Day  34                                  Coen to side of the road 110km north of Coen

Distance:                             110.65km

Av speed:                            12.5 km/h

Total Elevation:                  640m

Calories:                             3281 per person

Weather:                             Warm 30*c

Unsure of the roads ahead of us, we woke early and had a hearty breakfast of spaghetti and scrambled eggs courtesy of our hosts, the Exchange Hotel. Karl Stefanovic also took the time to remind us it was the start of spring and the first day of September... technically the third month UpUnder 2011 has spanned!!

We can’t thank the guys at the Exchange enough.... they fed us, housed us, gave us gifts and donations... a very generous bunch of people and a great place to stay. Get yourself there one day!

To our great delight, the first 22km of roads were actually sealed! Wooohoo... only 43km of the horrible roads people had been telling us about!

As we suspected, it turns out the roads were horrible for cars but not for bikes. Always able to find a small line of rock or gravel amongst the sand, we found the going easy and were pleasantly surprised with the terrain. It was also reasonably flat, meaning we made good time. The only weird occurrence were two blokes driving up behind us in a Rav4, taking zillions of pictures and videos of us, before then turning around and driving back where they came from... w-e-i-r-d!

Shortly after noon we arrived at the Archer River Roadhouse, 65km north of Coen. Arriving first, Chris ordered himself an Archer Burger (Hamburger, pineapple, beetroot, bacon, onion, lettuce, tomato and bbq sauce) and apple pie and icecream to carbo load for the remainder of the day! He also spotted the local copper who had passed them earlier in the day and asked whether he’d oblige in putting the wind up Jon for not wearing his helmet. Of course, he jumped at the chance!

As Jon rolled into the roadhouse with his helmet around the handlebars, the cops rolled out, lights and sirens blazing, pulling the poor pom over and threatening a $100+ fine. With customs officers also at the roadhouse, they were also brought into it, requesting passports and bag checks. Everyone at the roadhouse (well except Jon) had a good laugh and it was a nice relaxing break before we went back out onto the road. Although, the light natured humour was nearly spoiled by the roadhouse owner who seeing the power exerted by the police, figured he’d get in on the act and had quite a weird tanty about Chris parking his bike inside the fenceline against a palm tree... seemed like the logical place to everyone else but this bloke!

Knowing we’d be camping out, we took the opportunity to load up with 10L+ of water, meaning that our speeds dropped after the break, due to the added weight and undulating territory.

Around 430pm, with the Weipa turnoff  only a few km up the road if we got into trouble, we found a nice sheltered area to pitch our tents about 100m in from the road. Notwithstanding the thousands of rocks and downward slope, it was a pleasant spot to spend the night.