An overcast day, brightening in the afternoon – a little clammy but no wind so good for cycling! We visited the shop and information centre so didn’t get underway until 10:00. We crossed a long single track bridge over the river and were soon into the rainforest, a long fairly level section followed by three big ascents and descents before becoming mainly level again.
The cycling now was very easy and by 15:00 we were at Lake Paringa – we’d originally intended to stay overnight here as it’s halfway to Fox, but the accommodation here was expensive, didn’t look too inviting and it was only mid afternoon. We took a break at the café, which was pretty poor, and 2km further on spotted another café! We reached Jacobs River at 17:00 – we could have made Fox, another 35km on, but decided to spend the night here. The backpacker cabin featured the softest bed I’ve ever slept in – eventually we moved the mattresses to the floor but still didn’t sleep too well, so maybe we’d have been better carrying on to Fox. But we met two remarkable old ladies, both over eighty and with fourteen children between them. They kept us entertained with stories of growing up in New Zealand and Australia.