1997-12-04 Walpole -> Denmark, 88km, 18.4km/h
Left the backpackers' around 10h15, same time as A. and J. Grazing
land and easy hills, but Ch. sweating hard. Doesn't complain,
though. A. and J. went to the Valley of the Giants and passed us
again while we had lunch at a gas station/general store. Waved.
Arrived at the outskirts of Denmark around 3pm Had a beer in the
nice new Denmark Tavern and chatted with the waitress about Niel
Young. Waitress remembered American couple (girl with glasses, guy
slightly bald) passing through one hour before for lunch. Went to
town to telecenter and found that Americans had been there too!
Picked up email by changin parameters in Netscape Gold and was done
in about 15 minutes. Letter from Dad informing me of post-office
strike, but nothing else. Went to holiday park recommended by the
tourist office, 4km out of town. Ch. a bit cranky about hills now.
Big mistake not to read Lonely Planet first. Place is cabins of two
types: nice, new brick ones at $70 pre night, and badly built old
metal and wood ones for $10 per person per night. (The asshole
originally wanted $15 per person per night!) Real shit-boxes.
Evidence that they haven't been used for about 7 years! Probably
will straighten out the tourist office. Manager seemed sort of
surprised to see a couple of backpackers. Deumped stuff in room and
rode along Inlet Drive back to town to eat chinese food. Not bad
with a bottle of red wine. Around 8pm when we started back and
almost no light. Last bit was a 200m walk through forest and damn
near impossible to see. I was a bit scared of wandering into a
spider nest or fucking the bikes. Got back safely and played chibre
to see who carries pack. Ch. won 7 to 6 but just on the last game.
Just as well. Slept on the double bed using our camp mattresses and
inflatable pillos because the bed looked crad. Slept OK even though
no heat.