From Ballina we stayed along the coast to get to the Byron Bay. After a nice two hours walk we kept going. We decided not to stay at the coast to avoid the big highways, so we found a lovely and small, but steep road that would get us to our host in Uki. We went up the hill and by the time we were on top and had to turn right into our street, there was a road sign that said: Road Closed! Just for a short moment we were struggling what to do, but in the end it was obvious that we wouldn't turn around. We started to ride this bumpy gravel road, it was not so much fun but doable and we arrived well in Uki. 
The plan was to do the hike up Mt Warning the next day but Cyclone Debbie had destroyed the access road - very unfortunate. Instead of hiking we decided to move on after our hosts treated us to a great pie breakfast. That day we had to climb the steepest hill so far and because of a road work we didn't even had to worry about cars passing, they were stopping all the cars until we were on top. The view was amazing and we enjoyed the downhill part, crossing the border into Queensland. We had a quick break at the Natural Bridge National Park and we kept going. Close to Advancetown we asked some locals for a place to pitch a tent and after a fun night with Ben, Clare and their kids we slept on their trampoline in their shed, another first time.

Next day we made our way into Brisbane. It was some annoying cycling through all the suburbs, big roads and stopping at many traffic lights. In Brisbane itself we could stay on nice cycle paths all around the city. We finally arrived at our host Dallas where we had some cold beers, a really good dinner and great conversations about cycling and so many other things. After a nice sleep-in we went to the city to get Vroni's license translated, just to have the opportunity to rent a car if we want. We also opened an Aussie bank account that we will need for the money we earn on the cattle farm. There was quite a bit of rain forecasted for the rest of the day which made us keep the sightseeing short and we rather went to our host's place to relax and enjoy some glasses of wine.

Next morning we went back on our bikes and had our longest day so far: 130km to Marcoola. We had to stay on the bigger roads and with a reasonable tailwind it was not too bad. We even found some time to go for a quick walk to the beach in the evening. Our hosts Ross and Angie made some great Thai curry with rice for dinner and we had really nice talks. From there we had to cross the Great Sandy National Park to get to our next host in Coolcoola Cove near Rainbow beach. In the beginning we had some proper sealed roads but in the end it was, just like the other national parks, lots of potholes and sand. We made our way through anyway and arrived at our hosts Graham and Di in the evening.

Cheers from Australia,

Keep cycling and a tailwind,

Vroni, Droni & Joni