Jan 21

Today was a day we had been waiting for – for several reasons. It was our longest day and a source of concern for Amanda. All of these days are distances much greater than any she has cycled before. We had changed our itinerary to include a day off in Strahan to take a cruise on the Gordon River. To do so we had to add mileage prior to getting there – hence a 127K day today. We also knew we would be heading into the rainforest which we all had been looking foreward to.

What a glorious morning it was. We flew down long ascents and wound our way through beautiful dense lush forests. The K’s zipped by and the weather was perfect. Mountains would appear on our right and as we came around another S-turn we found more on our left. The tree canopies rose high, lichen and vines filled in the spaces and huge tree ferns covered the base with wonderful color and texture. So many hues of green that you needed no other color. It was 89K to Queenstown and Barry and I got there in 4 plus hours despite many stops for photographs on my part. There was a fairly significant climb before Queenstown then a steep sharp series of turns into the town.
We went ahead and had lunch, then waited for Dave and Amanda. Since there was a couple of turns to find the cafe I decided to go back to the first intersection so they wouldn’t miss us. After some time Barry came down too – we were both a little concerned that something may have happened. We decided that Barry would head out on our last 40K to Strahan and I would wait. He was just leaving when here biked up the two of them. It turned out that a big fly similar to our horsefly had landed on her neck during a descent, bit her several times then found it’s way down her back inside her shirt. In trying to stop and deal with the damn insect at the same time, Amanda couldn’t get her foot out of the bike clip in time and fell down. Dave could see what was happening, came up beside her and tried to stop her fall. In the process both went down. Though neither was badly hurt, they did each end up with big bruises. It didn’t dampen their spirits though as they were gushing about the mornings ride. We still had the last rolling ride into Strahan but the big ride was now behind us.

We found ourselves in great accommodations with separate cabins and everything you would want in a bustling little seaside town.

Sent from my iPad