I rented a bike in Cairns to figure out what to do next and
go on an adventure. I was going up to Cape Tribulation to live in the
rainforest. I bought a hammock and some supplies to stay alive in the
rainforest. Like those pellets that clean out the water. Those are expensive.
At the bike rental place I asked about the route. People do
it. So I figured it was doable. He only warned about the tight roads leading to
my first stop, Port Douglas.
He was also super weird. Kinda creepy. He would sometimes
not answer my question and just smile with his eyes. It’s like we’re not best
friends dude I can’t read your mind, I’m trying to have a business transaction.
He also did this weird thing where he treated me like his son when he was
fitting the helmet on me. I know this is my first time at the rodeo but I’m an
adult. C’mon.
I biked from Cairns to Port Douglas (like 70km) and just
barely made it. I was drinking plenty of water but wasn’t having enough sugar. So I was
like passing out and had to keep stopping along the journey to eat this sausage.
Dumb, I just needed a Gatorade.
One stop I made was at Wangetti. There’s a tree there that is toxic and it has a warning sign. You can’t touch its branches or leaves or fruit or bark. Otherwise you'll burn real bad. It’s a tar tree.
It was a really costal windy road and some of it was a
really fun zip downhill. Other parts were a really non-fun unzip uphill.
I pulled into Port Douglas and before I even really made it
to town, I called a hostel to book a night. I wasn’t gonna sleep in my hammock.
It had been too brutal of a ride. My legs hurt, my butt hurt and I was soaked with sweat. Tomorrow I’ll camp.
I made friends at the hostel and I really like it there. It’s
much nicer than my current hostel. Though more expensive.
The next day I tried to sit on my bike to go into town and
get a coffee. But I couldn’t. My butt hurt too much. I tried to sit up more on
my thighs and down more on my lower back but that didn’t work. My butt
prevented me from travel. My butt stranded me.
So with a sore butt I just walked around and explored the
town. I scoped out a place to hammock that night and bought another sausage for
lunch. Then I had seen everything so I got drunk and set up my hammock for
practice. Nailed it and fell asleep listening to video game podcasts on the
beach.
I had a friend from Sydney living in Port so he hooked me up with some friends and I hung out with them that night. Then at like 1 am I biked to my camp spot for the night.
There are signs everywhere saying you can’t camp in the
parks and on the beaches. I had thought that was for keeping bums off
the grass. But when I was setting up my hammock in the dark I realized they may
coincide with the signs right below them warning about crocodiles in the water.
Sea crocs are just like sharks except these can go on land.
So take all of your fear of sharks and just let that go on land now.
I didn’t really sleep that night. Just sort of hung out and
sometimes a bat would crash into a tree nearby and yank me out of my general
stupor. Oh well. I’ll sleep tomorrow.
No crocs ate me and I wasn't attacked by mosquitos so I chalk that up for a win.
I stayed in the hostel again the next night and cheated and
took a bus home. I was supposed to figure out what I was gonna do next on the
bike trip. I didn’t. My butt is still sore.
