Hervey Bay to Mackay

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Hi all!

So, today was the longest ride (distance-wise, but not time-wise) that I've done so far. The trip was 732 km, or 455 miles, and it took about 8 hours and 45 minutes.

It would have been faster, but there was a lot (A LOT!!!!) of road work on the highway from Hervey Bay to Rockhampton. It seemed like every 10-20 km a lane was closed so they were only letting one way go at a time. Not much sucks worse than just sitting on the bike in the sun when it's hot and humid! Well, I guess a lot sucks worse, actually. 😊 It was a pretty nice day, actually. Partly cloudy, probably low 80s, humid. But it felt good going down the road. Once I got past Rockhampton, the road and scenery was really nice! These lush tropical rain forests just move me the right way. Beautiful! Can't wait till I get to Cairns and go on some more hikes through this stuff.

On the way up, I saw a cool sign. It read "Slow trucks carrying explosives. Next 2km" Haha! Haven't seen that in the states!

But anyways, I made it to Mackay (actually Mount Pleasant, a small suburb outside the city). First time trying out AirBnB. A really nice family, and only $30 for the night, so that was pretty good.

But ya, that long on the road is tiring. Gives you lots of time to think about stuff. Lots of time... 😊

The road to Cairns tomorrow will be about as long. 460 miles. For some reason, my brain hasn't been able to adjust to the time zone very well... It seems like I'm stuck in Fiji time... I always wake up at 4:30-5:00 in the morning and can't fall back asleep. So, I guess it means an early start in the morning. I'm thinking about 6:30. That should put me in Cairns about 3:00pm or so, which would be nice.

Stay tuned!!! 😊

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