July 14th: Calen to Sarina – 114 km
Day 274
We took the back road today. According to Google Maps, it would be 78 km to Sarina. Thinking it would be a long day, we got on the road early. 7km south of Calen, we took Mirani Mount Ossa Road. By going through Marian we would be able to completely bypass Mackay, and take a break from the Bruce Highway.
It was a mixed blessing. The hills didn’t spare us with the steep climbs and the weather was quite changeable. We could feel the cold front rolling in, our faces and fingers frozen in the icy cold wind.
However, we were rewarded with stunning views the entire ride, and there was very little traffic. The road surface was much smoother than the highway, and the hills protected us from the head winds. And after every steep uphill, there is always a thrilling downhill waiting. It was around 30km of hilly terrain, and just before Marian, we had a 5 km long downhill which lead us to a very flat sugar cane plain.
As soon as we got out of the hills, we were hindered by a strong head wind, which didn’t lighten up for the rest of the ride. And after we reached 80 km, we realized that we still have at least 20 km to go. We were desperate to cut the ride short by taking a short cut on a dirt road, Google Maps again failed us – the dirt road turned into impassable sugar cane fields.
We rode into Sarina in the dusk. An 80 km day turned into a 114 km day. We stopped at Sarina Palms Caravan Village because it has good reviews on Wiki Camps. It was indeed a good choice, we were given a discounted price for an un-powered site, despite the fact that they don’t have un-powered sites. The owner directed us to put up our tent on the concrete slab under the roof between two cabins, so we could stay out of the rain that night. We couldn’t thank him enough for his generosity. However, we learned later that he was a bit of a lawn nazi – he would evict guests just because they were ruining his lawn by driving or putting up awnings on his beloved grass. For a person who loves his grass so much, why would he choose to run a caravan park? It is like a marine conservationist opening up a sushi shop.
We were out of grocery and energy to cook dinner, so we treated ourselves to take away fish and chips. While we were eating, a possum was watching us from the roof railing. However we left no food for this cute little kitchen raider.