Round Australia by bike - Day 003 - Maclean to Mount Gravatt

Day:	003
Date:	19 May 2008
Start	Maclean
Finish	Mount Gravatt
Daily Distance:	284km
Daily Speed:	24.35kph
Relative to Schedule:	On schedule
Daily Podcasts:	Here & here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I got up at 3 and was on the road by 3:45.  The first hour was most enjoyable, riding across the Clarence River Valley with a setting moon behind to my left and a clear sky with many stars visible.  I passed through a mixture of grazing country and cane fields, casting a moonshadow on the road and with little traffic to worry about.  Magic!  However, after an hour the road moved into forested country, the temperature dropped and I became conscious of how hungry I was.  After 93km, I finally reached my breakfast target town of Ballina, close to the coast again, and wolfed down a big brekky and lime milkshake. From Ballina the road turned north and there was a long climb through verdant country including citrus trees.  From the top of the climb , there were sweeping views to the north towards the Gold Coast and to the east, Byron Bay.  There were three colours, a rich deep green of the forests and plantations, the brilliant blue of the ocean and the yellow of the long stretch of beach.  I had a fast descent, hitting 70kph and having to brake a few times to avoid catching the car in front of me.  Then there was a long stretch of freeway with a following breeze paralleling the coast along which I made good time before reaching Coolangatta on the southern edge of the Gold Coast, about 30kms of resort, culminating the residential towers of Surfers Paradise. I stopped for a tuna sub in Coolangatta, and then rode north to Southport where I met, Phil, and long-time marathon-running acquaintance who now lives up here.  Phil rode with me for about 30km as we navigated our way northwards towards Brisbane and we had a good chat. After Phil left, I continued onto my target for the day, Mt Gravatt, in the southern suburbs of Brisbane after a fairly boring and tiring ride through the hilly and sometimes industrial southern Brisbane region.  I got a pizza for dinner nearby and then grappled with computer problems before another late night.  Incidentally, Erik Straarup finished his lap of Australia in Perth this morning in just under 51 days, a great effort of whichj I am very envious.