Day 357 | Ray's Place, Speewah: on the verandah actually

rest day

Apparently Ray says there’s one thing wrong with the place: visitors don’t want to leave.

Really?

Today is at variance with the many days that have immediately preceded it: for once there’s plenty of blue sky.

And there’s a huge verandah, running the full length of the house that overlooks what would usually described by undiscerning eyes as a jungle.

I’ve washed my scant wardrobe and feeling pretty pleased with myself, why not, I’ve almost cycled coast to coast, I’ve taken up settlement on said verandah, a piece of banana is attracting what appears to be the localised Eungella honeyeater, the only reason I need to get up for a few hours, still tired to the bone by the recent roller coaster riding, is to turn the clothes, experience in Darwin, initially, shows that simply hanging wet clothes up in a high humidity zone and expecting them to dry is misplaced, they require direct sunlight and the rotisserie method of drying, if they ain’t in the sun they will be damp until they rot.

It’s unbelievably peaceful, birds chirping away, a tropical sounding tweeeeeeeept now and again.

The scratching around on the roof proves to be a medium sized lizard but on looking closer I also spot a cast snakeskin, maybe a metre long, what’s that from? The snake’s obviously now bigger.

I’m also in the process of going through my baggage, really can’t believe I have so much redundancy in there, excess clothes, plus a few cool climate things, long johns, strange electrical paraphernalia, a book or two, old maps, etc, which I won’t miss on my Cape York return excursion. Cutting down on weight will assist in more speed, perhaps, or at least a minor level less effort.

There won’t be the same requirement to carry water for 3 days, the main issue will once again be food, I’ll probably end up lugging a few weeks supply.

I hadn’t realised how much toil the body has been through in the last weeks, there’s been plenty of accumulated effort: that tough first day off road on the way to Lark Quarry; battling the wind getting into Hughenden; the long uphill to Ravenshoe; and the roller coaster of the last few days. I intend to have a full week in Cairns to attempt rejuvenation before the Cape York battle begins.

At the moment it’s just great with the feet up out on the verandah, watching the occasional Eungella honeyeater ripping into the banana chunk.

Much appreciated indeed.