The CREB Track - Remote Bikepacking in Far North Queensland

I think I have done some fairly adventurous stuff, but in general it has been on roads regularly frequented by cars, or on asphalt. Even though this trip was only about 75Km and a day and a half long, this was no ordinary road and there wasn't much around to help me if I got in trouble. Although short, this was as adventurous a trip as I have done yet.

The CREB stands for the Cairns Regional Electricity Board, and is basically a very rough 4WD track originally carved through the wilderness to connect rural communities north of Cairns with electricity.

 The track is closed for much of the year as it is impassable in the wet, even in the best of 4WD vehicles. It becomes impassable for a few reasons; firstly, it gets too muddy on the Daintree side, causing vehicles to get stuck, and also on the Daintree side the river swells and gets too deep, especially through the wet season. With no bridge, you have to wade through the river at the start of the track, which is also inhabited by crocodiles - one in that particular part of the river is apparently over 5 metres long! The rain also makes the clay dirt on the track impossibly slippery, making it hard to get the traction to get up the steep inclines, and then dangerously difficult to use the brakes to control the descent. Alongside the track there is plenty of evidence of cars that didn't make it.

I had originally planned to cycle the CREB track and then the Bloomfield track the next day. The Bloomfield track is a 4WD track that runs from Cape Tribulation (the end of the sealed road) to Cooktown. I had planned to come off the CREB and do part of it back to my car, which was parked at the Daintree River Ferry car park. In retrospect, this was a pretty stupidly ambitious plan. 

I am still quite new to bikepacking and it can be very difficult to know exactly what distances I am able to cover in a day. When I bicycle tour on sealed roads, I know that 100Km is a comfortable day on an average road. If it is very mountainous or windy, maybe 80Km. However, I can do 140Km+ on almost any day if I push myself. Bikepacking is much harder to judge.

There are many more variables at play on a bikepacking trip. The first being the severity of the climbs and descents; they are usually much less forgiving meaning you may have to push the bike on the way up and go very slowly even on the way down. The road surface can also vary quite a bit and this determines how fast you can go, and you never really know until you are on the track itself. The weather also can change the road conditions rapidly, making some sections almost undoable, or at least incredibly slow going.

Bikepacking usually also involves being far away from any resources; you may have to source your water from the surroundings, carry more water, and carry more food. You may also need to bring some specialist equipment, and finding comfortable places to rest and recuperate is often much harder - you won't find a nice energy boosting coffee around the corner unless you make it yourself.

I had intended then to do about 140Km over two days, and I thought I'd have plenty of time. How wrong I was. I did about 60Km on the first day on the CREB, with about 16 of those on the sealed roads going from my car to the start of the track. The 45 or so Km on the CREB track took me the whole day, with lots of hiking the bike and heavy braking down the hills. There was hardly a flat section.

The day also included plenty of river and creek crossings; the first was across the crocodile-infested Daintree river, which I did worry a bit about. Most people cross this river in their 4WD, I would be walking it across on a bicycle. I was told by a local that I had no worries though as the river level was very low, and as long as I didn't cross at dusk, dawn or at night I'd be absolutely fine. Multiple river crossings did slow me down though.

The biggest reason for the slow day, however, was simply the arduous nature of the track. Incredibly steep inclines, so steep to the point I was struggling at a few points to push the bike up them, made worse by some slightly wet areas making it difficult to get a grip with my shoes. After finishing the biggest climb of the day up "Big Red", I was so spent in the 35 C heat that I starting cramping in multiple areas, first getting on and off the bike, and then just walking. This had me a little concerned for a while about how I'd make enough progress to even get off the track by the end of the next day, let alone do another 70Km on another track.

I rested and recovered, but even after the big climbs were done, there were multiple steep, smaller climbs, which took a lot out of me and I was soaked with sweat all day. This was hard yakka, as they say in this part of the world.

Still, the track was remote and beautiful and it felt like a real adventure. The only other person doing the track on both days was a motorcyclist I saw a few kilometres in from the start in the morning on the first day. He was going to visit a friend in Cooktown and thought he'd give the track a go (that's him in the picture below).

I was quite happy with not seeing too much dangerous wildlife, particularly the crocodiles at the Daintree river crossing (the other creeks were in the mountains, and crocs don't enjoy climbing), with the only creepy crawly being a red-bellied black snake that slithered away from me on the track. A Ulysses butterfly also followed me for while, a strikingly beautiful, large turquoise and black butterfly found here in Far North Queensland.

By about 2pm I was utterly spent, and I know I have said this a few times on this blog, but on this occasion, I really mean it. Cramping in multiple areas, I was truly struggling to put one foot in front of the other and even to get on the bike to ride it. With that in mind then, I was glad to find a campground about 30Km into the track. I knew that there was a place called, "Yundilli Camp", but I had assumed it was just an unmanned and basic campground with a bench and some flat areas for pitching a tent. I was surprised to find a Garden of Eden-like place in the middle of the harshness of the forest.

So knackered at this point, I failed to take any pictures, but I wish I had. There was a nice little house within a large plot of land with an almost perfectly manicured lawn and garden. I had assumed it must be aboriginals living all the way out here (with a perfectly manicured garden, I should have known better), but it was just an older white couple who decided to live away from it all in the forest. I was amazed at how well their home was kitted-out. The husband was sitting down in front of a huge widescreen TV and their kitchen had all the appliances you might expect (the house was on the track for the electricity board after all, I guess).

The lady gave me some water and said I could camp for free if I wanted seeing as I was just on a bicycle, but that they had moved the camping area to just down the road because their outside toilet was not useable. I thanked the lady and commented how I was envious of their wonderful property and little piece of heaven in the rainforest.

The camping area just down the road had a permanent resident whose car and bed sat under a shelter with no walls. He had a few chairs, a couple of wash basins, and a clothes line, and just a rainwater tank for drinking and washing dishes and clothes. He was doing some work for the couple doing odd jobs and some backburning of the forest to make sure they didn't get any serious forest fires engulfing the property. For most of the year this area of Australia is very green and moist, so there is a fairly low chance of forest fires, but just before the rains come in December, it can be very hot and dry so you do see the odd forest fire every now and then, although usually not serious.

The chap living at the campsite had hardly moved from the area in decades, and rarely even visited any of the small towns in the region. He seemed quite happy with a largely solitary existence in the forest, although he did talk my head off for about half an hour which suggested to me that he missed having a good conversation.

It was a perfect area to camp, better than I ever could have expected on this track, but I had arrived at about 2pm, so it felt a bit early to stop. With what I thought was the whole Bloomfield track to do the following day, I asked the man whether there were any other camping areas further up the track. He replied no, but said that I could just camp in the bush and that there was nothing really dangerous in the forest except for Yowies and Hairy Men. I had no idea what they were so I asked him. He said that Yowies were giant hairy men that roamed the forest and only came into contact with those who were truly connected to nature (basically the Australian version on Bigfoot). The Hairy Men were as described, hairy men, but were pygmy-like and more numerous. He was being dead serious, so I was trying not to laugh.

Anyway, I decided to move on but not before taking a good rest and having an early supper. It really pained me to go on as it would have been a great place to camp the night. I ended up camping under one of the electricity pylons as it was on a flat piece of grassy ground (sort of). There were plenty of mosquitoes and it took me quite a while to cool down in the tent. A sweaty and uncomfortable night, but I did manage some sleep, although I had some concerns for the next day.

My chief concern was how I was going to get back to my car the next day. It seemed a mammoth task after the day I had. I knew the Bloomfield track would be a lot easier than the CREB but I still knew that the Bloomfield track was not for the faint-hearted either, with steep climbs and no services. I knew that the CREB had taken a lot out of me too. The other issue I had was that for most of the first half of the night it was raining. I was worried about the track condition the next day and whether I could get across the Bloomfield river, and whether it had any crocs! A quick, panicked glance at the map revealed that I at least didn't have to worry about crocodiles as the river crossing was at an elevation of about 200m. No crocs up there.

I was still concerned about the water level though, especially after waking up in the morning to lightning in the sky. Bizarrely, however, there were no clouds that I could see. Looking up, all I could see were a thousand stars and the MilkyWay, then suddenly a flash of light.

The storms were on the coast and I was still somewhat inland, so the first mission of the day was to get to the river and cross it nice and early before any heavy downpours arrived and swelled the river, so I set-off before 5.30am.

On the way I had a bit of a scare. There was pink tape blocking-off the track. I was now way too far in to turn back so I just ducked underneath it and hoped for the best. I had visions of a landslide devouring the route or something, but soon discovered that it must have been because of some backburning of the forest as most of the way after it was showing evidence of recent burns. It was beautiful though as the fire made tree leaves turn red and the earth black. Recent rains meant that bright green shoots and leaves on trees could be seen within the charred colours. It was like Autumn and Spring combined and made for a unique and pretty landscape.

I made it to the river in good time and crossed it with no problems at all. The only thing in my way after that was a steep descent onto the Bloomfield track. You'd think that would be fun, but actually I had to walk my bike down, so steep as it was. There were some really nice views to finish the track and it was much better than pushing the bike up the insane climbs on the previous day.

It was about 9am at this time and by then I had figured-out that I was never going to make it to my car by the end of the day, particularly as the Bloomfield track's surface was quite rough and corrugated in most places. I thought about flagging-down a vehicle that past me and seeing if I could hitch a lift. I knew that every vehicle going past would be a 4WD, and likely with space in the back for a bike. It did take 2 hours for me to see a car though and the first one overtook me on a steep descent in which I was doing my best to concentrate on not falling off the bike, so I missed my chance to hail him. The ascents were up to 30% incline, so I got a fair taster of my day to come. To be honest, they felt a good deal easier than the ascents on the CREB, so I dread to think what the incline was on there in some places.

Luckily, about 30 minutes later a car passed me going up a hill. Stupidly, I didn't flag him down and I thought I had missed my chance. However, so forlorn I must have looked, the driver stopped a little further up and offered me a lift up the hill. I simply asked him if I could go a little further. He happily accepted and we had a good chat on the way back to the river crossing where my car was parked. He was a great guy actually and I think we had a fair amount in common, so it was an enjoyable conversation. He was driving to Cairns to pick his mother up from the airport. He did drive incredibly fast down that track, but I was very glad I wasn't riding it. This kind chap truly saved my bacon.

Safely back to the car then and very relieved to be. As if by magic, the heavens started to open about 2 minutes down the road and didn't really stop for the rest of the day, sometimes being extremely heavy. Basically, I had avoided the day from hell by pulling up stumps and calling it a day a little early. Great decision, and the Bloomfield track will have to wait for another day. A real adventure squeezed into a day and a half, an eventful first major trip on the new bike.

You can also check-out this vlog I did on this trip below:

New Life, New Bike and a Kuranda Backroads Trial Run

It's been a year since my last trip out on the bike. The last time was near Melbourne with my buddy Pete, but I have since made my way up to Far North Queensland to the stunning Northern Beaches area of Cairns (just in time to avoid the lockdowns in Melbourne, I might add).

Last November we decided Melbourne was no place to settle-down and raise a child, and I had wanted to get out of the big city for a while, so we decided on my favourite place on my travels around Australia. If you had followed my blog before, maybe you'll remember that I had nothing but praise for Cairns. I really loved New Zealand also, but Cairns was definitely my highlight of Australia. If you are a nature-loving person, there aren't many better places than this area of the world; mountains, rainforest, The Great Barrier Reef, waterfalls, and weird and wonderful wildlife. Indeed David Attenborough himself described Far North Queensland as his favourite place on the planet.

It has taken me a while to get back on the bike, however. Having a baby and settling-in to a totally different life will do that. When you add all the troubles of 2020 on top of that, and the fact that these troubles have made it impossible for any family to come and visit us, then maybe you can understand that I had precious little free time when it is only the two of us looking after a baby. Things have settled-down though and with some routine, I have been able to find time for some more adventures.

Things do have to change though. It would be a bit difficult - not to mention irresponsible - for me to go on tours for weeks and months like I had previously, so a different strategy is required. 

Forgetting the bike for a moment, I have been able to do some adventuring on a limited basis because this part of the world is an adventure sportsman's paradise. Hiking, trail running, scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking, and camping are just a few of the fantastic activities on my doorstep at the moment and I have taken advantage of this as best I can.

Although I have occasionally drifted onto other areas of adventure on this blog, the main focus is on the bike, so it is good to get things going again in that regard. 

With the trusty Soma back in the UK and probably not best suited to the roads or the way I intend to tour for the foreseeable future, a new bike was required. I intend only to do overnight trips or perhaps 3 days maximum (if I am lucky) until my wife and I can get some family over here for support. Even then, I can't see myself doing anything longer than a week for quite a while. The back roads in this area of the world are often not sealed and there are plenty of rough tracks also, so it seemed a perfect opportunity to get properly into bikepacking using a gravel bike.

Gravel bikes are designed to tackle the rough roads, but still have many of the advantages of a road bike, i.e. that you can still cover good distance at reasonable speed on sealed roads. It seemed a perfect option for bicycle touring in this part of the world.

Seeing as I wasn't going to be doing any particularly long trips far away from home, I settled on a budget gravel bike after a bit of research. I found the Marin Nicasio + to fit the bill nicely, which I bought from Bicycles Online. Not too expensive at about $1100 (AUD), but a solid steel frame with plenty of places to mount gear. It is also quite a pretty bike, I think. I am very happy with it so far after a bit of riding around the area where I live, and it is much quicker on the tarmac than I would have thought with the wider tyres. The one drawback could be the limited gearing to help me get up the big climbs, but I can always walk it up the steep sections if need be.

After some acclimatising to the saddle (I hadn't cycled in quite some time), the first thing to do was a little trial run, so I headed up the Kuranda range in the car with the bicycle and sought-out a dirt road circuit I could do in a morning.

I am now using the app Komoot to help with route planning as some more detailed and downloadable maps are required when you head further off the beaten track and away from people and traffic.

At about 45Km it seemed a good little workout for me and the bike. I also used the opportunity to try some different bag set ups and do some video while touring for the first time (on my own, I did a little with my friend in the Grampians in Victoria last year). I am a fan of a few bicycle touring vloggers on YouTube, although I am pretty fussy. There only seem to be a few that are worth watching to me. Here is a list below of some of my favourites:

CyclingAbout - https://www.youtube.com/user/CyclingAboutOfficial

Wheels to Wander - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRooai9NLae8V4lijcYaO2g

Bicycle Touring Pro - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCGE4MRedy8pXEdJb9Vsx-g

Iohan Gueorguiev (See the World) - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqiYX6cqxQI9CqhH_kvHeOw

They are all quite different in their style; Cyclingabout's creator Alee Denham is extremely knowledgeable about bikes and very extreme in his route planning. He takes very technical routes and does the seemingly impossible on a touring bike. What also encourages me about him is that his early videos were terrible, yet now they are absolutely magnificent.

Wheels to Wander are a Dutch couple who at the time of writing have been on a world tour for about a year and a half. While also very adventurous in their route planning too, they capture the everyday life of bicycle touring very authentically. From simple things like making coffee and breakfast to documenting frustrations and joys with locals, it is quite low-key but very genuine and brings back fond memories of my longer bicycle tours.

Bicycle Touring Pro is very practical, with lots of tips with his vast experience of bicycle touring. He also engages in a wide variety of bicycle tours and caters to almost everyone.

Iohan Guerguiev is the quintessential romantic adventurer. He makes long, beautiful videos and has a quite charming personality. He is clearly a great lover of adventure, nature, and animals, and it shines through in his videos. His journeys through the Americas have been nothing short of epic, and man does he make me want to cycle in the Andes one day.

I don't aspire to be YouTube stars like these guys, but it did occur to me how nice it would be to be able to look back on some of my adventures. I often return to this blog as a reminder of what I have done. Pictures and words are great, but obviously video would add an extra dimension and there is a joy in creating something in an age of mostly consumption.

Videoing a tour does take quite a bit of time and effort, so with shorter tours on quieter routes, it seemed like I could manage this with little stress. On this first venture out on the new bike, I gave it a go and I was quite pleased with the result. Doing some video also had the positive effect of slowing me down a little and giving my butt a rest from the saddle. I really felt no discomfort the whole day, so I think I'll do a few more videos in the future.

It is really nice to look at a map sometimes and plan a route with no expectations of particular places of interest and no idea of what to expect, then going out and enjoying a really beautiful ride. Surprises also regularly come along. The first was seeing a cassowary about 5 minutes in, and shortly after seeing a naked forest man on the side of the road admiring it. He must of owned the house he was standing in front of, which was the last one before the road wound deeply into the forest.

The route was an amazingly good one considering I had never heard or seen anything of interest in the area, and a perfect test for me and the bike. Mostly unsealed with only a couple of stiff climbs, it was an excellent reintroduction to a bit of touring and some bikepacking.

Not bad for adventure on my doorstep.

All I have to do now is load-up the bike with a bit more gear and do an overnighter. However, the wet season is coming up, so I'll have to be quick. I'll probably try to do one before the end of the year as long as the weather holds up. It will be a hot one though, and although it is still dry at the moment, the temperatures are in the mid-thirties. This is just one of many challenges in this part of the world, but my kind of paradise isn't just about kicking back and enjoying the beach life, it entails a bit of suffering as well. More to come in that regard.

Lerderderg State Park Bikepacking Overnighter

Continuing the bikepacking experiment, we decided to learn our lesson from the Grampians and take things a bit easier on the next trip through Lerderderg State Park, just north of Melbourne.

My mate Peter was staying and working on a stud farm/camping facility a little north of Melton, so I decided to meet him there. I took the Metro train out to Diggers Rest and then cycled about 17km in windy conditions early in the morning on a public holiday here in Melbourne because of the AFL (Aussie Rules Football) grand final weekend. Yes, they really do have a day-off here in Victoria for a footy match, even though the public holiday, which is on a Friday, is not even on the day of the match.

After having a short coffee break at Pete's we had about 15km to get off the main roads and into the park itself, then t was all dirt tracks through the park, exactly what we were looking for.

I only had to do about 60Km in total for that first day, giving us just a short trip to Ballan station and the train home in the morning. 60Km is absolutely nothing on sealed roads with a good touring bike, but as we discovered from the Grampians trip, we don't have good bikes and traveling off the tarmac is definitely more challenging and you really have to scale-down what you previously thought possible in a day. I was exhausted from the week previous also having done a lot of physical exercise, so that 60Km on the first day was enough for me.

Despite it being a public holiday, there wasn't very many people around and the park itself was much more vast than I had imagined. The tracks followed the ridgeline most of the way, giving splendid views of the surrounding ranges. It was just what I was looking for in a two day bikepacking trip.

Pete's wacky-looking helmet is designed to ward-off the swooping magpies at this time of year.

As always in Australia, the area doesn't look particularly big on the map but seems extremely vast in reality and I was extremely surprised by the scale of the place, which was exactly what I was after, the sense of wilderness so close to home.

After following the ridgeline for most of the day, we finally dipped down to the river into a very nice picnic area, which would have been perfect for an overnight camp, and clearly used to be a camping area. However, as is common in Australia, this area was filled with no camping signs so we decided to move on. It took a bit of searching, but we found an excellent camping spot down one of the smaller trails, well away from the roadside.

So far I have found the ease and quality of free camping areas one of the best things about bikepacking. There is absolutely no worries about being discovered and you can pick and choose some really nice spots. Incredibly also, due to the wonders of modern technology, I have typically had a 4G signal everywhere so far. Not that it really has ever mattered as the second I have settled into my sleeping bag, I tend to fall asleep. I was already super-tired before the 60Km, so I slept like a baby, getting in over ten hours without any trouble at all.

The weather had been a bit strange on that first day, pleasantly warm up until about 1pm and then bitterly cold as a front moved in, but we were lucky there was not much rain. The next morning was pretty cold, but the sun was out and we only had 5Km to get out of the park and onto sealed roads to make our way to Ballan train station. This was a surprisingly attractive cycle as we went through the rolling hills of the surrounding countryside.

I had forgotten about the AFL Grand Final, and noticed a few supporters waiting to get on the train and worried we might not be able to get on with our bikes, but everything turned-out well. Again, the bikes got through another test - although Pete's rack snapped after getting some shopping on the way home.

A few more trips planned, but now it will likely be on my own as Pete will be going back home to the UK very soon. I've enjoyed the company and the new way of doing things and the first couple of trips will certainly have prepared me well for future solo adventures.

The Grampians 3-Day Bikepacking Trip

I did feel for Pete lugging that big ol' girls bike up those hills with all the weight on the back, I think my set-up was a bit kinder to me.

I'm back in Australia now and without my trusty Soma touring bike, however, I was looking for a slight change in direction anyway with regards to adventuring.

While I was in England, I really got into watching Iohan Gueorguiev's "See the World" series of documentaries. If you haven't checked him out on YouTube already, you should definitely watch some of his inspiring videos. Iohan goes not just off-road, but regularly off the map and documents it all very well. I don't have the time for such ambitious riding, but he certainly made me interested in doing some bikepacking trips.

Bikepacking differs slightly from bicycle touring in that it is mainly on isolated dirt roads and trails. You generally see less people, but you get really up close and personal with nature and it does feel like even more of an adventure. With it comes some more problems, like sourcing water and food, and you obviously are further away from any support if you run into trouble, so you need to be a little more prepared.

For my first venture out then, I chose the Grampians in Victoria, here in Australia. This is a pretty little mountainous area North-West of Melbourne. I was riding my housemate's abandoned bike that he left to rust in the back garden; after a little bit of attention, it seemed as if it could stand up to a few short tours, so I thought I'd give it a go.

New bike, new kind of touring, and instead of doing it all on my own, this time I was joined by my friend Peter from England, who is in Melbourne for a few months. This was the chap that was partly responsible for inspiring me to give bicycle touring a go in the first place after his trip from South Korea to England a few years ago.

She kind of looks the part, especially for a free bike.

Between us we were riding bikes that had cost us a total of $10. I got mine for free, and he paid $10 for his girls bike - but who cares right, it did the job after all. I did buy some panniers and a handlebar bag online, which totalled to a little over $100, but even so, this was travelling on a budget, especially as we wild camped every night.

From Melbourne, we took a train for about 2 and a half hours to the small town of Ararat. From there it was an easy 40Km or so to our first wild camp spot about 5Km outside of Halls Gap. I had an idea where this would be before hand but was happy to find a reasonable area in the trees.

Day 1 campsite in the trees with Pete and his family-sized tent.

The first night was extremely cold, which tested my new sleeping bag. By the time I had switched my phone on in the morning, the mercury had dropped to about -2 degrees Celsius. We were in the last throws of Winter, so this wasn't too surprising, but it did make for a slightly uncomfortable morning until the sun started shining and then the cold dissipated pretty quickly.

The cold didn't stop the kangaroos coming out to feast on the frosty grass and they were present in the hundreds in the fields beside the road around Halls Gap. We decided to stop and have a coffee and a sit down for 45 minutes to warm up. Just holding the coffee cup brought feeling back into my fingers.

Our plan was to head South and cut into the main part of the Grampians and from there take dirt roads and 4-wheel drive tracks and loop back to Halls Gap and then back to Ararat. This being my first bikepacking trip - although I have done some off-road sections before on my touring bike - I didn't really know what to expect, but I figured about 70Km a day wouldn't be too arduous.

As soon as we turned off the tarmac, we were confronted with a climb, but nothing too major and the road then flattened-out nicely. There were campsites aplenty just off the side of the track all day, but we planned to finish at about 5pm and typically at this time there was nothing and we were climbing again, on often very sandy 4-wheel drive tracks, which started to take its toll on us.

Sandy tracks made for difficult riding and there were few camping opportunities as the sun was going down on day 2.

Fortunately, as we were getting desperate to set-up camp we found an excellent spot which already had an area for a fire and some nice flat ground between the trees. We got a fire going and cooked-up some dinner. I don't normally bring a camping stove with me, so a hot dinner was definitely welcome, as well as some warmth in the morning and a hot porridge breakfast. I think in future I might start bringing a stove with me on trips again. I need a bit more luxury as I get older.

It had been a hard day, but a cracking camp to finish, and although we had been in the trees most of the day we did manage to find the odd lookout point to get an idea of the lay of the land.

The perfect campsite to end day 2.

On the morning of day 3 we knew we had a bit of a climb after an exhilarating downhill section on the 4-wheel drive tracks. The ascent was back on the asphalt, however, so it wasn't too difficult. We were heading to Mackenzie Falls, one of the popular attractions of the area. I had been there a few years previously with my mum when she visited us in Melbourne in the summer, but this time we were the only one's there and the walk seemed shorter and easier than before.

Victoria is not an especially famous part of Australia for waterfalls, but this is quite a nice one and a bit of time walking without the bikes was much needed.

Our next target was to get to Boroka lookout via the long road around the reservoir, which was quite aptly named, "Mount Difficult Road". It started innocuously enough, fairly flat around the reservoir, but then began rising steeply for what seemed like forever up to the lookout. Pete was suffering, which I think was chiefly down to his set-up and the extra weight he was carrying, I was tired but wasn't feeling completely spent.

Taking a break halfway up Mt Difficult Road

After reaching Boroka Lookout, we decided to have a bit of a powernap and chill out with the beautiful view of the Grampians as a background. Hard work done we had an easy roll downhill into Halls Gap. It is at such times when you tend to gorge yourself on food, and we sat down for a good couple of hours until I realised the weather forecast was predicting rain in the morning and with this in mind it might be a good idea to get as early a train possible back to Melbourne.

Despite the cold mornings, we had unbelievable weather over the trip; for two whole days we didn't even see a cloud and the daytime temperatures were very pleasant. In hindsight this was lucky as those sandy 4-wheel drive tracks would have been even worse had they been wet. From my other tours in Australia, I have learned that unsealed roads here can be a bit of a lottery, sometimes sandy, sometimes rutted, bumpy, and potholed. At least now - as strange as it sounds with a free bike - I have the kind of bike that can take it with a bit of a suspension and wider tyres.

Looking at the forecast, and with a couple of hours still left in the day, I persuaded Pete to push on and try to get within striking distance of Ararat for the early 8.15am train back to Melbourne. We also had a slight tailwind in the afternoon.

All 3 nights we free camped. This can be uncomfortable sometimes, but every campsite was excellent.

As luck would have it, it turned-out to be a great decision. We had some energy back from the rest and some hot food and as the light was fading we found a free camping area about 17Km from Ararat, with perfect soft grass and even a toilet and a place to sit down. Luxury indeed.

Anyway, we made it before the rain and got back to Melbourne in good time. Excellent little trip that was tougher than I had imagined it would be, although I was very happy with my bike set-up and I will be doing a few more short tours with it by the end of the year.

Northern England - The Lakes, Dales, and Moors.

After an interesting, but slightly underwhelming and frustrating tour of Spain, Northern England didn't disappoint, despite the bitter cold towards the end of the week.  Whereas plans changed continuously in Spain, this tour went almost exactly by the book.

Aira Force (waterfalls in the North are called 'force').

I started out from Colchester early in the morning on the train to London Liverpool Street.  From there I had about an 8Km cycle to London Euston station where I caught the train towards Carlisle.  I was slightly concerned about this leg of the journey, but I needn't have been as everything went very smoothly.

The only slight change was where I disembarked from on the bike.  I noticed that the train stopped at Penrith before Carlisle, a much smaller town and slightly closer to the Lake District.

Almost immediately, I was quite struck by how beautiful the Lake District was.  The mountains there are not huge, but they are quite craggy and scenic amidst the lakes, with even a little snow left at the tops of the higher peaks.

My first little target was Aira Force waterfall for a bit of a walk and a spot of lunch.  I took the scenic route along the banks of Ullswater lake.

Almost immediately I was quite taken with how many people were in the more popular areas of the Lake District.  Aira Force car park was extremely busy and each time I stopped in a town it was bustling with activity.  As I went down some of the smaller roads, however, I soon lost the crowds.

The 3-wheeler tour through the Lakes.  They were very nice people actually with cool little cars.

After passing through Keswick, I took the road less travelled to Buttermere which was also incredibly steep at times.  I was followed by a team of 3-wheel cars that were obviously on a Top Gear-like tour of the Lake District and they seemed to suit the surroundings quite nicely.

The standard one photo of me on the tour.

After Buttermere, I psyched myself up for the Honnister Pass.  It is one of the most beautiful roads in the whole of Britain, but again, very steep.  Towards the end of the climb the incline hits 25%.  Not a chance of riding up that on a fully-loaded touring bike, so I had to get off and push.  Pushing the bike up that incline is a challenge in itself, but it was worth the effort as the top of the pass was very grand and impressive.

My first camping area of the tour was just down the other side of the pass at a farm located at the beginning of the trail up to Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England.  Everything was pretty basic, but it left me the option of hiking up to the top of the mountain in the morning.  Unfortunately, the cloud was very low, so I didn't see much up there and I couldn't wait around for very long.

Ridiculous inclines.  I had to push, but not for that long as you get to the top pretty quickly.  This is very common in the UK, short, steep, punchy climbs.

First campsite on the tour, very quiet and comfortable in beautiful surroundings.

The cloud finally cleared in the afternoon and by then I had made my way towards Windemere, possibly the most famous of the Lakes.  Not my favourite, though, as it was quite busy and the highest of the mountains had gone by then.

Black sheep on a cloudy, misty morning.

I was quite amazed by the variety of trails through the Lake District, which really made me want to go back there one day and hike around for a week or so.  With hundreds of miles of trails through stunning countryside and wilderness, it is definitely something I'd come back for.  I think the Lake District is the most beautiful part of the whole of the UK from what I have seen so far, rivaling the Scottish Highlands, which are also wonderful.

I was quite surprised just how stunning the Lake District was; as you can see I took some great photos, some of the best I have ever taken on my travels.  As I headed out of the Lakes, I had no plan of where to camp overnight, but eventually found a public footpath to get me off the road and thought I'd take a chance on where it went.  It led to a locked gate, but with stones placed next to it so walkers could access the path which was ongoing.

Day 2 campsite was a bit exposed, but I had little choice.

It seemed liked a route that was rarely used, and there was some ground to pitch a tent further on, so I unloaded the bike and lifted it over and then camped about 100 metres away on the other side.  A bit exposed to the wind, but I was sure no one would disturb me up there and there really was no other options around.

The wind had picked up overnight and in the morning it was colder also.  The wind was blowing from the North East - basically where I was going - and by mid-morning it was creating quite a problem on the bike, pushing me around everywhere.

The river running through the town of Kendal, home to the famous Kendal mint cake.  Supplying hikers and climbers with energy for almost 150 years.

I passed through a number of small towns and villages on the outskirts of the Yorkshire Dales before stopping at some nice church gardens which also sat at the top of a hill with great views over the river and into the dales.

As I headed into the Dales the wind picked up and the higher I got, the worse it got.  High in the Yorkshire Dales is probably one of the worst places in the UK to be confronted by high winds as there is absolutely no tree cover and no steep mountains to shield you from the wind, just open, high hillsides.  I was buffeted by a full-on headwind as I climbed up to the highest section.  The decent incline and high winds brought me to a standstill.

The Ribblehead viaduct high up in the Yorkshire Dales.

I was again experiencing those moments of despair that only a relentless headwind can give you, but fortunately I had a nice target to push me through the latter part of the day.

I camped every night on the trip, bar one, which was this night.  The YHA at Hawes was in the perfect place and with the cold winds knocking the stuffing out of me, I just had to stop for the night and get some welcome shelter from the elements.

The YHA couldn't come soon enough, despite the pleasant scenery of the Dales.  Shortly after arriving I was joined by fellow cyclist, traveling a little lighter, who had come up from Leeds and was planning a trip into the Lake District for a few days also.  He was a really nice chap, actually, and we had some good chats about our travels, as he was as well-travelled as I am.  He also gave me some useful tips on good routes to take and ones to avoid as he had ridden this way many times.

I was so exhausted that the thought of battling into the cold wind the next day was something I wasn't willing to entertain, so I tricked myself into thinking I'd have an easy day and start late.  Obviously I didn't, just setting-off a little later than normal at 8am.

I had mentally prepared myself for a slow-going day, however, and this helped initially, but then I started to struggle again.  I decided to pick my way through 10-15km at a time and eventually I made it to a reservoir and forested area, which was the only place around I had a chance to pitch a tent.

Campsite 3 in the woods near the Yorkshire Moors.

It was a tricky one, however, because the tiny villages a few miles down the road seemed to empty into this park where everyone was walking their dogs or walking with the family.  I managed to find a quiet spot in the trees and settled down for a cold night.

The temperature was down to -2 degrees when I woke up in the morning.  I didn't feel overly cold in the tent as I think the bed of pine needles underneath the tent insulated me quite well, but getting going in the morning was difficult and once on the bike the cold wind was blowing once more.  I was freezing and utterly exhausted from the previous 2 days of battling the wind.

These pots of tea powered me through fatigue and the cold on this trip.

My legs simply were not working and I was struggling big time.  I managed to make it to the Buck Inn at Chop Gate and despite it not technically being open, the lovely lady who owned it let me in for a pot of tea, which warmed me up and together with the rest gave me a bit of energy again.

I purposely didn't go to my uncle's place via Rosedale because I knew I would be going there anyway, and it was a less direct route.  It was also higher and more open and I was not only struggling a bit physically, but I had become bone-chillingly cold.  I just could not get warm the whole day and this continued into the next day as you can probably see from the picture I had taken with my mum below.

Perhaps you can see in this picture how cold I stayed, even a day after finishing on the bike.

I finally arrived at my uncle's cottage, just south of the Yorkshire Moors, very cold and weather beaten.  The North Easterly winds took chunks out of me in the previous 3 days, so I was glad to finish.  Although these winds were against me and were icy cold, the benefit of the weather coming from the East is that it was at least dry for the whole trip, not a drop of rain.

Despite the physical hardship, I really enjoyed this tour and along the with tour through Wales and Southern England I did almost 2 years ago, I feel like I have explored my own country quite well now.  The UK is actually a really good place to tour on the bike; lots of small roads and pretty landscapes punctuated by, in my opinion, the prettiest towns and villages in the whole world.  What my country lacks in spectacular landscapes it makes up for in culture and architecture.

The top of the Rosedale Chimney, the steepest road in the UK at 33%.

Anyway the last couple of days were spent with my aunt and uncle who were extremely friendly and hospitable, even though I hadn't seen them in years.  I especially loved the homemade rhubarb crumble made with rhubarb straight from the garden.

Their little cottage was lovely and I stayed in the swanky little room above their garage.  On the first day with them they showed us around the Moors and we took all the dogs for a walk.  I was extremely impressed with their collie Tanzie (my aunt is an incredibly good trainer of dogs; agility training, flyball, and sheep herding) who was very obedient and did everything first time on command.  I was freezing for every second when I was outside and I only warmed-up on the second day after sitting in their front room with the fire blaring out.  I must have been seriously cold.

But apart from the cold it was a great tour and then a lovely finish with my relatives; the bike then fit into my mum's car easily for the trip back home.  Basically a perfectly planned and executed week away.