Day  25:                                Ravenshoe to Prof’s Place near Malanda (711m)

Distance:                             45.14km

Av speed:                            13.9kmh

Total Elevation:                   661m

Calories:                              1816 per person

Weather:                             Mild (24*C)

So it turns out a short day in the Atherton Tablelands is far from an easy day... whilst we only had 45km to cover, the road went up and down, up and down... meaning that our legs still had quite a workout despite the short time we spent on the bike.

Knowing we had a short day, we rose from our slumber at a lazy 7:15am, before heading to the local bakery where Chris had a breakfast of potato pie and cream buns! With all the climbing we encountered it turned out to be the perfect carbo loading!

Leaving town we were soon climbing gradients of over 7%, heading up above 1050m and passing a number of wind turbines along the way.

Unfortunately, within 10km Jon had suffered a puncture and we were stuck in the cold windy air making the necessary change. We were soon on our way, passing a number of signs identifying cassowary crossings... sadly without actually spotting any of the dangerous birds!

Having become accustomed to being given wide berths by roadtrains, we were dismayed to find that the local truck drivers were not as courteous and a number passed us with only 30-45cm to spare. Although it was likely a combination of the narrow roads and blind crests, it was quite worrying and we hope that we do not encounter it further during tomorrow’s ride to Cairns.

After 25 days and 3000km+, we also passed our first fellow adventure cyclists today – a couple riding south with heavily panniered bikes. As we were descending when we came across them, there was no time to compare war stories, but a friendly yell and wave was shared. Seeing all the weight they’d managed to affix to their bikes also gave us confidence we’d made the right decision in taking Yaks rather than the 7 different pannier bags they appeared to be packing!

At around 12pm we arrived at Malanda to meet Sars’ parents, Rob and Wendy, who then transported us back to the Prof’s farm about 20 minutes from the town. For those wondering, we’ve left the bikes locked up at the Malanda cop shop and will head back there to start out in the morning... don’t fear, no km’s will be missed in the UpUnder 2011 ascent of Australia!!

We have then spent the afternoon and evening enjoying Rob and Wendy’s company and food (not to mention the generous servings of fine german beer), which has proven to be an enjoyable ‘rest’ day. The techies may be interested to know that the Prof’s farm is solely powered by solar and hydro energy, so Rob has been entertaining us with his newfound knowledge of renewable energy!

With such amazing hospitality and food it will be difficult to depart in the morning (we can’t thank Rob and Wendy enough for another amazing break from the long lonely roads), but it will help to know that this time tomorrow we’ll be in Cairns readying ourselves for the final (and most difficult?) stage of our journey.