Day 4 - 20th May - Bloomfield to Cooktown - 64 km

Another slow start but this time with reason. We wanted to have lunch at the "Lions Den Hotel" about 28 km from Bloomfield. Our legs were so tired any incline was an effort,  we were off the bike and walking on hills we would normally ride up without trouble. It was incredibly humid, sweat just pouring off us.Every now and then we would run onto some bitumen but mostly it clay and gravel. The clay was slightly damp which made it sticky.
At last after 3 hours we rode into Rossville and stopped at the "Lions Den", real country pub made of sheet-metal and timber with lots of interesting ornamentation.









We ordered the Seafood Basket and had a couple of beers. Not great choice as it remained with us all afternoon.









 Great pub, Dave H, Phil and Prashad you would have loved it!  Writing and memorabilia over every wall.











After lunch we rode on finally on bitumen and getting some good downhills and a tailwind. Stopped to view Black Mountain and then pushed on to Cooktown.









Checked into the YHA while Tony got some groceries for dinner. Interesting mix of clientele including young Chinese who are here picking bananas. They seem to be a happy bunch with some interesting culinary choices. Cocktail frankfurts being used in noodle soup and rolls.

Stayed up late updating this damn blog!! Have to get it up to date because we are going bush with no Internet for 4 days at least!