Day 22 - Cairns to Cairns - 223 kms

Hello everyone! we continue our journey!

Jason and I had a well deserved sleep in and our swags only got slightly wet in the unseasonal Cairns downpours. We made our way to a pie shop, another Australian thing we are both now hooked on, and had two pies a piece for brekky. Then we had to do our first real work of the trip, find a storage unit for the bikes and figure out the logistics of getting them in and out and getting our gear to the airport. Once again I showed my masterful negotiating skills and got a full size car storage unit for the price of a broom closet.
Now that we had dropped some of the weight off the bikes it was time to shred the canyons! We headed up the coastline using all of the traction the edge of our knobby tires could muster and made it to Port Douglas. We took a nice walk along the beach and were surprised by a European girl taking off her top as we walked up. Being the gentleman I am I did not gawk but the same can't be said for Jason. At least his trip was complete without having to go to one of those dancing places where you pay the girls, I can't remember what they are called.

Through light rain storms we continued to explore a 200 kms loop north of Brisbane and made it back to the storage unit with at least 45 min to spare before closing time. On inspection of the bike tires I had used all available rubber on my tires where Jason still had beginner strips on his edges. I guess Alicia will have to run the tires in properly when she rides the bike next.

Another leg of the journey complete and it was great to have my best bud Jason with me, the conversation got horribly boring before when I only had my self to talk to.

We are diving on the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow and then we're both back to reality to earn up money and vacation for the next leg. Hasta

Jason's Comments: Two things:

I like boobs.
...Oh yeah and the wank strip... She was nearly full tilt but since I was dragging knees through all the turns with me ballistic nylon overpants on I was able to get more lean out of said tire surface. In the meanwhile, Longwell was posted straight up and down, perfectly centered on his big lamb skin seat cover like an Englishman riding his horse through the countryside.

Seriously though what an awesome trip! I never would have imagined how many different cultures we would stumble across on the trek. At one filling station alone there were three girls working behind the counter that were backpacking and working their way across the country. One was from Belgium, another from Holland and the third from the UK. Fittingly, all were young blondes. This quickly became my favourite filling station...

Saying hello to any random passerby often netted a different accent than the last. The filling station in Georgetown had a young redheaded female Irish backpacker named Andy at the register. The local pub-tender girl down the street was also packing through OZ and from Ireland as well. The filling station in Mataranka had a cute Scottish girl and was the recommender for the natural springs where we ended up staying that night. Prior to the trip I figured we were going to be surrounded by vacant land and occasionally a hostile native to usher us on our way. I was pleasantly surprised that we ran across a lot of friendly people along the way and each were on their own version of a similar trek as we.

Sad to see the trip come to an end. Hoping another country strikes Longwell's fancy in the not too distant future so I can tag along for another leg.