(written by Nancy)

We have now been on the road for just about a month – seems an appropriate time for an update on how we are adjusting to life on the road.

We are slowly getting into a rhythm on the road. Sleeping in the tent is still a bit of a struggle for me and my success at sleeping is very dependent on our location. If we are in a quiet caravan park and we have successfully set the tent up on level spot (highly dependent on the tent siter…) then I can usually get enough sleep to get by. It’s not quite deep sleep yet, but part of that is because I normally sleep on my left side and I can’t quite get comfortable yet on my shoulder. I am sure that will come with time and it gets better every day. Dave of course sleeps like a log no matter what the conditions. I generally have to get up once in the middle of the night for a ‘comfort break’ and the rule is Dave is supposed to stay awake until I get back into the tent. I usually come back to find him snoring away – so I could disappear into the night and he wouldn’t know until morning when he awoke, which is not very comforting! Okay, probably not – hopefully he would realize eventually that I had not returned. I always try to tell him what time it is when I leave the tent so he would at least know how long I had been gone (though he probably would have forgotten what time I told him when someone finally woke him up…).

Our tent has a very large vestibule and we can put all of our bags inside, which is a nice feature of the tent – things stay dry and handy. We are not quite there staying organized with all of the stuff we have – I think this bothers me much more than it bothers Dave. Trying to find things in the bags is getting better, but packing is often about what will best fill an open space in the right way rather than keeping the same things in the same bags each day. We also need to keep the weight even between the two back bags on each bike, which impacts what can go in each bag. When we get to camp and get the tent set up we end up pulling lots of stuff out that we need for cooking and it becomes a bit of a mess. We’ll get there eventually, but this is one of the things that drives me a little bit nuts.

As you can imagine, the state of the caravan park makes a big difference in how we feel once we get to camp. If it has a nice camp kitchen and the amenities blocks are clean it really helps us feel at home. If things are not so clean it makes camping out harder and makes me long for my own bathroom and kitchen a little bit. I think it is partly a matter of adjusting your expectations about sanitation generally (note the picture of the Queensland ‘comfort stop’ yesterday) – I expect it’s much like when you have a child, you just can’t get so fussed about a bit of gunk around!

As to how we spend our day, we usually are awake by 6 or so, without the need to set any alarm. The birds usually wake us up if we go too long past 6. We pack up a bit and hopefully can let the tent and the tarp and the ground cover dry a bit in the wind and/or sun while we eat breakfast. Then we finish up packing and hit the road. This process often takes us in excess of two hours – it’s amazing how the time goes by (editor’s note: Nancy is a wee bit obsessive about getting the tent dry before putting it in the bag) (chief editor’s note: taking a little care at this point in getting it dry can make a big difference when you unpack it later).

We generally have been riding until about 1 or 2, depending on the number of kilometers and the terrain. We generally stop for a snack or lunch along the way before we get to camp. If there is an information center in the town where we are camping we will generally go there first to see what they have to say about the area and to see if there are any useful maps. We have been lucky in getting some pretty good information at the information centers – the local knowledge is very helpful to us, especially details about road conditions and services. By the time we get to camp, get set up and take our showers it is often after 3pm. Then it seems like it is time to start cooking dinner, look at the pictures for the day and do the blog and already it’s time for bed. If we are camping in a location where there is not a camp kitchen we usually have to have the cooking done by 5:30 as it gets dark early now.

If we have some spare time we usually try to look at the maps to plan a bit of the route ahead and then perhaps play a game of cribbage or gin rummy. I also have Scrabble on my Kindle so we may play a game. So far I am not a big fan of Scrabble – perhaps because I never win! Dave is generally very bad at spelling so by all rights I should beat him at this game, but he is very competitive and will spend whatever time it takes to get the most points out of every turn. I, on the other hand, get a bit bored and finally just pick a word, usually one that gets me very little points. The Kindle version has this feature that won’t let you proceed if the word is not in the dictionary – which removes the ability to pull the wool over someone with an odd word. Anyway, perhaps I will get better at this as we go along.

We are supposed to be working on our French as we go along but so far that hasn’t worked out. France seems like a long way off yet so we aren’t feeling the pressure but we should be doing a bit. And, I am determined to learn how to play the harmonica – our good friend and LWOP CIO Donaleen gave me a nice harmonica when we were in Portland (she is a mean harmonica player) so I just need to download some instructions that I can access when we are offline. And perhaps I need to wait until we are camping in the woods a bit before I start practicing – otherwise might be run over by another caravanner!

I am so glad to have the Kindle, as it means I am never without a book to read. I think I have gone through about 3 books so far and I still have quite a few left to read before needing to download any more. So far the Kindle is a great way to carry books with you while travelling. It holds a charge for weeks as long as the Wi-Fi isn’t turned on so there isn’t much worry about it running down. Dave is happy to look at the maps for a bit before going to sleep but I really need a book to read so I am very glad we got the Kindle (despite my losses at Scrabble…).

We probably have too much stuff with us and we may drop some things that we are not using as we head further north. Though Dave has picked up a passenger along the way – kind of an additional mojo for his bike that he calls Adventure Man. We both have mojos (or talismans or whatever you want to call it) for our bikes, as we have done for many years. Mine is a lovely little drop that my mom gave me that we hooked on to the bike, unbeknownst to her (thanks Mom!) and Dave has a lovely jade stone that was given to him by his Chinese colleagues that is provides protection for travellers, which is intended to be worn as a bracelet but which he has wrapped around his handlebar stem. I also received one as a gift and am carrying it with us as well, in a safe place. We intend to do a gear list one of these days so you all can see just how much we are carrying – Dave’s bike weighed 52kg when we left Sydney, though I think some of that has migrated to my bike!

Thanks to those who have asked about my collarbone. It is actually doing quite well – no real pain while on the bike at all. It gets a bit achy sometimes, though I think it is really the shoulder joint that is causing the discomfort. My Achilles tendon was really bothering me for quite a bit and I was afraid I was going to need to get new shoes. Dave adjusted the cleat in my left shoe though and that has seemed to fix the problem, which is a relief. We haven’t really had any other problems, just general body aches from pushing a heavy bike for 4-5 hours a day – not unexpected.

How do we feel about the trip so far? Well, there are moments when I wonder what the heck we are doing but we are still having fun. I do sometimes miss my own bed and a safe place to put my things. It can be a bit tiring trying to figure out if we have enough to eat, whether there are stores along the way, where we will sleep, do we need to do laundry, etc. every day. I think anyone who goes on a long bike tour will say the same thing. But it has been fun so far seeing parts of Australia that we haven’t been to before. And we have met some great people on the road already and seen some great scenery. I am getting more and more used to being on the road and am realizing things usually work out so it is not really worth worrying about. Dave is much better at taking that approach than I am so perhaps that will be one of the good things that I get out of this trip. Having said that, I still prefer that we have our schedule planned for a week ahead or so as I like to know where we are heading!

We had a nice rest day today in Noosa. Went to the grocery store, the local bike shop, did laundry (it was sunny so everything got dry even!), cleaned bikes and visited with the local fauna (water dragons and bush turkeys) and then went to the beach and had an ice cream cone. The sky was starting to darken with clouds and we could see lightening in the distance so we headed back hostel to make dinner. We made it back to the hostel just in time before the deluge started – it poured and poured, with lighting and thunder and the whole bit. So, good timing on the rest day and the storm! And, for the first time on this trip we actually have another rest day tomorrow – feels nice to stay put for another day. Hopefully the storms will have passed and we will have a sunny day, but no need to worry about that for now.