Saturday April 26, 2014

We stayed last night in a lovely motel in Taree (Chatham Motel) it was clean and the owner was really helpful.

We left the motel at 8:30 and headed out of Taree to the A1 (motorway).  Australia like Canada has a variety of “Big Things” – road side attractions!  We have posted a few of them like the Giant Lobster in Kingston.  As we were leaving Taree we came across the Big Oyster.  We presumed it was a restaurant prior to becoming a car dealership.

Motorway cycling is the same as motorway driving – fairly boring but quick.  The road had an excellent full-lane for a shoulder which was surprisingly clear of debris.  We cycled the first 45 kms on the highway and then came of at a small Town called Kew.  The people at the Information Centre were very helpful with maps and directions.  But didn’t tell us why there was a ruddy great axe outside of their Information Centre.    Even after “googling” it we are still none the wiser why there is a Big Axe located there. Except it is another one of those “Big” roadside attractions.

We stopped for lunch at a little café and then continued on the scenic route to Bonny Hills.  The problem with the scenic routes are that they are generally narrower roads and the shoulders are variable.  Sometimes the car drivers are considerate and other times they are not.

Ralf and I have often discussed why there aren’t more bike lanes across bridges.  Today we found one, I headed for it, Ralf stayed on the road muttering something like I will never fit.  I got to a point of no return and realized that I couldn’t actually pedal on the bike lane because of the two barriers that protected me from falling into the river on one side and falling into traffic on the other side.  I also could not get off my bike to push it as there was not enough room.  I had to get off my seat and waddle across straddling my bike.  How ridiculous, but even more serious, this pathway is not even big enough for mobility scooters and they have to go on the road.

In Bonny Hills we found this lovely campsite at the top of a hill.  It is reasonably priced and very clean.  We arrived just after 12:15 pm, we could have continued to Port MacQuarrie – another 25 ks, but it is nice to finish early and get some washing done and  on the line etc.  We have great views of the sea and this afternoon we can relax a little.

We chatted for a while to a lovely lady called Carol.  Her grandson Oscar joined us and when she told him what we were doing he asked “Why?”  What a great question, Carol answered – “Because they can.” – Great answer.

Later Carol tried to show me a pod of dolphins, but it was getting dark and I couldn\’t see a thing.