Wednesday. I hired a bike with Luka whilst Neil and Angelo were at their conference (the reason we’re here). We got them from a local bike shop for $15 for 24 hours. I asked for one with a basket and she thought I was serious! Who hires bikes in Oz?

We were told the only safe place to be was on the bike track along the Esplanade – about a km long, but when we got to the end we just carried on going towards to airport to the north.

Fortunately the going was flat as the bikes were a bit rubbish and not very comfortable. We rode for about an hour before we came to a shop where we asked where we were and where we should go. We were offered a yellow pages and advised to go and see the power station. Sounds great.

So we ripped out the maps and carried on. The power station turned out to be a hydro station up the end of a long winding lane through the forest and had been producing power since 1963. Still not worth the ride up there tho.

We rode back via the botanical gardens and a large slice of cake! After 6hours and 43km in strong winds I think we deserved it.

In the evening we went for a meal with Angelo and Luka as it was their last night. Neil and Angelo had presented their panel in the afternoon so were full of talk of research and ethnography and sexuality etc. Yawn.

We ate at a Thai restaurant because the waitress at the door promised I could eat anything off the menu as it was all made fresh and they could take out the peppers and any nuts. By the time we sat down it turned out that actually the only thing I could have was a stir fry…..

Nothing much happens in Cairns, how 60,000 live here I don’t know. Looking forward to heading for Daintree and Port Douglas on friday and Saturday.

Oh and found a gay pride event at the Botanical gardens on Sunday. Should be a laugh.