Day 057, Monday, 25 May 2009

 

Distance travelled – 60.4 km
Avg speed –  20.5 kph
Max speed – 57.8 kph

Mackay, Calen

Last night Mackay had 16mm of rain so we were pleased to be under cover.

We both woke commenting about having a good night’s sleep. For me I suspect it was being able to sleep with a blanket and not being too hot with it.

We selected a route to take us through the main streets of Mackay’s CBD and then along Riverside Drive back to the Bruce Highway. It was a surprise to find that Riverside Drive was dirt and after the heavy rain last night was rather slippery to negotiate.  When we were planning the route we thought something named Riverside Drive would be a picturesque alternative to the highway, next time we will take the highway.

Our destination today was Calen, which is about half way between MacKay and Proserpine.

Over the last number of weeks we have noticed that Saturday is always quieter on the roads than Sunday and we can only put this down to the fact that there is no Sunday trading in regional Queensland and the locals take the opportunity to go out and enjoy themselves. Today the highway was quieter than yesterday so we do believe that the lack of Sunday trading does affect traffic flow along the highway. I think that a ban on Sunday trading should remain but it is interesting that all the tourist operators seem to want it as they claim tourists find it difficult not being able to go to the shops. Even without a fridge (which is the one item we miss) we have found that it is easy to cope without the shops being open 7 days a week.

Today turned out to be a photo free day so we do not have any photos to show you. The highway between Mackay to Calen is relatively undulating, winding its way through the cane fields. We completed the day’s riding in less than 3 hours. The day was overcast and we had a couple of drops of rain, but luckily the forecast showers didn’t eventuate.

We stopped for lunch 19km south of Calen and got talking to a truckie who had also stopped for lunch. It was interesting to listen to his views about how caravan owners should be licenced before they are allowed to tow a caravan. The basis of his idea was teaching common courtesy to fellow road users as well as providing an understanding about what it is like to drive a truck. It was interesting that none of his ideas involved skills testing.

Zoom into the map and use the 'Satellite' layer to see our new location.

 

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