Monday April 14, 2014

A little overcast to start the day, then the sun came out and it was a lovely ride.

The route was an off-road bike path all the way to Minnamurra, approximately 20+ kms. We meandered along the bike path, cycling up little off-shoots of the bike path to see what we could see.

The surf was really quite amazing all the way along the coast – partly due to the weather and the cyclone that hit northern Queensland.  Although we are a long way down the coast, from where the cyclone hit, the weather for this area has been affected by the weather further north.

Even with taking the time to explore the coast a little we were making good time until we got to Port Kembla, when the heavens opened and it poured with rain.

I am convinced that Ralf and I are solar powered, when the weather is good and sunny we really make good time.  As soon as it starts raining or it is overcast, our speed drops.  It should be the other way around, we should speed up to get out of the rain.

The off-road cycle path started again south of Port Kembla and we could have outskirted the downtown of Port Kembla and the steel works. We should have continued to follow the bike path around Port Kembla but decided to take the road – the more direct route to Wollongong.  The problem arose when we arrived on the out skirts of Port Kembla/Wollongong and got to the steel works, which is a massive plant and goes on for about 4 kms.  We could not find the cycle path again and when we did we were on the wrong side of road, we had to cross four lanes of traffic to get on the other side of the road to get back onto the cycle path.

Entering Wollongong from this direction and in the rain did not show Wollongong at its best.  Our first impression of Wollongong was that we were coming into the back-side of a very industrial City.  According to the guide book “Wollongong is a beautiful and sophisticated city that has outgrown its reputation as an industrial backwater”.  Unfortunately with the steel works and the coal port, our opinion is that it still is an industrial backwater.

Once again we enter a town in the rain and this time the closest camp site is another 5 ks away.  We decided to stay in a backpackers hostel.  It was a very interesting hostel, an old house which needs a lot of work to maintain it.  The house had a myriad of Thai and Balinese furniture.  When we decided to make dinner, the kitchen was absolutely chaotic and messy.  The residents were primarily young backpackers and surfers.

After settling into the room and having a nice hot shower we walked back into the downtown to find a grocery store.  The whole of the downtown core is being dug up.  Not sure for what purpose, but 4 city blocks are in accessible to cars.  You cannot see from one side of the street to the other due to the boardings that have been put up to protect the public from the road works. The Town, in the meantime it looks like a construction site from one end to the other.

Wollongong is also the first time that we have seen beggars, in Australia.