was probably my worst overnight experience of the trip.

This morning I took my time packing up. At 10am everyday, there is a pelican feeding event. It's next to the information centre and is run by the ladies that volunteer there.

I was the only spectator today.

Today was Mary's turn to feed the pelicans.

Unfortunately they don't get many pelicans arriving for a free feed anymore. Mary's not sure of the reason. "Perhaps they're all on Lake Eyre" she said.

She swung a yellow bucket around that had fish pieces in it. Apparently the pelicans see the yellow bucket and then they fly in for their free feed.

Unfortunately there was only one pelican sighted about 200m away sitting on a street light. He didn't fly in to us.

And then began heading out of town.

And I travelled along Fairy Way where all the real fairies live.

And at one time, I had to detour for several kms because a road was blocked due to flooding.

It pretty much rained all day. All the rivers that I crossed today were flooded. I passed several side roads that were closed due to this. There was water everywhere.

It didn't take long for me to become completely drenched too. I wasn't too concerned as the temperature was mild and I didn't get cold as long as I didn't stop for too long.

Bikes are not allowed on this section and I've managed to avoid riding on it so far. I may still end up riding on this tomorrow as my intended route has many road closures due to flooding.

I stopped for lunch somewhere and Alf came up and spoke to me. He gave me advice about some roads and kindly offered for me to stay at his house tonight.

These types of interactions make me feel special and all warm and cosy inside.

Alas, due to the poor weather forecast, I had already booked and paid for a cabin at tonight's destination so I politely declined Alf's generous offer.

This is a big sign. My bike is in the middle of the pic. I forget where it was. Too much rain made my memory fail.

I just checked. It was in Caboolture. It was built for the 1988 world expo in Brisbane. A news article on how the sign was saved from the scrap heap.

My mate Rodney looks after smaller versions of these umbrella trees growing inside many offices in Canberra.

The first half of today was in suburbs and industrial areas.

The second half of the day was like this with lots of rain.

Drying everything in front of the heater.

I was very happy to arrive here and have a cabin. It makes everything a lot more manageable.

I called up Paddy Pallin where I bought the mattress from. They had no more mattresses in their store. Tomorrow, he will find one and work out how to get it to me etc.

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 1,740 km (1,081 miles)

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Daniel Van IngenI bet that photo of ya mates gave you strength to solder on
Proud of you buddy
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