Day 20 – Newport to Florence

85km out of 1302km so far

Embrace the rain. That’s what I said to myself at 5am when the rain started again. It had stopped by the time we got up, but the exterior of the tent was wet enough. As me and Garry started packing up, a partial sun came out briefly, so we spread and hang the tents in an attempt to dry them out. It kind of worked, but the sun was keep hiding, so we decided to pack them half dry and start our day. Half an hour later it started raining again and the wind kept blowing the opposite direction with us, but not as hard as the day before.

Garry on the lead

Garry on the lead

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At around noon, we crossed the bridge of Waldport and stopped in the town for some early lunch and internet access. You can’t go wrong with all you can eat pasta, salad and garlic rolls, so we stuffed as much calories and carbs as possible to keep us going until our destination.

$9 all you can clog your arteries

$9 all you can clog your arteries

 

The bridge leading to Waldport

The bridge leading to Waldport

I noticed my pedals and some other parts of the bike were a bit rusty from last day’s rain. On the way out of the town we stopped to a local co-op bike shop to spray some WD-40 on the rusty parts. We moved on and it didn’t take long to lose Garry. We were both stopping on every other corner to either take photos, or put raincoats on. We both knew our next stop, so I was hoping to meet him again at the campsite.

The road today was mostly right by the coastal cliffs. The scenery once again breathtaking with the mist and rain adding a nice atmosphere. At times the rain became a little too heavy, but luckily we humans are waterproof. It’s funny, two days now I am trying to dry my towel and some other clothes. I didn’t want to put them together with the rest of the dry clothes, so I hang them at the back of my bike, hoping that the sun will eventually come out. Of course it didn’t and these items have now been double washed.

One of the two highlights of the day, was this section of the coast, where the waves are so strong, they lift up white sand from the bottom and crash on the rocks. It took almost like waves of mud. It would be fun to swim in there, but it looked a bit dangerous

White sandy mud

White sandy mud

House with muddy view

House with muddy view

More mud rushing through narrow rocks

More mud rushing through narrow rocks

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Cottage sold

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Cyclist friendly tunnel

Cyclist friendly tunnel

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Ocean waves

Ocean waves

Second highlight was sea lions. There is a whole tourist attraction where you go and visit some of their caves. I didn’t bother with that, but I managed to see some of these magnificent animals from a great distance. Incredible how they go about their days in such a hostile environment.

3 sea lions

3 sea lions

8 humans photographing the sea lions

8 humans photographing the sea lions

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Stop for a quick one

Stop for a quick one

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Crossing the bridge right before Florence

Crossing the bridge right before Florence

I got to the city of Florence around 5pm and after a short stop for supplies, I cycled a further 5km south to locate the campground. It seems to be behind some massive dunes, so I will probably be checking these out next morning.

Some of the dunes

Some of the dunes

As I was trying to decide on where to pitch the tent, there comes Garry. I thought he would be well ahead of me, but somehow he got carried away with his photography. We put our tents on wet ground, had some dinner and called it an early night in.

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