HELP PLEASE: Townsville to Tassie

[A_Fervorous_Lark]

Hi.

I am going to be Cycling From Townsville to Tassie starting this week.

I don't want to cycle to Bruce highway but I do want some coast and forest time at some point.

I was thinking of cycling inland from Townsville via charters towers and come out at the gold coast and then take the https://www.nswcoastcycle.com down to Melbourne, although I would like some forest detours too.

I realise that make it a longer trip than going direct but I am a marine scientist and I like the Ocean, I have been told it is rather busy though. I am only really familiar with northern NSW so I am not sure how buy it is further down.

Any advice you can give me or anyone that has done these sections.

Also, I have never used warm showers before, does anyone use this, is it ok for a female traveling alone?

please help

Cheers

Jen

[RonK]

Yes, you could take the Gregory Hwy from Charters Towers south to Emerald, then the A4 and A3 down through the Burnett districts to Yarraman then the A17 to Brisbane Cycling in and out of Brisbane is very complicated because of the motorways, so you would be better off using the train. Or bypass Brisbane to Casino in NSW and re-join the coast around Ballina.

Like this perhaps.

I think you will need to be prepared for camping and carry adequate water on this route as there are long distances between towns.

As for warm showers, you need to read the advice on the Warm Showers Personal Security page, but it is widely used by cycling tourists.

We have lots of marine scientists in Queensland. I do find it quite difficult to believe it is a real job and not a holiday camp.

[Warin]

I don't think much of the https://www.nswcoastcycle.com route, it takes the Sydney Botanic Gardens ..where your not allowed to ride! I'd take it as general advice and change it to suit.
If you want to avoid Sydney .. take the train from Brooklyn to Sutherland. If you want to stop somewhere in Sydney .. I'd still take the train from/to these points with a link to where ever you want. That will avoid boring traffic and suburbs. There are good riding routes in Sydney .. but no so good for through transport.