Roadside fruitstands like this one, called "fruit stalls", dot the highway all up and down the East Coast. Here, I experienced the BEST PINEAPPLE EVER!

Journal and photos by Nancy Olson

I left the Red Roo Hotel at 0830 and totally forgot to take a picture of it, darnit! It took me 15 minutes of fast pedalling to get out of town. As I entered the Bruce Highway, I saw a sign that said "Gympie: 82 km." No problem. I was looking forward to Gympie, because Flame (the Rock Star/bar maid from Rockhampton) gave me the name of a pub in town that her friends own, and I was excited to meet them.

There was a lot of road construction just south of Maryborough, and there was no shoulder for most of my ride. At about 0945, I stopped at a pineapple plantation fruit stand and, for $2.00, had the best, sweetest, most incredible pineapple of my entire life. It was like candy. I bought another one for the road.

The ride was a breeze, and I arrived in Gympie at about 1330. I stopped at McDonalds, as per my standard operating procedures, and had a cheeseburger and Coke. They gave me directions to Mary street and the Imperial Hotel, where Flame told me to ask for Gary or Georgia and to tell them Flame sent me. There was an enormous and excruciatingly steep hill leading to Mary Street, and I just barely made it up the thing with my trailer in tow.

At the Imperial, Gary hooked me up with a free pub room, and I was psyched to see that it was the best pub room of the trip. The bed was a queen and super-comfy.

I showered and changed and found an internet cafe. The guy there gave me 30 minutes for free! I decided to take a break, so I did some window shopping and then returned to the pub for some reading and rest.

Downstairs, I had a nice conversation with Spud, who works at the Imperial. During that conversation, some drunk idiot sat next to me and interrupted our conversation. He started talking about how he hates George Bush and a bunch of other politicians, so I treated him poorly until he finally left. Spud and I talked a bit more, and then I went up to my comfortable bed for a wonderful night's sleep.

Mileage: 85
Weather: Sunny/Cooler
Final Location: Gympie

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