Bikepacking over-nighter

After much email conversation we finally settled on both a date and destination for a bike-packing overnighter - we headed out to Stradbroke Island to escape the election coverage. I was on the trusty Mongoose, with the dry-bag holding my tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag and clothes and my side pannier holding various other bits & pieces like a stove & mug, coffee, bike spares and whiskey flask. The dry-bag weighed in at just under 8kg and the side pannier was a little lighter.

We had some outriders on our way to the ferry - two guys who couldn't make it for the entire weekend but who came along to make sure we weren't just camping in a back yard and photo-shopping the pictures afterwards.

We gently weaved our way out East, admiring the many huge properties on the way - a nice ride in its own right

And after a quick coffee we were queuing up to load the bikes onto the ferry. Unfortunately when we got to the window they asked us to walk around to the office, but it still makes for a good photo-opp!

 Before we knew it we were on a fully loaded barge heading out to the island.

After a quick beer at Dunwich we rode out to our campsite at Adder Rocks. It's around a 20km ride on quiet roads with a wide shoulder and plenty of shade (in parts), although we soon started to hate the word 'undulating'. It was interesting learning to ride a laden bike - when you hit a hill you just gear down and spin your way to the top with no rush & no dramatics. This was helped by the fact that the 8kg weight located nice & high on the back end played hell with the balance when I got out of the saddle. At first it feels like you're going really slowly but you soon get into the flow of it and time gently passes under your tyres, and for every sweaty climb there's a wonderfully smooth descent.

The campsite was beautifully placed by the beach and we were lucky enough to score a prime spot. 

As an aside when I first came to Australia at around this time in 1999 I flew into Brisbane and, after a few days in the big smoke, cracked and came out to Straddie. It was only when we pulled into the campsite that I realised that it was next to the hostel that I stayed in all those years ago, and I still remember laying in bed the first night listening to the waves and thinking 'what would it be like to live here?'

Anyway, we soon had the tents up

and had our bikes approved by the local wildlife

I'd told everyone that I was looking forward to a swim so I girded my loins and took the plunge. It was nippy at first but soon I stopped mincing through the waves and dived in. Glorious!  

By this time we were developing a powerful thirst so we had a quick sight-seeing tour up to Point Lookout - note to self, be more careful putting on bibs when you have sandy feet.

 Nice shadow, idiot...

and then we dropped in at the Straddie hotel. The tents in the background are for the triathlon festival that was on that weekend, although I don't think anyone confused us with the competitors...

The hotel was a bit over-gentrified so we rolled back down to the Point Lookout bowls club for fried buttery goodness. That bread at the front is a 'garlic loaf', essentially a load of bread sliced and then covered with garlic butter so thickly that it ran out of the slices when you squeezed it.

After a great sleep it was coffee time

 and after breakfast it was time to do it all again to get home. The roads were partially closed because of the triathlon so we had a good easy ride back

with some slightly surprised & amused looks from the triathletes. This guy was the leader but he still took the time to give us a thumbs-up.

Every bike-packing ride should have this kind of infrastructure set up for them

It was a hot day getting home and I was struggling near the end until some fireroads perked me up

The loaded bike tried developed 'tank-slapper' handling on the loose downhills which helped keep me alert...

It was a great trip, which started off as 'a quick overnighter to test the camping gear' but ended up an awesome weekend away, and better still both my bike and my body held up to the strain. Cheers guys - where are we going next?