Wednesday, 08 August 2012

No real riding today – scooters geting serviced

We rode the scooters to ScootaCo and met Linc, the proprietor and head mechanic.  He graciously spent a lot of time listening to our concerns about each of our respective scooters.  He’s is a rider of scooters and motorcycles and dirt bikes.  Just listening to him gave me confidence that we were in very good hands.  And he has some gorgeous scooters in his shop.  Linc, if you ever decide to sell that orange 90, please give me a call!

One other bike-related thing we wanted to buy was a throttle rocker.  It’s a paddle-shaped device that attaches to the throttle.  It’s designed to allow the rider to use the heel of the palm to control the throttle, instead of using a hand grip.  (When I was in Sydney, the folks at Scooter Central included it among the recommended parts for me to take along.  I thought I had brought mine from home, so I declined.)  Linc sent us down the street to the Honda dealer (his former employer).  He was certain they’d have throttle locks, rockers and anything else we’d want.  We got lucky and bought the last two throttle rockers they had.  (Yet another aside – There’s a fellow Vespa rider on the Modern Vespa forum called Gary.  Gary lives in Australia.  He’s been very active in his support of this adventure.  He calls every few days to make sure we’re ok.  He’s offered to help us find accommodations.  He bought two throttle locks, mailed them to a colleague in Cairns and and arranged to have her get them to us.  Gary is awesome!  And because of him we don’t need to buy throttle locks.  Thanks, Gary!)

We walked from the Honda shop to a small café for breakfast, then a stroll along the river and back to the hostel.   It was a nice quiet afternoon.  I sat in a lounge chair and calculated fuel usage (whoo hoo!) and drafted a couple of days worth of blog entries.  I found a hammock and snoozed.

Later that afternoon, we went for a walk around town.  The esplanade has a big, beautiful shallow pool next to the ocean.  I loved the origami fish fountains.  (It looks stormy but there were only a few sprinkles.)

We stopped at Pie Face for a nosh.  They sell both savory and sweet pies as well as other baked goodies.  Who doesn’t like food that smiles back at you?!

Here’s their coffee menu:

We made another stop at the library.  Ian wanted to update his blog and post some pictures which was hard to do from his tablet.  He had to join the library to use their computer / internet connection.  I walked around the historic building and enjoyed their displays.  And I learned that one of Cairns’ sister cities is Scottsdale, AZ.

Lastly, we walked through the night market.  They sold lots of tourist trinkets and food.  I was surprised to see how many massage tables they had set up.  I guess it’s a nice treat after a full day walking through the city.  I got away without buying anything.  Not that I didn’t want to.  It’s a little too early in the trip to be loading up on souvenirs.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way back to the hostel to pick up dinner fixins.  No riding today but it was still a good day.