Banana country

Difficulty - Shanna 7, Sam 7
Distance - 70km
Weather - Hot, sunny, muggy, 35C

Sunday we rested in Kempsey - hoping our legs would feel stronger after a day off and that Sam's throat might stop hurting him so much and allow him to get down some solid food. We discovered that the people running the caravan park didn't actually have a key for the dodgy, run down, games room, so we couldn't get in to find out if the TV worked (they didn't know). 


On and on, all night and all day blared the amenity block radio, tuned to a booming country station on the 'super radio network' that seemed to have a massive speaker hidden somewhere in the depths of its crumbling roof. Sam got locked in the toilet cubicle when the lock broke off, and was forced to climb the wall, scaring the man in the shower (he was imagining the man screaming 'pervert' at the top of his lungs whilst he scaled the block wall...). Unsurprisingly after this the residents of the park all seemed to eye us suspiciously, as if wondering why you would stay for more than one night.


We arose at 5:30 am on Monday morning, hoping to make a discreet getaway as we rode on to our next destination, Nambucca Heads. By 7am we already had sweat dripping off us and the flies were buzzing around our faces. The road was fairly flat, but the surface was the glued-together rocks type of surface that you have to work twice as hard to ride on as a smooth surface, and we found it tough going after a day off the bikes.


In keeping with conditions, we were riding into a headwind and that, combined with the road surface made the riding a lot more difficult than we'd anticipated. Despite the wind and the road, it was great to feel as though we were once again heading towards our destination. The further we rode towards the Heads, the greener and more beautiful the pastures became, and roadside banana stalls scattered themselves amidst the rolling waters of the Nambucca river. We stopped at one but the moment was ruined when Sam brushed the car park fence and got a massive electric shock. There were no warning signs so he went in to tell the hippy owners and they just laughed and said they'd rigged it up with the mains power! Too bad if someone with a heart condition brushes against it we thought as we got back onto our bikes. 


We stopped at a rest area and gave our chains a quick clean and lube. We were going to fill our bottles but, again, the signs said 'water not for drinking'... We weren't far from Nambucca Heads though so we pushed on and made it before lunch time. Thinking of heading to the Nambucca cinema tonight to watch a $5 movie... The choices are Invictus, BranNueDae, Tooth Fairy, It's Complicated, Alvin and the Chipmunks-The Squeakquel, Avatar (we've already seen this though, along with everyone else in the country) and Old Dogs. Any suggestions??? We're heading off late tonight....