Day 146 / Part 2 - Good endings

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"Everything will be okay in the end.
 If it is not okay, it is not the end".   

 [John Lennon]

There are certain fundamental things you can plan for when bicycle touring: the route, the choice of gear, when to get up, what to eat (to a certain degree). But there are more variables (weather, traffic, people) than there are constants. While in the unplanned can lay great and unexpected beauty, we are certainly people who lean more towards 'having a plan and being prepared'.  But planning for the "perfect" last day on your tour is a tricky beast. Emotions are running high, body energy is running low and your determination to reach the finish line with a matching attitude is running somewhere... The memories of our last day on the 2011 Across the US Tour are still crystal clear and they reminded us to be, let's say, be cautious. 

We ride out of Mareeba at 0730 hoping to at least partly beat the Sunday traffic but Highway 1 is already thumping with motorised vehicles of all kinds, except road trains. The shoulder on the road moves from non existent at the beginning to perfect bike lane at the end. The weather is a spectacular match to the mountain scenery in the morning and then turns sunny in the afternoon, with a kind wind all the way. The uphills are sweaty but happen in the vivid shades of the rainforest. The long downhill on the other side is the best of the tour (Louise also thought it was fantastic!). 

The entire day was like a Coddiwomple Tour concentrate. A lot of sentiment, experiences, constants, feelings - all packed into a single day, placed into breathtaking scenery. When we cross the range after the final climb out of Kuranda, it feels like someone "cut and paste" us into a picture postcard. The first sight of the Pacific Ocean leaves us speechless. Behind the sunglasses my eyes swell up with tears. We know if we make it down the hill safely, that will be it and the final 12km to the caravan park in Redlynch would be a pleasant formality. 

Mick and Frances waited for us like the most hardcore fans, ready to capture the final pedal strokes: The Arrival

There is absolutely no way that we could have asked for a better ending to the Coddiwomple Tour 2022. You can't plan a day like this. And somewhere, in my deepest thoughts, memories of our wedding day came to mind. A day that was bound to similar planning thrills, but at one point you just had to let go and let it happen. And so we did.

It will take a few days to shift back into a life off the bicycles. And then there are already the preparations for the next adventure sitting in the pipeline. But first we relive the highlights and moments of today and pop the cork of a bottle of champagne to celebrate the good ending. 











Location: Redlynch QLD 4870, Australia

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